Chapter 4: Chapter 3: New Fort, New People

I sat at the edge of the forest looking ahead at the city (really a big fort). My plan was to enter in the daytime as the gate was closed right now anyway. Technically, I could probably sneak my way in, but I also wanted to test how different it was to enter a city here from the game. At this point I was already separating this place from the game. Too many things didn’t align. 

I put my hand inside of my [Shadow Inventory]. It was finally time for me to change my clothing. These “Robes of Progenitor Concealment” were good to hide my features, but I just couldn’t stay comfortable without my main enchanted set. My mind grabbed onto the artifact level robes from the inventory. “Now how does changing outfits work?” 

This worked out even easier than opening the inventory did. I just had to think of myself being enveloped in a shadow while imagining those clothes appearing on me. The concealing robes were sucked into the shadow, and they were replaced with the artifact level “Progenitors Shadow” set. As the dark robes covered my body an ominous aura much like my own started leaking. The boots that were slapped on my feet felt extremely comfortable. I smiled widely from ear to ear. “This is just what I needed. If that didn’t work I was prepared to change normally, but this is much better. And now… I wait.”

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I looked up to the crenulated walls and towers of the fort. This place was rather typical for a fantasy setting. Although there were large blue banners hanging down from either side of the gate with a crest I had never seen before. It was a black dragon in the midst of being pierced by a lightning bolt. The walls were about 6 meters high. There were wooden houses on the outskirts of the fort, and several people had begun to make their way into the queue being ushered into the fort in the early morning sun by a few guards. The guards wore metal helmets, and the rest of their armor was thick silver plate armor. A blue cloth hung around their waists with the same crest which hung from the fort walls. I stood at the end of the queue waiting my turn.

I had equipped a black parasol from my inventory which blocked out the sun and eased my headache a bit. I held the parasol low to avoid people seeing my face as much as possible, but that didn’t stop people from staring at me. The reason was obvious. I stood out like a sore thumb. All of the people queued to enter the fort were wearing clothes of the common rabble. Most of them had garb that was suited to medieval farmers. I could hear the hushed whispers of the people spreading.

“Why is a noble in this queue?”

“Was someone like this supposed to come?”

“She doesn’t have an entourage…”

Such things spreaded quickly, and it wasn’t long before a guard approached me. I narrowed my eyes and inspected his armor to see if I could gleam any enchantment. The robes I wore had notable enchantments, and one of them was that dark aura which I had been able to mute before stepping up to the gate. Alas his armor had nothing emanating from it. He stopped in front of me and pulled up the bottom of his helm showing his face which had black streaks on it. The streaks very likely came from his own helm. His gaze passed over me in uncertainty. 

“...Ah miss? I beg your pardon…” Indeed, I had expected this outcome when approaching the gate. The thing was I needed to stand out in order to achieve my immediate goals which was information. I would need to put on airs, but the {Shadow Walk} tree was perfect for this. The tree had many passive skills to help with speech and manipulation. It was time to see if any of them would be effective here. My expression didn’t change as he addressed me, and I kept my posture as straight as royalty. 

“Well, how long will I be made to stand in such a line?” I voiced such a line with practiced ease and a straight voice. He flinched and when his eyes were finally able to meet mine I could see him shudder a bit. No doubt he had seen the crimson pupils; however, this wasn’t unique to vampires. Though his reaction seemed over the top as he started visibly sweating. “You’re… you’re…” 

He started to reach for the sheathed broadsword on his waist. This outcome was unexpected and unwanted. Quickly I lowered my parasol slightly to cover my eyes. Then I waved my hand in front of them while utilizing one of the most basic skills of shadow [Shadow Disguise]. It was basic, but the usage could be complex depending on your level with the element. When my parasol was lifted in what amounted to a shorter time than it would take a pen to drop, My eyes had already changed to blue. My fangs had already retracted since earlier.

“Well?” I asked him once more. He stood there slack jawed for a bit, but returned from his stupor quite quickly. “Sorry… I thought… nevermind. More importantly, no one had told us to expect someone of your status to come. Please follow me, miss…”

“Just Eliah is fine…” The name didn’t get much of a reaction from him. He seemed more unsure than anything. Probably he didn’t want to address me by my first name. The murmurs of the onlookers were spreading, and I would be glad to get to somewhere the whole world wouldn’t hear me. “Are you just going to stand there looking dumbfounded? Or can we move this process along? It is rude to keep a lady waiting.”

“R-right! Then follow me.” I followed him along as we walked past the bystanders. He led me to an opening in the side of the gate. The place we entered was some sort of guard post. There were a few guards lounging around and playing cards at a table, but as soon as they saw me they seemed to stiffen. I was led past them to another door. As we entered the next room, there was a guard who sat behind a wooden desk. This one wasn’t wearing any helmet, and his armor seemed different. The plate armor seemed more fit to his frame, and on his shoulder was a black bar likely denoting some rank. He seemed enraptured in paper work. His eyes never leaving the table before him. The guard next to me who led me here clacked a boot to the floor as he snapped to attention, saluting the man behind the desk. “Sir!”

The man with rank immediately looked up, and at first his gaze held annoyance; however, when he noticed me he fixed himself. It was quite the fast change. “I see, thank you, private. You can wait outside the door for my call.”

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“Yes sir!” The private saluted and the man behind the desk returned it before the private walked off, closing the door behind him. “This is something I don’t see quite often…” The man didn’t seem to hold the same nervousness towards nobles as the private did. He smiled before gesturing to a seat in front of the desk. “Make yourself comfortable, my lady.”

The hint of sarcasm laced in his voice made my brow twitch, but I maintained dignity as I took a seat. “Gladly… however, you should watch your intonation going forward.”

“Haha, you seem to be mistaken. I don’t owe allegiance to a noble I have never met or heard of before.” I gritted my teeth. This was slightly different than expectations, but if the worst should happen I could use some form of shadow manipulation. There were also of course the vampires' own skill trees which have powerful charms, but I had yet to explore those as well as -Blood Manipulation- in this “maybe reality”. I maintained composure. “Is this how the guards of this place conduct themselves when met with a foreign envoy?”

“Envoy? Where is your carriage? Where are your guards? For that matter, my lord has passed down no instruction as to expect such a thing. You are just saying words while looking like someone important. Let me tell you what is going to happen. I will report your existence to the lord, and you may or may not get some audience. That is for him to decide; however, since you are so important. I will let you into the city immediately free of charge… provided you aren’t some criminal.”

He then reached under his desk and pulled out a large black slab before slamming it on top. This was something I recognized immediately. They were called “Grievance Detectors”, and they would detect past criminal history. In the game they only worked for a region/province, and criminals would be prevented from entering cities in a region where they had committed crimes. Of course there were always ways for criminals to shoot under the radar. “I take it you don’t need me to explain what this does?” 

I shook my head and placed my hand on top of it. The slab didn’t light up at all which was the sign that I was clear of crimes. Had it lit up I would have used sleight of hand anyways. “Well you seem to be no criminal, so you are free to enter. Hendrick!” The guard which had escorted me burst through the door.

“Sir!” He snapped to attention answering his superiors' call. “Escort this ‘lady’ into the city through the main gate, and then return back to your post.” 

“But sir…”

“Fucking privates…” The superior whispered under his breath. “Do as I said or it will be your ass later.”

“Yes sir!” Hendrick saluted before looking towards me. “Please follow me, miss.” As I stood up the superior guard looked back down at his desk towards the papers like nothing had happened. I was agitated. It felt like my pride as the most elite player was being mocked right in front of me. I wanted to ask this piece of trash who the hell he thinks he is. Before I felt I would go mad with unrest I collected myself. “Haah, as you please. Farewell, may we never meet again…” 

He waved his hand at my passing words, and after that I turned and followed Private Hendrick back to the main gate. “You should forgive him. He is like that, but he is still an excellent leader…” 

“Make no more words of it.” We arrived at the gate without any further ado, and then I was allowed passage. I had finally entered the fort, and it was loud. It was almost unbearably loud. The sounds of conversations filled my ears. The sounds of people's footsteps against the cobble streets. The people’s clothes rustled as they moved along about their morning business. I was surprised I hadn’t noticed it all before, but now it was grating. “Is there any way to turn this off?” I sourly spat out those words.

Instead I tried to focus on what I saw to distract myself. Most people had unremarkable clothing, but there were a few people with leather armors as well as the guards that walked around on patrol. The people in leather seemed much different from the rabble. The way they walked and carried themselves made it clear to my instincts that they were more built for combat. The weapons of those were also variable. Some held daggers, and others had some type of sword or even axes. They weren’t all in leather armor, but that was the most common type. If this was the game these would definitely be the low level players. Most of them seemed to come in and out of a 2 story stone building some ways away. 

This whole district I entered seemed to placate those people. Aside from a few food stalls and what was likely some type of eatery, there were buildings with signages that depicted crafts from smithing to an apothecary or an alchemist's store. There was a store which had the depiction of a backpack being carried by a large figure. Back to the building of interest. The sign out front was a large shield with twin swords crossing over it, and on top of that there was even a staff. This was the old fantasy staple, and even TOFO had one such organization. It was of course the adventurers guild. “If there is any information, that would be the place…”

I trudged through the city towards the building in question. The people were an oddity that differed from the game. There were only humans from what I could spot. There were no beastkin or elves, and their attires were boring and dull. Had players been here, they wouldn’t stand for this place. With those tangential thoughts in mind I arrived before the swinging wooden doors of the guild. As soon as I swung the doors open the loud chattering inside went silent, and all of their gazes fell upon me. 

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