Lucid adjusted the heavy load on his right shoulder. The scrap metal was cold, sharp, and rigid. The stone like marble skin edges dug through his thin fabric of shirt, he shifted his stance on the stone road to balance the uneven weight as he walked forward. The mechanical body felt like a solid mass of iron, brass, and copper. It did not shift or bend like a real human body would.
Lucid walked down the narrow stone road. The street was dark and completely empty. Cold wind moved through the alleyways between the tall wooden buildings. The town smelled of damp moss, old lumber, and wet dust. He took steady, deliberate steps on the cobblestones. His heavy leather boots made rhythmic tapping sounds against the hard stone surface.
'You look completely ridiculous carrying that thing on your shoulder,' Alice spoke clearly in his mind. Her voice was soft, clear, and full of gentle amusement.
'It is extremely heavy,' Lucid thought back to her. 'I cannot just leave it lying in the middle of a public street for anyone to find.'
'You could have dragged it along the ground by its arms,' Alice suggested in his thoughts. 'Or you could have left it locked inside your room at the tavern.'
'Someone would have stolen it or burned it,' Lucid replied mentally. 'We need to know who built this machine. It contains complex mechanical parts, tiny cogs, and golden threads. It is not an ordinary puppet.'
Lucid kept walking down the dark road. His shoulder muscles burned from the constant strain of the heavy weight. The fate essence inside his body flowed slowly through his veins. It helped sustain his physical strength and endurance. The cold energy of the fate essence reinforced his arms, legs, and spine. Without the steady flow of fate essence, his body would have collapsed under such a heavy burden long ago.
He climbed the rising slope of the stone street. The road led directly toward the massive stone wall that separated the lower district from the upper district. The high wall was constructed from thick blocks of dark granite. High iron lanterns hung from the stone ramparts above. The lanterns cast a dim yellow light onto the paved road below.
Lucid stopped ten paces away from the massive iron gate. Two tall guards stood in front of the heavy wooden doors. The guards wore polished steel breastplates over thick leather tunics. They wore iron helmets that shadowed their eyes. They held long wooden spears with sharp steel tips. The steel tips caught the torchlight and glowed brightly in the dark.
As Lucid approached the post, both guards stepped forward in unison. They lowered their long spears until the sharp tips pointed directly at his chest.
"Stop right there," the guard standing on the left ordered. His voice was loud, harsh, and commanding. "The upper district is strictly closed to commoners during the night hours. State your name and your business immediately."
The second guard squinted his eyes at the heavy metal bundle resting on Lucid shoulder. His brow furrowed with deep suspicion. "What are you carrying on your back. Lower that heavy load to the ground right now so we can inspect it."
Lucid did not lower the scrap metal. He did not panic or show any hesitation. He reached into his pockets with his free left hand. His fingers wrapped around a smooth carved object attached to a sturdy leather cord. He pulled out the red pendant.
The pendant was shaped like a stylized flame. It was carved from a deep red gemstone that glowed faintly under the streetlights. Karmen had given him this exact item during their earlier meeting. It was not just a simple piece of decorative jewelry. The red pendant served as a boarding pass, an official identification token, and a VIP pass. It allowed the bearer to pass through security checkpoints across the entire region of Vex. It allowed him to bypass restricted areas where common people were strictly forbidden from entering.
Lucid held the red pendant up in front of the two guards. The deep red stone caught the warm lantern light and shimmered brightly in the dark night.
The guard on the left gasped softly. He immediately raised his left hand and signaled his partner to lower his weapon. Both guards pulled their long spears back and stood at strict attention against the wall.
"My humble apologies, sir," the left guard said quickly. His harsh, arrogant tone vanished completely. "We did not recognize your official status. You may pass through into the upper district without any delay."
"Do you require assistance carrying that heavy metal load to your destination?" the second guard asked politely.
"No," Lucid said directly. "Just open the gate."
The guards turned around quickly. They pulled the heavy iron levers built into the side of the stone wall. The massive wooden doors creaked loudly on their hinges as they swung inward. A wide gap appeared between the thick wooden panels. Lucid walked through the open threshold without saying another word.
The upper district was vastly different from the lower town square. The streets here were wide and paved with smooth white marble slabs. Clean stone mansions stood on both sides of the road. High glass windows reflected the pale moonlight above. Ornamental trees grew in neat rows along the paved walkways. The air smelled of sweet garden flowers, clean linen, and polished wood.
Lucid adjusted the heavy scrap metal on his right shoulder again. A metal joint inside the mechanical chest clicked loudly as it shifted position against his coat.
He walked past a wide open marble square. Lucid paused for a second and looked to his left. He recognized the surrounding area immediately. This was the exact plaza where he had emerged from the dark sewer system in the past. He remembered lifting the rusted iron hatch with his bare hands. He remembered stepping out into the fresh air while covered in dirty sewer water. That was the exact place where he had first encountered Jake.
'Ah, what fond memories,' Alice teased inside his mind. Her voice carried a bright, cheerful tone. 'You looked like a drowned rat back then. You were wet, smelly, and completely lost in a strange town.'
'I was gathering information,' Lucid thought back defensively.
'You fell out of a dirty pipe,' Alice corrected him with a soft laugh. 'And then you tried to act important in front of everyone while smelling like stagnant water.'
Lucid grunted softly and ignored her teasing commentary. He turned his eyes back toward the plaza.
He noticed several small groups of people walking along the illuminated marble pathways. They wore expensive silk coats, long velvet dresses, silver rings, and gold jewelry. What caught Lucid attention was their physical appearance. Many of these wealthy individuals were demi-humans.
He saw a tall man wearing a tailor-made coat. The man had long canine ears on top of his head and a thick tail covered in gray fur. The tail wagged slowly in a calm manner as he spoke with a woman walking beside him. The woman possessed short cat ears and sharp golden eyes. She held a folded silk fan in her right hand. Nearby, another demi-human noble walked with a polished silver cane. He had curved goat horns rising from his forehead and wore a fine velvet vest.
Lucid stared at them as he walked past. In many towns and cities he had visited previously, demi-humans were treated as lower class citizens or common laborers. Seeing them dressed in fine noble clothing was a rare sight. They walked with total confidence and authority. They exchanged polite banter with human nobles without any hesitation or fear.
The city of Vex seemed far more imposing than it had any right to be. The wealth and power concentrated in this upper district felt heavy and overwhelming. The tall mansions looked like fortresses of stone, glass, and iron.
Lucid continued walking up the rising hill. He reached the large iron gates of the governor mansion. The decorative gates were standing wide open. Two tall lanterns illuminated the manicured green lawn and the wide cobblestone driveway.
At the end of the driveway stood the governor mansion. It was a massive three-story building made from pale white stone. A wide wooden porch ran across the entire front side of the house. Broad wooden steps led up to the main double doors.
Lucid walked up the long driveway. His boots made steady crunching sounds on the fine gravel path. He reached the base of the wooden porch.
He stood at the bottom step and looked up at the front entrance. The sight of the wooden porch triggered a vivid memory in his mind. Lucid remembered standing in this exact spot during a previous timeline. He had fallen from the sky and crashed onto these exact wooden steps. He had broken his leg during that rough landing. He remembered the sharp, throbbing pain in his bone and the intense frustration of being helpless on the wooden floorboards.
'Your grand arrival,' Alice commented inside his head. 'You broke your leg right here on this exact place of entrance. You lay there groaning like a helpless baby on the steps.'
'It was a long fall from the sky,' Lucid thought back in an annoyed tone. 'Anyone would have broken a leg.'
Alice reminded him gleefully.
'It was a very dramatic entrance.'
"whatever..." he sighed.