Gleam [Karma Cultivator Isekai] - Chapter 64: Bonus Chap & Announcement!

The Old City came to an abrupt stop, putting Bella and Chance out into an alley cast in shadow. Just outside of it was a small, dingy shop. Shelves sparsely stocked with traveling gear sat behind a dirty window. A small candle flickered within a broken lamp, the flame sputtering and dancing as wind threatened to put it out.

“That’s… convenient,” Bella allowed, looking more than a little relieved as she set foot back in Gleam’s proper streets. “Not the best looking store I’ve ever seen, but it looks like they’re open.”

“Let’s be quick, then,” Chance said. They crossed the empty street and entered the store. The door creaked loudly as they entered, announcing their arrival.

An old man sat behind the counter, his nose buried in a book. He barely glanced up as the two walked inside. The merchant muttered a halfhearted greeting and gestured at the shelves without turning his gaze.

Bella and Chance couldn’t have asked for better service. They quickly went through the store, picking out old supplies from the shelves. Luckily, despite the store’s appearance, his goods seemed to be fairly decent.

Within a few minutes, they’d managed to find a ratty leather shoulder bag and stuff it full of supplies. Chance handed it to the merchant, who finally looked up. He glanced at the bag, nose crinkled in annoyance at the interruption, and held up ten fingers.

Chance put ten gold coins on the counter. He glanced at them, then returned his attention to the book in a clear dismissal. Chance slung the bag over his shoulder and he slipped out of the store with Bella, the door creaking once more as it closed behind them.

“Now we just need to get out of here,” Bella said. “I’ve got no idea where we are. I don’t suppose your Old City can take us to the exit?”

“I’m sure it can. As far as I can tell, it can get us anywhere inside the city as long as we’re in the alleyways.”

They headed back into the alley that they’d arrived at the shop through, and the Old City swallowed them once more. This time, their walk was considerably shorter. By Chance’s guess, it was only around another hour of trudging through the musty, tight path before it spat them out into a small nook.

The dull roar of chatter and the patter of thousands of people walking hit them like a truck the instant they stepped out of the Old City. Bella’s poked her head out of the alley, glancing around before ducking back inside.

“We’re at one of the gates. That’s incredible.”

“The Old City is pretty impressive when it’s not trying to kill you,” Chance said. “Is there anything we have to worry about at the gate? Are there guards or something?”

“Of course there are, but not for the likes of us,” Bella replied. “The guards are for powerful cultivators that threaten the city. I can’t even comprehend how many people come in and out of Gleam every day. There’s no way they can check everyone, so they only bother with the strong ones. All we have to do is walk out.”

“That’s it?”

“Don’t make it more complicated than it has to be.” Bella grabbed Chance’s hand and strode confidently out of the alley, forcing him to jog for a few steps to catch up. They pushed into the crowd, not even drawing a single curious glance.

Nobody cared what anyone else was doing in a group of this size. There were just so many converging paths and everyone was lost in their own thoughts that the other passersby turned into the background.

Far above them, rising so high into the sky that Chance couldn’t see the end of it, was an enormous stone wall. Massive runes covered it, flowing from one to the other without stopping. The wall cast a shadow as far as he could see, and there were dozens of outcroppings along the wall with entire houses jutting from them.

The gate was really more of a hole than anything else. Though, calling it a mere hole would have been to do it a disservice. The crowd was so thick and full of things flying through the air above them that Chance couldn’t make out what was beyond the gate aside from shadows.

Bella was right about the guards – there must have been thousands of them, mostly standing upon floating swords or platforms above the crowd. Their armor was elegant, made of a brilliant gold material that sparkled despite the lack of light.

The guards paid no attention to the crowd flowing toward the gate. Chance and Bella blended into the horde of people. The back of Chance’s neck prickled, and he resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder every few steps.

Even though he knew that the guards weren’t paying attention to them, he felt like every single one of them were staring straight at him. Looking around would have only brought more attention to them, though.

He kept his head down, staring straight ahead as the crowd pushed them toward the exit. Before long, they were standing beneath the arch. Chance wasn’t sure what he’d expected to find on the other side of the gate. Giant, flowing fields could have worked. Perhaps massive, craggy mountains that stretched on as far as they eye could see.

Anything, really. The one thing he hadn’t expected to find was nothing. He’d thought that it was just difficult to see out, but when he and Bella stepped under the arching wall far above them, there was absolutely nothing waiting for them on the other end of it.

The archway above was several blocks thick, and the crowd split apart beneath, though a large portion of people just headed into the darkness and vanished.

“Bella?” Chance asked, yelling to be heard over the roar of the crowd. “Where’s the way out?”

“You can’t just walk into Gleam,” Bella called back. “I mean, you can, but not through the main gate. Come on!”

She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the edge of the gate. They stepped into a long line leading up to a large row of guards sitting behind booths along the wall. Chance sent Bella a confused look.

“Why are we talking to the guards?”

“They’re the gatekeepers,” Bella replied. “They’ll give us a two-time use token that we can use to leave and enter Gleam. One use to leave, one to enter. It’s how they keep the city’s population under control.”

“Gleam is a lot of things, but I don’t think under control is one of them,” Chance said, stepping forward as the line shrunk. Despite the massive throng of people around them, it was shrinking at an impressive rate.

Bella laughed. “You should see what things are like outside of it. I guess you will. Just let me do the talking.”

“No complaints there.”

The line continued to shrink, and before Chance thought possible, the two of them were standing before a stern man. His golden helm covered a large portion of his face, but not enough to block the annoyed scowl plastered across his features.

“Destination?” the guard drawled, pulling two bronze disks the size of a fingernail from the air and fanning them out between his fingers. “There will be a price incurred for transfer to any named location. There is also a fee for transferring to any of the other Great Cities.”

“Just outside Gleam, please. We’re only looking to explore.”

The guard grunted, and a tiny flash of light spun around the coins. He flicked them to Bella and Chance. “Your destination has been set. No charges have been incurred. Please step through the gate whenever you are ready. Do not obstruct traffic.”

Bella and Chance strode away, heading toward the wall of darkness.

“Why didn’t we just pay and go somewhere farther?” Chance asked. He would have been worried about someone overhearing them had the crowd’s roar not been so loud. If he’d wanted to, he could have taken credit for a dozen heinous crimes and not a single soul would have heard him.

“They’d have a record of it,” Bella replied. “I don’t know how serious Gleam is going to be about this whole business, but we do not want to have any record of leaving. Make sure to keep in contact with me when we step out. I’ve heard it can occasionally put people in different spots. The Essence that Gleam uses to move people isn’t the most accurate.”

Gee, that’s reassuring.

They kept their grip on each other’s hands, slowing for a moment as the massive wall of nothingness drew up before them. There was no time to stand and stare in awe, though. Thousands of people were at their backs, and nobody was slowing.

Without anywhere near the amount of preparation that he would have liked, Chance and Bella stepped into the darkness and vanished. It was like plunging into a pool of freezing ink. Chance drew in a sharp, involuntary breath as liquid rushed into his mouth and nose, filling him before he could blink.

Before he could even start to panic, it was gone. He stumbled, only kept from tripping by his training as his feet hit soft grass. A faint breeze rustled his hair. It carried the fresh scent of grass and some sweet fruit.

They stood in a large field before a towering forest of thick trees. The shadow of Gleam’s massive walls still fell over them, making it just a little colder than Chance would have preferred. Surprisingly, despite all the people that had been at the gate, the area around them was nearly empty aside from a few others that milled about the edge of the forest.

“Where is everyone?” Chance asked.

“Most people don’t have any real reason to go right to the edge of Gleam. Everything of worth was already taken, and the Shikari have killed the strongest monsters in the area. I think some people come out here to train against anything that still lives in the woods, but that’s about it.”

“So how do people actually get into the city if they aren’t coming through the gate?”

“There are minor portals scattered around a lot of the smaller cities and villages,” Bella replied, setting off toward the forest. “Our tokens will let us enter through those. There’s just no point to go through one of the main gates unless you’re sitting around in the area just beside Gleam.”

“Makes sense,” Chance said. He adjusted the pack on his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder at Gleam. “So how dangerous is this forest, then?”

“I’m not sure,” Bella admitted. “I’ve only been in it twice, and never for long. There shouldn’t be anything too dangerous right beside Gleam, but we’ll have to keep our guards up. It’s this or Shikari, though.”

“I think I’ll take the forest.”

“Likewise. Let’s go, then. The sooner we get out of here, the less likely anyone remembers us.”

They headed off toward the forest, leaving Gleam and the Shikari behind them. As strange as it was to leave the city at his back, Chance knew that he’d be back. And, when he did return, there would be karma in store for what Vex had done to him and his friends.