The reincarnated Demon (Male Mendoris Reader x Mushoku Tensei)

Chapter 16: Ataraxia

Ataraxia. The capital of the Ardonia region, an oasis in the hot and scorching wastelands of the Demon Continent, the homeland of the race with a similar name, and simultaneously the largest city on the Demon Continent due to the stable circumstances that are made possible by the Council of Five, the leaders of all five Ardoni clans, residing and ruling there. The city was built in a circular shapes around a large pit that descended hundreds of meters downwards the ground that was missing from the pit was floating in islands in the air at different attitudes, ranging from enormous, to tiny platforms not even big enough for one person to stand on. From the middle of the pit a big beam of light always shone upwards to the sky, the origins of this Solar Isotoma were still unknown. These hovering chunks are connected with one another through rope bridges, walkways, zip lines and other methods.

Around the city a ten meter high wall was built as a last line of defense, with a tower every fifty meters which also served as a stairwell to get to the floating land as some bridges were connected to the towers and they could be raised to let the isles act as a last refuge in case there would ever be a siege. And the mountain range and closely guarded river also formed natural barriers for any invading force.

Furthermore, there was a crater in the city that was transformed into an amphitheatre-style arena where the upcoming tournament would take place to honor the fallen Singer, as the wielders of the Prime Songs were called, and training grounds around it, where you could have everything you need to strengthen your body.

The houses were built in all different kind of styles and materials. Some where made up of wood and clay, mostly common in the poor neighborhoods and others made from stone, which were in the wealthier zones.

You stood in the lush fields surrounding the city, where they cultivated wheat and other crops to feed the inhabitants of Ataraxia, astonished by the sight before your eyes. You had read and saw a thing or two about the city in the Greyrat's library, which most likely was no more, but being able to see it with your own eyes was an experience in and off itself. 'Holy shit!' exclaimed Itto with open mouth. Some sounds of welcome surprise came from Grim and Abaddon. 'It's... beautiful,' a wide-eyed Ganyu said. 'It's a great view, I suppose.' Agate spoke with a tiny hint of a smile on her metallic face, which was, now that you looked at it by clear daylight, rather cute, in general and not only for a Magnorite. The same could be said for your other female travel companion, although their beauty pales in comparison to Eris', you thought. You wanted to get back to her as soon as possible, but so far you hadn't found any information on their whereabouts whatsoever, so you thought that a bigger city would have a higher probability of knowing their location.

You and the rest first offloaded Abaddon and gave his baggage to the lizard mount, which meant that no one would be able to ride it as it would be encumbered if someone did. Your dragon looked at you slightly surprised at the sudden weight lifted from his back. You reached out your hand and he snuggled his big head into your palm. 'Look buddy, people are going to get suspicious and might do weird things if they see you, so I think it would be best for everyone if you aren't there,' you started to explain to him. A low disagreeing grumbling came from his throat and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. 'You'll still be there with me, but at the same time you're not. I'm going to desummon you and then I can summon you whenever I want. I'm going to promise I'll let you out as soon as possible, okay bud?' Eventually, he let out a snort of agreement, but reluctantly so and curled himself up, like he was sleeping. Everyone took a couple of steps back and you created a summoning circle using earth magic.

'Ruler of the skies of old
Carrier of enforcement
I seekst thou to rise again
And bring order to this world'

The giant eye with a slit pupil the dragon was laying in, glowed light green in the inner circle that slowly transitioned to blue-gray the further it reached the outer rim of the summoning circle. The darkness coming from the slit pupil slowly covered your dragon like a warm blanket, while he just seemed confused but not afraid as you weren't either. Once Abaddon was completely covered the darkness seeped back into the pupil and the light died out once again, with your dragon nowhere in sight. You then used earth magic once again to get rid of the drawn out summoning circle and the ground looked like nothing ever happened. 'That went well,' Itto said optimistically after he tried to give you a noogie, which failed due to you quickly getting out of his headlock. 'Yeah, I'm glad it did,' you said with a satisfied smile. 'Let's get to the city,' you said and started walking with the rest following you.

Your group attracted some attention from the workers, which mostly existed of Kaltaris clan Ardoni, working in the fields. They stared especially at Agate with slight distrust, but their expression quickly changed to a calmer when they saw you walking close to her. At the gate you greeted the guards, a Voltaris and a Nestoris, and they greeted you back.

They wore greaves, poleyns, tassets, a chestplate, pauldrons, couters and bracers made up of extremely high quality metal that only Mendoris could bring to the surface in such a perfect state and was then refined by most likely Voltaris as their smithing skills were just overshadowed by the Magnorites, but their poor reputation made Voltaris edited metal more sought after. Due to both being in abundance in these lands Ardonia had one of the strongest armies on the continent, despite not being the biggest. This was also due to the rigorous training every single guard and soldier had to go through. The Ardoni had to be at least Advanced in the magic of their clan and any non Ardoni had to be at least Advanced in the Sword God Style at the end of their military training, if not you would not be allowed to be a guard or  soldier. Which seems to be a not so wise decision at first, but is extremely effective in the long run. You start of with a very small but unbelievably strong military, which allows for stability in a limited amount of land, which will have an increase in population, due to the stability, which leads to more people having the potential to reach Advanced making the military grow, allowing the stability to spread to more land and so on.

You went through the gate without any problems, as you had expected and entered the city. The sun was blocked as you entered the city now that the wall was behind you. The streets were rather busy, but not crowded. You opened the map you got from the Nestoris at the gate, they apparently distribute it to every company entering the city, and found the quickest way to get to the Pit, where the market was. Not that you needed it as you knew the place like the back of your hand, you always had a good memory. 'This city certainly is... different,' Itto said. 'Yeah, the atmosphere here is more lively, like the city itself is breathing and living,' Ganyu admired. 'It's indeed admirable about this place,' you said with a sign of bitterness, while walking at a fast pace. 'Yo, man! Walk slower will you? You walk like you don't want to be here,' Itto said. 'That's because I don't!' you spat at them.

A/N: Hello dear reader. I hope you enjoyed this new chapter of the Ataraxia Arc, for which (Y/N) apparently hold a grudge.

Why do you think (Y/N) doesn't want to be there? Let me know.

Support and criticism are always welcome and as always I'll see you laterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - Dodominic2021