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Men and women filled it, clad in armor and bearing weapons that ranged from blades to staves. While the majority of the people in the city had concealed their Stage, Alex saw a number of high level Novices scattered throughout the square.

They had arrived at Valley Ford.

Alex blinked in surprise as he took in his surroundings and shook off the final effects of the portal.

The buildings around them were whole. Unlike Towntown, there were no chunks of skyscrapers or restaurants that had been stolen from their streets. Every single building had been intentionally placed, lined up in neat rows — but they were like nothing that Alex had ever seen.

Beautifully carved stone flowed like frozen ocean waves to make the walls, coiling around blue glass windows. Calling their surfaces carved would have been like calling the ocean a puddle. The tallest buildings stood well over five stories tall, though the majority of them were two or three.

Dozens upon dozens of bridges crisscrossed through the sky above them, connecting the buildings like strands of a spider\'s web. Blue flags embroidered with whorls of gold fluttered from the tops of many of the buildings between the bridges.

And, above it all, was a glistening lake. Alex blinked, then did a double take. His vision had not tricked him. Water flowed up from all around the city to gather in a lake suspended in the sky. There was no glass or container keeping it there. The water seemed to have just decided that it belonged in the sky.

The moonlight passing through it shifted, turning to dancing beams of silver rolled across the city like rippling waves.

"Whoa," Alex breathed, craning his neck back and staring up in awe. "That\'s—"

"Keep it moving!" a loud voice barked. "You\'re blocking the Starstone!"

Alex glanced toward the source of the voice. A huge man bearing a large polearm and clad in heavy green armor stood to the side of the Starstone. He stood easily five feet over Alex and the few parts of his body that were exposed were covered in rippling muscle. The man\'s skin had a faint blue tint, as if his entire body was severely devoid of oxygen.

Claire and Alex both stepped down from the raised platform and onto the shimmering cobbled streets below. The guard didn\'t so much as look in their direction a second time.

"Friendly place," Claire observed, turning in a circle to take in the market square. "But… this is what Earth cities are like? You never said they were so beautiful."

"I don\'t think this is an Earth city," Alex said, his neck turning on a swivel as they walked across the market square. Even though it was the middle of the night, light from oil lanterns spilled out from shop windows and vendors lined the sides of the streets. "I\'ve never seen anything like this, but be on your guard. You remember the guy we first met in Towntown?"

Claire\'s expression sharpened. "You sense another one?"

"Yeah." An odd mixture of scents — everything from oil to greased meat to salty brine — intertwined in the air and wormed into Alex\'s nostrils. His brain was still yet to decide if he liked it or not.

"What do we do?" Claire asked.

"For now? Nothing. I just know they\'re present, and that means they know the same. Our original goals haven\'t changed," Alex said.

"Guess there\'s no point driving ourselves insane searching. Then the first move is probably selling the thingie we got. We can figure out what to do from there."

The question nudged Alex\'s mind back to what he\'d been thinking about before they\'d stepped into the portal. He repressed the urge to send a sidelong look in her direction.

What I really want to do is get some answers to a few questions I\'ve got for you.

"Agreed," Alex said. "We can look for a place to settle in for the night and meditate as well. Something tells me that lodgings might not be free here."

Claire nodded in agreement. The two of them glanced around the square in search of an appropriate merchant. There were a number of them, and Alex wasn\'t sure which one would be the most likely to —

"What about that place?" Claire pointed across the square.

Alex followed Claire\'s finger to look in the direction she had indicated. A wide, three story building made of white stone loomed near the very center of the market square. Dozens of people had gathered around and inside it and excited conversation rose from the crowd.

"Looks like as good a start as any," Alex said.

They made their way across the square and over to the entrance of the building. A pair of large double doors, made from the same flowing stone as the rest of the building, already hung open. Beyond them stretched a beautiful malachite-tiled room.

Iron braziers hung from the ceiling, suspended on chains, and crackled with lime-green flame that danced across the room. They illuminated rivers of flowing water suspended in nothing but air that wound through the room and traveled up through holes in the ceiling.

The walls were covered with an assortment of weapons, armor, and scrolls, all of which had been broken off into sections. At the back end of the room was a spiral staircase that led up to the second floor.

A long counter ran along every wall but the one that boasted the building\'s entrance. Clerks sat behind it wearing uniforms that could have been taken for gaudy flight attendant outfits. They matched the flags covering the city — largely blue, with golden whorls running down their sleeves and emblazed upon their chests.

People stared up at the riches adorning the walls and murmured in awe. Many of them already sported what looked to be new weapons and armor purchased from the shop. While most of the staff were already occupied, Alex spotted a few open counters and made his way toward one of them.

A clerk with short blonde hair sat in wait, her fingers interlaced and hands resting on the countertop before her. She gave them a beaming smile full of uncomfortably white teeth as they came to a stop before her.

"Welcome to The Ocean\'s Tide, courtesy of the Great Tide Family. We\'re thrilled to make your acquaintance and deliver you the finest goods in all of the Infinium. The greatest treasures all flow from the ocean. What can I do for you today?"

The woman\'s voice was bubbly and energetic. There was a nonzero chance she\'d pounded back a few dozen expresso shots before showing up to her shift.

"I\'m looking to sell something," Alex said, reaching into to his pocket and pulling out the Harvester.

"Of course. At Ocean\'s Tide, we sport the best deals in the city," the clerk said. Her wide, plastic smile didn\'t so much as twitch and her voice kept a constant, flat note of manufactured excitement as she continued. "Our appraisers are a little busy right now. We only just moved into town, so please bear with us. I\'m thrilled to share that we have a Grand Opening deal going on. We\'ll be paying twice as many Shells as normal for anything you have to—"

"I\'d prefer Credits, please," Alex said, opening his hand to reveal the Harvester.

The clerk\'s eyes went wide. Her smile evaporated like rain in the desert and she hopped down from her chair, walking around the counter and bowing slightly in respect.

"Mention that you are an Outworlder before I get started on the marketing pitch," she said in a terse whisper. "Please, follow me. We would be pleased to deal with you on the second floor."

"Hey, hold on," a large man standing at the counter beside Alex exclaimed. "I\'ve been waiting here for an hour! Why\'s he get special treatment?"

A few other murmurs of annoyance ran through the people in the immediate area around them.

"This gentleman is a personal friend of the establishment and has prior dealings with us," the clerk said without missing a beat. "We pride ourselves on rewarding repeat customers. Rest assured, you too will receive similar treatment should you continue to bless us with your patronage."

Her words drove a blade through the heart of the man\'s annoyance in an instant. He blinked, then scratched the back of his head.

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense. It\'s good to know you guys remember your customers. We\'re the ones who pay you, after all."

"Very true. We would be nothing without your generosity."

Holy shit. She turned that around in a split second. What a load of shit, but damn if she\'s not good at it. It looks like these guys are professional bullshitters, and they must think I\'m an Offworlder because I know about Credits and have that Harvester thing that Finley gave me.

The clerk started over to the stairs, then stopped to turn and send Alex and Claire a pointed glance.

They hurried after her. She wasn\'t exactly giving them a moment to rectify her mistake. And even if she had, Alex wasn\'t particularly interested in waiting around like some shmuck for an hour when they clearly had people ready to pay out.

The stairs came to a stop on the second floor, into a long, beautifully decorated hallway. Mosaics of beautiful shells and ceramic depicting the ocean waves covered the ground and wove up the walls. Light danced across them from black metal braziers that dangled from the ceiling well above their heads. A dozen white coral doors lined either side of the hallway.

The Ocean\'s Tide definitely wasn\'t hurting for money.

"We\'ve only got one Merchant available at the moment," the clerk said apologetically as she came to a stop before one of the coral doors. "We really weren\'t expecting another Offworlder this early on. Please excuse our lack of preparation. It will not happen again."

Another Offworlder? Does that mean—

"Oh, please. We didn\'t announce ourselves. I would have been more displeased if you did know we were coming. There\'s a reason we keep a low profile," Claire said casually, her tone and demeanor shifting to become slightly haughty. "So long as your service is satisfactory, we\'ll have nothing to complain about."

The clerk smiled in appreciation. "We will ensure that you are well taken care of, Miss. The Great Tide family is thrilled that you have chosen us to serve you."

With that, the clerk pressed her hands against the door. It swung open soundlessly to reveal a plain white room with a large pink coral desk growing out of the ground in its very center. Seated across from them was a tall, blue skinned man in fine clothes. He had thin, diagonal lines running along the sides of his neck and his features were flat and sharklike — but Alex\'s attention wasn\'t on him.

He was focused on the woman in one of the several chairs across from him with her back to the door. A woman with a huge, pointed hat. It, and her robes, were purple and trimmed with flowing silver designs. Bright orange hair rolled down her back and a huge wooden staff leaned against her side.

Even before she turned around, Alex knew there would be a small scar on the side of her lip.

Goosebumps prickled at his back and the hair on his arms stood on end.

Oh, shit. You can\'t be serious.

He\'d seen this woman before.

It was GoGently, the Rank 2 on their Subsector\'s 2nd Initialization\'s Final Leaderboard.