A Known City

It was almost 11 in the morning and the Multicontinental continued its journey. The group was slightly bored, as they were half an hour behind schedule; a minor malfunction had slowed the progress of the enormous vehicle.

"I see the central tower now," Mina said, peering excitedly through a window.

"Finally, I can rest. You guys are mentally exhausting, friends, don't take it the wrong way," Íthil told them in a friendly tone. Jacob and Mina simply nodded with a smile at Íthil as a man in a butler's uniform announced, from cabin to cabin, their arrival at Thar-Abbys.

"Why isn't the station inside the city? They're just trying to torture me with endless, annoying transfers!" Mina exclaimed, hissing a small flame, almost about to hit Jacob.

"Well, you see, do you see the city walls? No one in the world, not the Archipelago of Commerce, nor the Reclamationist Orders, not even the School of Magicers or the great Guild of Summoners, has the means to cause even a scratch to Thar-Abbys' original walls or its gates," Jacob said, trembling behind Íthil, fearing Mina's retaliation.

"Stop complaining, Mina, we still have to get our medallions; with those, we'll have assigned barracks from the academy, not to mention three hot meals on campus. I can barely wait!" Íthil eagerly chimed in as they received their luggage from the magic carts.

The three adventurers headed towards the citadel.

Before them, imposing walls stood, dwarfing the once gigantic Multicontinental train. Weathered and tinged with pink, they were clad in moss and dirt where hundreds of birds perched in their nests within the notches made by unimaginable and ancient weapons. Thar-Abbys was an ancient city whose origins defied anyone's logic in Khuarhya. Technologically speaking, with 3 concentric walls and a central tower of white granite so colossal it dissolved into the sky, from which 3 smaller towers extended, crowning an altar among the clouds. The three adventurers could barely contemplate the vast magnitude of Thar-Abbys.

"So, which ring are we heading to, Jacob?" Íthil asked.

"Well, the first one has the student barracks," Jacob counted on his fingers, pointing to the sky, making imaginary leaps to each ring with gestures of his hand.

"The commerce sectors, warehouses, and workshops; the second has all the teachers and banking sectors"—Mina and Íthil tried to follow him, but it seemed too complicated without a guide.

"The third has the recreation plazas and school sectors. The central tower is, so to speak, the school offices, and those three towers are the relations palaces and the quarters for specialists and councilors. I suppose we're going to the central tower; we can take the cable cars."

"Okay, cable car it is," saturated with information, Mina and Íthil responded at the same time.

From above in the cable car, they could visualize the colossal size of each ring; the birds flying between each sector only increased the feeling of scale and vertigo.

"Hey, Jacob, didn't you say we couldn't alter Thar-Abbys' original structures?" Íthil asked, seeing the finely planned blocks of houses, parks, and small squares that were more evident from above.

"And we can't. Thar-Abbys' original founders only reactivated the city. To build within it, millions of tons of earth were introduced. The original structures lie 30 meters underground in restricted access vaults. We'll never know why these gigantic concentric rings were completely empty. Our ancestors were as impressed and clueless about what material the Thares are made of as we are today."

"Wait, so there's more?" Mina asked, genuinely intrigued.

"Yes… my father told me that during the original construction work of Thar-Abbys, tablets were found in the central tower that possibly indicate the existence of at least 4 more"—gesturing with his hands, Jacob outlined various places on an imaginary map in front of them, which Mina and Íthil watched, barely understanding.

"But so far, we don't know of any others. Besides, this city is so impressive that it has its own fresh water system, as well as automatic defense systems. It was a key piece in the wars against the Archipelagos of Commerce. Fortunately, Thar-Abbys ended up being a school, but we have no idea what it really is, or who or when it was built. There were no houses or writings other than the name 'Thar-Abbys' everywhere, and in reality, we don't even know if it's a name or a number; we interpreted it by its resemblance to symbols in our alphabet as 'Thar-Abbys'." The three watched the landscape, amazed and in silence, as they approached the base of the central tower, and finally, after a few minutes, the group arrived.

Sections finely carved in bronze and fine wooden reliefs softened Thar-Abbys' original alien architecture, clearly not made for Khuaryans. The three adventurers made their way through the strangely misty entrance halls of the central tower to finally reach a corridor where other adventurers were also gathered. There, beginner adventurers took the first trial mission to obtain the adventurer rank.

"Look, everyone's nervous," Mina said in a low voice. At other tables, the examiners assigned tasks to the newly formed groups, just like they had before leaving to fight the Hurofalcos.

"Yeah, usually the exam is taken inside the academy and is written or through donations and tuition payments, but I've heard that this year they implemented field exams, due to the low performance of many elements from wealthy families who just want purchased titles for their children," Íthil replied to Mina while making a coin symbol with his hand.

"Exactly, last year they had a problem!" Jacob continued with a gloomy tone and downcast gaze.

"The Klein triplets! Yes, I remember them, arrogant lads, but they didn't deserve their fate"—a voice emerged from behind them.