NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1733
The ship lowered in altitude as it got closer to the docks. It eventually slowed to a crawl. They didn't need to swoop down in landing like a typical airport. They seemed to like avoiding landing at all. Most of the airships remained in the air, exchanging goods and crew with platforms similar to the one used to help us board in Dioshin. However, there were also several tall buildings with doors leading out to platforms just high enough that a ship could park right next to them, making the deck and platform nearly level. In those cases, someone could just step off the platform just like in an airport.
Our airship ended up getting one of these platformed exits. As we pulled up to it and they tied off the ropes and even put out a wooden bridge for us to cross, I could see a woman standing on the platform. She wore glasses and had a clipboard in her hand, and she was looking straight at us. She appeared to be a young woman with aquamarine hair. I immediately thought she might be a fae, but that was when I noticed she had gills on her neck.
"This world even has merkin?" I asked.
"Oi… she's a piscine. Don't associate them with the animalkin. They get moody about that." The captain warned me.
I nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. I wished I had brought Eliana or Elaya with me. They were usually the ones who could fill me in on my lack of knowledge. No matter how much lore I absorbed, there was a distinct difference between knowing some things in-depth, and having a broad worldview. I had only been in this world for a year, and I had very little time to just sit back and study, or even sit back and learn from the lore I absorbed.
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I had learned all too clearly in the Champion's Gauntlet that there was a major difference in how lore was received. Having access to the lore and making that lore part of yourself were two very different things, and the second part wasn't something that could just be forced. Forcing it caused you to lose your sense of self, and you'd become nothing more than a dungeon master controlled by a dungeon. Only time could rectify that, time to sit back and sort through the lore, and time to process everything that you knew.
One day, when all of these dangers were gone, I would sit back and sort through it all. It wasn't something that could be done in months or even years. It could take decades before I was one with the lore. This was one of the reasons I decided not to combine with the human lore. I had ultimately left it in my dungeon, sitting safely in the miasmic lake. As for my dungeon's core, my daughter had become the core, which was why she couldn't leave her dungeon whenever she wanted.
I shook off those thoughts and followed Pait and his group as they crossed over the bridge. The girls followed behind me, although a few lionesses had already jumped to the platform to keep a protective circle around me at all times. As we approached the piscine girl, she gave a small nod.
"Welcome, people of the east to the great nation of Jespain. My name is Marina. I will be your guide while you're here. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask."