Chapter 6: World's Species.
1844 Words
A couple of days later, when the group made their way to Drixtown, the sight made Chronos understand the difference in lifestyles of the different species.
Everyone seemed surprised excepting by Gree. "The ability to easily extract materials from the earth and manipulate them at will in the current world is a huge step on technology development, just as we can see from this place" -She pointed out.
"I didn't expect to see much difference between Argos and Drixtown only by the acquisition of materials" -Phill said still surprised by the buildings and vehicles.
It is true there is a huge difference between towns, but it is mostly because of the mining and the dwarves -Chronos thought while looking at Nat without her noticing it.
The group move on to look around the town and checking the multiple buildings. A tour guide noticed the group and walked towards them. It was a young Half-breed with a lot of energy, he also seemed to have simian features. "Hello! Good day to everyone, Max here, I will show you the best spots in the town for travelers including inns, workshops, armories, tourist places such as the mines and post office" -The half-breed said.
"Thanks, but we are not interested" -Nat said while the group kept walking.
"Oh, are you guys sure of that? I'm not expensive at all" -The half-breed continued. "And I haven't seen you here before, are you guys here for a special request from a guild or just for tourism in the mines?" -He continued.
"You know, when some people tell you they are not interested, it is a good sign to go away" -Phill said annoyed by the pushy half-breed.
The half-breed nods in defeat and walks towards where he came from. It seemed he was the manager of a small tourism agency which counted with compact vehicles to travel around the town.
"That guy was annoying" -Gree said while consulting the map they had of the zone. "We have to get some equipment and visit the workshops before we leave to the next town" -She continued.
Everyone agreed and went to the designated places. In the visit to the different spots of the town, Chronos could see many dwarves and half-breeds trading with humans with what looked like different kinds of minerals and jewels. This town seems to have a large number of resources because of the mines, no wonder why it looks so advance in technology -Chronos thought while walking with everyone else.
Phill noticed how Chronos was slowly spacing out from the group. "It almost looks like you have never seen technology before" -He said to Chronos, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"Do I really look so surprised?" -Chronos said with an apologizing smile. "I remember everyone was as shocked as me when arrived at the place" -He added.
"Well yes, but you are the only one still wondering about it. Also, it seems you are not so used to see other races" -Phill pointed out.
Chronos couldn't deny Phill's words so he stayed in silence for a moment.
Nat and Gree were already gone shopping for what they needed and Phill sighed recalling the moment when Chronos gave them his white gold coins. "Well, now that we have to wait for them to come back, let me explain to you the different races the world currently has" -Phill said.
Chronos nodded and walked with him to a square which was turning the corner in front of them.
"Well you see, there are Humans, Dwarves, Half-breeds, Elves, and Infected. Each one of them has a special feature in the current society" -Phill explained while sitting on a bench. "Humans are currently the most powerful and numerous race, having science, history, art, and other contemporaneous features which make us the "best race", also we are the first known race that populated the world. Dwarves are those short ones like Nat, who have special skills which help them to extract and work with the raw material from the earth, something very important nowadays, also Dwarves are known to live longer than humans and half-breeds" -Phill continued.
Meanwhile, Nat and Gree were on a shopping spree where they bought essential items to make the trip to the capital easier. "I can't believe we already bought a phone for everyone, materials for blacksmithing, a laptop, electronic components, and made a reservation for a week in the best inn of the town and we still have 28 damned white gold coins and a s**t load of cash left from the last coin we used" -Gree said disgusted by how much money they had. "Now we only need a vehicle to move faster from point A to point B" -She added sarcastically.
Nat on the other hand was delighted by the new materials they bought for blacksmithing. "Well, I think we could buy a Car" -She said while looking towards a small car sale with old electrical-powered versions.
Back in the square where Phill and Chronos are. "So Half-breeds are basically Humans with animal features and were created to fight the Infected? And the infected are humans who acquired this mind-controlling virus?" -Chronos resumed to make sure he understood what Phill told him.
"Yes, But the devil's whisper not only controls their minds, but it also makes them stronger and changes their physical appearance to a kind of demons" -Phill cleared.
"And the Elves? You said they were able to control the elements with magic, but how?" -Cronos asked.
"You really don't know anything right? Where you did live all this time? In a cave?" -Phill rhetorically asked. "Yes, Elves use magic to control the elements, and Humans through time also learned to control magic but with less effectiveness than Elves. All this is because, as history and science say, Magic is an ancient combination of commands which are directly connected to the spiritual part of reality and forces natural events to happen, but depending on the complexity of said combinations Magic could become unstable and very dangerous" -Phill added.
"I wonder how do you know all this" -Chronos said with a straight face.
"I'm not stupid, boy. I studied anthropology and universal history, but I ended up without a job, so now I work for Grace. She doesn't look like a scientist at all but she was the head of the research center in the capital a while ago" -Phill answered with a sigh.
She was? What happened then? Why did they end up in Argos? And why they fought against the government? -Chronos thought while looking at how the sun was setting on the horizon.
"It's getting late, we should start looking for the girls and find an inn to sleep in a comfortable bed, I'm sick of sleeping on the ground" -Phill complained.
"Oh, yes..." -Chronos said before a small car arrived at the square and the windows came down revealing Gree and Nat inside.
"Sup!" -Gree said while looking at Phill and Chronos with a big smile and Nat was next to her waving.
"I hope they didn't spend all your money" -Phill said while looking to Cronos. Then they got in the car and went to the inn to spend the rest of the evening and night.
During the rest of the week, Chronos visited the local library to read more about the history of the world, Nat spent one day see the mines and learned how to properly extract material, the rest of the days she was in the workshop working in a new set of blades for Chronos using the scales he had and also helped Gree making pieces for her new version of the coilgun Chronos destroyed. Gree and Phill stayed in the inn trying to hack their way into the government classified information without being noticed, also building new equipment and modifying the car.
When the week finished some government officers visited the town asking for some people with an egg in their belongings which could be there a week now. Chronos, while he was in the library, could notice the uniformed people and slowly go to the inn without being noticed. I think it is pretty logical to see them here, after all, they would have searched the ruins of Argos without any success -Chronos thought while arriving at the inn.
Before he could knock on the door of the room where Gree and Nat sleep, the phone given to him started ringing, making him jump a little in surprise. I forgot about this, I need to get used to it -Chronos thought with his heart racing and taking his phone out of his pocket. "Let's see...I think I need to answer the call" -Chronos said to himself before pressing the "answer" option.
"Chronos! Where the heck are you? Why didn't you answer quicker? Anyway, there are some people looking for us, try to not go out, I will go to the inn in a few minutes with Gree and Phill, make sure you are not being followed" -Nat said in a rush and before Chronos could say something, she hung up.
When Chronos put his phone in his pocket, he quickly turned to see the empty hallway and the security cameras. Chronos quickly walked to his room and packed everything he could, he took the backpack with the egg and the new blades refined by Nat. I wonder when you will hatch, it could help a lot to stop carrying this bag -Chronos thought while looking at the egg.
Nat, Phill, and Gree were stopped by the officers to inspect the car, luckily for them, Gree made a fake driver's license and suggested leaving the new devices and experiments in the local workshop, so they didn't have any problem reaching the inn. "That was a close one, we need to leave the town" -Nat said while walking towards the rooms.
"Good thing we spent just enough for food and important devices, and the personal hygiene products which are essential for us, don't you think Nat?" -Gree asked Nat while packing everything on the bags.
Nat recalled she spent most of the week working day and night on the workshop and quickly sniffed her armpit without Gree noticing and sighed in relief. "Ahm...yeah" -Nat answered hesitantly.
A few minutes later, Phill and Chronos finished packing everything they needed in the car and Gree followed them with her luggage.
When Nat came out to the inn's parking lot after checking out and leaving the keys, Gree started the car and they left the town in a matter of minutes after they made a stop in the local workshop to take the experiments. What the group didn't know was that someone has been stalking them every day since they arrived in the town, and it was the Half-breed who met them and offered to give them a tour around the town.
"Hey, officers! I think I have something to tell you about what you are looking for" -The Half-breed called Max said while walking towards them.
- Writer
