After walking for what felt like forever, the wilderness finally gave way to something extraordinary.
Morning light poured down the valley, catching on distant walls of stone and crystal that shimmered with streaks of blue mana.
Aetheria.
Even from afar, the city looked like a mirage pulled from some divine architect's dream.
I stopped walking for a second, just staring like an idiot.
"Woah… are we sure this isn't some sci-fi story?" I muttered.
Elina's eyes traced the intricate carvings that ran along the outer walls—lines that pulsed faintly with mana.
"The patterns and traces here," she said softly, "are identical to those used in Elvenheim's sacred towers. Perhaps we aren't the first ones to cross between worlds."
Her words sent a strange shiver down my spine. If elves from her world had been here once… what else had passed through?
Before I could voice that thought, two guards in dull silver armor blocked our path, spears crossed.
"Names?" one barked.
I froze.
"Uh… Sir and Lady Not-Suspicious?"
Elina sighed like she'd been doing it for centuries. "Von Ashborn."
The guards blinked, exchanged a look, and muttered something under their breath.
"Foreign nobles, huh…" one said, and stepped aside.
I exhaled quietly. "Ugh, my social anxiety just had to kick in now."
Elina only smirked. "A miracle you even spoke."
Inside the walls, the world transformed.
Streets of polished stone hummed with a soft current of mana that pulsed beneath the surface like veins of light. Floating orbs illuminated signs written in glowing script.
Merchant stalls spilled over with enchanted trinkets, beast-drawn carriages rolled past, and somewhere above, mechanical birds darted between rooftops.
The noise, the colors, the life—it was overwhelming.
I muttered, "Feels like us cavemen just time-traveled a thousand years."
"Don't look around like some child," Elina said, eyes straight ahead.
"Yeah, yeah… sorry, mom."
She rolled her eyes but the faint curve of her lips betrayed amusement.
We bought a few cloaks to blend in. I tried haggling with a dwarf merchant and somehow ended up offering him my own cloak instead.
"Stop before we have to buy you back," Elina said flatly, pulling me away.
After wandering through half the district, we found a cozy-looking inn tucked between two large buildings—The Silver Mug. Warm light spilled from its windows, and laughter echoed faintly from inside.
"This one looks decent," I said, pushing the door open.
A dwarf couple ran the place, both plump and rosy-cheeked. The husband greeted us cheerfully.
"Ah! Travelers! What'll it be?"
"Ooh, give me all the foo—"
"Two rooms and some food," Elina cut in quickly.
The dwarf scratched his beard. "Only one room left, miss."
We froze.
I coughed awkwardly. "Hehe… guess we'll manage."
Elina didn't even flinch. "We shared a cave as slimes; a bed is hardly scandalous."
That night, I learned that having muscles wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
I lay down and the bed creaked like it was begging for mercy.
"Maybe this is the abnormality of gods," I groaned.
"Sleep quietly," Elina murmured. "And if you look back, I'll punch you."
I laughed quietly and turned toward the window instead.
Outside, Aetheria glowed under a deep indigo sky, the air filled with tiny drifting lights of mana dust. For a moment, it felt… peaceful.
Morning.
I woke to find Elina sitting at the edge of the bed, brushing her long silver hair. The soft light from the window painted her in gold.
Beautiful.
Before I realized what I was doing, I reached out, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, my hand brushing her cheek.
She stirred slightly, and I instantly pretended to be asleep. Smooth.
A knight, indeed.
Later, we headed toward the largest building in the district—the Adventurer Guild.
The hall was chaos incarnate.
Armored men laughed loudly, mages argued over mana stones, and the entire place smelled of sweat and roasted meat.
"Ah, civilization," I muttered. "Smells like a tavern and poor decisions."
We registered under our fake names—Evans and Elina Ashborn.
The test was simple: demonstrate control and answer a few monster-related questions.
Elina raised a hand, releasing a focused beam of golden light that split a training dummy's head neatly.
Then came my turn.
I used Wind Scythe. The dummy didn't just break—it disintegrated into sawdust.
The examiner stared at me in silence.
"…Pass. But please, aim away from the furniture next time."
We got our wooden rank badges.
I grinned. "Hey, we're adventurers now! Sounds cool, right?"
Elina raised a brow. "Until you realize we'll be killing boars for copper coins."
"Then I'll be the richest boar hunter in history."
Our first quest: Cull five mossboars outside the city.
Finally, something to punch.
The forest around Aetheria was calmer than the wildlands, but the beasts were quick. Elina hung back, channeling light projectiles with precise aim while I used Wind Scythe and raw strength to draw aggro.
A boar lunged at me. I dodged, spun, and countered with a slice that split it cleanly in two.
"Ha! See? Efficiency!" I shouted.
"Barbaric," Elina replied, but the small smile gave her away.
By the end, we were both panting, surrounded by mossboar corpses.
System chime echoed in my head:
[EP Gained: 42]
[Emotional Sync: 14%]
"Wait… it tracks emotions now?" I frowned.
"Maybe it just knows we work better together," Elina said calmly.
We returned to the guild, handed over the tusks, and collected our payment—three small gold coins.
"This must be more than my monthly salary back home," I joked.
Elina blinked. "How poor were you?"
"Let's just say my diet consisted of air and hope."
That evening, we sat at the inn's dining table as warm plates of stew were served.
I took one bite and almost melted into the chair.
"Oh gods… real food. Real taste."
Elina chuckled. "You look happier eating than fighting."
"Because food doesn't fight back," I said with my mouth full.
She shook her head but smiled.
Later, we sat on the balcony, the entire city glittering beneath us like a sea of stars.
I leaned on the railing. "Is this what living feels like?"
"If it is," Elina replied quietly, "we should live a long time."
I smiled faintly. "Right… though peace never lasts long."
For a while, neither of us spoke. I just watched her watching the sky—silver hair swaying in the breeze, eyes reflecting the glowing mana veins of the city.
Maybe… maybe this knight had already broken a code he didn't know he had.
Midnight came quietly. The world outside our window was still.
Then the ground trembled.
A red glow flared beyond the northern horizon, turning the clouds crimson.
[Warning — Hostile Energy Signature Detected.]
[Classification: Warlord-Tier.]
Elina jolted awake. "What was that?"
I stared at the blood-red sky and couldn't help but grin.
"And here I thought tomorrow would finally be peaceful."