NOVEL WEB Chapter 36 - Wildwood City
With noon approaching, Tesilim enjoyed being outdoors while trying to find other cool, otherworldly things. Sadly, he only saw plants that may or may not be the same as on Earth.
He had gotten past his phase of Earth nostalgia and was trying to move forward without thinking about his doomed planet. He had already grieved for all those he had lost during his years of survival, so it wasn’t like he was sad because of that. It was just the fact that Earth was gone, just gone, forever.
Catching himself drifting back to those thoughts again, Tesilim forced himself to think about other things and began a pleasant chat with Lili. It wasn’t anything special; they just talked about the weather and what Tesilim should expect from the city they were heading to. Even so, the conversation gave him some nice information, such as that it was the only city on the island they were on. Lili also mentioned that the terrain and weather on the island shifted based on location. They were currently in the more forestry area of the island with mostly sunny skies, though there was some rain here and there.
She also said that their forest area was the safest spot on the island, though it still held more than enough danger. Apparently, if he had appeared some further distance away, he would probably already be dead.
Speaking of the city, they were almost there, and Tesilim could see large stone walls further ahead. It had been hard to make them out at first, as the earth had shifted against their base, lining them with a slow-rising hill covered in grass and bushes. It was like they had created a reverse moat of dirt and plants. Not to mention, the walls themselves were covered in vines and moss. However, he couldn’t see the top of the walls as they were still under an area of the forest with a relatively thick canopy.
Eventually, they exited the canopy, and he was met with the somewhat distant sight of the large, rugged grey stone walls that extended into the sky like a stone tsunami.
The walls were covered in vines and moss, though not to the same extent as their dirt-covered base. Tesilim had wondered why they had made a hill across the entire wall, as that would make it easier for invaders to climb them, but seeing the actual size of the walls answered that. Sure, invaders could try climbing the dirt hill and using the vine-covered walls to make their way upward, but good luck to them as they avoided arrows and other magical missiles.
However, after looking at the gashes halfway up the walls, Tesilim felt the walls weren’t there to stop humanoids from climbing but were there to stop much larger and angrier things.
After admiring the walls for a minute or so, Tesilim was dragged back to reality by Lili, and they took off following the wall to what Tesilim figured was the entrance of the city.
On the way there, he finally saw the watch towers separating the different wall segments. Each watch tower was more like a tree tower. They were effectively giant trees that were flawlessly melded with the stone walls. Each tree watchtower also grew some distance above the tower, and Tesilim guessed each tower had one or two rooms to accommodate guards or, at the very least, some sort of lounge for resting between their shifts. He imagined the guards would need some rest even if they were superhuman, as it took at least 30 minutes to walk between one tower and another.
After about another hour or so of walking in which he saw some guard patrols doing their thing around the forest’s edge, they finally made it to the city’s entrance.
The guards stopped them at the gate, all of whom seemed to know Lili. However, Tesilim tuned out the conversation as he admired the sight before him.
First was the two tree towers, much like the ones he had seen earlier, except the tree didn’t go down to the ground. Instead, the towers stopped midway at a balcony that was the clear lookout spot for the guards. The balcony had a staircase that allowed access to the upper parts of the tree towers and the highest part of the walls. The stairs also entered into the stone wall and connected to ground level, where he assumed there were offices.
The offices inside the walls had doors that led out to the gate proper, where the guards stood watch. At least some of them did. The gate itself was massive, matching its walls. Though, of course, it was made of metal.
However, completely outmatching the gate and towers was the beautiful city in the background, filled with trees, tree houses, and other more basic medieval buildings made of wood and stone.
Even then, the sight of the beautiful nature city was completely outshined by the absolutely massive tree that dominated the city sky. The thing was as tall as any skyscraper from Earth, and its trunk was unimaginably thick. By Tesilim’s account, giants could definitely call the tree home and easily make a village there. Just as massive as the trunk was, the tree canopy which extended outward, taking up a large portion of the skyline. The massive branches of the canopy swayed to unseen winds that could probably send Tesilim flying based on the strength required to move them.
As he was lost, staring at the insane sight of the giant tree, Lili finished the conversation with the guards and grabbed his arm, pulling him forward and bringing him out of his reverie.
Passing through the gate, Tesilim wondered when his goal of reaching the city would be complete. Then he heard a jingle and a screen popped up.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Congratulations, the Goal - Reach Wildwood City Alive - has been completed successfully. You gain 1 Chaos Point.
🔷
Then he heard another jingle as a new pop-up appeared.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
A New Goal has been assigned.
Reach D Rank - Allotted time 3 Months.
🔷
“Uhhh, hey Lili, how long will it take me to reach D Rank?”
Looking over at him, Lili took a minute to ponder before answering.
“Honestly, it depends on how hard you train, how fast you can feel for mana and your pain tolerance. Well, it really is about feeling the mana if you want to be a caster, but if you plan to fight melee, I recommend you train your body as well.”
“I see. Well, I plan to get close and personal and use magic. Do you think I can do it in three months?”
“Sure, I don't see why not. Like I said, it's all about what you plan on doing. For example, a paladin needs a strong and resilient body to enhance further, so they are constantly working out. Meanwhile, if you become a warlock, you can pretty much reach D Rank in a couple of days as long as you decide to be a caster, and it also depends on your patron.
“There are also scholars who spend months learning the language of magic before actually doing anything with mana. The main limiter will be you and how fast you get a hold of mana, how long you want to train for, and how much pain you are willing to endure.”
“Can I feel the mana first and then train, or do I have to train my body first?”
“You can certainly do that. Just know you won't be able to cast spells straight away. You will be able to do some magic, but it will mostly be body enhancement. I don’t know you very well just yet, but you took that fall rather well, so maybe the process of reforging your body won’t be as bad.”
“Hmm, okay, the faster I get to use magic, the better.”
Ending the conversation, Tesilim returned to his status, and he had indeed gained a Chaos Point. However, looking at it, his Chaos Meter had also gone up, which wasn’t good.
- Chaos Meter: 1/100
- Chaos Points: 1/100
Tesilim was hoping not to die by some dumb crap within the first day of getting to his new world. He then wondered what the Chaos Meter increase rate was, and a notification popped up with a jingle.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Your Chaos Meter increases by 1 Point every 2 Hours.
🔷
Well, that's not that bad. It should take a bit over a week to fill up, Tesilim thought before he returned to admiring the city.
So far, he had counted so many humanoid species that it was ridiculous. There were the beastkin, who, as their name implied, were humanoids with beast features. He had yet to find a catgirl, though he imagined it wouldn’t be the same kind as the ones in anime on Earth. The beastkin were more beast than anything. They just happened to be humanoids.
Tesilim also saw satyrs roaming about and dryads chilling outside random trees in the tree-filled city. There was also the bark-like tree folk, which, from hearing someone cuss one out they, apparently were half-treant, which was awesome!
Something he also tried while walking through the city was attempting to identify stuff. Naturally, he had his own personal game system thing, which had to come with some sort of identification power. Sadly, his identification attempts came to an end with a pop-up.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Identify unavailable. To Identify, you must first learn a spell of identification.
🔷
Tesilim couldn’t be too mad as that made sense, so he returned to enjoying the nature-filled city.
After walking for another 30 minutes, they reached their destination.
As the sign indicated, the Rusty Boar was a normal tavern with a triangle-shaped thatch roof and rather worn wooden walls. Entering the tavern through its wild west swinging gates, Tesilim was hit with the delicious smell of roasting meat and the stank of sweaty bodies from the tavern's many patrons. The inside of the tavern was relatively simple, though still adorned with some basic paintings and taxidermy animal heads.
Additionally, even though the tavern was full and it was the middle of the day, the cool breeze from outside made the small tavern feel rather cool. However, Tesilim wouldn’t be surprised if magic was also somehow at play.
As they entered, Lili once again received a few greetings, which showed Tesilim she was well-known in the city. She motioned for Tesilim to follow her, and they made their way to the bar.
“Hey, Coins, do you mind if I head to the back?” Lili said to the scruffy black-haired gnome floating behind the counter wearing plain clothes and a dirty white apron.
“That’s fine, though; who is this elf with you?”
“He's a new friend I picked up in the forest.”
“Hah! That’s a good one. Just don’t be doing anything too intimate back there.”
A response that made Lili scowl at the gnome, who, in turn, just continued doing his job. Tesilim, on the other hand, couldn’t help but blush as he thought of Lili and him. Standing there watching Lili enter the back room, he felt a jolt on his butt and turned around to find the gnome who was making the motion of blowing off smoke from a finger gun’s barrel.
“What the heck, dude! Did you just zap me?!?” Tesilim yelled at the black-bearded gnome with irritation.
“Don’t just stand there, you idiot! Go after her, or should I sap you again?” the gnome replied, pointing his finger gun at Tesilim again.
That motion finally got Tesilim to move, and he disappeared through the door.
Through the door was a hallway, and Lili was waiting for him at the intersection. She saw him and took a left. Following her, they arrived at a small room with one or two tables that held some food and drinks. Lili motioned for him to sit, and he did, with her following soon after.
From there, Lili and him ate as she probed him with questions. He obviously answered as best as he could, though most of them were her trying to figure out if he was actually from another world. Then, after he had caught her up on the events of Earth’s destruction, she sighed, told him to wait there, and left.
A minute later, she returned to the room holding a mirror and placed it face down in front of him. Picking up what she was putting down, quite literally, Tesilim grabbed the mirror and stared into it as he found a new face looking back at him.
His dark brown hair and eyes were gone. Now he had purple and yellow hair. The hair wasn’t bad, and he liked it. After all, those were his favorite colors. His eyes no longer had black pupils. Instead, there were just yellow and purple iris. His tan skin was gone, though he figured he would get it back while being out in the sun. Additionally, his facial features were less rigid, and his skin was flawless. And finally, he had the pointy ears of an elf.
“Holy shit. I am actually an elf,” Tesilim said in awe and disbelief as he stared at the mirror.
“Yup, welcome to the family,” Lili replied.
“Okay, so what now?” Tesilim asked while still staring at the mirror.
“Well, first, let's go to a nearby clinic so we can make sure your brain is still working right, and then we've got to figure out where you're going to sleep.”
The clinic was a few minutes away from the tavern and was located inside one of the many huge trees in the city. Walking into the tree clinic's trunk, Tesilim was amazed at the sheer size of the tree. A small waiting room with a dozen chairs took most of the room, with the rest giving way to a stairway leading up and into the tree.
Thankfully, the waiting room was empty, and they soon met a Cleric of Amphis. The woman was a deer-like beastkin with a beautiful brown pelt. She wore a deep green clerical robe with golden trims. Overall, she was slimmer than the male of her kind that Tesilim had seen walking around with their antlers.
Lili spoke with the woman, and soon after, the beastkin said some words in a language Tesilim didn’t understand, and a light green mist encompassed him. This mist was part of some scanning spell, as afterward, they were told Tesilim was perfectly fine.
With that out of the way, Lili said they would go to a nearby inn before heading to her place, and they walked out of the clinic.