Crossing the walls gave Oliver another jolt of reality.
The safety that concrete wall provided to his human mind had been underestimated by himself.
People walked everywhere as if it were just another Sunday. Some ran carrying goods, others watered plants in their front gardens.
Of course, the fortified aspect of the city was still present. Many armored soldiers roamed all over the place, but some smiled and talked politely with the population.
The houses were also very different from what existed in the past. Their roofs were flat concrete slabs, without tiles, only a few slopes on the sides for rainwater drainage.
Apparently, when they decided to build this city, they did it in a region where the sanitation infrastructure was still intact. So the houses had underground sewage piping.
If it weren't for the metal armor, the massive wall surrounding the entire city, and the strange design of the perfectly aligned homes, Oliver would have thought all that angel business was a hallucination and that they had returned to modern Earth.
"The city looks like it was carved entirely from rock and steel."
"And standing there like a statue in the main street makes you match it perfectly..." The viper's voice whispered in his ear, and Oliver quickly started moving before someone bumped into him.
Some glances were cast his way, and he even noticed several armored soldiers staring at him for quite a while. Of course, a shirtless, dirty man in the middle of the city was bound to draw attention. But soon, he reached the center of the city's activity.
It looked like the main street curved twice around a square and continued toward another gate. If the stars were still in the same positions, there were at least two city entrances: one to the west and another to the east.
"Hey, kid... are you alright?" A strong voice came from Oliver's right, and a man with less armor, but still covered in steel, touched his shoulder.
"Uh... I'm kind of lost." He really didn't know how to make up any excuse, and the man looked at him with pity.
"You look pretty beat up and dirty. Must've been a rough Initialization. Come on, I'll take you to see our medic and you can tell me where you're from, alright?" When he saw Oliver's confusion, the man became quite kind. He had a military haircut and a good mustache already graying.
"I'm hurt?"
"I see... sounds like the last ten days have been rough on you. Every day, one or two who were transported far from the city show up injured and confused. Come on, our medic will take care of you." The man's tone grew even more gentle, and Oliver could detect a faint trace of pity in his voice.
"Alright..." That would have to do. Using the excuse that he had been teleported far away and wandered for the last ten days seemed like a good cover and apparently, it was more common than he thought.
The soldier led Oliver across the square, heading further north in the city. The smell of grilled meat and fried foods reached his nose, but he tried to stay focused. However, his stomach didn't agree and let out a loud growl.
"It's alright, boy. I'll get you a skewer." The man laughed at Oliver but was kind enough to pull a kind of crystal from his pocket and buy two skewers from one of the many tents in the square.
"Thank you, sir."
"Call me Sebastian, I'm one of the officers of the Steel Boar. What's your name, son?" Oliver had no idea what that name meant, but he guessed that was the name of the armed militia. Which made perfect sense, considering they were clad in steel.
"My name is... Dakron." Oliver had always been terrible with names, and making one up on the spot was the worst situation possible. He only managed to pull from the viper's name and twist it slightly, hoping the man would buy it.
"What a peculiar name. Does it have to do with that serpent on your arm? Ran out of ink before you could finish a full dragon?" The man burst out laughing at his own joke, and Oliver froze.
So much had happened in the last few hours that he hadn't had time to look at himself. As he passed a tent with mirrors, he faced his reflection.
His body was now at least 1.85m tall, maybe more. He couldn't measure precisely, but he was taller than his father. But that wasn't what shocked him first, it was the long, smooth hair that fell over his shoulders, pitch black and contrasting against his now pale skin.
Oliver was never that dark-skinned to begin with, mostly due to lack of sunlight. He had inherited his father's brown skin and brown hair.
Looking into that mirror, all the viper's cursed words finally made sense. No one would recognize him now, not even his mother. His entire body had changed, including a well-defined abdomen and a slimmer face. Some of his features remained, but they were easy to overlook.
What caught his attention the most, however, was a damned snake tattoo. It wrapped entirely around his forearm, spiraling and ending with the tail on the inner side of his bicep. Thesnake's head rested on the back of his hand.
"Holy shit... my mom's going to kill me!" Oliver blurted out in pure desperation. One time, he got a fake lion tattoo on his chest and ended up grounded for six months. His mother deeply hated tattoos, unless they were allergy-related. She used to say she almost killed a few patients allergic to certain meds because they forgot to mention it or were unconscious.
"It's alright, boy... Calm down. I know this is hard, but we'll try to find your mother, and after our medic's care, you'll be good as new." The man placed a hand on his shoulder and walked alongside him. Sebastian truly seemed like a kind old man, but he was interpreting everything wrong.
Oliver was led for a few more meters until he saw a small structure ahead. The place shared the same design as the other houses, but its roof was taller, and it didn't have a door, just an arched entrance.
As he approached, the sterile hospital smell filled his nose, and voices echoed from deeper inside. The place didn't seem to have lights, but the high sidewalls were open, letting in plenty of sunlight. Several steel containers were scattered around.
There was a clear scent of oil and burned wicks, probably for lighting during night treatments.
White curtains hung everywhere, dividing the large hall and enhancing the hospital atmosphere.
"Anyway, thank you for treating our wounds. But remember to rest, Ms. Enallume. Oliver wouldn't want to see you overworked." Every part of Oliver's body shuddered the moment he heard the unmistakable female voice.
What terrified him most, though, was the name she spoke.
There was only one woman who could be called that.
"Mom..."