29 - Carin City [1]

Carin City was located northeast of the capital, where our Ivory Academy was situated.

One of the smallest cities in the country but known, in recent times, for its capacity to spawn Gates.

Fortunately, the Gates that manifest in this city are rarely above Level 0. The highest recorded being a level 2 Gate.

Because of this, many of these Gates are neutralized before they have the chance to mature, causing otherworldly horrors to spill over from the world beyond the Gates into ours.

Despite their small population, Carin City has managed, somehow, to sustain itself through the hardships that the Gate breaks presented.

The streets bustled like a typical morning of the first day of the morning.

People walked, rode in carriages or cycles and hurried on their way to their individual businesses.

Shops were up and running, each one busy with its different customers seeking specific kinds of service.

I was intrigued.

The view was better in person than how it was in the book, where it was merely glossed over like it was an unimportant setting in the original story

Having the best seat in the carriage, peering through the window, absorbing the view and feeling my eyes with its beauty.

"The city is beautiful," Wendy said, looming over to steal some of the view I was enjoying.

"Indeed it is," Cecilia added and nodded her head.

We all seemed to be captivated by the city that we had never visited. All, except... well... Team Nonchalant: Professor Kenivale, Eris and Jasper.

In Jasper’s defense, I might let it go since the dude was practically asleep for most of the journey. Otherwise, he was no different from the other two.

"I heard they make the best fruit salad in this city," Cecilia said, raising a new topic that had us more drawn to the city.

"I heard that once as well. Apparently, the fruits here are fresher than any other in the country or so they said..." Bran added from his own experience. "But that’s funny. I wouldn’t expect a place that lives constantly in the fear of a Gate break to have such good soil and agriculture."

Jeremy Rivers shrugged. "Exactly. I wonder how they settle and handle their farming."

To answer their questions and clear the air, the professor decided to step in.

"Carin has a greater awakener to people ratio compared to most cities in the country. They are probably third on that list, or fourth at worst. That means, they have enough awakened hands on deck to sort out their Gate and Monster Outbreaks."

While Professor Kenivale spoke to address Jeremy and Bran’s concerns, Wendy didn’t care to pay a heed.

Instead, she was all over me. Hands around my neck, hand clasped to mine, head on my shoulders and all the lovey dovey things one could think about.

A single look at everyone else in the carriage, I could see the glaring irritation in their eyes, especially Eris and the professor.

I didn’t really care. That was Wendy’s character and they knew it as much as I did that trying to get her to stop will only make matters worse.

Shortly afterwards, the vehicle came to a stop.

The driver turned and looked at us from over his shoulder. "We have arrived."

I opened the door from my side and alighted from the vehicle with Wendy following right behind me and the rest after her.

I looked around and this place resembled nothing like where a Gate should appear.

There were residential houses all around the place.

The professor and our designated driver spoke briefly before he then summoned us to where we were headed to next.

We walked past a building or two, reaching the location of the Gate.

From a distance, I could already see red tapes spread out to many places.

The tape was red with black edges and on it, in white ink, read: DO NOT ENTER.

This reminded me of crime scenes back on Earth when the police would wrap their yellow and black tapes all over with the same words written on it to stop just anybody from trespassing into such an important place.

Under normal circumstances, we wouldn’t be allowed beyond the red tapes even for a Level 0 Gate.

However, Professor Kenivale’s presence and a single word from him that we were together was all the clearance they needed.

It was simply part of their verification protocol.

Even if the academy had phoned in earlier, they still needed to verify Professor Kenivale and do their documentation in person.

That was not a problem.

Professor Kenivale looked in our direction and moved his hand, gesturing at us to come to him.

We bent underneath the red tapes and walked over to him, meticulously observing the environment.

The Gates had manifested in a residential area and this place, as expected, was eerily silent since everybody that once lived here had been evacuated to safety.

There was no hope of their return until this Gate was cleared.

"As you already know, this is a Level 0 Gate but you need to clear it in time. Is that clear?"

We nodded in understanding.

"Alright! Kids of the Ivory Academy! Gear up."

’Kids?’ My eyes twitched with profound irritation from how this stranger addressed us.

He was in charge of the Awakeners’ squad assigned to this location and the man that Professor Kenivale had done the verification with.

"Your raid begins in 20 minutes," he announced further.

That was enough time to properly gear up.

There was really nothing much for me to do except to wear the armour that we were given.

I was done before the rest.

All those years of rushing out of the house early to catch the first bus to work, when I was still on Earth, were starting to pay off.

Pfft! Tried to be the early bird that got the womb.

Unfortunately, I found myself inside a novel.

I sat quietly on a large stone with my sword resting against my front shoulder, lost in thought.

My body flinched slightly when a shadow stretched towards me and I raised my head.

Meeting my gaze, her hand stretched towards me with a runed, glittery whetstone in her palm.

"Ready your blade, Remington," Eris urged me firmly yet in curt words.