Liam and his friends took the teleporter in Duabalis, choosing to head towards Lenaon City. This was a major city belonging to a human kingdom called Three Peaks Kingdom, which was located in the northern part of the central plains.
When the party stepped out of the teleporter, they found themselves halfway up a mountain, overlooking a rather chaotic city. Some tall mage towers stood out, throning over everyone's heads, belonging to the successors of the famous mage giving the city its name, Lenaon.
Liam couldn't help but compare the mage towers to Therim's. Compared to the guardian's luxurious symbol of power, the towers in the city exuded a certain wild, mystical beauty.
Plants grew randomly on their walls only sparing the massive, colourful windows, either showing scenes of famous mages or simply forming random patterns.
The towers had many protruding parts as if those were added whenever the inhabitants needed more space.
Below the towers the vast city mirrored their style, emitting an aura of controlled chaos.
Suddenly sounds of clashing metal brought the friends back to reality. They left the teleportation hall, stepping on the wide mountain street outside, instantly welcomed by three people fighting on the open street.
Looking around one would notice that almost everyone was carrying weapons openly, but their faces didn't show fear. All the inhabitants were going after their daily lives, not much different than the people in Svebrial.
If one had to point out one major difference it was the variety of races. Although Svebrial was accepting of other races as well, it was ultimately dominated by humans.
In Lenaon City humans made up for about 50% of the population. The rest were orcs, dwarves, even goblins and beastkin. Only elves were absent, but this wasn't surprising. The chaotic city wouldn't fit their noble aesthetics.
As Liam led his friends down the mountain they constantly marvelled at the surroundings, finding something new at every corner.
"Look, they simply changed the stone in the middle of the street."
"Why is this woman wearing so little clothes? Wait, is this a bordel?"
"Don't even think about it!", said Quickstep staring at her boyfriend. Silent Acacia hastily reassured his girlfriend while the others continued looking around.
"Did someone create a cave here, right next to the street?"
Suddenly a woman drawing a cart behind her addressed the group:
"Oh what gorgeous ladies, don't you feel restrained in your heavy armours and wide robes? Here, take a look at my dresses. Top quality, coming from all over Crunaboul!"
Cyclone blinked, looking between the woman and her cart:
"Are you a merchant?"
"Oh, of course cutie."
"Then why don't you stay in your shop?"
"Hmm? Why would I bind myself to one place?"
Cyclone and the woman both stared at each other. The merchant's expression told Cyclone that she genuinely looked down on the concept of a shop, leaving Cyclone bewildered.
Meanwhile the other girls were quite intrigued, browsing through the dresses which were carelessly scattered on the cart.
The boys could only smile helplessly, waiting at the side.
Since the dresses were purely cosmetic, they were rather cheap, prompting Silver Blade and Fortune to actually buy some.
Suddenly Silver Blade's eyes widened in shock, her exclamation drawing everyone's attention:
"Ah, what's this?!"
Cyclone's eyes left the merchant, looking puzzledly at her bestest friend. The merchant immediately saw her chance. Grabbing the handles of her cart she darted into a side street with a speed as if a devil was chasing her.
"Wait!"
Silver Blade tried to call out to the merchant but to no success. She was left standing on the street with a sparkling blue dress in hand, staring at the side street with an incredulous expression.
"Silver? What happened?", asked Balm with a strange expression after the merchant escaped before she could buy a dress.
"I... buying the dress triggered a quest."
"Really? Mine didn't!", complained Fortune.
"Yeah. But it says to return this dress to its rightful owner..."
"You think those are stolen goods?", asked Cyclone.
Silver Blade shrugged her shoulder, glancing at Liam, who answered with an amused smile:
"I guess it's a mix of stolen and genuine goods. Triggering the quest is your own luck. You can try solving it when you have time."
"Do you know that quest, expert?", asked Cyclone.
"Do I look like I usually buy dresses?"
"Who knows what you're up to in your free time."
Cyclone's cheeky response caused laughter among the friends, who soon pushed the encounter to the back of their minds, continuing down the mountain.
Traversing chaotic streets built from different materials, sometimes straight sometimes curved, once in a while interrupted by stairs, the party soon reached a building occupying a spacious, central spot not far from one of the mage towers.
Humid steam came out of the entrance covered by thick curtains, accompanied by the chatter of multiple people.
Spotting a sign with the building's name, Quickstep's eyes lit up brightly.
"Mirage, you brought us to a bathhouse? And it even has hot springs! Nice, let's relax for a bit!"
Before anyone else could answer, Silent Acacia coughed awkwardly:
"Babe... we are here for a quest."
"Yes, but those are hot springs! Don't you remember last year? On planet Jevrikc? Soaking in the hot springs, enjoying life. How you sneaked into the woman's area when only us two were left..."
Suddenly Silent Acacia erupted in a coughing fit, his head red from embarrassment as all his friends stared at him.
Fortune couldn't help but comment with a teasing expression:
"I didn't expect you to be this kinky, Acacia."
"Can we please focus on the quest?", pleaded the young hunter, causing his girlfriend to break out in laughter.
"Yes, yes. Good idea!", agreed Balm, the tips of her ears a bright red.
Subsequently the party continued with the quest but from this day on Silent Acacia would have to endure the joking taunts of his friends from time to time.
To Quickstep's disappointment Liam didn't lead the party to enter the bathhouse directly but approached a side door located within a delivery and storage zone.
A stern-faced man in black armor stood in front of the door, the tall halberd in his hand making sure that no one dared to approach. As Liam and his friends got closed the man's eyes narrowed dangerously, creating an intimidating aura.
Liam played with his championship ring as he confidentially opened the conversation:
"Morning."
"Morning. Can I help you?"
Everyone was taken aback by the man's surprising friendliness, looking him up and down. Cyclone couldn't help but ask directly:
"You want to help us? Shouldn't you try to chase us away?"
"Why would I? I'm only here to guard against thieves. You clearly aren't here to steal, or why would you approach me so openly."
"Really? But then what's with the intimidating look?"
"That? Oh, my eyes aren't the best anymore. Old injury."
Cyclone opened her mouth, closing it again, not knowing what to say.
Liam let out a chuckle before he took over again.
"I would like to talk to a friend of yours."
The guard was just about to refuse when Liam retrieved something from his inventory, flashing the mysterious black dagger, which appeared rather inconspicuous in the shadow coming from the mountain.
The guard needed a second to recognize the item with squinted eyes before realization dawned on him.
"Ah, got it. Come on, I'll bring you to Seytor."
"Thank you."
Showing a kind smile the guard treated the players like close friends, opening the door for them and leading them into a broad hallway.
The air was extremely steamy, gradually dampening everyone's hair. Several pipes ran along the ceiling transporting water through the bathhouse. A few people in simple clothes ran around from time to time, who were the workers keeping the bathhouse running.
Fortune happily recorded everything, guessing that not many players would come to this place. This would definitely make for some interesting five seconds in her videos.
Unfortunately, the guard led the players downstairs before they could enter the central rooms. They arrived in another hallway, brightly lit by colourful magic crystals. Boisterous voices and loud laughter reached their ears.
A thick red curtain hung from the ceiling in front, serving as the entrance to another area. The guard shoved the heavy curtain away revealing a spacious room to the party.
If one had to use one word to describe the sight which now fell into the friend's eyes it would be chaos. Men and women of several races mingled in the room, standing, sitting, lying down. Chaotic conversations echoed from the walls, some of them between people at different corners of the room.
Smoke filled the room. The people passed glimmering herbs and drinks around, ignoring that a dozen others had already drank from the same cup.
In a corner a tall orc was playing with a fear-inducing black bow, clamouring how he could hit any target without using his eyes, his friends telling him to prove it.