Chapter 409 - Not So Warm Welcome

Getting teleported so many times in a single day was disorienting. His Concept helped him a lot, but the distance of the teleportation affected how dizzy he got.

The distance he had just teleported was enormous because it felt like he was in the spatial ripples for way longer than usual. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the soft white flecks of snow gently drifting from the sky.

It was the middle of summer, so it was surprising to see such weather. That made him think he was much further north than he had been before. He recalled that there were northern clans who used kinetic energy, and Cain might have been someone from one of these clans.

At least that was his theory.

He looked more closely around him and noticed that he was in the mountains. Tall, glistening white cliffs of snow surrounded him. The city that was situated just off in the distance was a magical looking place. He had been half expecting barbaric villages when he heard about the northern clans.

But seeing such a beautifully crafted city had changed his perception entirely. Immaculate wooden structures lined the city with a few massive towers pointing toward the heavens. They were standing some distance away from the city, but he could see a large number of warm lights of mana lamps lit up the entire city in a dazzling glow.

"Beautiful, right?" Doren spoke to him with a smile of his own as he admired the scene.

"Where are we?" He asked

"North of Corvus. It is not technically an officially recognized country, but many just call it the Boreal Region."

Julius nodded and followed Doren as they headed toward the town. To his shock, he didn't see any types of walls or defenses around. There was a small gate, but it was primarily decorative with no real practical application.

Doren saw his look and correctly assumed his thoughts. "Wondering why there are no walls or moats?" He asked with a knowing grin.

Julius didn't even bother to hide his interest. "Yes."

"Look closer," Doren said with a pointed look at the mountains.

Julius looked but couldn't find anything. It wasn't until he expanded his perception that he finally understood what Doren was talking about. He let out a laugh and smiled widely as he examined the massive array in front of him.

The town didn't need a gate or enchanted walls. An enormous enchantment already surrounded them.

"Is it natural?" He couldn't help but ask in awe.

"Not a hundred percent, but for the most part, yeah," Doren said, admiring the enchantment alongside Julius.

He couldn't believe his eyes but understood why the original settlers had decided on this place. The mountains surrounding the city weren't just for aesthetics; they were practical pillars that connected a massive and ridiculously complex network of enchantments that blanketed the entire peak.

He had never seen something so powerful, and yet it was so subtle that he was barely able to detect it. He had no idea how it managed to hide the enormous mana signature that should have been rolling off it.

"How?" He asked Doren with excited eyes.

"That's not my secret to share," Doren said to him, clearly knowing the answer but refusing to give it to Julius so easily.

He didn't care that much either. He would figure it out on his own. He didn't need Doren to feed him answers. It would be much more fun that way. He already had several ideas blooming in his mind.

"Come on, you will have plenty of time to examine it while you are here," he said to Julius.

"You only said that I have to meet Cain," Julius pointed out.

Doren shrugged his shoulders and pushed his glasses up his nose. "Yeah, but that was before I did you another favor. Now you have to stay."

"That's not fair," he argued.

Doren compromised much more easily than Julius thought he would. "Okay, at least promise me that you will seriously consider staying," he said in a very reasonable request.

Julius couldn't find any reason to deny this and nodded. "Okay." It was more than fair. To the point that he suspected that there was something that Doren wasn't telling him.

Regardless, he would give this Cain person an honest chance and would stay if he were interested. Honestly, he might have chosen to remain just to investigate the enchantment protecting this city. It was that impressive.

Julius followed Doren down the pathway and toward the town. The cold was quite intense, and if it weren't for his body being naturally warm because of his fire mana, he would have been quite the chilly boy.

As they approached, he spotted people making their way in and out of the gates in a similar manner. These people were intelligent and wore nice, warm coats. Only a few people were wearing pants and a shirt.

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He stepped to the side when he spotted a group of young children running past him. They were throwing balls of snow at each other and laughing joyfully.

No guards were checking them as they entered the town. They got a few looks from the locals, but they weren't judgmental looks, merely ones of curiosity.

"Can we eat before we meet this Cain?" Julius asked Doren. He was a little peckish after that whole debacle. The last real meal he had was the one before he and his friends went on the expedition.

Doren paused and thought about it for a brief moment before nodding. "Sure, I can use some food. There is a nice little place not too far, let's get something to eat there and then head off to see Cain."

Julius smiled eagerly and strolled happily behind Doren. He was always in the mood for some good food.

Julius rubbed his stomach with a satisfied burp. Doren had been absolutely correct when he said the place had good food. Just the soup and bread alone were enough to have Julius drooling on the table.

Drasil had sensed his enjoyment and begged to be released. Julius didn't see a reason not to, and discreetly took out the small fellow, letting him sit on the table beside him. He had enjoyed his own cocktail of Julius's mana.

Doren did not seem shocked about Drasil's appearance. He had more than likely already known about the life spirit.

Julius and Doren had devoured a couple of plates of delicious food before finally being sated. The restaurant had not been that large. It was a small hole in the wall, but there was barely any room to sit in the place. It was obviously a local favorite, and Julius couldn't blame them.

He would be going there quite often if he lived here.

Drasil was tucked away in the collar of Julius's coat, not wanting to enter his soul space. He was already upset that he had been tucked away for so long that Julius couldn't find it in his heart to say no to the cute little guy.

Julius had also created a little thin sheet of fire mana that wrapped around Drasil's tiny body. The sheet was perfect to keep Drasil warm in this cold weather.

They walked through the town, and Julius examined everything with a grin. The entire place was very clean and very elegant. The people were all nice as well. The people at the restaurant had been welcoming and even recommended some tasty dishes for them to try.

What he did notice, though, was that the average tier of the citizens was much higher. Even compared to Heston, the average strength of each person was significantly stronger. It wasn't even their tier either. It was their aura that stood out the most.

Almost everyone had a sturdy and well-controlled aura. He wondered what kind of environment this place provided to account for such a difference. He also noticed that the ambient mana was very concentrated.

It was even higher than the edge of the Endless Forest. He was curious what kind of effect this had on monsters and rifts.

Julius and Doren finally arrived at their destination after a little bit of walking. Unlike what he had believed, Doren hadn't taken him to one of the towers. Instead, he found himself looking at a well-maintained but simple estate.

Doren didn't wait and immediately walked into the courtyard. Julius had sensed the barrier surrounding the area and wasn't surprised when a beautiful woman with white hair appeared right in front of them.

"What do you want, Doren?" The woman asked, not sounding very pleased to see the blonde man. Her icy blue eyes narrowed at the man.

"Hello, Freya. How have you been?" Doren asked, seemingly unbothered by the unwelcome welcome.

"I was good. But now I am reconsidering it," she said with a glare.

"Don't be like that. It has been like two years since that happened," Doren said with a sad expression on his face.

"I don't care. I am still pissed," Freya said firmly.

"How many times do I have to say sorry?"

"I don't know, maybe apologize a dozen more times and I will consider forgiving you," she shot back with a scoff.

"What did you do?" Julius whispered to Doren, suddenly a little anxious about coming along with the man. If this woman didn't like Doren, then odds were that she wouldn't take too kindly to Julius.

Doren winced. "I might have made a small mistake a couple of years ago," he admitted.

"Small?" Freya said in a warning tone.

"Medium," Doren corrected. However, the woman didn't appreciate that, and Julius was alarmed when a flying shard of ice smacked Doren right in the face.

The shard had been sent with such speed that Julius had not been able to track it.

"Sorry," Doren apologized again, this time sounding a bit more genuine as he wiped off the ice from his face. The shard, despite slamming into him with enough force to pierce a wall of steel, didn't seem to hurt him.

The attack had appeared to alleviate some of the woman's anger. "What do you want?"

"I brought a gift," Doren said with a smile and gestured at Julius.

He didn't know how he felt about being described like that, and honestly, he didn't know if he wanted the woman's attention on him as of yet. Not if it meant getting attacked by large shards of ice. If that shard of ice had hit him, he wouldn't even have a head anymore.

Still, he decided to be polite and bowed respectfully. "Hello, ma'am. My name is Julius."

To his relief, the woman's ire appeared to extend only to Doren. "Hello, dear. My name is Freya. Did this idiot kidnap you or something? You can tell me, I will beat him up if you need," she said with a cheery smile. Now that she wasn't as angry, he could really appreciate how pretty she was.

Her white hair was already so striking, but she had quite a warm and friendly smile. It was clear right away that she was a person who smiled a lot.

"Not really. He did make me go through some of his tests and made me fight some powerful enemies for his own amusement, though," he told her truthfully, hoping that by throwing Doren under the bus he would earn some brownie points with her.

His idea worked better than he could have hoped, and she gave him a sympathetic frown before turning to Doren. "Shame on you."

"I didn't force him. He entered one of my rifts on his own accord," Doren argued.

Julius coughed. "What about the ninth floor?"

Doren grimaced. "Okay, valid point."

"And leaving me alone to fight those attackers?"

"I wanted to see how you managed it," Doren argued.

"See?" Julius said, as if his point was proven.

"Are you seriously still doing that stuff, Doren?" Freya said while pinching her nose.

"He does this stuff a lot?" Julius asked.

"More than you can ever know. He does it because he enjoys seeing people use their skills and uses them for research or experiments later on. It doesn't matter the situation, it could be totally inappropriate, but he will still do it," she said with a sigh.

Julius looked over at Doren with a glare. That was precisely what had happened to Julius. It would seem he wasn't the only person that Doren did this to.

On the bright side, he had a feeling that he and Freya were going to get along just fine.