Thick snow, raging blizzards, heavy rain, and a journey into the unknown. Charles Rydner didn't want any piece of that. But he got a huge piece of it, and he wasn't ever able to let it go. So begins a journey of an amateur explorer trapped in a worl...
Their feet sank beneath the layers of leaves that had piled between the seasons. Charles didn't stop running. At times he looked behind him but finally stopped when the background lay motionless. They were gone.
"That was—," Fender panted as he got ahold of his breath. "We were in bandit territory somehow. Not a safe place if you ask me." Charles adjusted his backpack so he could reach for the bottled water that he had packed before the trip. Taking it out, he twisted the cap open and took a gulp. He closed it and put it back inside his pack. Fender started walking and Charles followed. The forest felt like a never-ending tunnel of trees to Charles, and a question struck his head.
"Where are we right now? Like this forest thing," he asked.
"This place? I want to say that we're on the outskirts of Southtown," Fender replied. "We're in Rainvir, it's a kingdom." Charles scratched his head. So from Ardrington to here, he thought. Alot of other questions raised in his mind, but he decided not to bother the feline. After all, he did have a gun. Immediately, Fender halted. He crouched down and ordered Charles to do the same. Ahead of them stood two guards, wearing medieval-styled chainmail armor and carrying muskets. Their belts hung a saber and stored extra ammunition.
"This is Southtown," Fender whispered to Charles. In front of them stood towering walls that protected the inner city, and a gate to protect against intruders. Along the outskirts of the city lay a couple of farmhouses and such. Fender tapped Charles and signaled him to move up with him. They both raised up and walked towards the guards. The guards' attention shifted from each other to the feline and the stranger.
"What business do you have here?" one of them asked.
"Trading purposes," Fender replied. "We have some gold that we want to spend to buy some new attire."
"Alright," the guard stated. Then he suddenly yelled, "Open the gate!" and signaled a thumbs-up to a gatekeeper that resided on top of the city walls. The gate slowly eased towards the top of the walls, and they both walked through.
There was plenty of chatter within the city gate. Blacksmith's dealing armory, portable shops selling organic fruits and vegetables, and shopkeepers trying to sell their latest attire. Fender tapped Charles and opened his paws. There lay five gold coins and seven silver coins.
"Silver coins are called 'danvirs', and gold coins are called 'danmirs'," he explained, pointing to each coin as he described them. He then opened Charles's hands and placed the coins into his possession. "You can use them however you want, you can go buy some food. Heck, go buy yourself some clothes! You look like an alien wearing those." Fender then walked off into a pub and gave Charles a thumbs-up.
Charles started walking down the paved road that didn't seem to lead anywhere but to the edge of the city. He surveyed the surroundings around him, looking for a decent attire store. There were plenty, all placed together in an organized fashion.
"Three danmirs and get your custom-tailored cloak here!" a thin-looking shopkeeper hollered at him. "You sir, look like you need a new fit if I should say so myself!" The shopkeeper had identical features as the human man, except for his professional apparel. He had a scruffy beard, a plain vest, and generic round glasses to top it off. His sleeves were rolled up. Charles smiled and changed his direction towards the tailor shop. The man with the vest opened the door and gestured Charles in politely.
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The room stood around two stories high, shelves stacked with clothing and hangars with coats. In front of him stood a shelf that hung several metal bracelets.
"Welcome!" the shopkeeper introduced. "We have a wide variety of attire. May I take your measurement, sir?" I nodded but he hadn't moved. He closed his eyes and waited a while. After a moment later, he opened back his eyes and snapped. "You're in awesome shape!" he said. "Also—," he added as the shopkeeper leaned closer and spoke in a whisper. "I haven't seen a person with such high magic strength before. Are you perhaps part of the Directory of Magnus?"
Charles unhesitantly gave him a "no" and the shopkeeper nodded it off. What's the Directory of Magnus? Charles questioned.
"What's the Directory of Magnus?" he said, speaking his thoughts up verbatim.
"You don't know what the Directory of Magnus is? Do you live in Ranvar or something?" the shopkeeper said. "Anyways, they're the people that overlook Rainvir and it's Magnus users and schools. They are made up of four chairmen: Alexia, Rhinemir, Skrol, and Laviar."
Charles nodded in succession, eventhough he had no idea what he was saying. The shopkeeper then snapped his fingers.
"I just got the right size for you, mister," he said. "Perfect fit, perfect fabric, the perfect cloak for you." The shopkeeper levitated the cloak from a tall cabinet and brought it down to the ground, as Charles watched in amazement. Charles nabbed the cloak in mid-air and took off his coat. He stuffed it inside his backpack and zipped it uptight. The cloak perfectly fit him as he put it on, stretching his arms to how far the sleeves would stretch. It was perfect.
"Thank you, this looks great!" Charles told the shopkeeper as he handed him three danmirs. "Also, quick question. How do you do that floating thing?"
"God, sometimes I just want to know where you came from! It's called Magnus, and some people have the ability to control magic but some do not. It's simply magic," the shopkeeper explained.
"Alright — Oh, and I didn't quite catch your name — mine's Charles Rydner," he introduced.
"Nice to meet you. My name is Alfred Slonim," the shopkeeper replied as he took Charles's hand and shook it with a gentleman's tap. He pulled out from his pocket a rather peculiar pocket watch, engraved with a golden stork that appeared to be perched on top of the glass.
"It's about time I close the store, so if there are any last minute business I could aid you with, I would gladly do so," Alfred mentioned to Charles as he pocketed the watch into his pant pocket.
