Chapter 353 Veridrake Kingdom
Above a vast field of prairie grass and scarce daisies darted a blurred figure.
As Lyrian looked down at the plains below him, he noticed creatures that he had still yet to see.
They weren't very strong, but they were unique in their own rights. There existed many species of these animals that grazed the fields.
He looked back up, facing forward. Looking at his map, it marked that he was still over 2000 miles away from Hogolsworth.
"I wonder what my mission will be. I thought I would have received it before the deployment, but it seems I'll have to figure that out on my own."
By now, Lyrian had crossed the many miles of dense forest. He had come across various lands, like bamboo forests, canopy jungles, mountain ranges, and also flatter plains.
Although it seemed niche, being able to move so far without actual restraint felt amazing for him, who hadn't let himself relax so much like this in a while.
It was like he had a bit more freedom, being able to see and witness many things and beings that he had previously never even thought of.
It was enough to bring a light smile to his face.
But, this was hardly anything. He was even more excited about grand cities and more. He had only really been in the outskirts of his kingdom his entire life.
He didn't know what it was like to live a normal life inside of the kingdom, and even though Veridrake was a different land, he imagined it would still be an amazing experience.
But, his concern was not how amazing the experience would be. "My mission is most important." He sternly said to himself, continuing his path.
A bit more than an hour passed, and Lyrian began to see something different in the distance.
So far, he had come across nothing but nature and wilderness. Now, however, he thought he saw a manmade wall.
It stood out from everything else like a sore thumb, even from tens of miles away.
As he approached about 5 miles from the kingdom, the land around him began to change in biome.
Enormous trees stretching over 500 feet that were as thick as a school bus extended from the ground.
They weren't thickly scattered, but enough to force Tao to swerve left and right to avoid them.
These trees were about 100 feet away from each other, and in the heart of them all soon arrived the kingdom of Veridrake.
Concealed within a titanic barrier made of what seemed to be a wall of mountain stone, a grand empire revealed itself.
From so high up, what Lyrian saw was barely even one-tenth of the kingdom. Buildings seemed so small, but also very tightly packed together.
Lights glimmered from below, and the architecture looked vastly different from Yaltas cities.
Although Lyrian hadn't been inside the walls of his kingdom, he imagined the cities to be similar to the inner city of Illstria.
Although Veridrake looked different, he couldn't tell unless he was closer.
They tried to fly above the large, slightly rounded, wall of stone, but a forceful barrier stopped Tao in his tracks.
The barrier resounded with mana, as a light blue energy rippled through the impact spot.
"Not so easy it seems. But, at least this will make things less complicated." He thought to himself, flying Tao down to the ground.
As he neared the ground, Lyrian noticed an entrance gate in the wall of stone.
'There will be guards...' He thought warily, 'Tao, land a bit far away.' He said in his mind, as Tao followed his orders.
Landing behind a tree a few hundred feet away, Lyrian departed from Tao and said, 'Shadow,' to make the bird disappear.
He wanted to lay a bit low until he knew what his mission was.
Without hesitation, he approached the wall, and as he did, he noticed how dark the ground was around him.
It wasn't pitch black, but it was like there was a constant shade wherever he walked--the kingdom was also like this.
The canopy of the large trees made it so that even in the noon of day, there was always a slight shade on top of the kingdom.
As he neared the wall entrance gate, he noticed quite a long line of people waiting to enter.
These people were most likely merchants, soldiers, adventurers, visitors, and more.
Just before joining the line, he put the hood of his cloak over his head.
'A random kid trying to enter alone would raise eyebrows.' He mused as he did so.
With his face covered, he joined the line. A few in front of him turned, slightly puzzled with this tall midget behind them, but quickly shrugged it off.
Looking at the front of the line, Lyrian saw a couple guards wearing Veridrake's dragon emblem at the entrance.
They seemed to be checking identification or something before letting people in.
'Hm? What am I showing here?' Lyrian mused, confused. He looked at his bracelet, and it still said that the place he needed to go was 4 miles into the kingdom.
That meant that it would be of no help here pretty much.
He looked around to see if there was anywhere that he could get a token to enter, but couldn't find a thing.
At that moment, one of the guards yelled to a middle-aged lady, "Scram, whore! You need the minimum 20 silver fee to enter, you understand!?"
Out of nowhere, the guard gave the woman a backhanded slap, throwing her out of line.
The others in line seemed to hesitantly hand over the 20 silver as they entered.
'20 silvers too? That's damn expensive.' Lyrian exclaimed inwardly, quite taken aback.
As the line shortened, it soon came his turn to show ID. He
stepped up to the guards--another trail of people, carts, trolleys, beast mounts, and groups behind him.
"Identification or note of approval?" The guard roughly spoke, sounding indifferent.
His expression looked annoyed as he reached his hand forward.
At that moment, Lyrian thought, 'Note of approval? Would that be this?' And pulled out the scroll that the boy had given him that morning.
The guard, slightly skeptical, took the scroll and opened it up.
A few in the crowd curiously observed this as well, having never seen it before.
A scroll was usually for important news, so seeing it here was out of place.
The other guard also peeked over, and Lyrian saw how both of their faces immediately turned blue.
Their eyes widened as their lips swooped to the bottom of their face.
After a long pause, their eyes slowly moved to look at Lyrian, and then back at the scroll, and then back at Lyrian again--quickly this time.
"It's the real deal." The other guard whispered as the one holding Lyrian's scroll gave it back to him.
Lyrian received the scroll and readied to take out the 20 silvers when the guard suddenly stomped one foot on the ground and raised his right hand to his face, saluting with a straight back.
He faced the sky as he shouted, "Lord! You may enter!"
The other guard also assumed the same stance, as Lyrian confusedly said, "The 20 silvers?"
At that moment, the guard in front of him paused for a moment before replying, 'I... IM DEAD! He has already caught on to the fact that I'm scamming all these people and is now sarcastically asking me such a silly question. Of course he caught on, he's from Anaviotis after all! I should have been more careful today on all days! Damn it all!'
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