Vacation finally came, the murmur of students filled the streets. Each finding their way home or on a trip. Nytri is at the gates of Ardentia with her friends, Ragnar, Tristan, Alder, Naida and professor Gwyneth. A few other professors joined them, all waiting for Nytri. Nytri is looking in the distance lost in thought. Ophelia walks up to her, "Umm, Nytri? Why are we waiting?"
"Huh?" Nytri turns to her, "Oh, a vehicle is on its way here. Something about royalty needing to travel in style." Nytri glances at everyone, "Why, what's up?"
Ophelia rubs her elbow, "We've been here for about an hour and I was worried, you looked lost in thought. Is there anything I can help with?" Nytri smiles, "Don't worry about me, I was just thinking of a book I read in the library." Ophelia tilts her head, "What book?" Nytri rubs her chin, "Inspector Zu yuhn."
Ophelia is surprised, "I didn't think you as one to read romance books." Nytri sighs, "I didn't know it was romance, the cover gave me a different idea." Ophelia chuckles.
Dust clouds start picking in the distance. Ophelia points at it, "There's something coming." Nytri turns to look at it, "Oh that, that's our ride." She smiles. The cause of the dust clouds is an Azurian Vehicle, it arrives before them turning to the side. It attracted a lot attention, this was the first time for some to see an Azurian Vehicle. It's the same luxurious panzer Nytri and Paxius used to travel to Falshurx.
The side door opens and Nytri walks towards it tapping the roof, "Alright everyone, get in." She enters and they follow behind, the inside is a lot bigger than they expected. It had luxury seats that could take 10 people and a button to expand the space further to accommodate 10 more. The insides has a small bar, a screen, a center table, fridge(Box with ice magic) and a couple more amenities.
They all turn to look at the driver's seat but it's empty. Ragnar walks towards the driver cabin, "Is this one of the automated vehicles?" Nytri grins, "Yep, the research and dev team went overboard with nothing else to do. Sadly it has a speed limit." She takes the drivers seat grinning, "Well, not anymore." Nytri grabs the steering wheel and starts pushing buttons on the dashboard.
Ragnar shrugs, "Huh, is the screen connected to Azuria's Mind Land." The driver seat turns and Nytri looks at Ragnar and giggles, "Nexusphere? Yes. You've adapted to Azuria pretty quickly." Ragnar shrugs, "They have the best of everything. It's only natural I'd want to advance in life." He smiles and walks towards the center table to have a seat.
The students feel overwhelmed by the presence of big shots in the car so they sit meekly at the seat. Nytri giggles and speaks for all to hear, "Feel free at home guys, we'll be departing in a minute." She turns around, opens a compartment above her and takes dark glasses out. She puts them on with a cheeky grin.
Nytri looks at the mirror and notices Tristan setting up a board game and Ragnar is staring at the screen like a curious cat. Nytri looks at the door and Phifty lands outside and enters the vehicle, "Alright, I'm here!" he waves. Nytri nods and restarts the engine *KUHRRRR* the silent engine kind.
Nytri pulls a lever above her and the vehicle moves back a bit, she steps on the pedals and the vehicle starts to move forward. Nytri doesn't hold back on the speed, she reaches it in only 2.7 seconds. There was no motion inside the vehicle so some didn't know they've left.
Nytri makes certain to not stay on the center of the road to not hit anyone. An adventurer party had their weapons ready thinking a monster is coming, Nytri turned and drifted past them. That was when those inside felt movement, Phifty pushed a button and windows open for them to see how fast Nytri is driving.
Peregrine was so impressed he asked Phifty questions, "lord Phifty, may I ask how Azuria developed mighty carriage?" Phifty who was sipping on a juice in a classy wine glass answer, "Oh this? We couldn't find a horse in the Monster Realm to pull our carriages. So, we got innovative and made a horseless carriage. It was a revolution for us, we weaponized it to resist the barrage of monsters and safely return our findings home. This one has been stripped of the heavy armor and horn bars at the front to look less intimidating. But the weapons remain…We were too lazy to get it out."
Quentin raises a brow, "Just how much weapons did you use to make this carriage?" Phifty shrugs, "Just a dozen. We have to consider speed too when we have to flee."
Ragnar quickly turns, "THERE'S A DOZEN GUNS ON THIS THING?!" He looks around, "Let's test them." He looks around for a button. Phifty leans back in his seat, "The driver gets to decide if to use it or not. Besides, you'll get a lot of chance to fire the heavy rapid ones in the Monster Realm."
Juniper scratches her cheek, "Umm, Phifty, didn't Nytri say we're going to the land of dragons?" Phifty freezes, "…..Ye~s" Juniper has a tired face from his answer.
They chat in the vehicle and watch a bit of the screen. The tension had long left the vehicle it was amicable. Nytri drives with songs made by her and others playing in the driver's cabin. She moves her hand to the left and a compartment opens with a bottle filled with juice, they made the bottle so the juice wouldn't spill in the vehicle and they used it for other purposes like soldiers having one. Nytri takes a sip with a snack tray with the bottle.
In half an hour, Nytri sees Azuria in the distance. It had taken her about 3 hours to get here and it's late night, she continued reaching the gates of Azuria. Nytri pushes a button and starts talking but her voice is heard in the back, "Hey everyone, we're about to enter Azuria." Some gather by the window to look at Azuria, it was the first time they saw it.
The road divided into 2 parts, one for passengers and the other for vehicles. They also saw large long vehicles coming out of Azuria, this vehicle had railings on the sides with people seated there as guards. There's a glass before them so attack can't hit them, and they can also exit immediate if the vehicle faces an unexpected interference.
Nytri reaches the gates of Azuria slowing down a bit, the passengers see people by the side walking. Nytri slows down at the gate right below it at the red light, the lid opens sliding back. Nytri takes a card and shows it to a tollbooth hanging from the top part of the gate, the light turns green and Nytri drives off.
Juniper is surprised, "That was faster than I thought." Ragnar grins, "This is Azuria, the most advanced nation in the world." The people on the side too have 2 lines, those with cards and those without cards. Those with cards can just walk to the gates and show it to a screen with their face, then enter. Those without must go through inspection.
The gate has hidden runes which produces Anti-energy, so any illusion of disguise magic is broken at the gate. That's how demon gods and demon-kin were caught at the gates. But Azurians aren't racists so they just let them go through the procedure and enter.
Nytri passes the gates and picks up speed again, she goes on for about 10 minutes before seeing a huge 8 lane highway. The highway has 4 lanes on each side and mostly empty since only Azuria has vehicles. Nytri gets on the highway, the passengers admire the sights around them. In the distance are giant statues reaching 70 meters scattered on the vast lands.
Nytri drives into a tunnel through a mountain, she really liked the roar of the engine. The smile plastered on her face proved it. They come out of the tunnel and see a city with many lights before them, vast roads and buildings. The buildings weren't that high but some were being made higher with more people entering, and that was just a part of Azuria.
Nytri drives towards the city which has stone-metals walls surrounding it as inner walls. There's no checkpoint so Nytri just enters the city. The beautiful glowing city of Azuria is in sight….This is district.
[AU:INFO
- The walls of Azuria are mostly metal fence but has an electric field 5 meters around it. It also has detection features so flying over the fence will lead to detection. There're small obelisks behind the fences, these fire stunning spells and propulsion spells to keep intruders out. Even stops primordial gods.
- The scattered statues aren't for decorations. They're Goliath class constructs in sleep mode, they activate when an army makes it there. If any ever did.
- Azuria Inner walls are part metal. There's a movement feature beneath the walls, so it can expand outside if they want more space. The walls have hollow spaces inside filled with Goliath class constructs every 700 meters around the wall. There's gatling guns, cannons and huge cannons on the wall. These are mostly constructs though for show, they aren't toys.
- Azuria though a new nation, has only one city as the capital. But the districts are scattered creating the impression of cities with the center being the capital. The arrangements made it look like Azuria has 7 cities with villages. The villages were mostly resource gathering sites or just quiet places away the bustling city.
:::Districts in Azuria:::
- Imperium – Capital and Royal palace district.
- Nova Haven - Central Business District
- Aurora Ridge - Residential District with luxury apartments
- Cyber Cove - Research and Development District. Too big so was split.
- Helix Hub - Biotech and Medical Research District
- Agricnzem - Agricultural District with vertical farming
- Kurom Plaza - Entertainment District with theaters and concert halls
- Nexus Square – Nexusphere District. Artificial Nexusphere has been made linking to the original Nexushpere.
- Flux Factory - Industrial District with advanced manufacturing
- Axim District - Educational District with training facilities.
- Pulse Pavilion - Healthcare District with advanced hospitals
- Onyx Oasis - Luxury Shopping District
- Celestia Cove – Spirit-kin District
- Synapse Sector – Construct, golems and automata District
- Dungeonstead - Dungeon delving and adventure District.
Each district is designed to be a self-sustaining city within the larger metropolis of Azuria, with its unique culture, architecture, and innovations.
END]