The group began moving again, but Kael lagged behind for a few more seconds, taking in every detail he could.
His mind tried to reconcile this hardened cityscape with the world he remembered, lush cities of glass and steel, highways in the sky.
That world had ended, and what stood before him now was not the Earth he had known once before.
A new Earth.
'Now that I think about it, I feel like I had not really accepted the reality of the situation from seeing the charred landscape, and those abominations.'
I need to think about my next steps carefully. If what they say is true, and I really am just a regular, my best bet would be to try out a secondary profession like Elara said.
I think I should be able to try my hand at crafting, I should be decent at least, surely, well, probably, maybe?'
Kael slowly got lost in his thoughts. He was just absentmindedly following around now. They descended a narrow stairway cut directly into the slope, wide enough for two to walk abreast.
There were a few people around, mostly working, building, or, more accurately, doing renovations around the upper city area.
Sometimes, some would stop to greet the group of ascenders, but Kael never noticed how most gave him weird looks, most likely because of the way he was dressed.
What he did notice, though, was how most of the workers utilised some sort of ability in whatever work they were doing.
These ranged from lifting heavy metal bars with bare hands, and Kael was very surprised at some point when he saw a bunch of equipment levitating and moving from one place to the other.
It all felt so surreal to him. And even more, it made him feel out of place. It was like a reminder that kept telling him how weak and powerless he was.
He could sort of get a grasp of the presence of this foreign energy they called dream energy, but he could say for sure, in no way did he feel like he could utilise it in any way, shape, or form.
Further down, he saw another man floating up in the air while giving instructions to a group of workers.
The floating man turned to look at Draven's group, and to Kael's surprise, Draven and Co. bowed in respect as soon as he did.
Kael was caught off guard and scrambled to follow up with a bow as well. The man looked at him, gave him a light smile, and looked away to continue instructing the workers.
Draven led them away.
"Wow, this is all so foreign, I wouldn't have guessed, abilities can be used like that?"
"Well, if we are not at war with the abominations and walkers, we are renovating or rebuilding our homes. That's how it mostly goes." Quan replied.
When they had walked a bit further down the city road, Draven stopped in his tracks and looked back to address them.
"I'll report in to The Order. You guys are released from duty for now. I'll send someone to deliver your earnings from this mission." They all nodded to him and turned to walk away.
Draven turned towards a separate pathway that went up the mountain, where a conspicuous building was nestled into the mountain.
However, he stopped, and as if he had forgotten something, he said, "I almost forgot, Kael, you are with me, we have to get you registered with the Order."
"Oh, yeah... sure." Kael casually replied and began walking towards Draven.
"Can't we do this another day, Draven? he looks tired," Elara interjected.
Draven looked closer at Kael and noticed his weary appearance, "Oh, you're right, I guess we can hold this off until another day. Get him a temporary ID at the closest checkpoint at least."
"Will do," Luke replied.
And so Kael, accompanied by four ascenders, walked on. They went lower and lower down the slope, until eventually they arrived in what looked like a well-built residential area.
There were a lot of random busy people going about, or they just looked busy. Kael did not know which.
Their destination seemed to be a building halfway up the mountain's side, etched into the rock like it had grown from the stone itself.
The area around the gate had been mostly free of people. But, of course, as soon as they veered off the main pathway, there were more and more people around.
"Quan, how did your job go? Did you guys meet any titans?"
"Ahh, Lloyd, how have you been? No, we just did more of the usual. The Ash Fields have been very quiet for the past year. No raids, no hordes, nothing. And meeting a titan is instant death for us, I would rather not."
"Would you rather we have trouble knocking on our door? I'll take the peace and quiet any day, thank you very much."
"I know, but it's unsettling, how quiet it's been. It makes me imagine something else could be going on with the abominations. "
"Like the coordinated attack on Raven a century ago?"
"Exactly, remember how there were months with no abomination activity until suddenly a horde came knocking."
"Yes, we were caught off guard. And it can happen again because people grow complacent when there are no attacks. I hear you."
They bid goodbye to Lloyd after a lengthy talk, and continued to walk afterwards.
Kael soon noticed people, lots of them.
The majority were dressed in what one would expect, normal, mundane clothing. The few that were not, well, they were all dressed in what looked like military attire.
Similar to the duo of guards Kael had seen earlier. "We are almost at the checkpoint." Rhenae, who had been silent till now, spoke.
If Kael had to be honest, he had forgotten about Rhenae when they entered Raventhorne; her being so silent did not help either.
He could not help but wonder why she seemed to dislike regulars so much; surely she did not just detest his kind for no reason at all.
'There has to be some sort of story behind that one's attitude.' And he, of course, would not let her opinion bother him.
He was just curious, if anything. But one thing was for sure: he did not like her attitude one bit. So he would ignore her for now.
'I just so happen to detest people who have pre-determined prejudice against other people for no valid reasoning as well.'
Eventually, they reached the building, clearly some sort of checkpoint or administration hub.
A large screen on the wall displayed random logs, Kael would guess were population count, surveillance, and so on.
Luke led the way, pausing at a reception panel manned by another armored woman. "Team Echo-7 returning from patrol, clearance granted."
The woman scanned their wristbands over a console, then glanced at Kael. Her expression was blank, professional, but her eyes lingered just a little longer than was comfortable.
"A regular?" she asked quietly.
Kael nodded once.
Luke stepped forward and explained the situation to her.
The woman sighed.
"Alright. I'll flag him for observation and get him a temporary ID. Anything else?"
"No," Luke replied. "We'll take him in while he gets settled."
Kael opened his mouth to protest; he didn't even know what "take him in" meant, but Elara grabbed his arm gently and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
Hopefully, it didn't mean him becoming their slave boy.
"Relax. We'll get you situated. No one's gonna push you around that easily if you're with us."
The terminal beeped, and a small chip was printed from a slot on the side. Luke took it and handed it to Kael.
"Clip this to your wrist. It's your pass for now. Don't lose it."
Kael took the chip and studied it, a flat, metallic hexagon, pulsing faintly with embedded circuitry.
Metallic straps appeared on its side, Kael fastened it to his wrist awkwardly, and the straps clipped together.
The group exited the building and took a quieter path spiraling up a side route toward what seemed to be a residential area.
The militaristic feel of the city began to soften slightly. There were still patrols and scanners, but the streets here had more character.
Lights were strung between buildings. Occasionally, you could spot children playing and running around, and stalls in random places, selling everything from food to clothing.
Kael noticed how crude and plain the food and clothing were. Everywhere he looked, he could see bread and a bit of unhealthy-looking vegetables.
'It must be tough, trying to grow proper food in this environment.'
Kael looked around in awe. "So this is... normal life here?" He asked Elara, who was walking beside him.
Elara nodded."More or less. People adjusted. You'd be surprised how quickly the new 'normal' sets in after a few centuries of monsters knocking on your door."
Kael frowned. "And everyone here has... abilities?" It was still hard for him to believe, even if he could see it. "Even the children?"