Broken Tower Saga: The First Swordsman

It was a slow evening of winter in Gala. The sun had set, but the afterglow still remains, painting a clumsy canvas on the horizon. Tall buildings stood all around the warp gate where Wrik and others finally appeared. They took their time in the sanctuary and among the last of people that left. They even had to ask the trial manager for an exemption for a few days. Davin took much more time to recover than they have assumed.

"Finally," Anton said, gazing all over the limelight lit buildings. 

All around the huge city surrounded a great wall. Buildings clustered together as if they were afraid to let go. White, red, grey, all kinds of stones plastered in white, as they have seen in the trial sanctuary. But the sanctuary had free space in between the white plastered buildings, but it's all cramped here. 

Only the river took free space, but there were buildings crammed above it as well in rows. Other than the building on the other were many bridges across it. They do not restrict the path of the river, but do not give respect to it either.

The buildings were lit in different colours of light. Mostly white, but some held other colours to stand out.

The city was full of people, more than usually any of them had seen. No wagons galloped and there were no people on idle. Most people were on foot, moving and doing their business. While a few weird-looking vehicles creaked down the wide road towards or from the huge gate of the great wall. Their shapes ranged according to the needs, though most of them were identical.

The great wall was tall enough to reach fifty feet of black stone, streaked with white plaster, encircling the great city in a large circle. Limelights lit on it as well. Wrik zoomed in his vision, narrowing his eyes to find guards in white-clad breastplates stood above it. There were many of them as far as the wall went.

For such a city, there was not so much noise other than the bystanders on foot and the noises from the weird vehicle. There were the merchants on the sidewalks and so was the market against the wall with stalls and stores. 

They were never in such a cramped place; at least, Wrik and Anton had not. Elania was not like this. Even though it was a great city with lots of people, it was not as cramped and not as futuristic. 

According to the notes left behind by Lucas, Elania was supposed to be the safe Haven situated at the bottom floor of the tower while this Place, Gala, was at the tenth. Will it cram even further as they go higher? 

"I don't know how people live like this," Wrik muttered under breath. 

"I think they will ask the same question if they know about our lifestyle in Elania," the girl with emerald eyes said. 

"Yes," Byul agreed with Tanya. "Life is lively and colourful here; at least for the rich. They can find all sorts of entertainment here, from hunting, brothel to the occasional balls or parties—to entertain the noble blood and flaunt their superiority on each other. I think they could not last a week without any of the facilities. Like the fish that can't live without water." 

Wrik looked at the short-haired girl peculiarly, and he was not the only one. Gala was the place Byul used to live, though according to her behaviour it did not seem she had the lively living—she just talked about. She probably would have still been here if the recruiter did not recognise her talent. 

"You are from here, right?" Jacob asked. The archer had almost a dozen offers in the sanctuary from different kinds of organisations. Some were coveting enough with rich perks, but in the end, he chose none among them. Though the offer still stands as the guy was still unaffiliated. "How about you give us a tour of the city?"

"I did not live here," Byul said flatly. "Here is the place for the nobles and rich folks, even the shadow of a peasant was not allowed here, how could I live here!"

Wrik arched his eyebrow. From Tanya, he had heard a little about her past, though not too many things, but all in all the experience she had in the seventeen something years of age was not something anyone could overlook. Wrik gazed all around the city and asked, "Where do you live then?"

"Outside the great wall. It is even more crowded there," she said, gesturing. "Don't ask me to take you there. Nothing to see there." 

Wrik did not linger on the top as Byul clearly was uncomfortable talking about it. 

"Let's go and search for a place to stay then," Wrik said, and gaze at the people around the Warpgate. 

There were many people there in a temporary stall. The sign and words written on banners indicated they were brokers of many types of things. Few of them picked up immediately, noticing his gaze. Maybe they were waiting for that. After all, they had years of experience in the job and could recognise new people only with their behaviour.

All of them were gazing at the city with widened eyes from the beginning—there was no bigger giveaway than that. But these brokers seemed to have a rule of thumb among them, and did not come at them together, but one by one in a civic way. 

"We need a place to stay for a term of about a few months," Wrik said and counted the people with him. There's Anton, Davin, Tanya, Kevin, Jacob, Michelle and Byul. "Is there any place where can stay safe and comfortable?"

"Of course there is," the man said, smiling. The broker was a lean man, not too old or tall. He was the type of people that could blend in any situation—did not stand out much and did not lack the presence either. "There are many places to stay here, ranging from the prices you will get to the other services, such as room service, food, security, and many other things to enjoy. Tell me what sort of services you need and the credits you have and I'll take care of everything else."

"I see," Wrik said and pondered for a second. "How about you tell us about the range of capital, from lowest to highest?" 

"The hotels here are graded into stars, 1 to 5," the broker said. "The most luxurious hotel suite will cost you about five hundred thousand to a couple of million omega credits according to your needs." 

"That's expensive," Jacob said, biting his lips one above another.

"Of course it is," the broker said, looking at the short archer. "The stars were not just for show. You get the highest level of security guarded by many mahasayers and warders. You could sleep there with no worry about something going wrong—"

"Do things go wrong here occasionally?" Wrik asked, cutting in. 

"How do I answer that?" The lean broker thought for a second and continued, "Things were always stable for the gala. At least it is true for the inside of the great wall, but it does not hurt to be safe than sorry." 

"Millions of omega credits don't hurt?" Anton sneered at the broker. 

"That's the set price, we can't do anything about it, though I must add even with the credits not everyone could enjoy a place in those hotels." The broker smiled. "You need to have some standing or recognition to get a place there."

"Great then," Jacob said with sarcasm. "We can save the money." 

"Is the identity of Mahasayer enough recognition?" Wrik asked curiously. After all, only a thousand candidates become mahasayer each year—it is quite rare counting all the people in the huge city.

"You are all Mahasayer?" the broker asked. His eyes widened. 

Wrik did not answer, only infused a little man inside his right arm as a symbol of a tower and a sword appeared in his right arm. Anton and a few others showed their symbol as well.

After they succeeded in the test, they were given the 'Symbol of Maha' by the tower manager himself. It was recognised throughout the tower though most people in Gala think, the tower was something mysterious and some place else. 

Most people, mahasayer, Inquisitor and many other people working for the tower do not know the truth. They think through the warp gate they go in and out from the tower and other places. Wrik still has no clear clue about why it was a secret. What else was held inside it that the Omeganet put a ban against it?

The broker sucked in a deep breath. "You should have told me earlier," he said. "You lots are a lot younger than the people who came in a week ago. From the looks of you folks, everyone thought you people were some nobles coming from afar."

Wrik nodded. Their average age did not go over 19. He, himself, Jacob and Kevin were the only one who were close to getting 21 years of age while Davin and Anton a year younger. As for the girls, Michelle and Byul have not reached their adulthood yet, and Tanya was the only adult female in the group.

Even with that, they looked awfully young to be a mahasayer. The people they met in the test were mostly young, but most of them were in their mid-twenties and some even in their thirties. There were only a few exceptions, such as Lan and Lora, who were in their adolescent, but they had their other reasons to join the trial. 

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