The City of Lokh

When they passed through the door of the Tower, the brothers felt a very weird sensation. It was like they were in a torrent of cold water that was pressing against them. What felt weird was that at the same time they felt a firm push from behind that made them advance in this torrent. A few minutes later, the sensation stopped, making it seem like they reached their destination. They both blacked out.

***

A hot breeze passed through Jakob's hair, waking him up. The hot and dry climate that he felt from the air was a stark contrast from the gentle saline winds of Apythir. He looked around and saw that Ben was also waking up. Jakob also noticed that they were on very flat terrain and he could feel the sand under his feet.

It made sense that he did not know what a desert was since he lived his whole life in Apythir.

Jakob was also surprised at the fact that he could see the sky, which, technically, should have been the roof of the Tower. It was like a whole different world.

"So, is this really what the inside of the first floor of the Tower looks like ?" Ben said, kind of confused at the seemingly endless waves of sand and green shapes in front of him.

"Maybe you should turn around", suggested Jakob.

He did, and what he saw was very shocking, to say the least. There was a gigantic city. The architecture of the city in front of them was also very intriguing. Ben could make out a few very big pyramids of sandstone, which, if transported in Apythir, would dwarf any building, except the Tower. The rest of the buildings were also made of sandstone and were constructed all around the pyramids. The city seemed very harmonious from afar since it was mostly symmetric.

"Should we go and take a look ?" asked Ben to his brother.

"Well, I guess we don't have any other options, except if we want to wander here until we starve", replied Jakob.

"Yeah, I must admit that those weirdly shaped plants don't seem quite edible", pointed out Ben.

And so, they started walking towards the sandstone city, hoping to find directions. While they were walking, they talked about their aspirations and what they hoped would come of their Power. About two hours later, now much closer to the city, the brothers came across a well-maintained sandstone road that went towards their destination, so they decided to walk on it. While on the road, the pair saw a good amount of people passing by, some in carriage, some running, but chose to wait until they arrived in the city before asking anybody to guide them on what they should do after having just joined the Tower. They didn't want to look like easy targets, since they knew how ruthless the world could be.

The brothers were surprised to see that most of the people walking by had way darker and tanner skin than them. Finally, sometime later, with the sun starting to set, they arrived at the front of the gigantic city. There were a lot of paths converging here and the boys were speechless at the grandiose sight of the 50-feet (15 meter) tall gate. To reach the entrance, they had to cross a small bridge which seemed like the only way over the deep hole of water that circled just before the city walls.

"Halt !" a guard came to the brothers. "Can I see your Glyph ?"

The pair was stumped by the question since they'd never even heard of the Glyph.

"What exactly is a Glyph ?" Jakob asked hesitantly.

The guard seemingly used to the question pointed to a cabin and told them to enter. They followed the direction and entered a stone extension in the stone wall.

What greeted them was a plump man sitting on a chair, reading some kind of ancient-looking book, and an odd but sweet smell. The man's clothes were really eccentric by their standards. He was wearing a salmon-pink cloak and a purplish doublet with some brown pants. Strangely enough, though, these seemed to fit him very well. The man noticed them.

"Oh, two newbies. You guys came from outside the Tower, right ?" he said to them in a excited voice, while laying his book down.

"Yes ?" Jakob replied.

"Ah, you are probably confused as to how I knew you just arrived in the Tower. It's pretty simple really, I can see that you guys don't have any Aura, which you'd develop upon understanding the basics of the Power", the plump man told them.

Upon hearing this, they realized that everybody on the road could clearly see they were new to the Tower, it must have been luck that kept them from getting robbed of their few belongings !

"But, how come the guard at the entrance didn't realize that and asked us for "Glyphs" ? ", Ben, the more careful of the two asked.

"Ah, quite attentive, a good quality to have here. Well, let's just say it requires a certain something to see that, and not everybody might have this special thing."

The brothers were relieved, they didn't want to flaunt to everybody how lost they were upon entering ! In truth, even if the passer-by knew that they were newbies, they probably wouldn't even have deigned to try and steal them. Here the laws for thievery were very strict, and, even for the most daring, the two brothers reeked of poorness ! It wouldn't have been worth it.

"So, since you are new to this world, you are entitled to get an introductory class at the Kingdom's Academy. To find it, just follow the signs after you've passed through this door", he pointed behind him. "Good luck !" he excitedly sat back down and picked up the book he was reading.

The two brothers, a bit shocked by how quickly the explanations finished, decided to just go with what he said and walked to the door.