2.4 A Day in the Religious District
Isran woke up a little cold. Sleeping naked was an adjustment but she wouldn’t say she hated it. Elysi wasn’t on the bed beside her but a plate filled with pastries sat on the small table beside the desk.
Isran was a bit skeptical on the taste of the pastries but was pleasantly surprised. They were round and smelled of strawberries, they tasted almost like mini pies with strawberry filling. After wolfing them down Isran took a shower and came out of the small bathroom to meet Elysi.
“Hey, sorry I left without saying anything.”
“It’s okay.” Isran smiled. “Thanks for the food.”
“Of course.” Elysi smiled back. She placed what appeared to be a few folded clothes. “I uh.. got you a pair of pants and a tunic, I don’t know what you like so I wanted to leave the rest of your clothes up to you.”
Isran couldn’t help but smile wider at that. “Thank you.”
Elysi had gotten her new wrappings for her chest. They were colored brown instead of the bandages she had used before and had a clipping mechanism on one side. The tunic was plain brown, her trousers were baggy and a very muted gray.
Isran was thankful that her dick wasn’t clearly outlined in her baggy pants. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by it, just that walking around with a dick print didn’t seem like a good idea.
Elysi was still in her cloak, but her clothing underneath had changed. Her large cleavage was still on display, this time though she was in tight-fitting leather pants and her belly was covered.
They didn’t take a long time to pack up, Elysi ran a comb through Isran’s hair and the tall woman hefted their bags as they left the inn.
Isran winced as she thought of the fact that their load would increase. She didn’t know how far Kestin was and the prospect of carrying very heavy luggage for hours was starting to look bad. Maybe she should’ve put her free attribute point into strength. Shopping for supplies wasn’t much of an event.
Elysi bought several similar items of clothing for Isran at her request, more of those round green balls she had eaten the day before and a few more clothes for herself. She also bought collars and bells, Isran wondered if she owned a pet.
“We could get a horse.” Elysi mumbed when Isran dropped some of the bags and panted lightly, her energy stat had to surely be getting utilized.
“Wouldn’t that be expensive?”
“Renting one wouldn’t, the horse will carry the bags and we’ll walk alongside it.”
There was no part of Isran that thought about rejecting that plan. It sounded absolutely wonderful if she didn’t have to carry the heavy stuff around.
Their last order of business before leaving the religious district was getting healed.
Elysi had absorbed her fair share of Isran’s cum but her health was still only a little over halfway full, they both needed the healing. The two tall buildings that seemed to sit in the middle of the religious district healing temples. There were apparently different types of temples, healing, ceremonial and congregatory. Isran thought it was interesting that the temples had subcategories but wasn't really interested in the religious structure of the world.
The temples were teeming with people pouring out and going in. They thankfully didn’t have to join any lines to get their healing. Isran tried to keep her eyes on Elysi, she didn’t want to see more of the severed arms and legs of the people receiving healing at various parts of the large space.
The temples were probably the only buildings in the religious district made of stone. Their exterior was beautiful, with a few statues of gods littered in front. The interior was covered in paintings Isran couldn’t really make out, and mostly just empty space.
The few breaks in the furniture-less space were a result of what Isran had overheard being called healing pools. She had seen mostly old people being lowered into said pools.
Before Isran knew it Elysi had received her healing and it was her turn. The feeling of healing magic being poured into her was unique. It felt like a gust of cold wind pushing past all possible pores in her body and coating her entire interior. She could feel herself get less weary, even her energy seemed to be recovering.
Once the healer was done Isran stepped away and he immediately began to tend to the next person waiting.
After getting healed they got the horse and made their way out of the religious district.
The journey to Kestin was very different from the journey to the religious district the day before. Sure the day before there had been people on the road but heading towards Kestin the amount of people was kept constant.
There were a lot of people that Isran guessed were adventurers in groups--Isran still thought that was a dumb and overly simple name—moving towards the religious district. Many of the previous unique people in the new world passed by, Isran would make sure to ask Elysi about them when they got to Kestin.
The road was also no longer a straight one, there were turns they could take, Isran appreciated Elysi making the effort to be her little tour guide.
“Most of these roads lead to Holdfron.”
“Holdfron?”
Elysi nodded.
“Because of its proximity to Eveln-south Thalbrin has two capitals, I live in Kestin that’s why we’re heading there.”
Isran decided not to ask about Eveln-south, she just assumed it was a country, maybe Thalbrin was too.
“Are there other religious districts on the road to Holdfron?”
Elysi smiled, almost looking proud as she answered. “Yes there are, there is a congregatory religious district east of the one we left. They have names but I don’t really know them.”
Isran nodded. “So different religious districts for the different types of temples present.”
“Yeah basically.”
“What about the capitals, are they very similar?”
“For the most part, there are some things that are more popular in Kestin than Holdfron and vice versa but all in all it's just two capitals. Most consider Kestin to be the real capital though.”
“Why?”
Elysi shrugged. “They just go around saying it. You’d think there were prizes to uphold the honor of Kestin.”
Isran chuckled lightly, that made sense, people would protect their places of birth with all they had sometimes. Or mostly boast about its accomplishments, she wondered if it was some kind of ego boost.
“Who are those?” Isran subtly pointed at a large group of people walking around a big cart.
“It's an expedition, they might be hoping to mine newer dungeons or map out ones that are being frequented more often.”
“Huh.” Isran wondered if the man she had looted had been part of a scattered expedition. She could count more than twenty people.
They were quiet most of the rest of the walk, Isran didn’t have any more questions she could wait to get answered and she also wanted to conserve her energy, she would consider putting a point into it when she received her next attribute point. It was very clearly an important resource.
They reached the gates of Kestin just as the sun inched towards the horizon, sunset not really arriving yet but almost there. Isran let out a sigh of relief that quickly evaporated when she noticed the line they had to join.
Elysi smiled up at her. “Don’t be a baby, we’ll be in the city in no time.”
Isran huffed but smiled down at the sheep girl.