Chapter 61 - Affinities
Chapter 61 - Affinities
The scout pointed towards the front, and Shang's eyes followed that direction.
It was already pretty dark outside, making it hard to see very far, but with Shang's improved vision and the lights inside the city, it wasn't very difficult to see it.
In the distance, Shang could see a gigantic fortress.
The walls were probably over 50 meters high, and Shang could see several towers with an even more imposing height. The walls and the towers were nearly invisible in the dead of night, and Shang guessed that they were probably dark grey or black in color.
Gigantic bonfires raged on top of every tower, illuminating the entire city.
It was absolutely massive!
Shang guessed that the city was several kilometers wide.
However, all of that wasn't the most surprising and shocking part.
The most surprising part was the location of Warrior's Paradise.
Earlier, Shang and the scout had already been walking on a road that seemingly rose into the air. The road was like the track of a rollercoaster, slowly extending further and further upward with nothing of similar height beside it.
If Shang walked to the side, he would be able to see the border between the Wild Forest and the Wasteland. While the road kept extending upward, the Wasteland kept going downward, expanding the difference in elevation between it and the road.
So, with a lonely road slowly extending towards the sky, where was Warrior's Paradise?
Warrior's Paradise stood on one lonely, gigantic rock.
The walls perfectly aligned with the edges of the rock, making it seem like the walls were part of the gigantic rock.
Shang looked around, but he couldn't see any other similar rocks around.
This singular rock extended upward from the Wasteland for probably over two kilometers!
Warrior's Paradise was like these ancient, European castles that had been built on the precipice of a cliff. However, in comparison to these castles, Warrior's Paradise was an actual city.
Their sizes couldn't be compared.
A black, burning, solitary fortress that overlooked seemingly the entire world.
It was a monument to human power over nature.
And this monument had been Shang's goal for such a long time!
Warrior's Paradise!
Now, Shang truly understood why it was called Warrior's Paradise.
Warrior's Paradise was surrounded by nothing but wild nature with plenty of powerful natural forces and Beasts. If one were able to survive the fall, one could simply jump over the wall, and they would arrive in a land of slaughter in a minute.
It truly was a paradise for warriors.
"Impressive, isn't it?" the scout said with a smile when he saw Shang's expression.
"Yes," Shang answered slowly.
The scout only chuckled a bit. "Do you know how many citizens are in Warrior's Paradise?" he asked.
Shang looked at the size of the city.
"Probably around 10,000 to 20,000," he said.
The scout only smiled.
"About 500."
Shang looked at the scout in surprise. "What?" he asked.
"There is limited space in Warrior's Paradise," the scout explained. "The Warrior Academy takes up around 30% of the city. The citizens take up another 10%. Around 40% of the city is taken up by merchants and different businesses dealing with different crafts. The remaining 20% are for the soldiers."
"We have around 500 normal citizens living here, but during the day, around 20,000 people are inside Warrior's Paradise."
"In the early mornings, the farmers come to deliver their food. At the same time, over 2,000 hunters arrive in the city to register for their daily hunting activities. Many of the soldiers live with their families in the Farm Line, and they also arrive here early in the morning."
"Only very few rich citizens can afford to live in Warrior's Paradise. Everyone else only comes here to work and leaves again."
As Shang listened to these words, he noticed that Warrior's Paradise was very similar to a concept from Earth.
'An industrial zone,' Shang thought. 'Nearly no one lives in an industrial zone, but everyone goes there to work during the day.'
"What about the students in the Warrior's Academy?" Shang asked. "Where do they live?"
"Some of them live in the dormitories, and some of them live in lodgings in the Farm Line," the scout answered. "Only a few of them live in the dormitories due to the cramped space and stale air. The walls block the violent wind from the surroundings, making the air inside Warrior's Paradise very stale. That's why most of them sleep in the lodgings in the Farm Line."
Shang nodded. "Sounds like the roads are very busy during the day," he said as he looked at the empty road.
"Yep, that's why the road is so wide. It took a lot of money to widen the road to such a degree, but we no longer have traffic jams."
'Traffic jams in a world with mages and warriors,' Shang thought. 'I guess some things never change.'
"Let's keep going. I want to get home before tomorrow," the scout said with a smirk.
"Sorry," Shang said before continuing to run forward with the scout.
"Are there Mages in Warrior's Paradise?" Shang asked while running beside the scout.
"Of course," the scout said with a snort. "Who do you think keeps the city from collapsing? We have around 50 actual Earth Mages in the city, who constantly keep watch over the stability. They are also responsible for expanding the city and for its development."
'So, they're like urban planners or civil engineers,' Shang added in his mind.
"We also have the biggest Mana Austerum in the surrounding Zones. You can't see it right now since it's not illuminated, but in the day, you can see it. It's in the middle of the city, and it's the highest structure in all of it."
"The Mana Austerum catches all the Wind Mana and stores it into Wind Mana Magic Crystals. The Mana Austerum is also the biggest reason why the air inside Warrior's Paradise is so stale. Around 30 Wind Mages are in the Mana Austerum. They keep it running, and they research new applications for Wind Mana."
"The Farm Line has around ten Water Mages. Due to the wind and the dryness, the Farm Line doesn't get much natural rain. The Water Mages are there to keep everything nice and moist."
"We only have the occasional Fire Mage in the city. I think none of them actually live here, but you can see them from time to time."
"Ice Mages are very rare to begin with, and all the Ice Mages are more interested in Blizzard's Edge than Warrior's Paradise. I haven't seen one in a long time."
"Lightning Mages are just as rare, but I think we have two or three of them in the city. They mostly handle some Element-specific problems in the city related to lightning."
"We have about five Metal Mages. They are responsible for forging all the really expensive equipment for us soldiers. I don't get to interact with them since I'm still too weak, but all warriors in the Commander Stage have met them."
"And that's about it for the Mages. As you've heard, from the seven varieties of Mages, we have a lot of Earth, Wind, and Metal Mages. I think we have something like 100 Mages in the city and the surroundings. That's quite a lot of powerful Mages for only one city. After all, all the Mages I told you about are real mages, meaning ones that are equivalent to Commander Stage Warriors."
"There are more Apprentices and Adepts walking around, but I didn't count them just now."
Shang nodded.
This was the first time Shang had actually heard about all the different attributes Mages could have.
Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Lightning, Metal.
These were the seven attributes.
At this moment, Shang looked at his left arm.
Did he have an Ice Affinity?
Probably not. After all, his left arm was acting very weirdly when unleashing Ice Mana.
Water? No.
Fire? No.
Earth? No.
Wind? No.
Lightning? No.
Metal? No.
None of the affinities seemingly fit Shang.
So, what kind of affinity did he have?
The scout noticed that Shang became silent, but he didn't mind. He only wanted to get home and sleep. In comparison to a lot of other soldiers, the scout lived inside the barracks in Warrior's Paradise.
The two of them kept ascending the lonely road until they reached the entrance to Warrior's Paradise.