[ Are you ok now? ]

Rosoa laughed from his belly.

[ Interesting question. ]

Seeing as his breathing has become even and the crazy feeling that he gave off disappeared, Izo let go of Rosoa’s wrist. The man then stood up, sighed and look over his body.

[ The short answer is no. The long answer is… long. The middle of the two is ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy again but I can manage'. ]

As befitting the name ‘The People’s Orator’, Rosoa still had gab and wit within him.

[ Excuse me from that outburst. I’m still very confused. The Rosoa part of me has been locked for decades now and I’ve lived as a creature for a long time.

They aren’t fitting very well. I suppose this what happens when you use a block, a triangle and a circle to build a house. You’d be lucky if it doesn’t fall on you. ]

[ Sit down here for a second. Take your time. ]

Izo sat down on this wooden bench.

[ Thank you. ]

[ I suppose we should properly introduce each other. I’m Izo Shelley, an adventurer of sorts. ]

[ Rosoa Isran Imghalaghakin. Writer, Public Speaker, Sculptor, Architect but most importantly the Guardian’s Confidant. What’s that you ask? She doesn’t like talking to people or going outside ever so I do it for her. ]

[ Guardian? ]

[ You don’t come from here this city or this “place”, do you? ]

The manual states that there should be no mention of the Nexus and its people. Instead, it would be spread when the formal delegation was sent to the dimension.

To support this, explorers should take care not to reveal their difference by not wearing equipment or using power that doesn’t conform to that world.

Izo has failed that however so he might as well own up to it, at least to some extent.

[ From a different plane, yes. I don’t know any of this world’s history or people. You are the first native here that I’ve been able to talk with. ]

[ Just as I expected! I knew that his excellency, the King of Swans, was telling the truth. ]

[ So a person like me has come here? ]

[ More like possessed an poor child’s body. Only that person, slowly grew insane so his testimonies are not highly thought of. ]

[ Are you not wary or afraid of me? ]

Rosoa gawked then slapped his knees laughing.

[ What’s funny? ]

[ You! What do you think of a person who let’s this unknown creature he has no connections with gallivanting across a hostile area, allowing him to vent his feelings. Then he comforts it and shows its genuine kindness. Then he admitted his special background that he probably should keep mum about. ]

Tears of joy came out his eyes as his bellyached from this unconventional impromptu exercise.

[ You have been much more of a person than most that I’ve met in my life. ]

[ Izo, his heart rate is spiking? iS this bad? ]

[ No. This is a good thing, I think. ]

[ Phew. Honestly, I’m very lucky to have stumbled upon you as I would really need you help traversing the city. You don’t know of the dangers hiding within this dead walls. ]

*

[ Is this the temple library? ]

Izo pushed open another silver etched stone door which this time didn’t fall off. It’s wheel railings enabled it to be pushed back.

[ Yes. Let me inside first. ]

With Rosoa leading the way, Izo with the orb following behind him entered this theological storehouse of knowledge.

Found in the central area of the temple in a separate building from where the daily living of the people here, it was very fancy. The church proper was fancier while of course the common bunk bed houses were just like any of the city’s.

[ Here it is. ]

Rosoa handed him an undecorated book.

[ It’s a book for children that’s mostly fantasies and fables that allows passive learning. It doesn’t bore them and is much more effective than a plain textbook. ]

The Ural began scanning it’s first pages where each letter of what Rosoa calls ‘Sadokan’ is presented with a short poem and a picture.

[ Ok. This will work nicely. Where are the this historical texts? ]

[ The most extensive ones are in the bishop’s office.

After receiving more of these types of language learning books, they began journeying to the church proper where Rosoa has requested to its state.

[ As expected, it’s all gone. ]

His feet stepped over the crumbled remains of the statues and dusty of this once important temple.

Izo was still scared of this place since Rosoa was taking the lead however, he felt it was okay to return here. The long-webbed finger pointed towards the four God statues.

[ I made those sculpture’s when I was 25. It was when my name became first known. Before that I was just one of the many starving dreamers who flocked here in search of acknowledgement and art. It was the first time that I ate to full with the advanced payment. I ate so much my belly hurt. ]

Since they entered from the back door, they had to go past the bloody book altar.

[Some of the city’s councilmen requested me to replace it with something modern. Metal work is not my forte so this has been kept even if it was older than me. I’m sure this altar was already here in the city’s founding. ]

Indeed, on close inspection Izo saw that it was rusting on the not so well-ventilated parts.

[ Can you explain who these statues are for? ]

[ The Demigods of this city. The protectors. The altar is for the main religion “The Gleaming Horizon” of which their holy symbols are the book, silver and metal. Since you are completely unaware of this world’s history, I might as well start from the top. ]

On the other side of where they entered there was an opulent room of silver everything. The chairs, the candle sticks, the table, even the floor and walls were silver. Rosoa opened a cabinet as if this was his home.

[ How come you’re so familiar with this office? ]

[ It’s a close friend’s. ]

Rosoa says as he reminisced about the memories of this room.

[ It’s the Guardian’s. ]

A shake of the head then more books were handed to Izo. Rosoa began explaining while the pictures inside this historical encyclopedia was used as a helping tool.

Izo was currently in the continent of Yorvhakin, consisting of three large peninsulas. If the bottom half of Italy and Sardinia were connected and then combined with a larger Australia shaped peninsula at the top, it would be quite close to Yorvhakin.

Volhkro (a two-meaning word for cliff and black) City was on the center of the Sardinia like peninsula. A hostile environment of steppes and barren deserts, it started as a camp to rest for adventurers.

It seemed that in this world plants and animals were larger and more powerful since they infuse themselves with metals. Izo could guess that they were also using spirituality which for the most part is undiscovered yet in this world.

Instead, the natives here directly tap their soul energy, represented by a flame. They were simply talented in this regard so Izo couldn’t help but curse their luck.

Those particularly talented can hunt these strong animals (they’re monsters by Earth standards) and thus earn money by selling their body parts.

It just so happened that the land here had monsters that had more value than their difficulty. With enough time, Volkro town then city became an important hub.

[ Since this area is far removed from most other powers, it became a free city where all are welcomed. All the fugitives, banned artists and dangerous thinkers flocked here which made the city even more prosperous.

This meant that it became extremely attractive to the established powers. When their army came however, the hodgepodge of defenders didn’t battle them. Four incredibly powerful beings decimated them. Afterwards, the city remained in peace until… ]

[ ? Don’t keep me hanging. ]

[ Well, I just don’t know what happens next. My next memories are strings of my life down below then you. ]