Inventors system

Chapter 101: The Great Bridge

Aethiopia was the largest city in Union, Zoa. Since it wasn't just a city but a kingdom that managed to stand hand in hand with the other three kingdoms in the Union. It covers the best coastline of Zoa and is a very rich land. It's also the direct and mainline for merchants and transportations between Azurel and Zoa, Union's main business partner.

In order to go to Aegis kingdom from Aethiopia, one needs to first go to Karadan, another kingdom in the Union, and then go to Navaren using the great bridge. The city where the great bridge was, was called Magna. A mid-sized city in karaden about a 1-week journey from Aethiopia.

The group rented 4 namets, a blue kenguru type beast with wings. It was very common transportation used in the Union. You could hire namets in one city and return them in another. This transportation system was fully controlled by the council of 12.

Morana and the group arrived at Magna without any problems on the way and rented the room at the best hotel in the city. Just like Newgate and Aethiopia Magna was also full of life and young blood. 

It was filled with merchants, adventurers, and many different people from different backgrounds. Morana even spotted people from three academies and four sects.

Their proud and arrogant demeanor was very hard to miss.

She even found a few familiar faces within the mass. 

The great bridge was a natural path of earth made between Zoa and Navaren. It was 5000km in length and 60m in width. Judging by Morana's and the group's pace they had to move for 5 full days without stopping to cross the bridge and they would have to do it on foot as the countries don't allow any kind of transportation on the bridge, unless it's your own contracted beast.

While Morana could cross the bridge on Orion, but she wasn't alone and wasn't planning on letting others sit on her contracted beast, unless it was a life and death emergency.

The great bridge was one of the deadliest places in the lower realm. As soon as you step on it you no longer have any protection and are exposed to deadly creatures from all sides, sea, land, or sky.

The group harmoniously started their journey like they have done many times during the past couple of years and even though they had a new addition now, it didn't disrupt the group dynamic.

The first day of the journey was quite peaceful. There were no large attacks or dangerous situations. Occasionally, a few brave beasts would appear in front of them only to be disposed of in seconds.

But, the beasts weren't the only dangerous things on the bridge. 

This place was well known for being peculiar from mutated beasts to sudden and unexplained weather changes and unexplainable occurrences.

Even the time-flow was messed up a couple of times, with travelers finding themselves spending months crossing the bridge for only a couple of days to pass in the outside world.

A few hours after starting to cross the bridge, the sun started setting, even though it was still supposedly the middle of the day.

"Let's rest for a while." Said Morana and the group started setting up the camp.

Despite how carefree they looked, none of them let their guards down, on the contrary, they were even more vigilant.

Hours passed and they continued taking turns keeping watch, but after more than 12 hours there was no sight of the sun.

"Seems like we can't depend on sunlight." Said Ioannes.

"What now?" Asked Luka.

"We need to keep moving." Said Morana. 

She didn't need to give more words of caution as they were perfectly apparent.

Like this, the group continued advancing, and even after a full 24 hours, day never came. Morana completely gave up on seeing the sunlight for the next couple of days, but what did bother her was how the outside world's time-flow was compared to theirs.

She couldn't rule out the possibility of some weird time-flow, but for now, she chose to concentrate on the things she could control more or less.

After walking for one more day(night) the group finally came by the sign that marked a third of the bridge.

The great bridge had two facilities that were very well protected. They both marked a third of the bridge. Each facility offered a place for travelers to stop, rest and get some food or drink. It wasn't a hotel or a guest house and you couldn't rent a room there, but you could get some rest and exchange information with other people.

Morana and others didn't waste any more time and walked inside the facility. The inside looked like an adventurers guild and pub. It was loud and full of drunk people dressed in weird outfits. 

The group didn't gather much attention despite their unusual appearance, after all, contrary to the outside, they fit right in with the people here.

The waiter brought them to their table and they also quickly ordered some food and drinks. While Morana and others continued waiting for their order, Luka left the group for some time and got back right on time for the food to be brought over.

"How was it?" Asked Morana.

"There isn't much news regarding the night situation, but there are some suspicions that the time-flow is messed up again."

"Hmm. I suspected as much, but it might not be a bad thing," said Morana.

"How so?" Asked Ioannes.

"The night came faster than it should have, by logic it means that time passes faster here than outside, but since night fell, it hasn't changed, meaning the time-flow has slowed down outside, much more compared to here." Explained Luka instead.

"I see."Updated from nov𝒆lbIn.(c)om

"That's correct, but we still need to hurry. It might be slowed down now but it's not guaranteed to stay that way. It might change back anytime." Said Morana.

Others also agreed and started eating at a faster pace. In two hours the group was done eating, resting, and gathering all the information they could gather and were ready to continue their journey.