TS6 - Chapter 2

Yet before it had gotten too far, there was a monstrous croak, and one of the hills in the distance opened a massive mouth, and a huge tongue shot out, slapping against the bird. What Thorn had mistaken for a hill was actually a gigantic toad that had been sitting absolutely still. Its skin, as rough as rocky ground, was covered in moss and clover, making it look like all of the other hills around it. And now that it had revealed itself, its aura rolled out, causing the herd of pig bulls to squeal in terror and bolt.

The bird, wrapped in the giant toad's tongue, struggled fiercely as the toad's tongue carried it back into its mouth. There was a loud crunching sound as the toad chewed down on the bird as if it had been a small insect. Though it fought desperately, the bird was no match for the giant toad, and a moment later, its shrieks fell silent, replaced only by the smashing of bones, as the toad ate it entirely. Smacking its lips, the toad scanned the skies for another tasty snack, and Thorn felt as if he could sense a hint of disappointment when it didn't find anything.

Though Thorn and Mina were both in the tenth tier, they couldn't help but gulp as they observed the giant toad. The aura it released was oppressive, and suddenly, Thorn felt as if Eve's categorization of his strength as low was incredibly accurate. The toad looked around for a while and then began to waddle off, heading for a large swamp in the distance. Thorn and Mina didn't move, remaining in position for almost forty minutes until it finally reached the swamp and plunged into the brackish water, until it was halfway submerged. Wiggling down in the mud, the massive toad closed its eyes, once more transforming to resemble a hill.

"Well, that's sort of terrifying," Mina said, giving a nearby hill a sidelong glance.

"You're not joking," Thorn said, his tone grim. "It would seem that the threats in the endless battlefield are much more than just the god beasts. Come on, let's keep going."

Rather than stop to hunt as they had originally been planning, they each ate some of the food they had brought along in their dimensional rings. For almost two days, they raced towards the mountains until they finally arrived in the tall foothills. Here, they stopped once again, though this time because they had found something curious. It was a signpost, along with a road that led up into the mountains. This was no small hunter's trail, however, and instead was a large stone highway, meticulously constructed from local granite, in massive slabs that fit together with nearly no gap. The signpost was written in a relatively archaic language, but it didn't take long for Eve to translate it.

"Cloud Treader City," Mina read. "There are cities here? I thought this was just a giant battlefield."

Shaking his massive head, Thorn wasn't sure what was going on either. "Eve? Any ideas?"

"It's probably wise to consider the endless battlefield as a world unto itself," Eve replied, speaking to both Thorn and Mina. "A world where beings in the tenth tier can live outside the tower."

"What do you think?" Thorn asked Mina. "Do we go check out this city, or do we try to bypass it?"

As much as Mina wanted to simply rush ahead, she knew that it would take forever for them to cross the battlefield, time that Corvo likely didn't have.

"Let's stop by the city," she said. "Maybe they'll have dimensional gates that can get us across the battlefield faster."

Following the path, Thorn and Akira ran side by side, heading up into the mountain along the winding road towards the city in the distance.

"Hey, Thorn, do you think we'll have any trouble if we show up with you looking like a moon wolf?"

"I'm not sure," Thorn said. "If we run into god beast, no, it'll at least buy us a little bit of time. But if the city is controlled by humans, then it probably isn't a great idea."

Flourishing her wand, Mina muttered a few arcane words under her breath and then closed her eyes for a moment.

"It's a human city, or at least, mostly human," she said.

Mid-stride, Thorn transformed back into his normal body, even as Mina jumped down from Akira, who shrank, landing on Thorn's shoulder. Ice coalesced behind Mina, forming wings that carried her forward as Thorn ran underneath, his mental sense sweeping out in front of them.

It wasn't long before the city appeared, perched high on top of a peak that appeared to have been flattened in order to accommodate it. The road leading up to the city was sheer on both sides, providing a good defensive position, and there was a considerable amount of traffic. The people traveling back and forth along the road looked human, or at least mostly human. They had a high density of earth-attributed mana in their bodies, and their skin was rough, almost the texture of stone. A faint marbling could be seen on their skin, though occasionally, one would appear completely different, with either ripples, like a pattern of waves, or swirls, as if clouds were imprinted upon their skin.

Thorn even spotted one who seemed to have a faint flame pattern, as well as bright red hair. Though the earthen people made up the majority of those he saw, even they had a great variety, with all different colors of skin and hair, in dark, earthy tones.

"They're called Qatari," Eve said, by way of introduction. "They're a sort of elemental human. There are seven clans, each one aligned with a particular element. They call themselves the Land People, and they're one of the races that can be found throughout the Endless Worlds."

"How'd you find this out?" Thorn asked.

"I've been reading the Tower Records in my downtime," Eve replied.

"How did you-"

Before Thorn could finish the question, Eve cut him off.

"Believe me when I say you don't want to know. Plausible deniability is important."

"Got it."

Mina must have gotten the same explanation as Thorn did because she looked with interest at the Qatari as she and Thorn got close. Seeing that she was drawing some looks, she dismissed her wings and landed lightly on the ground beside Thorn. And together, they began to walk up the path.

The Qatari all moved out of the way for them, giving them a clear road up to the city, but they didn't seem particularly perturbed to do so, indicating that this was a fairly common thing. The Qatari were all dressed in colors that matched their particular element. Earthy brown, green, and tan were the predominant colors for the earth-oriented Qatari, while the occasional water Qatari were blues and greens. Bright blue and white was the color of the air Qatari, and the single fire Qatari that Thorn had seen was dressed in yellow and orange, with splashes of red.

Very few of the Qatari were armed, and most of them looked more like workers than fighters. They occasionally passed by a Qatari or two who not only had weapons, but looked like they knew how to handle themselves in a fight, and the number of these individuals grew the closer they got to the city.

Thanks to most of the Qatari giving way, Thorn and Mina were able to walk directly up to the gate. The city was surrounded by a large wall, almost a mile in diameter, and tall spires made from native rock could be seen rising into the sky. At the gate were half a dozen heavily armored guards, who quickly stepped forward to stop Thorn and Mina before they could enter the city.

"Hold fast, and declare yourselves."

"I'm Thorn, she's Mina, and this is Akira."

Even as he spoke, Thorn was scanning the city to try and see if he could figure out who it belonged to. It didn't take him long to spot the temple in the center of the city, decorated with the symbols of the Temple of Man. Smoothly fishing a token out of his pouch, he presented it.

"I'm an ascendant with the Temple of Man."

Instead of taking the token, the Qatari guards stepped back, clenching their weapons tightly.

"Welcome to Cloud Treader City," one of the guards said. "If you'll please wait here, we'll go fetch someone to validate you."

Seeing all of the Qatari who were entering and exiting the city without being stopped, Thorn frowned but didn't make trouble. He and Mina, under the guards' watchful gaze, walked over to the side of the road where they waited.

As he waited, Thorn began to fish pastries out of his pouch, handing them up to Akira, who was sitting on his shoulder. In reality, he was pulling them out of his dimensional ring, after sticking his hand in his pouch, causing them to emerge, piping hot, as he had put them into the dimensional storage, immediately after taking them out of the oven. After giving her three, however, he stopped, much to Akira's annoyance.

"We only have a few trays left," Thorn said. "We better start rationing them because it might be a while before we get back to Verdant."

Though sad, Akira accepted his excuse and began to lick her claws. Mina, who was beginning to grow impatient, kept glancing at the guards, clearly making them nervous. Feeling Thorn's hand pat her shoulder, she looked up at him.

"Sorry, I'm just getting anxious again. Have you tried defining whether he's going to be okay or not?"

"I've been trying to avoid it," Mina said, "as I don't know how much power it's going to take, and a big divination could put me out for weeks, maybe even months."

"That is a risk," Thorn said, "but it might bring you some relief."

"Unless I divine he's not going to be okay," Mina said, "and then it'll just make me even more upset."

"A fair point. Still, you're probably right. Once we're settled and we have a quiet place, I'll see if I can set up the divination."

After waiting for another twenty minutes, a group finally hurried out of the gate, heading towards Thorn and Mina. They were dressed in the robes of warriors from the Temple of Man, and when they arrived in front of Thorn and Mina, they quickly bowed.

"You are Ascendant Thorn, is that correct?"

"It is," Thorn said, flashing his token again.

One of the members of the group took out a small crystal and held it out, nearly touching Thorn's token. It flashed with bright light, and the group breathed a sigh of relief.

"I appreciate you allowing us to verify your identity, Ascendant. We meant no disrespect. It's just, in times like these, it's more important than ever that we maintain tight vigilance over the city."

"Of course," Thorn said, "it's no problem at all."

"Welcome to Cloud Treader City."

Following the group of warriors, Thorn, Mina, and Akira all entered the city, walking in through the large gate along with the crowds of Qatari and entering a wide main street that stretched the length of the city, finally ending at a large square in front of the Temple of Man, main headquarters.

The city was packed with people, most of them hurrying about on some business or another. Thorn also saw a tremendous number of resources piled high in carts being dragged throughout the city, and as they walked toward the temple, he saw one of the carts rumble by. Curious about it, he asked one of the warriors what it was hauling.

After a moment of hesitation, the warrior explained, "Our city mainly produces cloud treading ore, a sort of iron ore found in tall peaks. It's of particular importance for the war effort, and we have a sizable mine, one of the largest, which is why the city is named as it is. The ore is being transported to the cities where it'll be turned into weapons, armor, and battle tools."

"Through the dimensional gates?"

"Yes. I mean, can you imagine if we had to take it overland? It would take years to get to the next city, let alone the cities that actually produce the armor and weapons."

Having confirmed that there was indeed a dimensional gate in the city, Mina and Thorn exchanged glances. The next question was how they could hitch a ride. Before they could ask,

"My apologies, Ascendant. We don't have any extra rooms at this time, but I've already spoken to the innkeeper, and he will put you up in the nicest room that he has available. The temple head is not available today, and gives his apologies. He's investigating a problem in the mine. He'll be back tomorrow morning at the latest, however, and has invited you to have breakfast with him."

"Thank you," Thorn said. "You can let him know we'll attend."

Thorn and Mina entered the inn, where they were met by a middle-aged woman whose skin was a creamy yellow with dark brown and green marbling.

"Welcome. I've been informed of your stay and have prepared rooms for you," the innkeeper paused as she took in Thorn's full height. "Though I'm not sure we have a bed that will fit you, sir."

"That's okay," Thorn said. "As long as the room is big enough, I brought my own. I mean, I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Smiling hesitantly to cover her confusion, the proprietress led them upstairs. Thorn had to duck his head going through the hall, and the room wasn't any better. Thankfully, it was big enough that after he pushed the bed to the side, he had plenty of space to sit and meditate.

Food was served downstairs, and Thorn took advantage of it, eating enough for four normal people. Mina, on the other hand, was too worried to eat, and halfway through the meal, she excused herself to go upstairs. Worried about her, Thorn sent Akira to accompany her.

Once back in his room, he sat down on the floor, resting his hands on his knees, palms up, as he closed his eyes and began his meditation. According to what his grandfather had said, if he wanted to advance, he needed to draw in energy from the outside, specifically to reinforce his physical strength and his mental power.

Thorn knew he could improve his mental power through meditation, but as for how to improve his physical strength, he wasn't actually sure. On Earth, what seemed like a lifetime ago, Thorn knew that people improved their strength through lifting heavy things. The problem was that it had never seemed to work for him. He was always unnaturally strong, and working out didn't seem to affect his body one bit.