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Chapter 20 - Chapter 20 Archive Log 37.2 Following the crowd

I concealed my presence all the way down as I descended.

When I made myself detectible again, I had just arrived before the gates of the place but could no longer proceed further without drawing attention. The whole entrance was filled with members of this race, all looking at the buildings in front of them with excitement. 

There were so many of them, I could only wait patiently at the periphery until my turn in entering. It was very hard suppressing my curiosity to unravel this place's secrets, but I endured nonetheless!

While waiting, I marveled at the peculiarity of their structures.

The gate's columns' surfaces were adored by a plethora of different shaped symbols which were glowing with the unknown energy, their function still a mystery to me.

As for the buildings and other structures behind it, some were big enough to accommodate hundreds of members of this race while others only one.

While many of them had their foundations deeply rooted to the rocky surface of the mountain - even those fixed on its side - there were few which were floating in the air. Only a layer of rock could be seen underneath them.

The main building that drew my attention on my first look at this place was one with its foundations on the ground, but that didn't diminish its uniqueness.

Around it, both close to the ground but also up in the air, small pieces of earth were floating, unmoving by the occasional gales.

There was some kind of crystal atop each one of them which was releasing a significant amount of the energy. The energy released was then channeled in some way to the glowing circles and symbols above the building, fueling them with power. I could feel its path from all the way where I was standing.

Out of habit, I took out my Archive Log to record everything down without even realizing it. Thankfully, all the beings around had their backs turned towards me, their attention still focused on the direction of the gates.

I was in the zone, my fingers dancing, when I heard a couple of shouts from the front.

Two individuals, one male and one female - I was an expert in figuring out the genders of the races by then - were hovering on both sides of the gates with the help of their swords. They took turns speaking to the crowd.

By the duo's tone of their voices and gestures, it seemed as if they were explaining some things to the people gathered, and their stances and how they carried themselves indicated them to me as some kind of guides.

Their words' meaning was elusive to me, but not for the crowd. The more they listened the more excited they appeared to get.

My first thoughts as to why there was so much excitement was that they would be finally allowed entry inside, and what's more, there would be the two speaking, guiding the way. That was it, I didn't need to think further, second thoughts didn't matter. A tour was more than welcome.

Exhilarated myself, I listened carefully as a tour guide's words were a source of information.

By the time they finished speaking and started the tour with all the gathered following them - me included - I only managed to decipher a couple of words, with even fewer of them having learned their meaning.

For example, I learned this place was called a "sect", but I still don't know what it means, whether that's their word for city or settlement or something else entirely. They also said something about rewards, a singular or more items which they would give us after completing some tests. What those tests meant, I had no idea.

'I would love a souvenir related to the unknown energy.' With every word I deciphered, my excitement grew.

We passed the gates and followed the two flying guides as we toured through the place. I presumed we would stop sometimes for the guides to show us the various buildings and their uses, but instead they guided us in a straight line towards the depths of this sect.

 

The whole place was briming with life.

Many members of this race were flying above our heads and many more were walking through the cobbled ground and bridges, going inside a building or exiting it. Some of them flew out from the gates and down into the clouds.

Many plants could be seen alongside the roads and in the middle of big squares, gifting the place with the warmth of nature with their vibrant and full of life colors.

I looked in awe at all around me while maniacally recording everything down; I even did a few sketches in my jubilance.

I was truly impressed. Usually, wherever sentient beings choose to settle, build their structures and grow in numbers, they use the surrounding resources to do so, thus damaging the environment. In this case, however, they seem to have managed to prosper while keeping the environment's state intact if not even empowering it.

 

The single direction tour went for a while more before it ended at a building adjacent to the main one. Although it was smaller than the main building, it could also be used to accommodate hundreds of individuals.

Our two flying guides went in front and started speaking again, so I guessed we had reached our destination.

They continued speaking to us and showing us at the building behind them a couple of times. I got to hear again the word "tests" and now with more words and gestures - I could understand - spoken and shown about them, I deciphered their meaning along with the word "line".

Just a moment later when our guides stopped talking, everyone who came to visit just like me formed a line of queue towards the entrance of the building. Being in the further back of the crowd, I simply followed suit and joined as one of the very last.

Then, one by one we entered through its doors with the indication of our guides. The rhythm of us entering was not fixed and steady but varied. Sometimes a person would enter right after the one before him while other times the next one had to wait some time.

And so, like that, the line was getting shorter with each entry, and my eagerness to see what was inside the destination of the tour grew bigger.

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