SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

Chapter 6: Kingford City

Edgar looks fascinated as he looks at the scene from the top of the castle.

The city has a five-kilometer circumference. It is surrounded by a fifty-meter-tall circular wall. It has six circular corners. On top of each corner is a huge lion-head sculpture. Also at the top, in the middle of each corner, is a white tower with magic runes. They are defense towers for magic shields. Between each circular corner is a huge silver gate with magic runes. They are the six gates of the city. Many people and carriages are currently moving in and out of the huge gates.

A court magician casts magic, then a wind tornado lifts him up to the top of the wall. He briefly talked with a soldier guarding the wall. The soldier nodded, then moved to the edge and jumped down. He cast magic, and then a huge blob of water appeared on his feet. He flies down toward the ground.

The soldier is near the ground when a tall brown horse suddenly became a runaway. It was startled by a broken pot, and its feet were accidentally injured. There is chaos on the street.

The soldier noticed the chaos. He jumped on top of a carriage, then jumped toward another. nove(l)bi(n.)com

"Ah! Move away!" Shouted a man riding a horse. He is going to clash with the soldier.

The soldier pulled up his feet close to his body, then he rotated his body in midair. His head faces the ground, then he stretched his arms down. He put his hands on the head of the man riding the horse, then pushed himself forward.

His feet landed on the back of the runaway horse, his right hand holds the reins, and then he stretched his left hand, which has a magic circle. A water whip came out of the magic circle. It curved to the front and holds a child that is going to be hit by running panic adults. The soldier pulled both his arms. The horse lifts its hooves in the air, and the child, tied by a water whip, flew to the soldier's arms, who is sitting on the horse back.

The crowd—humans and demihumans—claps their hands.

The city's name is Kingford, the capital of the Baynard Kingdom.

The castle of the royal family is surrounded by a miniature version of the city wall, but with only one gate. It has one big courtyard and beautiful garden on both sides.

South of the castle, there is another circular wall ten meters high with one gate. It is the training ground for royal guards and the army. It is also the camp of the army in the city.

North of the castle is the business district. It is where the market and most businesses are located. At the center of the business district is an open plaza with a big pool of blue water. A young boy and his friends approached the pool. He stretched his hand and cast magic. A big blob of water rises from the pool. His friends clapped their hands, especially the young girls. He touches his nose, as if he is saying that it is nothing. A guard patrolling the plaza shouted at the children. The water in the pool is for drinking. It cannot be played at will. The children are startled. The blob of water fell to the pool, then they ran away with flustered faces as the guard moves toward them. The people laugh at the mischievous children.

There are many people in the plaza. There are even demihumans. A woman with cat ears wearing armor is accompanying her teammates, who are also wearing armor. They are mercenaries. A middle-aged man with rabbit ears is shaking the hand of a business owner after they reached an agreement.

The business district is quite close to the north gate. There is also a business district in the south, but its scale is much smaller than in the north because there are a lot more business traders from the north, where the kingdoms and empires are located.

The whole road in the city is made up of stone. With the magic and strength of aura masters, the time and effort to do this project are probably not too difficult, even without the help of modern equipment used for construction.

There is a straight water canal with a stone wall in the west of the city. The straight water canal stretches from south to north. The water is blue. There are arched stone bridges over the canal. On the right side of the canal are breeding grounds for messenger birds, medicinal plants, foods, and other materials needed by the royal family and the city. There is also a huge silver cage for a flame lion that has red skin and orange hair.

There are small boats moving on the canal. A young man who looks like a noble has two beautiful ladies on both sides while sitting on the boat. His hands are behind their waist, then he stretched his palms toward the canal. Blue magic circles flashed, then two water ribbons rose from the canal and moved around them. The ladies clap their hands.

The water ribbons move to the young man's palms. The water ribbons become smaller as they move to the palms. The water ribbons looked like a rotating sphere, then white magic circles flashed. The sphere became a beautiful ice flower with leaves. The beautiful ladies are astonished, then blush and kissed the young noble on both cheeks. The young man laughs. The boatman at the front of the boat shakes his head. He seems to know that it isn't the first time the young man has done that trick.

The source of the water canal is a huge river three kilometers south of the city. Below the circular wall of the city, there are silver bars with magic runes that allow the entry and exit of the water canal in the city.

The canal stretches from south to north outside of the city. There are smaller canals that branch from the main canal, providing adequate water to farmlands.

There is wide farmland outside of the city. They look like vibrant green grass as Edgar looks at them. There are various villages and towns near the farmlands. The land is not pure plain. There are small mounds and small mountains with huge trees.

There is a huge flower thirty meters tall on top of a small mountain. It looks like a pink lotus. Its leaves are huge, and its vines stretch down the mountain. The huge leaves have faint, shimmering green lights. They are absorbing life energy in the air and transporting some of it to the ground, making the small mountain and its surroundings have lush green grass. The small mountain is surrounded by stony mounds with green grass, as if they are protecting the magnificent flower. The roots of the lotus flower reach the river.

There is a tall mountain silhouette that Edgar can see in the north. The mountain is five kilometers tall. He can see a huge castle on top of the mountain. The castle is a fifty-meter-tall simple cylindrical castle with a viewing platform on its top. On the viewing platform, there is a sculpture of the Founder King of Baynard. From the viewing platform, the whole capital and a huge part of Baynard Kingdom can be seen.The castle is called Overseer Castle.

"A world nurtured by mana is really fascinating," thought Edgar as he looked at the huge pink lotus on top of a mountain.

He looks at the long river south of the kingdom.

The north of Baynard has no lack of water, but the south has problems with water. There is another huge river in the north aside from the river in the capital, but they all end up to the east, to the Fran Kingdom, and then they flow to the sea. The branch of the river that flows to the south of the kingdom will become a lake, swamp, and marsh. The river cannot go out to the sea in the south because it is blocked by mountain ranges. Edgar doesn't know if it's good or bad that the kingdom will not be devastated by storms or typhoons that come from the southeast because they are blocked by mountain ranges. There won't be too much rainfall, but there won't be too much water, which is now lacking in the south.

"I should train magicians dedicated to agricultural production. The river cannot be taken full advantage of because there is a lack of water network in the south. Many magicians refuse to work doing such menial jobs. I don't believe that I cannot make them willingly do their job with a high salary and benefits," thought Edgar as he looked to the south.

He looks at the training grounds of the royal guards and army. He saw the royal guards practicing aura. They are moving in particular rhythym. Threads of red aura surround their body. Some are sparring. A royal guard is clad in aura, but the aura in his arms is like tiger arms. He is surrounded by royal guards, and he is attacked by them, but they are being blown away by his attack.

Edgar feels excited as he watches the scene. He, too, will be capable of using aura soon. He walks to the stairs and moves to the training ground with excitement.