Long Island

Chapter 15: Thelmova

Please Note: Statements between % something in italics % are game system messages. 

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The city of Thelmova. Big, loud and exciting beyond words. That's what Raka felt. It was not like he did not live in large cities in the real world. Bangalore or Bangluru as it was called now and where he was staying was one of largest and busiest cities in India. Certainly much bigger than his hometown. But then, it did not have the fantasy like setting in the game.

Raka was walking down one of its streets. The first thing Raka decided to do was explore the city. The various shops, the various buildings, the various streets and ofcourse the dockyard. He saw shops of all kinds. Food, clothing, armor, weapons, expensive gems, jewellery, exotic items and what else. There was the library housed in a beautifully designed building and a humongous palace where the queen would live surrounded by more walls. There was the large training grounds, where troops and horses trained. A huge and broad tower which he soon found out was the Magic Academy. And several large and small beautifully designed buildings of which he had no idea. Some were even restricted, and some he was denied entry to.

Then there were the homes, a lot of them simple looking like in Gurrow village, close to the dockyard. But as you go up the hill, the homes improved in design and the quality of its materials. With a variety of gardens, and statutes and fountains and....what else. Some even seemed to have birds in them. Painted in pale or deep colors they looked exotic.

And then there were the people. Raka did not think he had much of a fashion sense, but even he would stare if you were covered in a dress made of colorful feathers. The feathers ruffled as the wind blew...almost as if the fat lady wearing the dress would fly the next moment. She was walking, what looked like a pet alligator or something similar, kept on a leash. Or atleast the small sized version of it. A real alligator would be quite big, but this one was like half its size.....and tame! It waddled on its small feet, waving its tail as it walked making impressions on the ground. It was eagerly eating the bits the fat lady was throwing to it. 'Chipper' he heard it being called. So that thing had a name as well.

She wasn't the only one though. As he walked around the rich neighborhood, he found several people wearing fancy dresses, though the one with feathers was still the most weird. And they had pets. All kinds of animals, some he could recognize as being similar to something in real life. Others he hadn't seen. There were all kinds of two-footed or four-footed.....wait a sec..was that a three footed creature as well! Or did it injure and lose one of its leg.

'Any era, any age...you still have the filthy rich!' Raka sighed.

Raka kept moving his eyes at everything as he walked around the city observing, sometimes gawking with his mouth open, excited like a kid visiting a new place, where everything is brand new and unique and fun! He had looked a little of the city at night, but the view in the sun was something else. The normal part of the city, as Raka liked to call it, was much more similar to Gurrow village. No feathered ladies or pet alligators here. Normal people wearing normal clothes, not that it wasn't fashionable or beautiful. And no pets.

'Maybe the pets are expensive. That's why only the rich can afford having one! But there are pets, so there must be a pet shop as well....I should check it out later.'

A few times he saw important people passing. Riding on chariots they were followed by guards running behind them. Oblivious to the happenings around them, they had a look of concern or thoughtfulness or something similar. The chariot drivers yelled loudly to have the people on the street make way and skillfully guided their horses to lead these important people to places. A few of these important people were dressed in armor while a few others seemed to be wearing the same kind of dress, the people of Magic Institute wore.