Chapter 80: Zell Citadel
The journey to Zell Forest took him another weeks, and he did not make any stop, thought he did forgo flying in fear of being spotted. So, the journey on foot took him two whole week, stopping only at night to rest.
At the d of the two weeks, he is looking forward to see Zell City, though some called it Zell Citadel. Though, he do wondered what it look like to be called that.
Considering he traveled by foot, he find some villages and small towns, stopping there during the night to learn more of the Nation and the city he intded to go.
He learned from the locals Betrum Nation is founded by several people, all from small city that located near Zell Forest, though during that time, there is no name for it, just that people called it Bug Forest.
The founders of the nation created two cities, one at the cter which become the capital of the Nation, and the other one, the first line of defse against the bugs of Bug Forest. The two cities grew as one is focused on productivity and population growth, while the other one focus on military and defse, considering it is the main defse against a monster stampede.
With most of the nation's wealth poured into Zell City, it become large to the point it could hold a population of five hundred thousand, not including the soldiers. Not to mtion, each person in the city is a part of the militia, increasing the number of combatants should the need for them arise.
Ev without the militia, the soldiers in the city still reach a staggering 0 000, ough to handle the monster stampede. They also veteran, constantly heading inside the forest and fighting against the monstrous bugs.
The fact it is near a Mana Zone also the reason for it's prosperity, as crops grows well in the area while farm animals have longer life and become bigger than other farm animals elsewhere in the nation.
There is also the fact monsters drops, or to be exact, materials collected from the monsters are in great demand. With all of these reason, there is no surprise for the city's growth, to the point it could ev be bigger than capital itself.
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"So that is why it is considered a citadel," Alros exclaimed, eying the large walls suring the city. Considering the walls reach a height of 30 feet, magic must be used in it's creation.
Aside from it, he could tell there is magic formation, or magic circles all over the walls. No doubt to hance the protection of the walls. He could also see several ballista, no doubt to combat against aerial threats.
As he head to the gates, Alros could see the soldiers all wearing excellt armor. In fact, he could tell the armor they wore are ev better than the one he see on Astor Kingdom's soldiers.
'It's probably because the tire soldiers in the city is considered elite and the reason why the monsters in Zell Forest are unable to harm the territory behind it. So, it is no surprise for them to possess such level of equipmt,' he thought to himself before being stopped and having his idtification check, to which he was allowed to ter city.
-x-
"Troublesome, but necessary," he said in a complaining voice. While they are some compilation on his attempt in finding a suitable place to stay, he was able to handle it.
He could feel the mana in the city is few times better compared to Sur City, though it still fell short on the mana at the outer edge of Lunos Forest.
"Let's go through the plan again," he said to himself, as he remind himself of the plan he has. One, he planned on staying officially inside the city of weeks, doing advture works and maybe visit some brothels along the way.
After the two weeks pass, he would leave the city, but instead of going to other place, he would stay inside Zell Forest, like he did inside Lunos Forest. If possible, he want to head deeper, where they should be stronger bugs.
Hopefully, all of it are in his realm to subdue, or he will be turn into bug food.
-x-
"Thankfully, the currcy is relatively the same," he sighed in relief. He had be afraid if the money he loot will not be able to be of any use outside of Astor Kingdom, but thankfully, it is accepted.
He also learn of how it is possible. Merchant Guild, another big shot of the world, with equal influce to the Advture Guild had created the coin presser, the item used to create coins in the world.
They standardized the money, giving the coin presser for free with the inttion of all the countries and nations using it. It is widely accepted as it make trading betwe two nations easier, as well as making any transaction betwe two people of differt nations possible without the need of exchanging the money in one possession.
He wonder if he should sell some of the items he did not need before pushing the thought away. For now, he should rest before taking in a mission.
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"Welcome to the Zell City Advture Guild, may I know if you are interested to become an advturer or is one," Alros took out his badge, to which the receptionist check it and nodded.
"Thank you. Would you like to check the mission boards," he nodded before walking away.
He scanned the missions, finding most of it involve hunting a certain bug monsters and collecting the materials from the body. The materials are oft threads, carapaces and poison, the last one being the lowest in number.
Aside from the bug related missions, which make up 99 perct of the missions on the mission boards, there is also some gathering missions, though it is also related to bugs as well, as he could tell it would later be used by some other people to combat or do something with the bugs.
Considering he wanted to see the local flora and fauna, he took one D-rank mission before leaving the Advture Guild.
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However, instead of heading straight to the forest, he stopped for breakfast. After all, one could not fight in an empty stomach, can they?