Online In Another World

Peeking through the curtains, gentle, orange rays of sunlight befell his eyelids, causing him to blink slowly as he was naturally guided from his rest. He sat up, realizing he was tightly holding onto his pillow before letting out a morning yawn.

I actually got some decent sleep for once...He thought.

As he looked around, rubbing one of his eyes groggily, he found that he was alone in the room. Though by the sunny day that persisted beyond the windows of the inn, he realized it was likely closer to noon than morning.

"...I'm the last one awake, huh?" He said to himself with a yawn.

A quick bath was had as he tossed his clothes off, scrubbing his body clean with a bar of soap, getting into every nook-and-cranny as he took advantage of being able to fully clean himself amidst the lengthy journey.

"Hmm.."

He'd been wearing the same outfit for some time now, since he hadn't given much thought to a change of clothes with how he could simply wash them with a bit of water and healing magic combined.

Before tossing his clothes on, he decided to make a change as he swapped into a long-sleeved, light-red tunic with black trousers, slipping brown boots on as he allowed his main outfit to get some time off.

Glancing at his sword and staff that were at his bedside, he was hesitant to bring his equipment along as he yearned for a peaceful day of a break without combat on his mind. Still, it was better safe than sorry as he tucked his scabbard to his belt and brought his staff along.

"Alright..." He mumbled to himself, tightening the laces on his boots before heading out of the room.

What should I get done today? If Melisande is with Roan today, maybe I can finally look for a brothel, heh...Emilio thought.

As he walked down the corridor with this in mind, he nodded a few times to himself, he soon found himself standing in the streets of Indasia, exiting the inn as he immediately stepped back as a carriage pulled through.

"Woah...close," he mumbled.

Moving onto the street, he looked up, using his arm as a visor from the sunlight as he saw the interconnected bridges above filled with numerous people as well.

I'd like to go up there, but...I doubt it's available for those not in academia, he thought.

Occupying the streets were pop-up vendors; merchants selling fresh fruit of colorful shades, jewels claiming to be far more special than they truly were, and miscellaneous souvenirs. They weren't there the previous day, so it seemed to him to be only a concept allowed during the early half of the day.

There were a variety of things he wanted to do, but first on the agenda was satisfying his famished stomach. He stopped by one of the vendors, exchanging a single crown and a copper for a fresh sandwich. At least, it seemed to be a sandwich, though the bread was pale and powdered lightly with what seemed to be salt.

The main ingredient was egg and cheese between both slices of bread. It proved to be a good purchase as the first bite was enjoyable, leading to him quickly finishing it as he leisurely walked along the streets of the foreign city.

In Indasia, the alleyways stuck out differently to him as they seemed more like narrower, interconnected streets with vendors occupying them and star-designed veils blocking out the sun above.

There was a heavy existence of incense in the alleys; the smoky, but sweet scent provided an alluring atmosphere of its own.

"Lapis! Ruby! Sapphire! The most precious gems in Indasia can be found here–! Come, come!" A boisterous merchant advertised his wares, waving his arms around that were decorated in sparkling bracelets.

Jewelry wasn't much of his thing as he glanced for a moment before continuing, not finding much of anything that caught his eye.

"Lad! Yes, you, lad! You have quite the peculiar existence, don't you?"

Called out specifically, he looked over towards one of the street side vendors, finding an older gentleman sitting on a rug with a crystal ball in front of him, running his palms over the nebulous sphere.

"Me?" Emilio pointed at himself.

"Yes, yes," the old fortune teller said.

Though he was hesitant, there wasn't much else occupying his time, and he was at least curious, so he gave the wrinkled, closed-eye man a minute of his time.

I'm not expecting anything as this is the quintessential scam, but...If magic exists, why not fortune telling? Emilio rationalized.

"Let us see...Oh, what's this?..." The fortune teller said, conjuring a flickering tempest within the bounds of his sphere.

While he waited for his fortune, he watched as the old man, who was missing half his teeth, continued making weird "Ooo~" noises while waving his hands around as if casting a non-existent spell.

Alright, I'm out of here...Emilio thought.

Just as he turned around to continue on his way, he was stopped as the fortune teller stuttered out, as if speaking in such a way to keep him there.

"O-o-oh! Here it is! I see...I see a woman in your future!" The fortune teller said, "A beauty with hair like snow and eyes of the divine–a stalwart soul...this is a meeting of doom."

"Doom...?" Emilio repeated.

It was perplexing and ominous, to say the least, but he didn't put much stock into it, flipping a few crowns to the fortune teller who was patiently waiting for his toll.

"Ah, thank you, kind patron! Let fortune be on your side, as people are much more fickle," the old man told him.

As he inspected his pouch of coins, he realized it had grown quite empty–direly, in fact. It wasn't as though he was constantly buying things without second thought, at least not that he remembered.

Wait, did I lose money in Larundog?...Was that one of my fears?! There's no way I can afford a brothel like this–no, not just that. Any supplies I need! He realized.

He was quick to be on his way, wanting to get his mind off the abnormal encounter as he instead set his sights on a new avenue of the city once leaving the maze of alleyways: it was a street paved with pale-blue stone, surrounded by skyhigh, intertwining buildings that thrived with mysticism.

This is...Emilio thought.

There was a sign on the entrance of the base of the complex structure that was frequently entered and exited by adventurers and academic mages all the same: "Tower of Iron Magi".