Chapter 47 - : Color Zones
Tolu noticed.
Back home, someone seeing that much silver would probably stare.
Here, it barely registered.
The realization made him pause.
The innkeeper handed him three keys.
"Rooms are upstairs. Food is served late in the evening."
"Thank you."
They collected their belongings and went upstairs.
Their rooms were small but clean.
A bed.
A table.
A chair.
A wash basin.
Nothing luxurious.
But after sleeping in forests and traveling for days, it felt comfortable.
They dropped their bags.
Akin immediately collapsed onto one of the beds. "I’m never leaving this room."
Temi kicked his leg. "We’ve been here for thirty seconds."
"Exactly."
Ore laughed.
Tolu stood near the window.
From there he could see the street below.
People were still moving.
Even in the afternoon, the city showed no sign of slowing down.
"We’re really here," he said.
Ore came to stand beside him.
"Yeah."
Tolu smiled. "I thought I’d feel different."
"Different how?"
"I don’t know."
He looked down at the people below. "I thought arriving here would make me feel like we had finally accomplished something."
Ore glanced at him. "And?"
"I just feel small."
Ore smiled. "Maybe that’s good."
Tolu looked at her. "How?"
"Because now we know there’s more to reach."
Tolu thought about that. Then nodded. "You’re right."
Akin groaned from the bed. "Can you two stop being philosophical and come downstairs?"
Temi laughed. "He’s hungry."
"I’m always hungry."
"That’s true."
They eventually went downstairs and ate.
The food alone surprised Tolu.
There were dishes he had never seen before, spices he couldn’t identify and meat from creatures he couldn’t name.
Akin practically inhaled his meal.
Temi had to tell him to slow down.
Tolu ate more slowly, studying everything.
Ore noticed. "You don’t have to memorize the food."
"I know."
"You’re doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Looking at everything like you’re going to be tested on it later."
Tolu smiled. "Maybe I am."
After eating, they decided to explore.
Their first stop was the market.
The streets became even busier as they moved deeper into the outer city.
Then Tolu saw a shop with several weapons displayed behind thick glass.
He stopped.
Ore followed his gaze. "What?"
"Those."
They entered.
The moment Tolu stepped inside, he realized that the shop was far beyond anything in their old town.
Swords hung from the walls.
Spears stood in racks.
Bows were displayed behind counters.
There were weapons made from strange materials, weapons with faintly glowing inscriptions and weapons whose construction Tolu couldn’t understand.
Akin picked up a sword.
The merchant immediately said, "Eight gold."
Akin nearly dropped it. "Eight gold?"
The merchant looked confused. "Yes."
Akin carefully placed it back. "Right."
Tolu looked at another weapon. "How much?"
"Three gold."
He quickly withdrew his hand.
Ore laughed. "Don’t touch anything."
"I wasn’t going to."
"You were."
Tolu looked at the weapons again.
One gold.
Three gold.
Five gold.
Ten gold.
Some were even more expensive.
He glanced at the twenty-two silver coins in his pouch.
They suddenly felt much smaller.
"Who buys these?" Temi asked.
"People who can afford them," the merchant replied.
Akin muttered, "So everyone except us."
The merchant laughed. "You’ll get there eventually."
Tolu looked at him. "Eventually?"
"You’re young." The merchant glanced at their weapons. "And judging from your equipment, you’re just starting out."
Tolu didn’t argue.
They left without buying anything.
A short distance away, they found a potion shop.
The difference was immediate.
Shelves covered the walls.
Glass bottles filled with colored liquids sat neatly arranged behind the counter.
Some glowed faintly.
Others contained powders, pills or small crystals.
Tolu stepped closer. "What are those?"
The merchant smiled. "Potions."
"I know that."
"Do you?"
Tolu paused.
The merchant laughed. "Where are you from?"
Tolu avoided answering directly.
"A smaller town."
"I thought so." The merchant pointed toward a row of red bottles. "Basic healing potions."
Tolu stared at them. "How much?"
The merchant gave him the price smiling. " A bottle is just tens silver coins."
Tolu’s expression changed.
It was expensive.
Not impossibly expensive.
But expensive enough that one bottle represented a significant portion of their money. ALMSOT HALF!!!
He picked up a bottle carefully. "This can heal injuries?"
"Minor and moderate injuries, depending on the quality."
Tolu’s fingers tightened around the bottle. "How fast?"
"Very quickly."
He remembered Temi.
He remembered carrying her after the Mirefang attack. He remembered the blood, panic. Then the healing cabin.
Temi lying unconscious while they waited for her body to recover.
He looked at the bottle again. "Could this have healed her?"
Ore knew exactly what he was thinking. She answered quietly. "Probably."
Tolu returned the bottle. There was no point regretting something they hadn’t known existed.
But the realization stayed with him.
There were things in Ilebi that could have changed situations they once considered unavoidable.
The merchant continued explaining the other products.
Mana potions.
Stamina potions.
Antidotes.
Recovery potions.
Temporary enhancement potions.
Cultivation pills.
Body-strengthening pills.
Resistance pills.
Some were meant for combat.
Others were used during cultivation.
Some were so expensive that Tolu didn’t bother asking the price.
They left the shop with nothing.
But Tolu had learned something important.
Ilebi wasn’t simply a bigger version of their town.
It was a place where resources existed that they had never even known about.
And that meant their previous limits had not necessarily been limits at all.
They had simply been living in a place where those opportunities didn’t exist.
As they continued walking, Tolu suddenly slowed.
An old man was approaching from the opposite direction.
There was nothing remarkable about his appearance.
Plain clothing.
Grey hair.
No visible weapon.
He looked like an ordinary elderly man.
But as he passed, Tolu felt something.
It was subtle.
A pressure.
Not enough to crush him.
Not enough to make him stumble.
Just enough to make every instinct inside him whisper that the person walking past them was different.
Tolu turned his head.
The old man continued walking.
Ore noticed his expression. "What?"
Tolu watched the man disappear into the crowd. "Advanced."
Akin looked at him. "You’re sure?"
Tolu nodded. "I think so."
Temi looked back. "That old man?"
"Yes."
Akin stared at the crowd. "How can you tell?"
"I can’t explain it." Tolu looked down at his hands. "But I know he was stronger than anyone I’ve ever met."
Ore smiled faintly. "Welcome to Ilebi."
Tolu looked at her. For the first time since arriving, the size of the city didn’t seem exciting. It seemed enormous. And somewhere inside that enormous city were people even stronger than the old man.
Masters.
Perhaps people beyond them.
People whose names they had never heard.
Tolu smiled despite himself. There was fear in his chest. But there was excitement too.
They had come to Ilebi because they wanted to grow.
Now they had finally found a place where growth would never end.
Understanding the Monster Territories
They spent the better part of the afternoon walking through the outer city.
The further they went, the more Tolu realized that Ilebi was not simply a larger version of their hometown.
Everything here operated on a different scale.
Eventually, they found themselves standing before a large wooden board covered with maps.
Unlike the simple quest boards they were used to seeing back home, this one displayed the enormous territory surrounding Ilebi.
Mountains.
Forests.
Rivers.
Plains.
Valleys.
And large sections of wilderness marked with different colors.
Tolu stepped closer. "What are those colors?"
The man standing beside the board looked at him. "You don’t know?"
Tolu shook his head.
The man looked at the four of them and immediately seemed to understand. "You’re not from around here."
"No."
He pointed at the map. " Then remember them. They’ll keep you alive."
He tapped the blue sections. "Blue territory."
Tolu listened.
"Mostly safe. The monsters there are generally weak. Level Ones, mostly. It’s where inexperienced cultivators and ordinary travelers can move around without too much trouble." His finger moved to the green sections. "Green is more dangerous. Still manageable for Novices if they know what they’re doing, but there are stronger Level Ones and some Level Twos."
Tolu’s expression changed slightly.
Some of the places they had considered dangerous around their hometown would probably fall into this category.
The man pointed to yellow. "Yellow territory. Now you’re talking about places where you shouldn’t wander casually. Level Two monsters become common, and Level Three creatures aren’t unheard of."
Temi frowned. "So Novices shouldn’t go there."
"They shouldn’t."
Akin nodded. "Then what’s orange?"
The man’s finger moved. "Orange territory."
His voice became more serious. "Many level Three and some level four monsters. Some areas are controlled by particularly powerful beasts. Even experienced cultivators can die there if they’re careless."
Tolu stared at the map.
Then the man’s finger moved to the final color.
Red.
"Red territory."
Nobody spoke.
"Level Four and Level Five monsters."
Tolu swallowed.
"Level Five?"
The man nodded.
"That’s the highest known level for ordinary monsters."
Tolu stared at the red regions.
He remembered the dungeon war.
The Mirefangs.
The hyenas.
The Level Two creature that had nearly killed him and Ore.
The sheer helplessness he had felt when it had broken their defenses.
Then he looked at the red areas.
Something cold settled in his stomach.
Their greatest battle so far had been against creatures that were nowhere near the strongest things in the world.
Not even close.
Akin broke the silence. "So what happens if someone goes into a territory above their level?"
The man shrugged. "They die."
Temi looked at him. "That’s all?"
"What else do you want me to say?"
Akin laughed awkwardly. "Fair enough."
The man pointed toward the road leading away from Ilebi. "That’s why the city has people whose entire job is to monitor the surrounding territories."
Tolu nodded.
"The army."
"Among others."
The man folded his arms.
"The colors aren’t there to make the map look pretty. They’re warnings."
Tolu looked at the map again.
Blue.
Green.
Yellow.
Orange.
Red.
Five colors.
Five levels of danger.
He realized something.
Their hometown had felt dangerous because they were inexperienced.
Ilebi was dangerous because the world around it actually was.
There was a difference.
And Tolu had a feeling he was going to learn it repeatedly.