Chapter 13: A City of Dreams and War
The carriage wheels rolled steadily across the stone-paved road as the massive silhouette of Orario grew larger in the distance. The golden sunlight cast long shadows on the fields, and the towering Babel Tower glowed like a divine monument, stretching endlessly into the sky.
Ethan leaned against the side of the carriage, his injured arm wrapped tightly in makeshift bandages. His eyes were locked on the city. Every step closer filled his heart with excitement—and tension.
This is real. The dungeon, the gods, the adventurers... I'm part of it now.
"First time seeing it?" Garret, the swordsman from Dian Cecht Familia, asked as he noticed Ethan's wide-eyed gaze.
"Yeah," Ethan admitted. "It's... incredible."
Garret chuckled. "I remember my first time. Almost walked into a pole staring at the tower."
The others laughed. Even the little girl who'd called him "big brother" smiled brightly from her mother's lap. Her name, he'd learned, was Myra. Her mother, Alina, ran a small item shop near the west district.
Soon, they passed the gates. Guards nodded at the familiar adventurers in the carriage and allowed them through without issue. As they entered the city, the noise of the streets rose like a tide: merchants calling out prices, adventurers chatting excitedly, blacksmiths hammering metal, and carriages rolling by.
Ethan's senses were overwhelmed. Orario was alive.
Everywhere he looked, there were adventurers—young men and women in armor, some with swords, others with staffs or daggers. There were elves, dwarves, cat people, even amazons.
"I really made it," he whispered.