A New World, an immersive game experience

This time, upon entering the city, they were not left to themselves. As soon as they walked down the inner ramp of the gatehouse, two centaurs and one centaurette came back out with Old Sword who had gone ahead to talk with them. Eldrian and Vivian riding nearby could overhear the conversation, it seemed that these few centaurs would lead them to the city heart, and help them settle in.

Though all they did was simply tell Old Sword what dirt road to take, between the four options. Two of which actually only went left and right along the wall. Curious how they were going to be restricted, Eldrian decided to ask.

"For the most part, you will be treated as soldiers, but also guests. This means that once you have settled in, you can do whatever you want. Within some regulations of course. Though I am sure there will also be restrictions according to your own rules." One of the centaurs replied.

He was not in full armor as the other centaurs Eldrian had seen first in the Duran, though he did wear clothes. On his human part, he wore a light green formal shirt with some intricate patterns. His horse part simply covered in a light green cape, which also had the same patterns as the shirt. 

Old Sword replied as he saw the look the centaur was giving him. "Oh, of course. Normal soldiers will be kept in camp according to the rules. Only one Unit will be allowed to leave each day in the form of an off day. But for you," Pausing Old Sword pointed to Eldrian, "It doesn't really matter, heck I won't even really care if you don't come right away when a threat is spotted." 

"Why do you say he can go freely?" The centaur asked, curious what made this elf so special; other than being an elf in an army of humans. Per etiquette, most people do not use Observe on a person upon meeting. 

"Ah, he is a Chosen. I am sure you have heard of them, you know... Can't die stuff. In any case, he is not really part of the army and him not being there won't make much of a difference in such large battles." Came Old Sword's reply.

"Oh, so that's it. How does it feel to resurrect in a temple?" The centaur asked Eldrian. 

"Um... I don't know, each time I died so far I was revived on the field. And why do you assume I would have died already?" Eldrian found it strange that the centaur asked it as he did. 

"Youth, undying, and you are weak. So I assumed you would have died, seeing as you joined such a dangerous mission." The centaur replied, able to tell that Eldrian was weak simply from the aura he gave off. 

"Is it really that dangerous?" Eldrian asked, leaving the weak part be as he could not really argue against it. From the little fear all the people he had met displayed, he felt that it was actually far less dangerous than he had thought at first. 

"Not too much," The other centaurs replied, wearing similar clothing to the first but blue colored instead. "At least not if you stay within thirty kilometers from the city. South naturally, as the other directions are more patrolled and safer."

"Then what is the danger?" Eldrian asked, curious what they would be facing in the future. 

"Undead. The entire border East of the Ganalin Mountains is infested with them. A few undead devils seemingly loving the area, Asteria knows why. West of the Ganalin Mountains you will only find beasts, though some rumors of orc armies are becoming more and more common."

Naturally Eldrian had no idea what, or where, the Ganalin Mountains were. Though this information did inform him that the border between the Chaos lands and Taurus seems to be split between two groups of Kako races. He was unsure what this truly meant, wondering if these two factions were at war with each other. Thus lessening the pressure on Taurus even more and why it was seemingly not under much pressure months into the invasion. 

"Don't forget that one of the kingdoms on our eastern border has just about been destroyed. Now we are getting an influx of some rat-like creatures from that side. Normally it used to only be the occasional horde of Wolfbeasts." The centaurette who had yet to speak said. She was in semi armor, with her human part covered in chainmail. Her horse part instead only covered in a silver cloth similar to the other two. 

"True, but they aren't really a threat at this stage. Just one Unit is enough to keep them ground down." 

By now, Eldrian felt pushed out of the conversation, though he did not really care. He had gotten the information he had needed. Leaving him to wonder at what types of undead there were in the game as they continued to ride to the city's heart. Listening in on the conversation between the centaurs from time to time. The centaurs continuing to talk between themselves, and sometimes with the others when they wondered what life in other kingdoms was like. 

Finally, after around two hours of trotting on horseback, the next walls came into sight. Reaching high into the sky, easily thirty meters high. Though completely different from Aggostead's walls, many gatehouses were visible. The walls encompassed almost from horizon to horizon. With a gatehouse every three kilometers.

"We won't be entering the city walls, you are welcome to set up camp anywhere in sight. For the tour, why don't you gather some of your leaders." The centaurette said as they stopped a few hundred meters from one of the gatehouses. 

"Sure, Eldrian you and Vivian can also join. And miss..." Old Sword paused, trying to recall the centaurette's name and failing. "How expensive is it to use the teleportation hall?"

"Demora, my name is Demora. To teleport to other small cities it costs around 1 gold, three to the medium cities, and ten to the large cities. However, the prices do vary depending on the distance. The only way to get to the capital is from the large cities and it costs twenty gold, I am not sure what interkingdom teleportation costs."

Hearing the prices Old Sword whistled loudly, "I thought you would have it a little cheaper. Why is it the same as in Phallos?"

"Because no matter what, it costs an absurd amount of mana to teleport one over such long distances. I am sure you know this." She replied, not bitting the bait Old Sword had thrown out.

"Wait! You can teleport? Why didn't we do that instead of traveling for nearly a month!?" Eldrian could not keep it in, he was truly shocked. He knew teleportation was possible, though difficult. He had assumed it was too difficult, but the prices sounded reasonable to him. 

"Simple, teleporting from Phallos to Taurus requires us to first go to the Phallan, the capital of Phallos. This would have also taken a week, or require around ten gold per person. Then teleporting to Taurus would cost over a hundred gold per person. And this is when using the market value of mana crystals. I don't think there is enough stock in Phallos to send an army of a million over, and even if there was, it would be dumb to bleed the kingdom dry of mana crystals." Old Sword replied, knowing full well that Eldrian probably had no idea how this system worked. 

"How important are mana crystals, why have I not heard of them before?" Eldrian asked, though it had been mentioned to him once or twice. it had only been in passing. He actually knew more of Magic Crystals, which were far rarer than mana crystals, though he had no idea how valuable it actually was. Most native people know of mana crystals as it is often used by the rich to display their wealth. Contrary to this, only a few know of Magic Crystals. Normally limited to nobles or mages. 

"You are too weak and poor. Basic mana crystals go for around one gold each, while larger ones would be far more expensive. Normally people don't come into contact with mana crystals before Tier 5."

"Why?"

"Cost." Seemingly having used all his patients to answer Eldrian's questions, Old Sword answered this and the next couple of questions in one word. Leaving Eldrian stumped for words as he decided to ask Vivian about this latter. 

While they had been talking, the leaders had been gathered already. Old Sword having simply nodded to one of his bodyguards to indicate that he should gather them. Eldrian found the situation of Old Sword having bodyguards funny, though it made sense as most important people would have a ruing of protection around them.

Most leaders would be left behind to supervise the camp and its setup, it needing to be made with forethought as it would be their home for the next couple of months. Maybe even years. 

With things seemingly settled the group departed from the division, their total around thirty.