Chapter Seven || Byar'non

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High rises of muted and pastel color schemes peppered with the occasional brilliant splash of electric color, smooth obsidian streets teeming with ethic diversity and canopied sidewalk stalls, the gong of heavy bells and clack-chip-pop of hustle and bustle, the smell of something musky, something fragrantly savory, delicious—all these visuals and sensations struck the trio as they roamed the city of Byar'non.

"Essairyn, how are we supposed to find the Knight-Mage Academy in these crowds? Should we just ask someone?" Darren rose up on the front soles of his boots in an attempt to survey the area above everyone's heads. Taller than Essairyn by five inches, he was able to see in front of them better. But even at five ten plus the boot heels, he saw nothing but people.

"Yeah, that's...probably best." Although she was amazed by the crowds and felt like they had truly entered civilization as they knew it, Essairyn was beginning to get annoyed by being pushed around and not really moving forward.

"It's not yet even noon, and the roads are this packed! Now I'm starting to appreciate the invention of cars. At least then we could walk around on the street lanes to get somewhere," muttered Essairyn loudly.

At her remark, Darren guffawed. She wasn't at all troubled by the possibility of being hit by a car in that kind of situation. Or even held accountable for jaywalking if that was prohibited here. He wondered what she was like on Earth with this kind of straightforward attitude.

"Hey, let's ask someone standing in line at one of the stalls. I don't think anyone is going to stop for us in this crowd..." Darren suggested and began elbowing a path for them toward the closest stand. Reaching the middle of the line, he asked an amiable-looking woman for directions. Since the Academy was widely known, he received an acceptable answer without having to ask anyone else.

"So apparently it's near the center of the city by the plaza." Darren bent down as he recited the information back to Essairyn due to the ambient noise. "If we go straight north for a hundred or so blocks we'll reach it."

"A hundred blocks?!" She exclaimed incredulously. Based on the size of blocks in Reisparte, it took about two minutes to walk one side unhindered. But with these droves of people, it would take at least twice as long.

"No way, it'll take us the whole day even when the crowds start dispersing! There has to be some quicker way..." Essairyn propped up her chin with a hand and carefully deliberated. The common means of transportation was mostly walking followed by animal-drawn vehicles. But the wagons on the narrow path weren't much faster than the pedestrians. So that left one option: the air instead of the ground.

However, flying would draw too much attention. Additionally, it was risky. They were still newcomers to this world and had to proceed with more caution. Lachlan had also warned them about some group targeting mages. Thus, this option was immediately erased.

"Darren..." Essairyn began as an idea began formulating in her head. "How comfortable are you with jumping over roofs?"

The boy blinked at her with wide eyes. "Over roofs? You're thinking about crossing over all these people by running on top of the buildings?" He peered up at the imposing edifices. They weren't skyscrapers, but it was still absurd considering some were ten stories or higher. And jumping from a tall to short building or vice versa was bound to be difficult even with improved physical abilities.

"Yup! I think we can do it!" Essairyn determinedly smacked her palm with a fist.

Darren draw back his head, aghast at her proposal. He was still getting used to his improved body, and as much as he was still perturbed about being in an unfamiliar world, he didn't want to die in it either. Although, to be fair, he was more likely to injure himself than die by engaging in rooftop parkour.

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