Chapter 31: Zeth's Home City

Chapter 31: Zeth’s Home City

One Week Later

The heroes arrive in Kunasha, Zeth’s home city, one packed to the brim with tall buildings, colorful lights, and civilians walking around on foot. A sign says, “Welcome to Kunasha, home of the Eagle Clan”. Zeth happily falls to his knees and lifts his arms up in the air, overcome with joy and relief. “Finally, I’m home!!” he shouts, his voice spreading far, and loud enough for all nearby people to hear.

Glancing all around, Emily says in awe, “It certainly is a beautiful city.”

“So, what do you want to do, Zeth?” Kurt asks. “Do you want to go straight to your home, or do you want to show us around first?”

“If you want to see around first, then I can do that,” Zeth replies with a smile.

Joe nods. “Sure, I would like to see around.”

“I would also like to see around your city,” Sasha adds. “As a child, I didn't get to visit any cities that much.”

***

The city of Kunasha is one of the vastest cities in Harmone and has a population of over one million.

The heroes walk through the city, making sure not to bump into any of the other people going about their day on the sidewalks. The city is filled with buildings as short as one story, but includes buildings as high as fifty stories.

“It may not be as big as Reign City, but this is still one big place,” Kurt says as he glances all around at the buildings.

“You’ve been to Reign City?” Zeth asks.

“We’ve all been to it,” Emily interjects. “It’s the capital city of Harmone, and we do travel a fair bit.”

Zeth stutters a bit in his reply. “I didn’t mean that as surprise… um… never mind.”

“I’ve never been to Reign City, though,” Sasha says.

Joe chuckles. “Whatever role we hold in this divine conflict, I’m sure our path will take us through Reign City at some point, so you will get to see it.”

***

The heroes walk through the city for about half an hour.

Still walking on the city sidewalks, Emily spots a weapons shop nearby and smiles with excitement. “Ah! A weapon shop! Maybe I should check it out.”

“Is this really necessary?” Joe asks with a sigh.

“Yes!” Emily responds with a loud tone. “If we are going to be fighting to the death against demons and whatnot, I need to be loaded!”

Joe lets out another sigh. “Fine, I guess we might as well go in too.”

Walking into the shop, Emily stands in place, staring in awe at all the weapons. There are many different weapon types hanging from the racks around the walls of the store, including guns, swords, and electronic devices. She searches around for weapons she might be interested in with the others following her.

“So, what weapons are you looking for?” Sasha asks.

“Nothing in particular,” Emily replies. “If I like something I see, I will buy it.”

Just moments later, she sees something that catches her attention. It’s a shotgun that is mostly black with a red flame pattern on it.

She grins as she gazes it with fascination. “I definitely want this.”

Zeth rubs his chin. “A shotgun?”

A man, who appears to be in his 30s and has brown hair and a full beard, approaches them.

“Not just any shotgun, but the X12 Shatter Shotgun,” the man says. “Listen, miss, if you are a Channeling Magic user, I suggest not buying that unless you have D-Rank magic. It could seriously harm you otherwise.”

Emily raises an eyebrow. “How so?”

“When channeling magic into a weapon, certain weapons require a minimum amount of magic energy to use. If you are not strong enough to give a high-enough dose, such as being an E-Rank or lower, this gun will reach into your blood and life force, which could kill you or, at the very least, significantly injure you.”

“Seriously?” Zeth mutters.

The man nods. “Yes. As the store owner and manager, I have an obligation to inform my customers.”

“Then can I still buy it, but just wait to use it until I’m strong enough?” Emily asks.

The owner stares at her for just a moment before answering. “I guess so. Just be careful. I will need you to sign a form that confirms me not liable for anything that happens to you.”

“That’s fine,” Emily states. “Let me buy an F-Rank shotgun as well so I have something else for now.”

“Right this way.”

The heroes follow the store owner to another shelf, where he shows Emily a different shotgun, one that is gray with a brown wooden stock.

“This is a B3 Tide Shotgun,” the owner says. “It's a classic design, but hey, there's nothing wrong with that.”

“That one look good too. I’ll take it,” Emily replies. “Oh, and one last thing. I want these.”

She takes the lead and walks everyone over to a rack holding a couple of wheel-shaped blades.

“These are Dual Spinning Blades,” she says.

The owner scratches the side of his head. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but why do you young people need all of these weapons?”

Emily hesitates to answer at first but responds, “Let’s just say that in the near future, we will probably be pursued by monsters.”

The owner responds with a neutral tone that gradually lightens up. “Ah, well, that certainly does not sound good. Be safe out there. If you ever need new weapons, you can always come back here. Maybe I will even introduce you to my son. He’s very young, but I'm sure one day, when I retire, he will become the next manager here. Maybe in four decades. Who knows? Ha!”

Emily chuckles. “Who knows where we will be in four decades, but I'm sure we will be back.”

The owner uses a key to release both the shotgun and the spinning blades from their respective racks. He walks Emily to the counter. “That will be 600 Doles.”

Emily reaches into her pocket to pull out a wallet. “That’s quite expensive, but worth it, I suppose.”

She hands him the money and signs the ceding liability form before he hands her the weapons.

“See you later,” she says just before she turns around to walk away with the other heroes.

“Have a good day. Stay safe out there,” the owner calls out.

They leave the shop and continue walking through the city.

Emily thinks, “What he said about the weapons sounds like the Shadow Sword I got from the demons. But I could still use the Shadow Sword easily, only that it drains my energy fast. Hmmm.”

Sasha turns her head toward Emily, noticing how she stares at the ground with eyes narrow. “Are you okay, Emily?”

Emily snaps out of her thoughts. “Huh?! Oh, yes, I was just thinking to myself about the weapons.”

Zeth smiles. “Now that we have had a look around, let’s go to my home. I can't wait to introduce you guys to my parents!”

***

Later. In the suburbs just outside of the main part of the city.

They reach Zeth’s house, and its large size stands taller than any of the other houses in the area.

Joe fully takes in the large size of the home. “Whoa, Zeth, your house is huge!”

Zeth chuckles. “Though it may be big, we are not super rich or anything.”

He stares at the house for a moment before saying anything else.

“I just can’t wait to see my parents again.”

He takes a deep breath before walking toward the front door. “Come on, let’s go.”

Zeth has finally returned home! What will Zeth learn by returning to his parents?!

Chapter 31 END

To be Continued in Chapter 32: Story of the Divine War