Now this is an Isekai world

As we go outside, we find ourselves on the top of a huge staircase. The building is located on a big hill on what looks like the middle of the city. Looking back at it has a pentagon shape, on each point, a tower, one taller than the last making it look like it is ascending.

Ropes connect the towers making a start shape between the five towers.

Looking around the view is breathtaking.

The city is massive, made up of mostly white buildings.

We go down the stairs and reach the streets, bustling with “people”? I don’t know what I should call them. I guess in this world they would be.

What truly impresses me is the sheer variety.

Almost like the white buildings served as an empty canvas and the citizens were the paint.

Every skin color you could imagine, from the commons one from my world, black, brown, beige, white to the even more extreme ones. Shades of red, green, yellow, blue, purple, grey and more.

The hairs made the combinations endless with a new one at every direction I looked

And don’t even get me started on the features. Evey one of them had a base human appearance, (or should I say Goddess appearance…). But the different features were endless.

Some were taller than 2 meters, others couldn’t make it past 1 meter.

Different eye pupils, slit reptile-like appearance or big round ones like felines.

Animals’ ears of every specimen, cats, dogs, bunnies, bears, monkeys, cows, bats, rats and more

On their bodies, an endless number of different details. Scales, feathers, fur, large teeth.

(Now this is what an isekai world is all about!)

Markets, stalls, shop fronts, everything full of people of every possible color.

As we walk and I look around amongst all this variety I start to see what Volkan meant.

A pattern begins to form and the creatures that looked all different from one another start to look more like the group they are from, except for me, with average height and no distinct features, I start to become the odd one out.

(Haven’t seen anyone with dragon wings too…)

Gora suddenly stops.

“Mind if we make a little detour? When I’m back in the capital I like to make a visit to the church.”

“Not at all, you’re my guide after all. I’ll just follow you.”

We head off into one of the side paths, away from the busy main streets.

After walking for a bit, we reach what I assume is the church, on top of it a symbol of the sun with big flames and a small waning moon inside. On its door a see a nun dressed in white, yellow and orange with rabbit ears. Gora gives her a big hug and swings her around.

After putting her on the ground she points at me. The nun waves at me and I wave back.

Gora returns and we go on our way.

“So, who was that?”

“That’s sister Betany. She took care of me when I had just awakened.”

“I didn’t know you had awakened too.”

“Yeah, churches like that one were used as orphanages for the ones who had awakened as kids. Is more common than ya think. I, for one, woke up when I was around three years old apparently. That was fifteen years ago.”

(She’s a year older then me.)

“It was a blast! I had so much fun playing with the other kids. The sisters were super nice to me and is thanks to them that I got to meet my parents!”

“Your parents awakened too?”

“Not my biological parents. I don’t even know if they are still out there, were put to rest or if they maybe woke up in another part of the continent.”

(Idiot, this isn’t a game. Think before you say something.)

“I’m sorry that was insensitive.”

“Don’t worry about that. Plus, I’m thankful for the life Sonala offered me. I wouldn’t trade my adoptive parents for anything in this world.”

“Were they orcs too?”

“Nah, they were harpies. They have a farmland over to the west of the continent.”

“So, you were a farm girl?” I say poking fun.

“Yup! And ya bet I’m proud of it!” She gives me a full smile.

(She really is prettier when smiling.)

“Were there a lot of kids?”

“Those orphanages used to be full of kids like me. They all got homes too. But for these past 10 years the church has not only gotten empty but more somber too. Now the only kids who end there are the ones who lose their parents. They still get adopted, but the pain of losing is lot different than the pain of never having it in the first place…”

We keep walking until the buildings and houses stop and a big wall takes place. We’re heading towards some sort of checkpoint.

There’s a line of horse drawn carriages filled with products and some made to transport people.

Gora talks to the guards dressed in white amour, and after showing her dreamcatcher they give passage.

After passing another view takes me by surprise.

(With this world is just one thing after another huh?)

We are on top of a giant mesa or maybe even a plateau. In fact, the entire city is on top of it.

Outside of the walls we are at the very edge of it. I can see the massive cliffs circling the entire outside.

The view stretches for kilometers and near the end of the horizon, just before my view ends, I can see other mesas with small towns and villages on top of them. Lights and towers of smoke signaling the presence of civilization on each of them.

Looking around there are a couple of them closer to the capital. Full of farmlands. I can actually see the farmers working on the fields due to how high we are.

On the contrary, down below hundreds of meters close to where the ground is, all I see are dirt roads, forests and plains.

Looks like the settlements are all exclusively on top of high ground.

Straight ahead a massive ramp carved into the ground leads down to the roads that seem to connect each mesa.

Heading to the side there’s what looks like a massive horse stable with tons of carriages parked outside. It almost looks like a truck stop made of wood. On top of it is a big dreamcatcher.

“That’s one of the many guild buildings across the continent. We can get a carriage to take us to HQ.”

Heading inside it looks exactly like the Mangas and anime I’ve seen. Tables with food being served with a main desk at the back of it. Theres ton of guild members wearing the same orange and purple colors and tons of what look like coachmen for the carriages and merchants.

Gora speaks to the main desk, and the receptionist points to a carriage driver. She talks to him and comes over to me.

“Alright I managed to get us transportation! We should get back to HQ by tomorrow. Let’s go.”

Heading outside we get on this passenger carriage as the driver hooks the horse to the front, and we set off going down the big ramp and heading to the land below the city.

An hour goes by before Gora tries to start conversation.

“You look like you want ask something.”

“Right now, just two things. Do the horses awaken too?”

“Nope. We could classify them as animals, not monsters. Animals only have survival instinct to them. That doesn’t really make them dangerous unless you mess with them. We monster on the other hand, when under Umbravar influence attack on sight and are always aiming to kill. There’s no instinct to feed or defend themselves, just pure violence.”

“I could tell.” Reminding myself of the cave makes me shiver.

“We call em Slumberwalkers. In deep slumber under his control. Some have memories of what they did but everything is blurry like a veil of fog not letting them control what they are doing. After waking up all there is left is this feeling of regret. Is an awful felling, you’re lucky to not remember.”

Every time she talks about awakenings and those still stuck in their original forms, she gets quiet and serious. Looks like a sensitive matter that demands full respect.

“Speaking of awakening lets try to keep the news about you awakening only to guild members, ok? Is going to really shake up the public to know someone woke up after ten years of nothing.”

“Fair enough”

“And your second question?”

“Why are all the cities on such high ground?”

“It’s the places with the most sunlight. Umbravar cursed the night and darkness, meaning staying too long in the dark makes us start to lose control over ourselves and the form given by Sonala. Not only that but it is a good natural fortress against slumberwalkers. The dark corrupts their minds even further. To the point they don’t even care about their own safety, only killing.”

“So that’s why Lumiere made sure to go in the cave?”

“Yes, not only it was personal for him since it was another Dire Wolf Kin, but to reach that point the pain must have been excruciating.”

“Is the dark really that dangerous? What happens to us at night?”

“Is okay. To be life threating for us you would have to spend hours in absolute darkness. The light from the moon and stars are enough to keep us safe.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“On the other hand, slumberwalkers get way more aggressive at night so is not recommended to camp out on the roads down here. Good thing there are enough towns close to one another so we can rest when travelling.”

I see. They really have figured out a way to live by keeping the darkness at bay.

“However, that is only for the common folk. As members of the Resting Guild our job is to go into their territory, either at night or into the darkest of caves, to make sure they can be put to rest and stop hurting others and themselves.”

Gora opens her hands. Her right starts to glow purple while her left starts to glow orange.

“And to do that we have to be prepared. Pay attention because your training starts now.”

Here it is.

“Time for you to learn about Blessings and Protections.”

Magic.