Chapter 13:

City of Durahl - Our First Stop

I am a God, But I Accidentally Summoned Myself into My Own World as a Human Being!


Iris is sitting right next to me.

“Aelius.”

Elizabeth is driving.

“Aelius?”

“Yes?” I replied.

“Is something on your mind? You’re spacing out? She looked at me with concern.

It is because of your behavior Iris. It has only been a week at most.

You were so shy when we first met, but now you seem completely different. It is a little too fast- Is what I wanted to say, but it would be awkward to say it right now.

“I am just contemplating better ways to make our teamwork more efficient”

“That’s just like you Aelius.”

She smiled. What do you mean that is just like me? You barely know me.

Iris shuffled a little closer. “Aelius, you should rest. You must be tired.”

She patted her lap. She likes me, I know that. I am not dense unlike all those otherworlders.

But I am a God, she is human. That already is enough reason for me to reject her advances.

“I am not tired at all, that much work was to be expected.”

“You say that, but you’re enjoying this.”

Wait.

I am already lying down on her lap. Fine, you win Iris. I will let this slide.

She let out a little laugh. “Does your silence mean that I have a chance?”

I looked up at her face. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t make me say it twice, you meanie.”

“I am not sure. You do know who I really am right?”

“Of course, I’ve talked about it with Shaun a couple of times.”

So that is what you guys were talking about.

Iris rubbed my hair. I really should not let her keep doing this.

“It’s alright Aelius, I may not be of much help… but I will do what I can to help you.”

I kept silent. She was smiling again.

“Sorry to interrupt your bonding time, we’re arriving at Durahl’s gates soon.”

Elizabeth pointed forward. Iris and I went to the front of the carriage.

Currently, we are on one of the mountain roads that go around the mountain ranges. Across the valley opposite to us, there is a city built deep within the mountain.

The city itself was not visible, and a huge gate can be seen on the side of the mountain.

Several huge stone bridges span from the entrance to the various mountain roads, and such a bridge is right up ahead of us.

I look below us. “That is… quite the fall.”

It seems to be at least a thousand feet deep. Not that it should matter since I can use Levitate.

We reach the gates. The walls do not cover the base of the mountain altogether, instead, there is a gap up the top of the walls.

As we went near the gate, a guard called out to us. “Stop the carriage! we’ll need to inspect you for security reasons.”

We stopped. The guards at the gate checked the insides of every carriage in our unit.

Looking at the gate itself, its heavily decorated with gold and silver. Enticing, but attackers would think twice the moment they see the huge turrets atop the walls.

The turrets which line the walls are the same kind as those L-shaped weapons those otherworlders are fond of. But way, way bigger.

“Alright, you’re free to come inside”

The guards let us in.

“Welcome to Durahl”


---


Currently, inside the city of Durahl.

Hannah and Head Knight Grayson went inside an establishment to acquire some rooms to stay in for the night. The rest wait outside.

“Ahhh, finally! We’ve been traveling for so long!” Jace exclaimed.

“Hold your horses Jace, we still need to book a place to stay for the night.” Renz said to him as he looked at the building.

“What! Seriously? We’re even sleeping here tonight? Yessss!!” Jace raised both his hands in excitement.

We have gotten off the carriages and are currently looking for a place to stay.

Renz snapped at him. “Jace! The horses!”

“Oh shoot, my bad Renz.”

“Don’t just stand there! Let’s go get them!”

Jace and Renz ran off after the horses. It is worth to note that they are like Nadia and Aidan.

Hannah and Head Knight Grayson exited the building.

“Alright! Captain Hannah and I found a place for us to stay the night… uh where’s Jace and Renz?

Elen walked over to them. “Don’t mind them, how many rooms did you get?”

“We got 3 rooms which hold 4 people each and 1 room which accommodates 2” Hannah handed her a key. “And don’t go arguing with Julie about who gets to sleep with Toshikasu in the two-person room, we’ve already decided who sleeps together and stuff. It’s you and Julie in that room.”

Elen looked down. 

Head Knight Grayson chuckled. “Don’t make it sound so weird, it’s just people sharing a room. Shaun, Renz – who’s not here at the moment, Toshikasu, you guys are with me.”

He gave Shaun the key.

“Who decided on the arrangements?” Julie, still clinging to Toshikasu’s back, sounded disappointed. 

Hannah handed me a key. “Both of us captains. It’s our job to look after you guys since we have experience with the outside, so just listen for now. Al, you’re with Aidan, Nadia, and Jace. Don’t forget to tell him when he comes back.”

So Hannah is a Captain as well. I looked at the key in my hand. The inscription says 2nd floor, 3rd room. The others have different floor numbers.

“We are not on the same floor at least?” I inquired, looking down on her. 

It is hard to take her seriously with her small height.

“We don’t have a choice, most of the rooms are booked. At least we’re all in the same building. Mercedes, Iris, Elizabeth will be with me.” Captain Hannah replied.

“Yes Ma’am.” Mercedes said, walking over to us.

“Mercedes, you can just call me Hannah.” She looked up at Mercedes, handing her the key.

I guess we will just have to make do with what we get. 

Iris and Elizabeth continued to unload the carriages. Aidan and Nadia are still sleeping in theirs.

“Yo Al.” Toshikasu called out, walking over to me.

“What is it Toshikasu?”

“I already told you, you can just call me Toshi. Let’s go get Jace and Renz, they’ve got my stuff, also I’m worried about them.”

“You’re so thoughtful.”

I was going to help Iris, but this is also a good chance to explore the city.

“Hahaha, I do look out for my teammates” He looked at Julie.

She nodded, then disappeared.

Shadow arts, she is quite skilled.” I acknowledged them.

“Oh? You know she can conceal herself with Martial Arts?”

“Yeah, she is hiding in your shadow all the time. It gets obvious. Let us make haste.”

I lead the way. He followed behind me. Julie climbed up the nearby buildings, a shadowy link connecting her to Toshikasu. As long as Toshikasu has Mana, she can conceal herself indefinitely within a couple of meters away.

“You can see her too?” He asked.

Uh-oh, I was caught staring again.

“I have Enhanced Detection up most of the time.”

“Isn’t that a rank 7 spell? You’ve got so much mana bro!”

That was a lie. I cannot use Enhance Detection multiple times. In fact, just using it once drains half my innate mana.

I can see Julie because – nevermind, I do not really know why. As a God, seeing through concealments like that is child’s play, but right now I am just a human.

We continued to walk around the city. The streets are lined with stalls selling weapons, armor, and accessories. The constant smell of smoke from the constant forging within the city is a little annoying.

Durahl is one of the smaller dwarven cities on this continent. It is around a third of the size of Sol. The only source of sunlight is the gap between this city’s walls and the mountainside.

Instead, artificial light from magic stones light the city streets. Dwarves are very passionate about forging, which explains why vendors are mostly selling metalwork to visitors.

Takashiro rubbed his nose. Looks like the smoke is getting to him as well.

“Jeez, where the heck did those two go? We’ve been searching for a couple of minutes now.”

“Maybe they’re already back at the inn.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Julie.”

Julie disappeared from the rooftops and materializes behind him.

“Yes Toshi?” She asked.

“Go back to the inn, check if the two are already back”

“Okay!” She turned around, heading back. 

We keep looking as we headed in a random direction. It seems that this part of the city is under development. Multiple old buildings are up for demolition, having long since been abandoned.

“Al, what are your Unique skills by the way? 

“I only have one, Blessing of the Archmage. What is yours?”

Toshikasu grinned. “I’ve got three, Vow of Holiness, Demon’s Bane, and the Leveling System.”

“Wow that is a lot. But for now let us continue this talk once we are back at the inn.”

“Ah! haha of course of course, we can’t have people eavesdropping on us”

We turned on an empty street. Not exactly empty because there are still some people, but they seem to have nothing better to do than stare at us.

It is surprising that other than dwarves, there are also humans and beastmen in this city. I look beside me. The otherworlder is not there anymore

Toshikasu suddenly ran off.

“Hey wait!” I ran after him, but I’m losing sight of him. 

Damn he is fast. He turned left, running into an alleyway.

“Damn it otherwor- Toshikasu, where are you going?!”

Turn after turn, we went deeper into the maze that is this city. And I have finally lost sight of him.

“Ugh- out of… breath” I gasped for air.

My lower abdomen hurts. I am once reminded how unathletic this body is.

Clutching my stomach, I speed walked around a random corner.

Thud

I saw Toshikasu fighti- beating up five beastmen. Looks like I am late. He seemed to have heard the pleas of a young girl; she seems to be protecting her little sister. Both are heavily injured.

He punched one in the gut, sending him flying a couple of feet.

“Oof!!”

“You’re dead human!!”

Two of them charged Toshikasu, each holding one of his arms.

Both are using Fighting Aura, a Martial Art similar to Battle Aura which increases the physical capabilities of the user, albeit being slightly weaker. But with Beastmen naturally being stronger than most humans, it is a decent buff nonetheless.

The two pinned him to the wall. Or at least they thought they did. He took a step forward, then another despite the two still trying to push him towards the wall.

“Shit, he’s strong!”

Another one snuck up behind him, hitting his head with a shovel. It snapped under the force of the blow.

“W-what the heck!?” He gulped.

Toshikasu fumed. “You people. Stooping so low that you’d attack your own kind. You disgust me.”

He spread his legs a little. He then grabbed the two beastmen who are holding his arms, flipping them to the ground- their limbs broken.

The one with the now-broken shovel dropped his weapon and tried to run away in my direction.

I blocked his path.

“Get out of my way!” The agitated beastman growled as he tried to swipe at me with his claws.

Big mistake. He fell into a hole in the ground.

He landed on one of his buddies, who already fell earlier when they tried to stab me from behind.

“Hah! Nice trick man, an illusion over a pit.” Toshikasu ran over to me.

I grinned at him. “Don’t forget I’m levitating on top of it.”

He laughed. “Hahaha to make it seem like you’re standing on solid ground, genius!”

“Aren’t you going to check on those girls?”

“Ah! Right!”

He rushed over to the girls. As for these guys. 

I aimed my finger at them. “Nature’s Bind.”

A magic circle appeared on the sides of one of the abandoned buildings overlooking the alleyway.

Lianas immediately materialized, wrapping around the unconscious thugs. The resulting flora proceeded to tie them up and attach them to the building.

“You are lucky I will not kill you guys. Good luck trying to break free.”

Killing them would be the most effective way to make sure they don’t commit crimes in the future, but I knew Toshikasu would not agree to that. So I will just let them hang in there.

I strolled over to Toshikasu and the girls. Their injuries have already been healed. Looks like he also already said his heroic speech/vow- they are already attached to the otherworlder like there is no tomorrow.

“This guy behind me is Al. He’s a friend, he helped me save you.” he pointed at me.

The older one looked at me. She looks around 15, her sister even younger. Which reminds me, is Toshikasu also around this body’s age?

“U-um… thank you. Thank you for protecting me and my sister. I’m Uriel, this is my sister Una.” she mumbled, holding her little sister.

I look at the girl. What she is wearing can hardly be described as clothing. She and Una had metal cuffs on her neck and arms earlier. Now they are free thanks to Toshikasu.

And one last detail.

Cat ears. It is exactly the kind of beastman variant that those otherworlders are always wanting to meet. Wait, why would I pay attention to that?

“Well then, let’s go. You can come with us if you want.” I shook my head, turning around.

Toshikasu seems to be more overjoyed by what I said than the girls themselves.

“They can come with us?” His eyes sparkled.

“Of course, you’ll bring them along either way whether or not I say it.”

Toshikasu smiled again. It was expected. Otherworlders have a habit of picking up strays on their journey which end up to be one of their greatest companions.

“You hear that Uriel, Una? Do you want to come with us?” He extended his hand to them with a smile.

“Y-yes! T-take us with you” Uriel took his hand.

“Well then, let’s get out of this place”

Toshikasu carried Una on his back, and while holding Uriel’s hand, we made our way back to the inn.


---


A couple of hundred meters away from the scene.

On top of a building. A short figure observed the two humans leaving the alleyway with their new companions. He's looking at them through a telescope attached to a long, barrel-like weapon.

“Found you.”

He picked up his weapon, strapping it on his back. 

He then quietly leaves the area.