It didn't take long for Lux and Gaap to reach Rishi City.
They didn't enter the town right away, observing it from a safe distance. As foreigners who came from a different land, they first wanted to know if the inhabitants of the city were very different from them.
Contrary to their expectations, Rishi City looked like every other city in the surface world. What surprised Lux the most was the variety of races that were inside the city.
There were Humans, Dark Elves, Beastkins, Gnomes, and even Dwarves.
Even their clothing wasn't too different from what they wear on an everyday basis. From every angle, Lux and Gaap both agreed that they were no different from them.
If there was one thing that concerned Gaap the most, it was the language.
The Agarthans used a different language with a unique system, which he hadn't heard in the past.
However, what surprised him was that Lux was able to understand what they were talking about.
This made him wonder if all Solaians like Lux were given the ability to understand all the languages in Elysium, making him feel a little envious of this useful ability.
"Master, I think I have a way to let you understand their language," Lux said with a smile. "Eiko, allow one of your clones to accompany Master."
"Un!" Eiko nodded and summoned one of her clones, which automatically appeared on Gaap's head, making the baby slime giggle.
"Master, Eiko has a special ability that allows her to communicate with any sentient being," Lux explained. "It doesn't matter what kind of language it is. As long as there is a means to communicate, she would be able to understand them."
Eiko's clone then shared its senses with Gaap, which would automatically translate things for him, similar to subtitles when watching a show in a different language.
If Gaap wanted to communicate with someone else, the baby slime would translate his words for him, allowing him to talk to the locals in Agartha.
When the two of them were ready, they entered the Gate of the City.
However, when they were only a hundred meters away from the Gate, those who were already in line looked in their direction and began shouting.
"Highlanders!"
"Highlanders!"
"Highlanders!"
Within half a minute, Lux and Gaap were surrounded by dozens of people wearing light-armor, with their weapons drawn.
The Half-Elf and the Halfling recognized them as the Guards of the City. What surprised the two of them was how the Agarthans were able to tell that they were Foreigners from the get-go.
"It will be best if the two of you don't do anything funny," One of the Guards that was wearing red armor stated. "As long as you cooperate, I will guarantee your safety. Don't worry, we will just ask you some questions. As long as you didn't come to our domain with ill intentions, we will deport you back to the Surface World with your memory intact."
Lux and Gaap glanced at each other before raising their hands in surrender.
They were not aware of the customs of the land, so for the time being, they decided to cooperate and understand how Highlanders like them were treated in Agartha.
Seeing that the two of them didn't plan to resist, the Guard Captain ordered that both of them be chained and brought inside the city under heavy security.
Along the way, the people of Rishi City all looked at them with wonder, as if they were looking at some exotic animal that they were seeing for the first time.
More guards appeared in order to make sure that the onlookers wouldn't do anything funny to their captives, who were looking at everything around them like country bumpkins.
'Master, the Ranks of the people here are quite high compared to the Surface World,' Lux talked to Gaap via their Guild Chat, which couldn't be detected by any kind of magic. 'Even the baby that the woman holding over there is a Grade-D Apostle.'
'True,' Gaap commented. 'Except for the children who are all Apostles, the teenagers and adults are either Initiates or Rankers. I can tell that the majority of the people here are non-combatants, but if they were to take up arms, their Ranks alone can fight off against a Beast Tide.'
Half an hour later, Lux and Gaap were taken to what seemed to be a barracks. Just like the Guards that had surrounded them earlier, everyone around them was Rankers, which greatly impressed Lux and Gaap.
'If there are so many combat-ready personnel in this city, I'm very sure that they must have a Saint somewhere,' Gaap stated. 'This would make this place an S-Ranked City due to its high combat power. The only places I know that have the same standards are Karshvar Draconis, the Crystal Palace, and Espoire Frieden.'
Lux nodded in agreement. When he was still in the Outer Reaches, all the Guards of the City of Pygmalion were all Rankers.
Dragons and Dragon Borns in general were already born powerful, so it wouldn't be fair to compare ordinary people to them.
The same could be said for High-Elves, who had very pure magical powers flowing through their bloodlines.
"Both of you stay in this room for the time being," the Guard Captain said. "I have already sent one of my men to the Mayor. He will be the one to decide what to do with the two of you."
After saying those words, the Guard Captain left, leaving Lux, and Gaap inside the room. Although they weren't thrown into prison, the magical chains that bound their arms were still in place.
'Lux, do you feel it?' Gaap asked after the Guard Captain had left.
'Yes, Master,' Lux replied. 'From the moment we got chained, I already sensed two beings paying close attention to us. I believe that if we made any suspicious moves, they would not hesitate to use force to restrain us again.'
After being around Saints, Lux could tell that the two beings that were observing him were definitely of that Rank.
He never expected that in the first city that they had decided to go to, they would already be captured by the natives and monitored by two Saints.
Lux was very tempted to say that "things couldn't get any worse than this, right?" but he refrained from doing so.
He knew that the moment he said those words, he'd plant a flag and things would definitely get worse, which would make his first time visiting Agartha a very memorable experience that he would remember for the rest of his life.
