Damien stood atop a sand hill overlooking the desert city of Tashin. From his distance, about two miles from the city gate, he was still able to watch as people bustled in and out through the massive gates. At the back of his mind, he felt the pull on his mind, the same one that had been urging him for weeks now, settle down as the city came into sight.

  He sighed. Hopefully, he'd find what had drawn him here.

  Surprisingly, the city was the only thing around for miles, surrounded by the endless sands of the scorching desert for as far as his eyes could see, below which was home to an entire civilization of creepers and crawlies slithering about, hidden underground or camouflaged so tightly that one couldn't tell with a passing glance.

  Making his way down the hill towards the city's entrance, Damien wondered why anyone would knowingly build a city in the middle of a vast desert, with no source of water as far as he was aware, but he'd already found knowledge that the city was led by a cult of some being, so that shouldn't have surprised him. They weren't the first cult to build their city in absurd places.

  Reaching the city's entrance, he noted that they had been constructed from essence-infused stone, judging by the soft hum of magical energy he could sense. More eye-catching, or sense-catching, was the feeling of the stability and perseverance concepts imbued into the walls, which no doubt increased its defenses magnitudes higher while also increasing its lifespan.

  At the gate, two guards stood at both sides of the entrance, wearing plain armor of similar earthen materials from the wall, including the infusion of the stability and perseverance concepts, though at a lesser volume. One was a bipedal sand drake, with reptilian features more resembling that of a common lizard than their more fiercer cousins.

  The other was a human male with black hair matted with sweat, probably from all the standing around under the hot sun, and also in an armor that covered more than ninety percent of his body. Both of them weren't putting on any helmets, but Damien still detected the shielding a hair's breadth around their bodies, wrapping all around them like an eggshell. A very flexible eggshell.

  "Halt," the drake called out with a thick, raspy voice. "State your name and your reason for visiting Tashin."

  Damien slowed down and, with a nod, acquiesced to the demand. "My name is Damien Elason and I'm here just for sightseeing."

  Normally, Damien wouldn't have been so eager to give out his name, and despite him wanting to stay anonymous in this city, he also knew that no one here knew of him, so there was practically zero chance of somebody ratting him out.

  Waiting for the reply of the guard who looked to be studying Damien, probably for any sign of untruth, he decided to look around.

  A peek through the gate increased his estimation of the place up a notch, given what he'd just detected: The city was magically grown.

  Damien frowned. That was surprising. Magically grown cities were the kind of extravagance every Monarch wanted but could not all afford. It took real masters in their focuses to magically raise cities from nothing but the materials on hand. From what Damien knew, they were created from the combination of magical exotic materials and the workings of large energy formations, which made them extremely expensive to build. The only people with the wealth to raise one were the clergy of the various cults, a few kingdoms, and empires with roots dating back to millennials. This made this all surprising because this city was largely unknown, with its political influence ending at the borders of its gate. Nevertheless, he admired it, and though it was a different theme from the ones he was used to, he found it impressive, nonetheless.

  Finally, the guard spoke up, this time with a change of attitude. "You don't look like someone with enough money to pay for his feedings, let alone for lodgings. I don't want some lowlife coming into my city to steal," He said with a deprecating gaze at Damien, like he was filth who shouldn't be addressing him at all.

  Damien raised an eyebrow with a tight smile. "Oh, and what would someone with enough money look like?" He replied, holding himself from physically reacting to the Drake's blatant insult. It wasn't surprising though, seeing as this wasn't the first city guard that had reacted this way to visitors they assumed were there for nefarious purposes.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Looking at the guard, it wasn't hard to tell his type: insecure and hungry for power. Their types liked to assert dominance the moment they saw prey.

  They always learned eventually.

  "Do as ordered, boy, or you'll be seeing the inside of a cell before nightfall. You will show me the funds you intend to spend in the city or you'll be dragged to the cells for a thorough... Investigation," he smirked predatorily, revealing long, sharp canines. "Do you know what we do to thieves in the city? An experience might not be far from you if you don't show me some coins now!"

  With a grimace, Damien noted that they were beginning to draw attention, and given the other guard's unconcerned expression, Damien summed up that he wasn't going to intervene.

  With a regretful sigh, Damien brought out a small pouch, opening it wide enough for the guard to see the ten gold coins glinting from within.

  A sharp light crossed the drake's eyes before a neutral expression immediately masked it. "You can go. Make trouble in the city and you might still get to see the inside of a cell."

  Damien nodded before walking past and through the gate. He could still feel the guard's eyes on him.

  Entering the city, he finally got to know why the city was still standing despite being in the middle of a continent wrecked with massive, destructive, wandering desert storms.

  It was an Essence Territory.

  It seemed the desert city of Tashin had been blessed by a higher realm being with the protection of an Essence territory. Damien had already begun wondering where they'd acquired the energy used in the raising of their city.

  His skin tingled and his energy sense—constrained as it was— ignited as he stepped into the territory. Damien breathed in, feeling energy suffusing the air. The city's infrastructures closest to him were imbued with magic and also blessed with stability and perseverance concepts, and even the guards he could already see roaming around benefited as well through their armor. He had no doubt that all the infrastructures in the city were already imbued.

  Damien didn't know much, but the little he'd been told had granted him the knowledge that territory creation was one of the perks of higher realm entities. It protected the territory and all those who were in its area of influence from outside harm, and even energy recovery was significantly boosted inside of it.

  Damien nodded admiringly at the massive, transparent, energy dome covering the entire city, rising from one end to the other. He could scarcely imagine the massive amount of energy required to constantly maintain it.

  He'd stepped into territories before, and it was mostly considered foolish to fight a wielder in their territory. Their strengths were doubled whenever they fought inside the influence of such territories or nearby, which made it extremely hard to defeat them, though not impossible.

  Damien made his way down the sidewalks of a wide central road leading deeper into the city, watching as different buildings came into view, with the large square-like shapes common in almost every city he'd ever visited dominating the city's infrastructures.

  The city's residents were of a different sort. Humans were the most dominant race on the planet, which raised a— in Damien's opinion—misplaced sense of superiority towards other races, but this city showcased its acceptance of the different races. From desert drakes to desert snakes, all creatures of desert origin who had been lucky enough to achieve sapience and human forms were welcomed.

  As he walked, his nose captured the smells of some of the goods being peddled. Children ran around playing, while their parents called out to them not to go too far. Different commodities were being sold on the streets as he passed, with vendors fighting for his attention towards their goods.

  "Handsome sir, come buy these beautiful dresses for your lady friend."

  "Try out my latest batch of sizzling Drake's meat! Fresh out of the frying pan!"

  "Can you smell my spices? I'm sure your woman would like some. It would put some aroma in your life."

  "Sweetbread! Come try some, straight out of the oven. After you taste it, all worries will go away."

  And then there were the strange ones.

  "Hi, handsome. Come try me, your lady friend doesn't have to know."

  "I'll do you one better. Instead of just two hours, we could spend all night. Wouldn't you like that?"

  "Go find another, he's already taken!"

  "He hasn't said yes to you, so he's fair game!"

  "Don't test me, you slut!"

  "Or what?!"

  That was how things devolved into a brawl on the streets, with scratching and screaming. People immediately began to gather — especially the men — cheering for one person and switching to the other when that one seemed to be losing. Bets were soon being passed around. The guards saw this but chose not to interfere, leaving the women to settle their dispute themselves, but that did stop them from giving him the stink eye like it was specifically his fault.

  Promising himself to be more careful, he continued down the street, coming upon an inn with the drawing of a singing lady and the name 'Singing Lass' written under it.

  The inn was a two-story establishment, probably the top being used for lodging. It was painted in a drab brown color like the rest of the city.

  Damien couldn't hear any noise inside, meaning the inn's frequent patrons weren't finished with their daily jobs.

  Looking around the street once more, Damien walked inside.

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