Inside The New City

If you're looking a race that is more welcoming to outsiders, then it is the Gnomes you are looking for. Trusts is measured by through how much money you can give a gnome. That behaviour is deep-rooted in their blood, spirit and culture. And gnomes are a species who flock to where there is profit to be made. To the middle of the volcano up to the deepest parts of the sea, the middle of the dessert and to a place desolate of everything, so as long as there are profits to be made, so as gnomes are there.

The gnomes are a race that makes money and a gnome who loses money is as good as a dead gnome. That statement may sound harsh but gnomes make money, not lose them. Every move of a gnome is calculated. And worse of all, they're a group of shameless and thick-skinned bastards. A rock in the hands of a human is nothing more than a rock but for a gnome, it is something which they may use to gain profit from.

His entry to the city caused a commotion. Not because of the fight with the dragons earlier but because of various gnomes peddling their goods to him. His Terroynx were being eyed by these gnomes as he settled upon a gnomish inn and rented a room for him and for his steed along with a bath.

The good thing about gnomes is that though they are unscrupulous, but they don't degrade themselves with selling things greatly scorned by others. For example, meat from your own race. A demon and devil will have every types of meat in their market and eateries, even meat that came from sentient creatures but for gnomes, they don't stoop to that level. They still have morals and that aspect of theirs brought them respect amidst their notoriety.

The inn he checked-in has surprisingly elves, dwarves and other races settled inside. Disappointment flashed on his face as he saw no human. A gnome is serving the customer as he motioned towards the gnome as the gnome walked towards him.

"What currency are you lot using?" He asked in Ancient Gnomish as the gnome's eyes twinkled.

Using foreign currency of one country to another may sometimes lead to distrust and accidents but for a gnome, a different currency is money which have different drawings.

"Gold coins, sir" The gnome replied. For gnomes, a paying customer is their boss and an pretentious customer is their enemy.

"How much are these if converted in your currency?" he asked as he showed a Sleitrip gold coin. It is a gold coin with the Sleitrip palace in front and the words "Glory above else, Honor follows and Respect comes last" are printed at the back in Ancient Mage Tongue.

"About a gold coin of ours" The goblin replied as he saw the goblin taking out a gold coin and showing to him. It is roughly the size of Sleitrip's gold coin with the photo of a mysterious man, probably a royalty, at the front and a strange-looking flower at the back.

"Help me get these changed, you may take 5% of it as a commission" He said as he handed the goblin a bag containing a thousand Sleitrip gold coins. Whenever you dealt with goblines and asks for their help, it is wise to give them tips or commission as they will more likely work more efficiently.

Just as expected, five minutes after the goblin disappeared, it returned with a bag filled with the local currency. A combat mage at Sleitrip Empire who works as a border guard earns at average about a hundred gold coins a month, a fortune for a common man but for a mage, it is just enough to afford a couple of magic book, a few catalyst and a few materials.

"How much is meal?" He asked as he kept the coins.

"Depends on the quality, sir" the goblin replied looking expectantly.

"How about a warm, satisfying meal?" He asked as he pointed at a man behind him eating what looks like a porridge with a plate of vegetables to accompany with.

"That's worth about a silver coin, sir" The goblin replied as he threw a gold coin at the goblin.

"A meal with your finest ale" He said.

"Here it is sir, a dish of egg porridge and a plate of premium meat and vegetables and our finest ale!" The goblin said as he saw a bowl filled with a clear soup, a few wheat and mysterious bits and pieces swimming in it. The plate of premium meat and vegetable looks like just a plate of vegetables.

"Where's the meat?" He asked as the goblin, in a professional manner, pointed at an extremely small chunk of meat at the edge of the plate then left.

He looked at the meal in front of him in surprise as the surrounding men and women alike grinned at him.

"Goblins, no matter where I am, they don't change" He muttered as he scooped the porridge with his spoon, which looked like water, and tasted it.

"Hey! No taste!" He yelled towards the waiter as laughter sprang around him.

"Sir, its all natural." The goblin replied with a self righteous face. "Certain kinds of flavourings harms the body so we seldom put flavourings on our dishes."

"Can't you put natural ingredients on it then?" He asked as the surroundings laughed loudly.

"We put in a little bit of salt." The goblin replied.

No matter when and where you go, a stubborn person will remain stubborn. The excuses the goblins of this planet made is the same as the excuse of goblins in his home planet.

"Young lad," He heard as a dwarf sat beside him. Dwarves are about 150 cm tall at the average with a wide body, wide arms and legs and long beards. They are master smiths and often lives in mountains or places filled with resources.

"Goblins, no matter when and where, are bastards" The dwarf said while shamelessly grabbing his ale and made a move as if drinking it if he didn't stop it in time.

"And dwarves are a race with as severe addiction to alcohol no matter when and where i went" He told the dwarf as he grabbed his ale and took a sip from it.

"Ah humans, as always, being so sarcastic." The dwarf replied as it took a flagon out of nowhere and drank from it.

"What brought you here, in this hell hole, where birds don't even dare to shit!"

"I'm lost." He replied as he ate his meal.

"You're lost!?" The dwarf replied which drew in attention.

"Spatial experiments, I'm a mage" He said as he conjured a fireball. Mages of the past often conjures a fireball, or any magical ball whenever they were introducing themselves as mages and that tradition is still widely used by modern mages.

"Mages? I thought you guys were boogeyman!" A goblin from the opposite table replied.

"Aren't there mages here?" He replied while slowly, being anxious.

"No, here, not, but capital, yes, mages" An elf replied in broken Ancient Gnomish with eyes filled with suspicion.

Elves are a species blessed with a tall and handsome appearance. They are forest lovers and they detest dwarves the most because dwarves have the knack for using wood for their smithing. Then after dwarves, they loathe demons as they brought destruction and after demons came humans. Humans often used wood and uses lots of resources so elves would often hate humans for such reasons.

"Spatial experiments are dangerous, lad, where do you hail from?" The dwarf asked. Dwarves are a race that trusts only those who drinks alcohol and the dwarf in front of him trusts him now that he sipped at his ale before.

"Sletrip Empire" He replied and soon enough a dark skinned, two meter tall, burly man with a fiendish look and a pair of horns on his head, a Demon, approached him.

"You lad are a long way to your planet" The demon told him with a smirk then laughed.

"That's about 5 stars away!" The demon roared as it clutched its stomach in laughter.

Unlike devils which are vile and cunning, most demons and simple and straight forward. Demons are a long lived race with a natural affinity to chaos, flame, and spatial magic and they tend to travel from planet to planet.

The rest of the customers of the inn looked at him with weird looks. Before they heard stories of mages being transported long way from home through experiments and even used it as a joke, never would they encounter one with real flesh.

"Are you for real?"

"Don't joke around."

"You must be kidding me!"

Such replies were through his surroundings. Well, he was expecting such replies anyway.

"He's not from this planet, I guarantee it" The demon said as it laughed for a second time.

A commotion broke as even the bystanders came towards him with interest as he recounted everything that happened to him. He just let out the part with the treasures for safety purposes as the dwarf gave him a pitying look.

"Young human, mage!" A goblin came in front of him as the rest were startles, then grinned as they expected what trick or business deal this goblin would offer.

Then came an hour long of persuasion and refusal amidst the laughter from the patrons as the goblin offered him a ride home for a discounted price of a thousand gold coins. Any sane man would never, ever use a goblins transport services even if they do trust the goblins. Its true that goblins have the technology to travel planet to planet, but chances are, you don't know which planet you will be going to. Their teleportation devices would put the mages of old to shame in terms of distance travelled and the resources consumed would be close to nothing but extreme patience is needed if one were to use one as it may take years before you are able to teleport home.