Chapter 36

Mantis in the Big City

I kept an eye on my mana just to be safe, but did not stop to regenerate it. Soon enough I was at the three exit cave and down to just 450 mana. I pulled out the mana potion and chugged it. I quickly checked my status and realized that the mana potion only was good for 5,000 mana. I sat down quickly to regenerate the rest. I may want to finish this thing fast, but being foolish would just be stupid. After 20 minutes I was topped off and I started towards my last Fire Drake fight. 30 minutes later I was scorched and a little mad at myself for forgetting to set up landmine traps, but I was victorious. I quickly opened the wealth and strength chests and then stepped on the platform. I arrived in front of Sven who had a surprised look on his face.

“Lad I think you just beat the old senior exam time record by over 30 minutes.”

“I would have gone faster, but I only had a single mana potion.”

Sven just shook his head. “Come on son let’s head to camp for dinner and rest. We will move in the morning to return to the academy.”

I followed behind him and saw that several students had waited outside the dungeon to see how I would do. They also seemed surprised that I had finished in such a short time. Well I hope that my showing off works the way I want it too. I am just looking for a couple of privileges and hopefully a reputation that I should not be messed with. After a quick dinner and the announcement that we would be leaving in the morning I retired to my temporary tree house amidst looks of envy from my now fellow students. Once I had closed up the door I decided that I should check my gains from the last few days. The wave fights especially probably leveled me up again. Status without Bonuses.

Name: Mark Stefanopolis Race: Magic Chimera Mimic Virus (Elemental Thri-Keen Form)

Level: 85 (Transcendent)

Primary Profession: Sorcerer +10% exp Secondary Profession: Not Assigned

Unassigned Stat Points: 51

Strength: 57 (65) Agility: 60 (70) Intelligence: 65 (85)

Wisdom: 55 (65) Constitution: 60 (85) Perception: 52 (60)

MP: 8500 out of 8500 HP: 850 out of 850

MP/Regen: 650% per hour HP/Regen: 85% per hour

Skills:

1. Inspect Level 10 – MAX

2. Direction Sense Level 10 – MAX

3. Multicast Level 10 – MAX

Well I had leveled up significantly again. Better yet my skills had all maxed out. No evolution notices from them though. I need to discover some new skills or be taught the proper way to be awarded them and also pick a secondary profession when I get to the academy. First off let’s place my unused stat points. Five there, five more, 15 there for a better regen rate, yep that should work. Status without Bonuses.

Name: Mark Stefanopolis Race: Magic Chimera Mimic Virus (Elemental Thri-Keen Form)

Level: 85 (Transcendent)

Primary Profession: Sorcerer +10% exp Secondary Profession: Not Assigned

Unassigned Stat Points: 1

Strength: 62 (70) Agility: 65 (75) Intelligence: 80 (100)

Wisdom: 70 (90) Constitution: 65 (90) Perception: 57 (65)

MP: 10000 out of 10000 HP: 900 out of 900

MP/Regen: 900% per hour HP/Regen: 90% per hour

Skills:

1. Inspect Level 10 – MAX

2. Direction Sense Level 10 – MAX

3. Multicast Level 10 – MAX

Yep that looks good. Time for some rest and then on to new and exciting things in the morning.

Morning came early it seemed, maybe it was me having a hard time sleeping from being excited. I realize I am acting like a little kid, but this is a big moment for me. Even if we will not see the city for three or four days, just the thought of seeing a city on another planet gets me excited. I mean I have seen magic, met monsters and other races, this city should be awesome. With a happy heart I joined everyone for breakfast. The students were all packing up and looking depressed. I guess this was like a vacation for them. A break from school.

I was the opposite. The city would be my new and interesting experience. Everything was soon picked up and stored. Inventory makes camping a lot easier than back on Earth. One of the older students consulted some device and headed out north. We walked at a very leisurely pace. I guess no one was eager to get back to the city except for me. Lunch time rolled around and we set a quick fire and cooked a meat stew that was shared around. This simple lunch stop reminded me that I had forgotten some of the simplistic necessities of civilization like bowls and silverware.

Seeing everyone bringing their own bowls and spoons to the communal stew pot I quickly ran over to a log and used shaping to create my own bowl and spoon. A couple of students who had not seen me create my shelter the night before stared, but most ignored the fact that I was doing something different again. The stew was good and we were back hiking in a surprisingly short amount of time. We hiked north all the way until evening. Just as it was starting to get darker teacher Sven called for a stop for the day. Everybody set up camp and I located two trees and recreated my shelter from the night before.

This was the first time teacher Sven had seen this along with some of the other students. I could tell they were curious, but they respected my privacy and did not bother me with questions. Dinner was roasted monster meat and some greens. I took out a small jar of honey and shared it around to the surprise and delight of many. I was actually doing it to get the reactions and judge how popular it might be to sell. From the enthusiasm, it seemed like I would get a good price if I had to sell it to make some money.

I do not know if it would be necessary, because I had been thinking and scheming about some ideas to get some money fairly quickly once we actually reached the city. I also had some coinage from the dungeon and many fire cores to sell which should last me a year if I lived frugally. Who wants, to live on the basics though. If I could afford it, luxury would be the way to go in my lifestyle. Although quality items and other things cost more, there was usually a good reason for it. It is hard to compete with better made objects even when they are more expensive. I would rather have a high quality cooking set that lasts for 10 years than buy 10 low quality sets that I have to replace each year.

Day two and three of the journey passed in a similar fashion to the first. It was on the night of the third day that I was told we should reach the outskirts of Vulcanopolis around lunch time tomorrow. We were informed by teacher Sven that there would be no lunch break and we could buy something from the vendors when we got closer to the city. The next morning, we made breakfast and packed up as quick as we could. It seems that everyone was now excited to get back to civilization. Either that or they just did not want to walk late into the afternoon and miss lunch.

We set off at a quicker pace than the previous days and several people were starting to get tired after only a couple of hours. Obviously they need to work on their stamina some more. Soon enough I could see what looked like large walls in the distance. After some time of walking I could see what I would call an extremely large walled city. The walls must have been 20 meters high at least, possibly more. I could see the trail we were on merged into a stone paved road that led to a very large wood and metal gate. There was quite a large line formed up outside the gate.

Several soldiers were checking people, goods, and wagons before anyone was let into the city. I was confused. What was the purpose of the check if someone could just hide something in their inventory? I had to be missing something. I looked over at Sven and asked, “Sven what are they looking for?”

“Right lad, I forgot this is your first time to a big city. First they are checking for residency or trade tokens. Those without them can pay a small fee for a temporary permit or a larger one for a yearly token. Next they check for some banned materials or other dangerous items, or at least that is what they claim. I actually think they are checking for anything that has a tax on it to trade to prevent smuggling.”

“Um, Sven how are they checking inventories?”

“Oh you have never been scanned before?”

“I have never even heard of it. What does being scanned mean?”

“No worries lad. The just use a magic crystal to check your inventory for banned or taxed items and it also gives them your name, race and level so they can register you and make sure you aren’t some hidden monster.”

Sven laughed at his last statement, but I did not. Would it register my Thri-Keen race or would it say chimera virus, which would be sure to cause a problem. I better have my teleport spell ready just in case. As we got closer I could see several people acting as roadside vendors. They were offering drink, snacks, and other assorted small goods. It seemed like we would have to spend some time in the line. Sven though moved to the front of the group and led us off to the side and started passing people who were waiting. I heard someone grumble about it and his friend whispered back to shut up, can’t you see they are from the academy.

So being part of this academy came with a few perks did it. Soon enough we were at the front of the line. I could see Sven take out an emblem when questioned by one of the guards. The guard nodded respectfully and then had us all line up to place our hands on what looked like a crystal ball. Sven went first and then all the students from the academy. Finally, it was my turn. I stepped up. I guess I looked nervous because Sven told the guard, “I have a new one for you Ed. He has lived in the wilds for most of his life and has never been scanned.”

“Don’t worry son, the scan does not hurt, but we will have you hold onto the crystal ball until we say otherwise. We have to write down the information it gives us.”

“Okay sir.”

I grabbed the crystal ball and braced myself for escape just in case. I could see Sven’s eyes widen, oh crud he knows, I was just about to teleport away when I processed what he was saying.

“When did you reach level 85? Oh right the Ivan incident. It must have been worse than I thought.”

I quickly calmed down. That was what he was worried about. Thank goodness, I am not going to have to escape.

“Yes, the Ivan incident was rather dramatic and led to several increases in levels and abilities for me.”

The Guard spoke up, “Well I have three questions for you and then you can enter. First, are you here to enroll in the Vulcan Academy. Second how old are you, it is not giving me an age for some reason. Finally, what exactly is an Elemental Thri-Keen. That is a new one for me.”

“Um, in order that would be yes I am going to be an independent study at Vulcan Academy, next I do not know how old I am, and finally all I know is my master said I was a special type of Thri-Keen that can use all of the elements.”

Sven chipped in, “The lad really does not know his age, but we are estimating it at around 18 or 19 years old, and this is the first that I heard you can use all elements lad. How come you did not tell me that?”

“I did not realize it was important.”

Sven started muttering under his breath, “Stupid kids, becoming transcendent and using all elements, not knowing how special that is, especially at that age.”

The guard started grinning at Sven’s mumbling and just waved me through. This was it, I had finally made it to a city in my new world. I followed the rest of the group through the gates and looked around. The city was huge. However, it was also a disappointment. I was expecting something, more. I do not know exactly, but I suspect I wanted to see magic carpets, wizards, amazing things flying around or going on, with exotic species and people in the background. Instead I had what looked like a large European town that was just getting modernized.