Chapter 8: Sky Sword Sect Disciples!
Kael stood at the edge of Riverdale, arms crossed beneath the dull brown cloak that barely concealed his broad shoulders and sharper-than-average smirk.
His eyes were fixed on the massive walls towering before him like something yanked straight out of a Hollywood fantasy flick.
Only this wasn’t Hollywood, this was a real, living, breathing world where magic cracked through the air like lightning and even teenagers could fly if they’d sucked up enough of that strange essence stuff.
"This is a village?" Kael muttered under his breath, his eyebrow twitching in disbelief.
"Back on Earth, this would’ve been a goddamn city with a Starbucks and three overpriced gyms."
The place was bustling—no, boiling—with life.
Stone towers loomed over the gates, banners flapping in the wind with emblems of foxes and hawks, and merchants barked prices while guards in dark armor stood like statues beside them.
These weren’t just any guards either. Even from this distance, Kael could feel the pressure rolling off them like heatwaves from an open furnace.
Their eyes were too sharp, too calm. Their stances weren’t just about intimidation, they were battle-tested.
No doubt about it. These guys were Seekers, people who had absorbed essence and broken through at least one of their Gates.
The term still felt weird to Kael’s Earth-born tongue, but the meaning behind it was clear: these were the powerhouses of the world.