[NR] Chapter 245 - Fancy Neighborhood (Patreon)

Jason stretches back and yawns, “Well, so how are we going to do this? I assume you need to go and talk the change over with someone. What now?”

Gregor shrugs, “You get to walk around the city and sightsee? Rosha and Courtney will train, and Peter gets to do some of that training. I will also set Courtney to do some practices while I talk to people about our deal. By dinner I should be able to give you an answer.”

At this point, Rosha walks out of her room and looks around. “Did I miss something?”

Peter squeezes his eyes shut and sighs. “Just about everything.”

Jason shakes his head, “Welp, I’m going to start my sightseeing.”

He gets up and looks around, “So uh, where’s the exit?”

Gregor laughs and points towards the kitchen, “Through the kitchen and down the hall. It is the door in the back on the left.”

Jason waves goodbye and heads out of the house. Once he is out of the house, he looks to the left and then right. ‘Huh, I guess I should have asked where some of the sights to see are in the first place. At least I have a decent sense of direction, so I should be able to make my way back. That and I can probably ask almost anyone where Gregor lives and get pointed back here. The Grey-tails should be well known, even in a city like this. Guess I need to pick a direction and go.’

And he does just that. Off to the left is the massive bamboo, so he goes in the opposite direction. As he walks down the street, Jason can tell this is the fancy part of town. Off in the distance he can see the more classic scene of tightly packed houses, but over here the houses are big and well spaced. The Grey-tail household has a bunch of decent sized herb gardens spaced out around the house, but the rest of the houses have much less utilitarian lawns.

One has rare flowers, some of which are so special they require a unique environment. Even fancier about it is that instead of isolating them with greenhouses or what have you, they each are in their own enchantment. One flower has a foot of snow at the base of the plant, and a pace away is a flower growing out of a piece of obsidian with a small pool of lava beneath it.

Another house has so many sculptures. Each of them is made of a different material, all of them rare. All of them except for a few select pieces. Despite being made from common stone or metal, these pieces clearly transcends normal art.

Of course, not all of them are so specialized. In fact, most of them just look like the yard of a rich person. There aren’t any big differences that he could point out that tell him this. Rather, it is the small things that when added together give this impression. Every little detail is taken care of in a way that either requires obsessive gardeners or daily upkeep via many spells.

Honestly, with skill involved it could be either or even a clever mix. Seeing all this art in fact makes Jason wish he had picked up a side skill like sculpting, painting, or an instrument. He had been so rushed just to stay in place that there wasn’t a chance. When life is measured in hundreds of years, even the most single-minded person will pick up side skills.

Find a heavenly herb, but have no one to refine it for you? Get trapped in a profound array alone? Many things can happen to you, and so a broad knowledge base will only help. Still, he can use NeoRealm to push himself harder. With the five to one time dilation even a normal person’s lifespan will be extended to seem as if they lived for hundreds of years.

As he thinks about this, the area around him changes. In place of fancy houses there are large shops. Not busy places of business, though. They all use an excessive amount of glass to display large rooms filled with all kinds of luxury goods. No one shop has over ten people in it.

Not that the shops need or even want a large number of shoppers. Each item on display is worth over ten times what Jason has. And that is just for the cheaper goods. Still, this display of wealth doesn’t last long, and soon these ritzy shops give way to regular high-end stores.

The street traffic picks up but it isn’t until he finds himself surrounded by normal shops does the city feel alive. Jason looks into a few shops but can only shake his head. There isn’t much he needs at the moment, and there isn’t even Lily to keep him company. He had left her back in the Grey-tail house so no troubles would pop up. While familiers and pets are common enough, Jason felt it better to be safe than sorry. After all, if something happens, and he dies, he just respawns. If Lily dies, there are all sorts of hoops to jump through to bring her back.

Still, after ruminating over his lack of things to do for a while longer, Jason reaches the inner wall. All around him are normal houses, if packed a little tight. Through the nearby gate he can see the next area and the wall beyond it. He isn’t sure, but this city probably only has the two walls, inner and outer. At least this is his best guess going by the housing that he sees in the next area.

If the center area was planned out and well designed, the next area is more chaotic. It isn’t a slum, all the houses are respectable and the shops are decent. They are mixed together and all the styles are mashed up. Even the craziest display of wealth around Gregor’s house still fit within the area’s style.

Through the gate just in front of him, Jason can see building styles that must come from all the kingdoms within a large radius. Not even houses themselves stick to a single style. Some places will have the bottom floor differ from the top. Others have that crazy grown over the years look that happens when a family keeps adding on to a place with time.