While they wanted to find a good shop, Ning and Emma did nothing but walk around the city with barely any destination in mind.
If they found a shop in the process, that would be good. If they didn't, they would continue walking until they did without actively searching for it.
Going around the city in such a way quickly let them know about the situation of the city and what they needed to know about it.
The Trobble city allowed humans and beasts to roam the city as they wished. There were very few vehicles in the city and most of it was pulled by the beasts as well.
There were people that liked riding their beasts as well, but it wasn't as common.
There was an extreme rule on how strong one beast could be and at what point they had to leave the city as soon as possible.
As soon as a beast crossed the threshold of the Essence Manifestation realm and entered the next realm, they had to leave the city as soon as possible.
The general public would be in a lot of danger if such a beast were to ever go astray. Since there weren't many people in the Low Essence Soul realm, they were forced to not take the risk in the first place.
Anyone known to be purposefully violating this rule would be publicly executed.
Ning and Emma were surprised when they saw this rule painted on the side of many houses around the streets, ones that were the busiest.
"It's not a very well-managed city, is it?" Emma asked. "There is no planning at all."
"It is possible that the town existed and was prosperous before it was ever a city, so when it did become one, they were forced to keep the road the same way," Ning said. "I agree though. They should have planned it way better."
Emma nodded as well.
Umbra had no input at all, and she was focused on letting Lyra rest, who had grown tired sometimes in the past.
Lory on the other hand was excitedly taking in the new location. For the first time in his life, he had seen more humans than 2 and he was more than excited.
After walking for more than an hour, Ning noticed a fancy building with a large sign that said that they sold anything and everything in there.
Interested, he showed Emma the building as well, and together they went up to it.
"No beast allowed inside," the young man that stood as security guard for the building said.
"No beast?" Ning asked. "Not even this little guy?"
"None," the young man said.
"What am I supposed to do with her then?" Ning asked, pointing to Umbra.
"Is this your first time in the city of what?" the young man asked. "Leave them in the beast repository. You can take them after you are done."
"Beast repository?" Ning thought for a moment. He had seen one before coming here. "Thanks."
He left the area and made his way to the Beast repository. "I'm afraid you will have to stay here," Ning said. "At least until I am done with my business back in that building.
"It's alright," Umbra said. "Go, I don't want to burden you."
Ning nodded. "Thank you," he said and brought Umbra and the kids inside the repository.
The Repository was bright and full of separate sections that were each designed to hold a bast. It wasn't like a prison or anything. If anything, Ning thought it looked similar to the car parking he remembered from so many years ago.
There were many different types of beasts, all ranging from Physical Improvement to the Essence Manifestation realm.
There were various human figures that stood outside the sections to look after the beasts that were kept there.
He quickly analyzed the humans and saw that each and every one of them were in the Essence Manifestation relam, with one being in the Low Essence real.
Ning looked around at the varous other humans and none came close to strength as the single man in the Low Essence realm.
Emma pointed to an empty section and Ning brought Umbra and the kids there.
"Hey, brother," he spoke up. "My apologies but this is my first time using the repository. Would you mind telling me what I'm supposed to do and how much it will cost me?"
The man ignored Ning and Emma for a second and leaned to the left to see Umbra and the cubs.
"3 beasts in total?" he ased just to confirm.
"Yes," Ning said.
"Since the cubs are in the 4 Sense Improvement realm and the large beast is in the Essence sense realm, it will cost minimum 5 Water coins, with 5 water coins every subsequent hours."
"5 Water coins, huh?" Ning thought. It had been so long since he last used coins that he had nearly forgotten they existed even.
He had gone from the Paradise hunters to the blackhawk Academy in a matter of no time at all, and once in the Blackhawk Academy, they didn't use coins as all.
So, even when he thought he was going to be making coins once he hit the Essence Manifestation realm, he couldn't get to. After that, there had been the competition, and then his death.
It had been such a long time since he got to use it again.
"Do I have to pay it now or later?" he asked.
"Your choice," the guard said. "You will have to pay it depending on how long the beasts remain in our care anyway. If they need something more than just rest, you will have to pay more."
"That's fine," Ning said. "Umbra, you guys stay here for a while. I will go with Emma and try to set something to make some money. Once I've gotten the money I'll come back."
Umbra nodded and walked into one of the sections with her two kids. Once she was settled, Ning and Emma took a chit from the guards and left.
