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The horse-drawn carriage barreled down the road, unimpeded.
Ashen would've scoffed at the primitiveness of it all, if not for the fact that these monstrous horses were sprinting faster than any car back in Esperra.
They were not only faster… they were also meaner.
Any wild beast foolish enough to wander onto the road got trampled into paste without even slowing them down.
'Gorefiends in disguise,' Ashen mused, watching one such unfortunate creature get crushed beneath ironclad hooves.
Bored, and with time to kill before they reached Wrath Citadel, he leaned forward, eyes settling on Lucia seated across from him.
"So... why is Seravelle so backward compared to Esperra regarding tech?"
Lucia peeled her gaze away from the blurred scenery outside, her calm nod betraying that she'd answered this question before.
"It's something every Esperrian recruit asks sooner or later," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "And depending on who you ask, you'll get a dozen different answers."
Ashen gestured lazily. "Give me yours."
She smiled faintly. "Simple. Stubbornness… and the fact that Seravelle doesn't need your technology."
That raised his brow. "How so?"
"Because most Seravellian methods outperform their Esperrian counterparts, especially when you factor in mana." Her voice was smooth and assured. "Take the teleportation method that pulled you out of the tutorial forest. Or how you even arrived on this continent. Or how you'll leave it soon."
Ashen frowned, considering it.
"These methods are unique to Seravelle because of the mana-rich environment and the system framework we operate within. Esperra won't be able to replicate them for another few centuries, if ever."
He sighed, leaning back. "Yeah... fair point."
"And that's just one example." Lucia's eyes gleamed faintly. "Even this simple carriage outruns most land vehicles in Esperra."
Ashen nodded, but he wasn't done yet. "Transportation aside, technology covers more than just getting from one place to another."
Lucia didn't argue. If anything, she looked pleased at the follow-up.
"True. But Seravelle has alternatives for almost everything, and if they don't, they'll adopt what works. Your Slimslates for transactions? Your administrator tablets for managing paperwork? Those were too useful to ignore. Even the higher-ups couldn't argue with efficiency."
Ashen tapped his chin. "What about weapons? Surely that'd lighten the load on soldiers, especially against wild beasts."
Lucia's gaze darkened a shade.
"That was the initial thought," she admitted. "Until they realized new warriors began relying on them like crutches. Growth stagnated. Technique dulled. Personal might eroded."
Her voice dropped slightly.
"And besides... technology can only carry us so far. Even humanity's strongest weapon, the atomic bomb, can only reliably kill mid-tier monsters, at best."
Ashen grimaced. "So technology was a dead end from the start."
She nodded. "Exactly. And that's only the practical reason. I haven't even mentioned how prideful and stubborn the higher-ups are when it comes to Esperrian tech. Some of them believe mingling with it is outright dangerous."
Ashen snorted quietly. "That explains the lack of entertainment around here."
"For better or worse," Lucia agreed, her lips twitching in rare amusement.
For the first time since signing his contract with her, Ashen felt... less regret.
He even offered a small smile. "Thanks for clearing that up."
"It's my job," she replied with a slight nod, but he caught the faintest curve at the corner of her mouth.
Silence fell for a while, until another question stirred in his mind.
"What about communication? Wouldn't it help if I could stay in touch with the allies I made during the tutorial phase?"
Lucia's answer was immediate.
"That would be harder than you think."
Ashen shot her a look. Another rule from the stubborn old men in charge?
But Lucia read his expression easily.
"This time it's not about pride, it's about feasibility." She gestured vaguely around them. "Seravelle's environment is so saturated with energy that electronic, radio, or any kind of communication waves simply... die."
"That's... too bad." Ashen's mood plummeted like a stone in dark water. 'Guess I'll have to find another way to get in touch with Seraphine and Braun…'
Their conversation was cut short as jagged silhouettes rose on the horizon. Walls so massive they seemed to drag the sky down with them.
They had arrived at Ashbastion.
Ashen turned to the carriage window, and the first thing that caught his eye was the earth. Scarred. Cracked. Blackened like the bruised knuckles of some dying god gripping the bastion.
As the carriage approached, the walls came into full view.
They towered above all; smeared with soot, stained with ancient blood, and weathered by war.
The air itself seemed heavy, thick with the acrid scent of burning pitch as they crossed the bridge over a stagnant moat.
Ashen cast a glance down.
All he saw were bones.
Massive, bleached remnants of beasts long since slain — their skeletal remains left to rot beneath the shadow of the walls they'd failed to breach.
When the carriage passed through the colossal gate, the heart of the Citadel unfolded before him.
Wounded soldiers trudged along the main road, their bandages brown with dried blood.
Armorers hammered dents from battered breastplates and shattered blades, their rhythm slow, grim, like a funeral drum beating for the fallen.
Everything bore the scars of endless sieges.
Buildings stood shattered. Towers bore deep, cleaving wounds. Scorch marks clawed across stone like ancient battle cries frozen in time.
Banners hung in tatters, their colors long since bleached by sun and rain. The only standard that flew fresh was the banner of a clenched fist, dyed deep crimson with black-edged borders, flapping from the highest spire like a bloody taunt.
Yet for all its ruin, The Ashbastion endured.
It endured stubbornly… defiantly, as if its bones would hold long after its flesh was gone.
Ashen felt the weight of his decision settle in his chest. The grandness of the Citadel wasn't in its splendor, but in its survival.
This place didn't stand tall.
It clung to life.
No matter how hard the world gnawed at it.