In Pillomal, large settlements were generally categorized into one of five categories.
'Villages' were small gathering places with a low population. Villages were generally formed when a large group of wanderers wanted to settle down and create a home.
'Towns' were medium sized gathering places with a decent population. They were usually built as satellites by a parent city and were often managed by a 'Mayor'. Towns usually specialized in a certain thing, such as 'food' or 'weapons'.
'Cities' were a large gathering place with a high population. They were built on top of strategic defense points across the continent, with many smaller satellite settlements to feed them resources. Each city had a 'City Lord' who ruled over the city.
'Castles' were large fortress cities that were trusted by the 'Towers' to defend certain points. In the center of the Cross Continent, there was a castle city guarding the entrance of each region. These castles were each controlled by a single 'Castle Lord'.
'Towers' were the top structures and were stationed across the continent. They were usually controlled by an 'Arc-Mage' and oversaw an entire region. Excluding the northern region, each of the other regions was overseen by a 'Tower'.
The 'Black Tower' was in the west.
The 'Royal Tower' was in the south.
The 'Storm Tower' was in the east.
The 'Sky Tower' was at the peak of the central region.
As for where cultivators came into all of this? Cultivators mostly lived in seclusion, rarely finding an interest in 'mortal life'. The mortal land of swords and magic was usually ignored, or sometimes just straight up forgotten. The difference in lifespan often created a disconnect with the common people, making cultivators even more indifferent to the changes of the era.
As long as a calamity didn't descend, the many masters hidden in seclusion would not appear.
-
Petra stood in front of a massive stone gate.
She was 'born' in Evergreen Town and had traveled through many villages. She had encountered many people, but even she was surprised by the sheer magnificence of the Sevensen City Gate.
This towering stone structure was wide open, standing over thirty meters tall, and split open vertically like two great doors. The complex carvings that were engraved in the doors masonry were difficult to see, but from afar, one could feel that they were some kind of high-level rune. One would be overwhelmed by the mere proximity to these magical runes, so the city gates stayed in an open state during the day.
If not compared to the Emerald Ghost Tree, then perhaps this would have been the most magnificent sight she had seen up till now.
The chaotic road was filled with people.
Dozens of carriages drove back and forth. Guards lined the city walls. Peddlers would stop people from time to time. The occasional beast would let out a roar, as if to challenge the mighty gates. Beast tamers were not uncommon, so Petra's centipede was not questioned.
Petra walked on the large stone bridge that crossed the moat. Six carriages could pass side by side, but the city maintained a brilliant level of order, leaving only a small lane for those unruly drivers to take.
As Petra walked towards the gates, she passed countless different races. Elves, Dwarves, and even Arachnids and Dragonoids.
For a while, Petra felt very overwhelmed.
She had forgotten her social phobia.
She moved the frog into her arms and pulled down the hood, letting only her black eyes and two streams of emerald green hair leak out.
When she reached the gate, she simply walked through.
Unlike the average town, Sevensen City did not charge an entrance toll.
The city opened before her eyes, and Petra was greeted by the magnificent sight of a medieval style city stretching towards the horizon. The stone roads were very wide, and the average house was much larger than those of old earth.
The lively streets were bustling with noise.
After walking around for an hour, Petra decided that she first needed to find a place to stay.
Petra stopped in front of an Inn called 'The Old Bear'.
After pushing through the wooden doors, Petra was baptized by a lively environment filled with loud sounds and countless voices.
It wasn't the stupid trope of 'everything stopped, and Petra became the center of attention', no, Petra was just another little leaf in a large storm.
Petra walked to the front counter and asked about accommodations.
The reason she had come here was because she had learned that they had stables for magic beasts.
The funny thing was, when Petra talked about leaving the centipede in the stables overnight, the centipede seemed to understand and strongly disagreed.
As it turned out, not only could the centipede stretch its length over five times its original length, but it could also contract its entire body up to five times smaller. Unlike when it was extending its body and only its length increased, when it contracted, its entire body would shrink.
Petra found this two-meter-long centipede much easier to deal with than its normal everyday 10 meter size. Instead of tossing it into the stables, she could just have it curl up in the corner of the room.
Petra paid for the room and was led upstairs by a waitress.
As they walked, the waitress made small talk.
"Is this your first time in Sevensen?"
Petra nodded.
"How could you tell?"
The waitress chuckled. "There aren't many children running around with such a large centipede. This kind of thing would usually get around."
Petra tilted her head. "But Sevensen is so big, how could you possibly hear about everyone with a centipede?"
The waitress smiled. "It's not just that centipede that's rare. It's you, the little girl with green hair that's rare."
Petra blinked.
"Is green hair really that uncommon?"
The waitress nodded. "It's not common in the average person. Only a few special races have it."
"What races have it?"
The waitress shook her head. "I only know a few. The Dryads, some Elves, and Forest Spirits have green hair, but looking at your ears and eyes, you're probably not those."
She turned her head to take a closer look. "If I had to guess, you would either be a Kiwi or a Forest Born, maybe a Green or even an Emerald Dragon. Hmmm, I don't really know."
Petra listened quietly.
She didn't know it herself.
The duo reached the room and Petra was led inside.
Satisfied with the room, Petra dismissed the waitress and shut the door. The centipede curled up in the corner, and Petra tossed her bags to it.
After taking out the frog, Petra plopped it down on the bed.
The first thing she noticed after looking around was the lack of any proper bath. After a long month's journey, Petra really wanted to take a nice, long bath. Unfortunately, there was no bathtub.
She sighed.
She probably should have expected it.
After taking a small pouch of money from her backpack, Petra threw the frog back in her hood and left the Inn. The centipede stayed behind to guard the room and her bags.
The first thing she wanted to do was find a bookstore and fill up a lot of her lacking knowledge.
Petra walked through the streets, listening to gossip and the occasional bit of news. From time to time, she would stop a scholarly looking person and ask about the local libraries and bookstores.
After Petra got everything she needed, she took off for the 'Owlheads Books & Pens Library'. This library, usually just called 'Old Owls', was one of the oldest bookstores in all of Sevensen. Some people even claimed that it existed here before the city's founding.
Petra spent half an hour finding the old building.
It was an old three-storey building made out of a darker kind of wood. An elegant cursive script was used to write the name on the signboard. To one side was a display window containing many old and historical books. On the third floor was a large circular window that overlooked the streets.
Petra pushed open the door and walked in.
When the door closed, the noise of the outside world was immediately isolated.
Petra found herself in a small old fashioned room, similar to a cubicle. Behind her was the door, and before her was a thick wooden counter. In the corner of the room was an entranceway to the heart of the library. Through it, Petra could see row after row of books.
Her little heart stirred.
She walked up to the empty counter and called out a few times.
After not receiving a response for a long time, Petra frowned. Should she leave?
"Ah Ah Ah! Coming, hold on!"
Suddenly, the young voice of a short man called out.
He stumbled through the door leading to the library and ran behind the counter. He pulled over a tall stool and stood on top of it, almost tripping in the process.
Petra looked at this scholarly gnome with some interest. He was only a little under a meter tall with strange antler-like nubs protruding from his head. He adjusted his glasses and coughed a few times. There was a sharp look in his eyes that completely contradicted his clumsy behaviour.
"Hello, dear customer, how can I help you today!"
Petra blinked.
She pursed her lips, trying not to laugh.
"I want to read, can I do that here?"
The young gnomish scholar shook his little head. "Of course! Of course, welcome to Oldowls Books & Pens! Remember to stay quiet and not bother the other guests! We charge one Gold Coin a day to read, and 1 Crystal Coin a book to copy! Stay as long as you want! Oh, oh, and that frog in your hood! I can see it, yes, yes, that spark of wisdom! What an incredible little beast! Yes yes! That one must pay too! Hehe!"
Petra blinked.
'Spark of wisdom? What freaking wisdom!? Didn't he just want more money!'
She clicked her tongue.
One must know that 1 Gold Coin was actually a lot. For the average farmer, 1 Silver Coin was the price of bread, and 5 Silver Coins were a day's expense.
It was a good thing that Petra had 'accepted' so much money on the way here.
Petra paid the two gold coins and was led inside.
When she passed through the doorframe leading into the main body of the library, Petra felt like she had crossed some kind of barrier.
The scholarly gnome looked at her from the corner of his eye with some interest.
'What a sharp little girl...'
Petra was given a quick tour of the library.
There were three floors.
The first floor contained a lot of knowledge on common information such as Geography, History, and Farming, etc...
The second floor contained information that was more specialized, such as guides to Alchemy, Crafting, and Beast Taming, etc...
The third floor was the reason Old Owls was special. The third floor contained information about old legends and long forgotten tales. There were treasure maps that had yet to be discovered and incomplete Magitech designs. As for the treasure of Old Owl's Bookstore, that was a book chronicling the story of an Old Man who claimed to have created the Cross Continent. The whole floor was like a treasure trove of things that were either hearsay or incomplete creations.
Petra frowned. "Then what's on the fourth floor?"
The scholarly gnome grinned. He knew it, this girl was really special.
When they passed through the doorframe earlier, they actually passed through a spatial array. This building had four floors, not three. Only those who had started to awaken their dimensional sense could feel it. 'Dimensional Sense' was one of the 'Nine Senses' that every person had.
[Sight]
[Touch]
[Smell]
[Hearing]
[Taste]
Everybody knew about the basic five, but from the sixth sense onwards, they became more difficult to awaken.
[Karma / The Sixth Sense]
[Space / The ability to feel the changes in space around you]
[Time / The ability to feel the flow of time around you]
[Consciousness / Unknown]
When you were walking down the street and felt like something was wrong, or when you were sleeping and suddenly woke up, these were manifestations of the sixth sense.
Being able to actively feel the flow of time and space were an even higher level of senses. Normal people, even most experts, would never touch these senses.
One had to be born with a very high affinity for [Time] or [Space] to awaken these senses naturally.
As for the ninth sense – 'Consciousness', this was said to be the ability to peer into a higher dimension like the gods. It was the most uncommon of the nine senses, usually only seen in those who have or are about to ascend to godhood.
The scholarly gnome smiled happily.
"Dear customer, I'm afraid that the fourth floor is a little special. I can't guide you there, only you can find it yourself. As for when you arrive, if you arrive, I'd be happy to give you the tour~ hehehe."
Petra nodded.
She felt like this was a very magical place.
After finding what she came here for, she didn't mind spending some time looking for the mysterious fourth floor.
The gnome left Petra to read.
Petra walked around and decided to start from the first floor.