Tales of the Pearly City (Pearly Tales Vol.1) [Completed]

6. Exploring the City

                [Greater shadow step] [Agility boost] [Greater Agility boost]

With his body obscured and light as a feather it took little effort to hop onto one of the two story buildings in a single leap. Man this was cool. He hopped from building to building and took in the sight of his creation's growth.

He had infused the buildings with Earth elementals so that they could be persuaded to grow or change based on the occupants needs. It also made them more natural as they integrated with the surrounding trees which the dryad's lived with. The earth elementals and dryads had a very uncle and niece relationship since the earth elementals had a more infinite life span compared to the dryads. They also took the form of hooded warrior wraiths cloaked in a cloud of translucent dust wielding swords and shields of refined ore when the time came to defend themselves.

It was a customization that Calloway took great pride in since they made up the bulk of the defense when it came to repelling intruders. But the biggest perk was that when the city needed to grow, it was a little thing for the Earth Elementals and Dryads to multiply to create more homes. With such a harmonious relationship between the city itself and the forest the was no wonder why the city had grown so much in the last couple of centuries.

Long polls lined the streets like the oil lamps from 18th century London. Those were home to the second most numerous occupying elemental class in the city the fire elementals. Dubbed the phoenix class by Calloway they took the form of many different colored fire birds as they lit up the night. They also had a humanoid form that looked like a young woman with flaming wings that sprouted out of her back. These Elementals were capable of defending the city with a plethora of powerful fire-based spell attacks. They worked in tandem with the foxes whose sly nature made them more of cute mascots who welcomed the travelers and acted as good luck charms, but nobody knew how many there were.

The third caste of Elementals build into the city were the water elementals, the nymphs, who worked with the slimes. The slimes took the forms of beautiful women in long flowing dresses. The dresses were part of the slime girls and would break up litter and dust. Anything that couldn't be broken up to fertilize the forest floor was consumed by the slime girls as they made regular rounds throughout the city. The nymphs supported the cities water by keeping wells and tended the small streams that networked through the city itself. The nymphs were charming ladies and good friends with the Dryads often small groves of flowers sprouted where the two came together in harmony.

Last but not least were the Air elementals, the class dubbed the Valkyries. They were less numerous than the combined number of nymphs and slimes but their combat prowess was greater than any of the other elementals. The Valkyries stood guard on the city walls with their garrisons of spirit warriors dubbed the Einherjar. The Einherjar slept within the outer walls of the city as its first line of defense against invaders. They were the spirit familiars of the elementals that took the shape of Viking berserkers. The Valkyries despite their garrisons of frightful warriors were the embodiment of femininity with angel wings and battle dresses that extended no farther than their knees. However, despite their summoner nature and soft features the Valkyries rivaled the Earth wraiths in brutal strength and the Phoenix's fierceness.

Calloway's city grew well, a bit too well. The borders of the outer wall stretched far beyond the lines of the original fortress. The number of Elementals defied his ability to count and that wasn't even counting the druids and their numerous summoned, tamed, and befriended companions. Nor did include the spike of both Elven and demi-human populations. It became apparent that his city had become a bustling metropolis that extended far beyond his estimations. Did he create a new age of Elves?

When the shock of his city hit him he sat on a five story building sporting a foundational tree sprouted through the middle, five Earth Elementals, two water elementals, four fire elementals, six dryads, one slime, one air elemental, three elf couples, three demi-human families, one druid, and seven war hawks. How did he know all of this? For whatever reason when he touched the building he was instantly gifted with its information as if a query window opened in his mind.

"This is too much." Calloway said to himself.

"Hey! Stop! Somebody stop her!"

Calloway peered over the edge of the building to see what the guard was yelling about, it seems that at least the city guard weren't obsolete.

A flash of pink and orange hair caught Calloway's eye and noted the culprit.

Finally, some drama. Calloway thought as he watched the scene. The pink and orange hair belonged to a young elf maiden, her long colorful hair bobbed as she ran through the street and then the chase got interesting as she fled to the roof tops.

"Ooh, she's good. I got to see this." Calloway decided that it was time to engage in the chase as well.