ALL NOVEL Chapter 272: Blackburrow City
"Hoh? So this is Blackburrow City huh?" Shye mused, observing the city from atop a nearby cliff with interest.
After turning the Winged Boarger quest in, Shye decided to have a good night's sleep inside Balkrow City before leaving for Blackburrow City three days earlier than planned.
Hence, he didn't go straight towards his destination, opting to hunt for three days solo inside an advanced adventurer zone near Blackburrow City to grind for system points through various regular and daily quests.
It would be pointless and inefficient for him to enter the city a few days earlier so he might as well complete system quests during his downtime.
As a result, his system points were now back to around 35,000.
Still, it was a far cry from his goal of saving up 250,000 points to purchase an epic-tier talent.
Walking closer, Shye stared at the city in awe, now understanding why it was called Blackburrow City.
The city was founded within an enormous basin, encircled by three expansive plateaus stretching from the north, east, and west, with their reach extending to encompass even the southern direction.
Due to this unique landform as a base, the city was protected by natural barriers, however, it only had a single entrance and exit located in its southern part.
Established on the plateaus were tall black tungsten walls, manned by a rotation of fairly high-ranked adventurers with strength ranging from emerald to mithril.
The city looked like a rabbit's burrow, only, unlike an actual burrow, you can see the city in its entirety from above.
Eager to enter, Shye walked around the top of the cliff and swiftly headed towards the city's entrance.
It was a good decision that he did so because, unlike most cities, there were "frontier cities" like Blackburrow where there are a few expert adventurer zones around—some even having death zones which were territories of (S-) and (S) ranked creatures.
It was impossible to contain such creatures, hence, no guards were assigned to the entrances of such zones.
On the other hand, expert adventurer zones are a bit more manageable, hence, there were a few highly skilled guards stationed at the entrances of the said zones, however, these guards were only tasked to inform the nearby cities if a creature decided to hunt outside the zones.
If they could contain the creatures, then they would, however, if the creature's strength is out of their league, then they could opt to prioritize their own safety.
Nevertheless, they must inform the authorities of neighboring cities about the presence of any roaming creature, enabling the city to assemble a suitable adventurer party to either hunt down the creature or at least drive it back to its habitat.
Shye was a bit ill-informed regarding such things as frontier cities though, and that's the reason why he had the crazy courage to loiter outside the city, chilling atop a cliff while chewing on some gummy candy.
Fortunately, he decided to end his subtle joyous whimsy, otherwise, his life might be in actual danger as there were currently around seven creatures ranging from the (A) rank to the (S) rank lurking around the city's periphery.
"Are you an adventurer? If so, please hand your adventurer license and guild badge over." One of the city guards said, prompting Shye to retrieve the said items and hand them over for inspection.
While the guard checked his credentials, Shye looked around with a puzzled expression on his face.
'Wouldn't the auction start tomorrow? Why am I the only one here?' Shye mused, a bit disappointed at the lack of bustle at the city gates.
"Uhm, excuse me, I've heard that the White Clover auction will start tomorrow, was it canceled? There seems to be quite a low volume of people at the gates."
"Hmm? Oh, yes, the auction will indeed happen tomorrow, you may purchase a pass in front of the White Clover Auction House if you want to attend. As for the low volume of people at the gates, it has always been this way. Blackburrow is a frontier city after all. I'd say you're actually the odd one out, opting to enter through the gate when there are reportedly seven high-ranked creatures on the loose.
Most of the other attendees used teleporters from other cities to enter Blackburrow."
Hearing the guard's words, Shye broke out in a cold sweat, thanking his lucky stars for not encountering one on the way to the city.
Heck, he even hummed a jolly tune and relaxed atop a cliff before entering!
'S-Seven high-ranked creatures on the loose? What the heck is a frontier city anyway?' He inwardly thought, retrieving his adventurer license and guild badge from the guard and thanking him for the explanation before entering the city.
The guard was indeed correct.
Upon entering, Shye was met with the city's hustle and bustle.
Adventurers and mundane folks littered the wide streets, walking to and fro from one place to another as they went about with their businesses for the day.
Skyscrapers of different themes partially block out the sun's golden rays, creating a contrasting yet serene scene of sunlight and shadows and generating a few resting havens for those who want to momentarily hide from the scorching sun.
Traversing the busy streets with enthusiasm, Shye noticed that most of the people were headed in a single direction.
With his now high intelligence attribute, it was impossible for things to not click inside his head.
He knew that these people were out to buy auction passes, hence, after following the majority for a while, he arrived in front of a majestic building built from pristine white smooth marble—elegant is an understatement.
The logo of a white clover in the center of the building was especially eye-catching.
In front of the building were multiple wide tables manned by various professionally dressed staff and behind them was a huge signboard that said "White Clover Auction Passes".
Smiling after successfully finding the auction house easily, Shye walked closer.
'Haaah…I hope what I have is enough to purchase a few good items…'