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(N) TRT Chapter 11: Icefall City
🕑 Added 2025-05-13 04:35:07 +0000 UTCIt took Leroy and I about a week to reach our destination. First, we took an airship to reach the border of the Icefall region. Airships, as their name implied, were ships that flew through the air. However, unlike blimps and zeppelins on Earth, they relied on magic to remain afloat. They were also much faster, more akin to jets. However, Lumina was larger than Earth by a significant margin, which was why it took so long to travel anywhere. I hadn’t realized this until I left Sturm Manor.
The airship took us to the border of the Icefall region. Afterwards, we took a carriage to Icefall City, the biggest, and only, city in the region. Well, calling it a city was being generous. It was more of a large town. Still, considering where Icefall City was located, I found it impressive that it managed to reach this size.
The Icefall region was the northernmost region of the Solarian Empire, and one of the least populated. It was a cold, desolate place filled with rocky hills and large alpine forests. Few people wanted to live here. While it had a thriving timber industry, thanks to all the forests, that wasn’t enough to lure many people here.
The poor agriculture didn’t help. The cold weather and poor soil made it difficult to farm in the Icefall region. The locals relied on herding animals for most of their needs. Sheep, goats, cattle, etc. They imported everything else.
However, the biggest reason why the Icefall region was so underpopulated was because of all of the monsters. Beyond the Icefall region were the Northern Wilds, a vast and untamed land, filled with foreboding forests and towering mountains. This made it the perfect place for monsters to thrive. These monsters often came down to the Icefall region to wreak havoc.
Despite this, the Icefall region was far from the poorest in the Solarian Empire. In fact, it was one of the wealthier ones. Ironically, this was because of all the monsters that made it an unappealing place to live in the first place. Monster body parts were valuable. Artisans and alchemists used them to craft various magical items and elixirs. Thus, the Icefall region was a popular destination for adventurers. I mean, that’s why I picked it.
If I had to pick a phrase to describe Icefall City, I would choose rough but sturdy. It wasn’t a pretty place. Most of the buildings were plain, built from wood and stone. However, they looked solid and tough, as if they could weather any storm. The people looked just as hardy.
To my surprise, the city was clean. I didn’t notice any trash lying around on the paved stone streets. It also smelled nice. Honestly, I kind of expected it to be a shithole. It was also more bustling than I expected, at least on the main roads. I saw hundreds of people going about their business at any given moment.
From what I saw, most of the businesses and services in Icefall City catered to adventurers and their needs. Weapon shops, armor shops, and potion shops, as well as taverns, inns, and brothels. According to Leroy, Icefall City was also a popular destination for the martial artists of Murim, who sought to test their strength while earning coin. All in all, it was the perfect place for me to start my adventuring career.
The first thing Leroy and I did when we arrived in Icefall City was secure lodgings for ourselves. We planned on staying here for a while, so rather than rent a room at an inn, we rented a small house. It was a simple wooden hut that stood one story tall with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. It even had a basement with a crude meditation chamber.
While it was far cry from the luxury of Sturm Manor, it was better than camping in the woods or sleeping on the streets. It even came furnished, so we didn’t have to worry about that.
While at the house, Leroy and I changed into warm clothing to better ward off the cold, before we headed to the Icefall branch of the Adventurers Guild, or the Icefall Adventurers Guild for short. It was located in the center of Icefall City, near the local Church of the Sun and Icefall Manor, the home of House Icefall, the rulers of the region. By the time we arrived, it was a little after noon. The sky above was gray and cloudy, giving Icefall City a dreary atmosphere.
Due to the large population of adventurers, the Icefall Adventurers Guild was much larger than a place like Icefall City usually warranted. It was a three story tall rectangular building that took up half a city block. Like the rest of Icefall City, it didn’t look pretty, but rather tough and sturdy.
The Icefall Adventurers Guild was a bustling place. I saw dozens of people going in and out of the main entrance: adventurers. They came in all shapes and sizes, proving that adventurers were an eclectic bunch. Like us, they all wore warm clothing. While a few carried wands and staves, like proper wizards, the majority carried weapons.
Many adventurers used internal magic, since it was useful when dealing with monsters. To my annoyance, this made it difficult to tell martial artists apart from wizards who specialized in internal magic. While mana cores and magic circles were different, it was impossible to distinguish them with mana sense. For example, when I first reunited with Leroy, I hadn’t realized he was a martial artist at first. I sensed his general power level, but that was it.
“How do I look?” I asked, turning towards Leroy.
“Unlike your usual self, Brandon.”
I wore the disguise ring that Father procured for me. It made me look like a tan-skinned, plain-faced, brown-haired and brown-eyed version of myself. This, coincidentally enough, was similar to how I looked as Brandon Norwood. So much so that I found the resemblance uncanny. It took me a while to get used to seeing it in the mirror.
“Perfect.” I said, grinning at him. “Let us go in.”
The two of us strode into the Icefall Adventurers Guild. The front room was a loud and boisterous place. From what I saw, it took up most of the first floor. Fur rugs covered the stone floor, while glowstone lamps hung from the wood ceiling. A few doors led deeper into the building, while a wooden staircase led to the upper floors.
It was warm in here, the result of an enchantment no doubt, since I didn’t see a fireplace. I loosened my clothing a little, to avoid overheating.
The front room could be divided into two sections. The right side resembled a tavern. A wooden bar ran along the right wall, complete with a gruff looking bartender. He stood next to an enchanted beer tap.
Over a dozen round wooden tables occupied the immediate area in front of the bar. They were all occupied, with groups of adventurers drinking from wooden mugs. They talked, laughed, and argued with one another. The smell of beer filled the air. I took a deep breath, savoring it.
On the left side, a massive notice board occupied a large portion of the left wall, with hundreds of pieces of paper pinned to it. These were job commissions, which adventurers could accept in order to earn the posted rewards. From what I read, these job commissions varied. Clearing out a bandit den, exploring old ruins, hunting down a specific kind of monster, etc. It depended on the circumstances.
Given the number of monsters that plagued the Icefall region, I suspected that most of the job commissions here focused on hunting them down.
Dozens of adventurers loitered in front of the notice board. Some of them studied the many, many job commissions pinned to it. Others searched for companions to form a party with. Despite the lack of alcohol, the left side was just as loud as the right side.
I watched as a pair of muscular men shouted at one another. It appeared as if they were arguing about who would form a party with the pretty young woman who stood nearby. I shook my head, before focusing my attention on the far side of the room.
A long wooden counter ran along the far wall, with five receptionists standing behind it. Each one wore a forest green vest with a white shirt, which I assumed was their uniform. There was a long line in front of each receptionist as they paid out for completed jobs, helped adventurers with documentation, and other administrative work.
Leroy and I walked over and joined one of these lines. Several adventurers eyed us with wariness, but otherwise ignored our existence. As newcomers, we attracted attention. However, that wasn’t too noteworthy. After all, strangers arrived in Icefall City everyday.
Several minutes later, Leroy and I reached our chosen receptionist. She was a perky young woman who looked about the same age as me, if not younger. She had brown hair, brown eyes, and elfin features.
“Hello there!” She said in a bright voice and a customer service smile on her face. “My name is Marilyn. How may I help you?”
“Hello, Marilyn,” I said, “My name is Brandon, and this is my companion, Leroy. The two of us would like to register as adventurers.”
“Excellent! To begin, I need documents proving your identity.”
I nodded, before pulling out a rolled up piece of paper that I had prepared beforehand. It was one of the documents that Father procured for me as part of my disguise.
“Here you go.” I said, handing it over to her.
Marilyn took the paper and unfurled it. She gave it a quick skim, before she froze for a fraction of a second. When she looked back up at me, there was a knowing gleam in her eyes.
Murim existed side by side with mainstream Luminian society, and often occupied the same spaces. To communicate with each other, without breaking the Accords, members of Murim used Spirit Tongue, the language of First Murim. This allowed them to identify each other while hiding in plain sight.
The document I gave Marilyn contained some characters from Spirit Tongue, proving that I was a part of Murim. If an uninformed Luminian read it, they wouldn’t notice anything amiss. To them, the Spirit Tongue characters would just look like strange doodles. However, from Marilyn’s reaction, she recognized them. She handed the document back to me.
“I see.” She said, before turning to Leroy. “You as well?”
Leroy nodded, before handing a document of his own over. Like mine, it contained Spirit Tongue characters. Marilyn took it and skimmed it, before handing both documents back to us.
“Perfect!” She said. “Now that I have verified your identities, you just need to pay the registration fee and I’ll print out your Adventurers Guild ID cards. After that, you’ll be full-fledged members of the Adventurers Guild!”
After Leroy and I paid the fee, Marilyn printed out our ID cards using a magical device, before handing them over to us. I studied mine. It displayed my (fake) name and my rank within the Adventurers Guild: Iron.
There were five ranks in total: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Mithril. An adventurer’s rank determined what kind of jobs they could take. Higher ranked jobs were always more difficult and/or more dangerous, but they also paid more. To go up in rank, an adventurer needed to reach a certain level of power and complete a certain number of jobs.
However, as I studied my ID, I saw that there was a blank space on the left side. I frowned, puzzled.
“Just bind your ID cards to you and you’ll be all finished.” Marilyn said. “All you need to do is imbue them with a bit of your mana.”
I followed her instructions and fed mana to my ID card. The moment I did, an image of my face appeared in the blank space. However, it depicted my disguised appearance rather than my true appearance.
“This is a special feature that certain members of the Adventurers Guild enjoy,” Marilyn said in a low voice.
Ah, so that’s what happened. It was common for scions from the Clans to disguise themselves and join the Adventurers Guild. This special feature that Marilyn mentioned must’ve been created with them in mind. While this helped me keep my true identity a secret, I also saw the potential for abuse.
“Is there anything else you need?” Marilyn asked, speaking in a bright voice again. “Or will that be all?”
I opened my mouth to say no, but then my stomach growled. Right. Leroy and I had been so busy running around that we hadn’t eaten lunch yet.
“I’m looking for a place with good noodles.” I said. “Any recommendations?”
Marilyn’s customer service smile became a genuine one.
“Sure.” She said, speaking in a more casual tone. “In fact, I know the perfect place.”
***
I looked at the old and rundown potion shop in front of me. It was two stories tall, with little to distinguish it from the rest of Icefall City except for the wooden sign hanging above the door. Dust covered the narrow front windows, making it impossible to peer inside. Overall, it looked unimpressive. However, my intuition told me that there was more to this place than met the eye.
That also applied to the rest of the street. I glanced around. Like the potion shop in front of me, the other buildings here were also old and rundown. I saw little foot traffic. This didn’t surprise me, since this street was a fair distance away from Icefall City’s main roads. At most, there were a handful of people out and about here.
I looked back at the potion shop. Rather, I looked at the wooden sign hanging above the door. On the bottom left corner, I noticed a small symbol. It was the Spirit Tongue character for “entrance”. According to Marilyn, this potion shop was one of the entrances to the Murim part of Icefall City. I needed to go through here to reach the noodle shop she recommended.
I looked over at Leroy, who stood next to me.
“Do these places normally look like this?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Yes. It’s easier to stay hidden this way.”
Fair point. If Marilyn’s directions hadn’t brought me to this place, I wouldn’t have given it a second glance.
I entered the potion shop, with Leroy following right behind me. A little bell above the door announced our entrance. The interior looked as old and rundown as the exterior. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all wood. It was dim, with dust filling the air. I resisted the urge to sneeze. Cracked glowstone lamps hung from the ceiling, their magic long gone.
Rickety looking wooden shelves lined the walls to my left and right, occupied by a few glass vials filled with murky looking liquid. I hesitated to call them potions. They looked more like poison to me. At the far end stood a wooden counter with a middle-aged man taking a nap behind it. He laid the upper half of his body on the counter, snoring. I assumed he sat in a chair of some kind, though I couldn’t see it.
Leroy and I walked over to the counter. To my concern, the wooden floor beneath us creaked with each step we took. I feared we would fall through at any moment. However, Leroy and I arrived at the wooden counter without issue.
Despite the noise we made, the middle-aged man remained asleep and continued to snore. I pondered whether or not to wake him up. The middle-aged man appeared to be a regular human to my mana sense. However, what if he was an old monster in disguise? There were plenty of techniques that allowed a martial artist to hide their strength.
In the end, my stomach made the decision for me when it growled. Right. I was hungry and I didn’t want to wait any further for food. I reached over and knocked on the counter. The middle-aged man flailed awake and sat up straight. He looked around with a groggy expression on his face.
“Wha-Oh. Customers.” The middle-aged man gave us an annoyed look. “Can’t you see I’m napping? Go away!”
I raised an eyebrow at that. If I were a real customer, I would’ve been pissed by this man’s attitude. Then again, if I needed potions, I wouldn’t come to a place like this. I assumed that was why it looked the way it did.
“Marilyn sent us.” I said, speaking in Spirit Tongue.
I learned a bit of the language from Teacher back on Earth, and Mother helped me learn the Luminian version of it. While I didn’t speak the language like a native, I knew enough to get by.
The moment I mentioned Marilyn, the grogginess disappeared from the middle-aged man’s eyes, replaced by a sharp look. He emanated killing intent. A thrill ran down my spine. While this man still felt like a regular human to my mana sense, my intuition warned me that he was a threat.
“Oh?” He said, speaking in Spirit Tongue as well. “She did, did she? What for?”
I grinned at him.
“She said I could get some good noodles around here.”
The seconds ticked by as the middle-aged man studied me. A few seconds later, a smile spread across his face and he burst out into laughter. His killing intent receded.
“In that case, welcome!” The middle-aged said. “Sorry about my performance earlier. As the guardian of this entrance, I needed to make sure you weren’t impostors. We get those sometimes.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Impostors? What do you mean?”
The man stood up and walked to one of the wooden shelves.
“Luminians who find a clue about Murim and want to learn more.” He said. “We’re not supposed to let them in.” He glanced at us. “However, some of them get through anyway.”
Hmm, I suspected as much. According to Leroy, quite a few Luminians were a part of Murim despite the Accords. They must have found out about it somehow. Sneaking into a place like this was one way to go about it.
This just illustrated how stupid the Accords were. I understood why they existed, to preserve the Houses’ power, but that didn’t make them any less stupid. Why bother with all the secrecy when a large number of Luminians already knew about Murim and were even part of it?
The middle-aged man fiddled with the glass vials on the wooden shelf, and I realized they were a part of some kind of mechanism. After he pulled them in a specific order, the wooden shelf swung outward. This revealed a narrow stone staircase leading down, illuminated by tiny glowstones embedded into the walls.
“Just go on down and you’ll be right there.” The middle-aged man said, gesturing to the staircase. “The noodle shop that Marilyn mentioned is the third building on the right, first floor. You can’t miss it.”
Feeling suspicious, I studied the middle-aged man for a moment, before I glanced back at Leroy. He gave me a nod. Reassured, I entered the staircase and started walking down. Leroy followed me, though he had to hunch over due to his size. The moment both of us entered the staircase, the middle-aged closed the wooden shelf behind us. I paused for a moment, before I shook my head and continued walking down into the depths.
These noodles better be worth it.
Comments
Lon
It’s funny that only Gabriel was given a disguise, like people that meet Brandon may see Gabriel in the future and will remember Leroy. Oh well, problem for future Gabriel. Gabriel be doing anything he can to get some good noodles hhahahaha. Amazing.
