Currently Rio, Amelia and Artemis were sitting in the backseat of the car, they were on their way towards the magic tower branch of Damascus city. From there they can use the teleportation gate to go to the capital city Haven. The branches of bigger organizations were connected to each city by teleportation gates and circles, to make the transport faster. While the use of gates was only fixed for selected nobility and some higher class people, the teleportation circles were open for the general public too, albeit too expensive.
To go from one city to another, there were even vehicles like mana trains, or service roads built. But that would take too much time and the risk of danger is higher, that's why nobility were given the privilege of teleportation gates -safer and faster.
Cars and mana trains were the inventions of people who were pulled into Arcadia through the dungeons of some modern worlds. The resources like petrol or diesel weren't possible in Arcadia, so it all worked on mana. They use mana crystals and cores as fuel.
Ever since emergence, over time many different parts of worlds have merged into Arcadia via some dungeons or spatial cracks. Unlike in other novels anyone read, dungeons in Arcadia weren't simple places where monsters existed and spawned endlessly. In here dungeons were actually a part of a world which got pulled and attached into Arcadia, after the balance broke during the emergence.
In the past 1000 years many dungeons of different worlds have opened in Arcadia, allowing everyone access to knowledge and dangers of that world. Some dungeons were simpler which brought people of different races, while some opened in places filled with nothing but monsters, some cracks pulled a whole city into Arcadia, while some brought upon nothing but emptiness of an uninhabited island. Some dungeons had merged a whole cultivation sect into Arcadia, while some opened the new sci-fi world of technology. Some dungeons showed the dystopian future of apocalypse, while some showed the signs of early creation. Some showed the war torn civilizations,while some showed signs of a world built upon no sins and only peace.
Over the years people of different cultures, races and beliefs had been brought into Arcadia through those portals. Every dungeon was different from each other, the people who got pulled into Arcadia were trapped here, never able to go back into their own world. So they settled here, trying to become the pioneer of their belief in this new world.
Thus Arcadia became a unique creation where everything you can think of coexisted. It was a world filled with magic and mana at its core, but now it had changed into something much more. There were people who adapted to cultivation, realism, urban, scifi, drama -the world changed over time and so did the people living in it.
As the author said in his novel, Arcadia was the canvas where every color of creation coexisted.
He even wrote special substories about settings which readers requested. 'I remember one of my suggestions from comments, was even introduced as a tower -wonder if that also exists here.' Rio thought.
Towers are basically connection points which teleport you to a different location; they're like separate spaces or mini worlds. They first appeared empty where monsters were trapped back when emergence first happened. Over time somehow more towers appeared on Arcadia, but instead of being empty and used as prisons, they were already filled with creatures. Hell towers, that's what people called them.As the name suggested, hell towers were connection points to different hells, netherworlds and underworlds of different worlds which got pulled in Arcadia. They were filled to the brim with monsters and if they weren't cleared or controlled, the monsters would be free to leave towers and ruin everything.
Different Gods, different factions fueled by their egos tried to control them, hoping to show their superiority, but the rules of the world gave them a tight slap of reality.
At the beginning the differences in everything brought upon wars and battles, but over time with constant failures and increasing death counts everyone learned their lessons. They all agreed on one thing, survival. And in Arcadia survival depended on unity, no one knew when the increasing number of those monsters or hells of towers would overwhelm everything and destroy it all.
So after centuries of this same process repeating in different situations, everyone set aside their differences and stood united to fight against monsters. Thus the momentary superficial peace was born.
Obviously it is all on the surface, and the world would be thrown into chaos once the plot starts, so our protagonist can shine. But that was still in the future and Rio had enough time to prepare for everything.
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"Brother, what're you thinking?" Amelia asked in her cute voice as she saw Rio lost in thoughts looking out the window. "Is there something interesting?" She hopped up from her seat, pressed her nose against the glass to get a better view.
Rio chuckled and gently tugged her back, forcing her to sit on her seat again "There's nothing outside. Just sit down." Amelia pouted for a moment but soon got distracted by something and forgot about it again.magic
The car smoothly maneuvered through the busy streets, making its way to their destination. The surrounding buildings and scenery kept changing and in all this journey Amelia's excitement never went down.
As the car pulled up to the entrance of the Magic Tower, Rio, Artemis, and Amelia stepped out, greeted by a welcoming committee. The head of the branch, a distinguished mage named Mysfil Kraton , stood at the forefront, accompanied by some other staff of the tower. Myra was also standing by the gate, waiting for their arrival.
Watching her master Myra bowed as a greeting and soon the staff of magic tower followed suit too. In the city of Damascus the rule of the Blake family was absolute and everyone knew that. "Welcome lady Artemis." Mysfil exclaimed as he approached them with a warm smile, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. "I hope the journey here you didn't have any trouble on the way."
"This is our city professor. How could anything in it trouble us?" Artemis replied as she nodded back in greeting.
"Of course, without the Blake family we wouldn't have the peace and quiet we have in Damascus today." Mysfil replied, not minding Artemis's sharp words. Everyone in the high class circle knew about her way of habits and they've grown accustomed to it. Not like they could do anything to her, even if they don't like it. She was the Duchess of a city and the daughter of the famous Raven family, if that wasn't enough her own personal strength wasn't anything to scoff at. The rumors of her adventures as the shadow sword of Schilla in the past, are still spoken as legends among the commoners. Any one of her background was enough to shut everyone out.
"Ignore the pleasantries professor. Has everything been prepared?"
"Ahh yes, we've made all the arrangements ever since we got your message. Allow me to guide you to the VIP teleportation gate."
As they exchanged pleasantries and started talking among themselves, Rio's attention wandered, his gaze fixated on the magnificent building before him. The Magic Tower stood tall and proud, though not as grand in scale as his mansion, it exuded an aura of innovation and intellect. Its unique design caught his eye—a circular structure with multiple floors, each one showcasing the pursuit of magical knowledge.
Rio marveled at the constant stream of people entering and exiting the tower, their faces alight with curiosity and determination. Scholars, researchers, and mages from all walks of life congregated within those walls, pushing the boundaries of magic itself.
Myra approached him and asked -"Do you like it?"
"It's okay." Rio replied in a flat tone.
"Do you wanna take a look?" Myra said as she noticed his curious gaze wandering everywhere.
"Can I?" Rio asked as he looked at the staff standing beside him.
"Of course, young heir. I can arrange someone to guide you." The man replied happily. Even though Rio was just a kid, his standing in the society was far above anyone here, and that was a thing to be respected.
Rio was busy thinking where he should go and what to watch, when Amelia's voice cut through that conversation, her tone filled with frustration and Impatience. "No brother. No wasting time. Let's go to Rebecca's house. She's waiting for us."
Rio's brows furrowed, he wanted to explore the tower, and look for someone but guess it'll have to wait. 'It's not like that girl has joined the tower this early anyways.'
He turned towards Myra and said -"Well, you heard her, maybe another time." He placed his hand on Amelia's shoulder and said -"Let's go then. We'll give her a memorable visit."
Unaware of what he meant, Amelia happily exclaimed "Yayyy" .
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A/N - a memorable visit indeed.