Chapter 107:Port.
The ship didn’t dock at the city as expected; it docked on the outer ring.
A forest of organised piers rose from the sea, preventing any ship from entering the city without being inspected, sorted, and then allowed entry.
This was a safety concern, installed by human kingdoms after the continental wars, and among themselves, it prevented anyone from accessing their port cities without damage, something elves couldn’t care to implement.
Their ship passed without a hitch.
"Silk port city," Atheline mummbled to himself.
"It’s the biggest and busiest port city amongst the human kingdoms," she answered.
Atheline took her hand into his.
"It looks like it."
They stepped on the deck, the wood creaking faintly under their weight.
Atheline’s gaze lifted.
The sun was now fully setting, its last orange rays the only sign of light.
’Can’t they just turn on the lights!’
Beyond the outer ring, a second still wall raised etched with aether lines for durability and defense. It arched over the main harbour like a large gate.
Ships passed through it one at a time and each time it passed, the structure reacted.
Light spilled down onto the ship, another inspection, this time searching for any dangerous form of Aether.
Above it all, stood watchtowers manned by Aether manipulators, with only a few soldiers walking around the perimeter.
"Isn’t this a bit too paranoid?" Atheline said, irritated.
If it had been in their territories they would have already passed.
"It’s good for them but quite irritating for us."
"What if they need to bring in a large number of ships, " his gaze moved to the five archways," This will waste time."
"The walls can be lowered into the sea," she calmly replied, " there is no war so it’s useless to bring their defense down to allow allied ships in."
Atheline nodded in approval.
"We should do that with our port," he calmly said.
’I’ve read about their defense but this is more than I had imagined’
Humans are considered to be the weakest species among other species but their innovative and reproductive rates are the best.
Ahead, the dock funneled, narrowing inwards. It opened to a wide and sprawling pier, gradually compressed into guided channels of movement.
Everything was like a well-oiled machine with nothing going out of place.
A stamp was magically placed on the side of the ship after the inspection.
A ship stamped red was restricted with its cargo and passengers, blue moved forward and gold bypassed the line entirely.
Priority wasn’t hidden there, it was built directly into the system
There was gold.
The ship shifted a little then it was directed to a more secluded docking area.
A place clearly built for ships carrying nobles. Their ship wasn’t the only one in the docking area but it was quieter than the rest.
Atheline and Lilith were of course the last ones to leave despite her earlier insistence on leaving first. The crowd had been too rowdy, everyone trying to be the first to alight.
The moment they left the ship, Atheline felt it. It was akin to something large covering the sky, like a protective bubble.
"Detection grid," Lilith quietly answered his unasked question," it’s layered across the entire port."
His eyebrow raised.
"They really went all out, huh."
Lilith glanced up.
"Breakable."
He sofly chuckled.
"Everything is."
They moved forward with the others, carried out with the natural flow. The group narrowed into little organised lines the closer they got to the inner gates.
Uniforms replaced rough sailor clothing.
"Land at last," Atheline mummbled softly to himself.
She chuckled.
They had finally gotten off the sea and onto land although they still had their second last checkpoint to go through.
At that moment, all the lights were turned on illuminating the half-dark port. The sun had finally set, leaving its orange hue in the sky.
In front of them, was the first checkpoint, a verification gate. A small archway meant to fit only one person.
Just like the ships, it went with colors for recognition.
A man stepped through, the familiar light but smaller brushed against him.
Green. Passed.
Another followed.
Yellow. He was taken away for questioning.
The line shifted in both anticipation and fear, no one wants to be questioned.
Lilith leaned closer to Atheline.
"Color-coded clearance," she said quietly, " green passes through the relay networks without delay, yellow gets flagged at every stop."
’Wow, colour really decides your fate in all your travels through the kingdom ’
"And red?" He asked.
He watched as someone was roughly pulled away further down the line before he could even explain.
’At least the yellow are treated like humans’
"They don’t move at all," she finally answered.
His gaze shifted for a moment, his eyes narrowing.
"What if I just walk through?"
She didn’t dissuade him.
"You could," she said, " and every relay across the kingdom will know exactly what you are."
Atheline nodded in consideration. They reached the inner lines and everything beyond the small gates became more visible.
Officials stood not as guards but as filters, each positioned to intercept, redirect, or delay depending on what was in front of them before the passengers could reach the verification.
And then, there were the smaller systems, middlemen if you could call them that but they were still officials.
Unlike the others who had official badges, they didn’t even have uniforms just small ledgers.
They were meant to help others maneuver the lengthy system.
"There," she said quietly.
He had already noticed him. A man standing just a little outside the line, softly tapping on the ledger absentmindedly.
"I thought you hated this kind of thing," he whispered only for her ears.
She smiled without glancing at him.
"Only in my territory."
A chuckle escaped him.
They came to a stop in front of the man.
"We’re on a schedule, " Lilith said.
The man didn’t stop tapping.
"Everyone is," he replied calmly almost nonchalant if not for the gaze secretly assessing them.
He was clearly measuring their worth. Only those with enough coins to waste would use him which wasn’t often but the ones who came, gave him enough to last until the next.
Lilith placed the token on the small table, not so openly but she also wasn’t trying to hide it either.
The pen stopped, just a fraction then continued.
"You’ve already been processed," he quietly said," gate marks confirm it."
Lilith didn’t move. Another token was placed larger than the first one. They had cleared the verification point but not everything.
They still had one more important stop.
"We’d like to avoid delays at the relays," she said.