They were standing in the circles at the marketplace, and Tristan followed Bertram's lead as he stepped down onto the thoroughfare. The markets were already full, and shopkeepers of all stripes were shouting out their wares as people from all Realms filtered through the permanent stalls and precise grid structure.

Their small group went over to a large covered area with rows of seats and a chalkboard up front. Tristan had noticed it before on his prior visit, but he assumed it was some type of place to make a sales pitch. But now, he saw dozens of students. All dressed in Citadel robes, each with a bag hanging from their waist, and all facing a lecturer.

A half-breed, someone who looked like a pure mix of human and Elemental Realm of Lightning Drakonid, given that his body was fully human save for being covered in scales of a bright, sky blue. He was dressed similarly to Joel, and as the Field Trip Advisor sat down and gestured to the rest to sit, the Half-Breed kept speaking.

"-Now Fulmoss grows on the underside of the rocky outcroppings on the Thundering Plains. You are going to want to look for larger stone chunks that have an overhang. Now, can anyone tell me how Fulmoss grows?"

Several hands shot up, and the instructor pointed at one student who stood and spoke with a questioning undertone – uncertain of her answer. "It is gathered like an icicle from the ambient electrical energy surging through the environment."

The instructor, who Tristan realized was named Torvald as his name was written on the chalk board in the far corner, shook his head. "So close! Almost perfect!" He tapped the depiction of the Fulmoss that was sketched out – a lumpy moss that looked almost like a pile of fish eggs. "Icicles are an apt comparison, yes, but it is not just made from the ambient magical energy. It stores lightning and electricity! That is why we cannot farm it and must collect it. Without the ambient essence, the moss will not grow. Now, who can tell me one of the uses?"

Again, several hands shot up, and Torvald pointed to a male student who stood and spoke with confidence, "Creating potions that reduce the harm that lightning can inflict. And in Elixirs can provide temporary immunity."

"Correct!" Torvald fist pumped and jumped off the slight platform, giving the student a high-five before hopping back to the stage.

This guy really enjoys his job, Tristan thought.

Torvald continued, "Now, you are going to be split into…" he looked back over the group of students and spotted Joel, who held up two fingers. "-two groups," Torvald finished. "One moment," he added before rushing over to Joel as students all watched. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Two groups? But we only have one dragonslayer!"

Joel pointed at Tristan, and Tristan waved. "We have another," Joel stated. "You will take Tristan here along with his advisor, Eloise. I will take Bertram and Rory."

Torvald looked at Tristan with curiosity, but glanced at the sword that Tristan had leaned against the chair as he could not sit with it on his back. The man nodded curtly and returned to the chalk board, erasing it and beginning to divide up students.

Eloise stood up and gestured to Tristan to stand as she spoke, "I will be accompanying you."

Felicity frowned, "Getting info, huh? Trying to figure out just what we can do?"

"Precisely," Eloise stated.

Tristan looked over at Bertram who was still seated, arm wrapped around Rory's shoulder. "Sorry we don't get to kill a dragon together."

Bertram glanced over and shrugged, "There will be more chances. And we might not even see dragons."

"But I hope we do," Rory added with brimming confidence.

Eloise grabbed Tristan's shoulder and turned him away slightly, lowering her voice. "I need to see you on your own, and how you handle a dragon. There are other predators out there besides dragons alone."

"Like what?" Tristan asked as she began leading him towards the portals to other Realms on the far side of the marketplace from their arrival point.

"Any creature you can imagine from the Mortal Realm could have a counterpart," Eloise replied softly as Torvald came up closer and joined them. "Perhaps Torvald here could be more informative, being a native to that Realm."

Torvald gave a brief wave, "Hey there, Tristan, right?"

"That's correct."

"What did you want to know?" the half-breed man asked as students followed him in two orderly rows.

"What type of hostiles could we encounter?" Felicity asked.

Torvald looked over at her, and completely unphased by the fact that she was a fairy dragon, talked in a conversational manner. "Oh, well, the Thundering Plains are going to have Boltstallions, there's always a chance for a Dragon or Goblin tribe, just as with every other Elemental Realm. We might encounter Thunderstompers, or even Stormforged if we are really lucky!"

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"Lucky?" Eloise said with a frown. "Luck would be having nothing happen." She glanced at Tristan and smiled every-so-slightly, "Well, except for a dragon attack."

Torvald shook his head fervently, "No you misunderstand! Thunderstompers and Boltstallions are completely harmless unless you really piss them off. Stormforged are…well, it depends on the temperament of their creator."

Tristan raised his hand to interrupt, "Sorry – but what are all these…things?"

Torvald sucked in a deep breath, "Thunderstompers are huge lizards with spines that absorb and emit lightning on their back. Bolstallions – just think lightning imbued horses with a lot more spiky bits along their spine. Stormforged are artificial creations – golems if you are familiar with the term – that are like huge lightning rods. They don't really have any motives except walking around the Realm, but they have been known to attack travelers. But they are a marvel to look at!"

Tristan quickly catalogued the information in his brain and frowned, "So everything is going to use lightning?"

"Not to mention the lightning that randomly strikes!" Torvald replied as they reached the farthest side of the marketplace.

Tristan spotted Percy, the full-blooded Broxtar he had met, across the way from the stable rift they were headed to. He gave the man a slight wave, and Percy spotted him, gave a quick nod, but kept his hands focused on his task – keeping them in a single gesture as he held the rift open.

Tristan looked at the rift to the Elemental Realm of Lightning. It was on a stone platform with permanent markings etched into the surface, glowing with a light, sky-blue color. Two Citadel students were standing on the sides of the portal, their hands in the same gesture as Percy's across the way – hands atop each other, palm to palm, with the middle fingers extended past each other to the other side of the hand.

A series of small packs stood on racks that the students walked over towards and began putting on. Eloise motioned for Tristan to follow and helped him put the pack on – which necessitated him taking off his weapons momentarily. "These are a simple device that will prevent random lightning from striking you."

"Not quite!" Torvald interrupted as he put on his own pack. "The metal rod will directly lightning to you, but then it will go down the inner coil to be absorbed by the…well, I'm not sure what it is they put in the bottom, but it absorbs the lightning!"

Tristan frowned, "What about creatures using lightning against me?"

"Oh, it'll take that, too. But they do have a capacity limit before they explode."

Great, I'm putting a bomb on my back, Tristan thought as he resigned himself to fate. He glanced at Felicity, "What about her?"

Eloise looked over at her, "We should have some child-sized packs somewhere around here."

Torvald went to a small, stone building and opened the door, going inside before emerging with an adorable miniature-sized pack that Felicity eagerly put on. "There we go, little miss."

"So f-a-n-c-y," Felicity said as she rolled her shoulders and flapped her wings a few times, testing whether or not they would hit the metal pole jutting out from her back. "How do I look?" she asked Tristan.

"Like a fairy dragon with a metal rod sticking out of them," Tristan replied bluntly.

She nodded, "That works!"

"If you're done," Eloise commented as she tapped her staff. "We are heading in. Each of these portals goes to a city in a different Realm. This one takes us to The Cove. It's a massive city in an enormous, hollowed-out mountain. Once we leave the mountain proper, we are on the Thundering Plains…and danger could arrive at any moment."

Torvald chuckled, "Now, now. It's not that dangerous. Come on! Let us go!" he led the way through the right side of the portal, and Tristan saw a few travelers exiting out of the left side.

Must be the norm, he thought as he followed Torvald. Stepping through the opaque portal, Tristan felt static jolt over him, the slight tingling like when he was too high in the mountains while camping as a youth. Glancing sideways, he let out a guffaw.

Felicity was a ball of fuzz. Her paws and snout were barely visible through the fur. "Oh, ha ha," she stated bluntly. "Let me just shapeshift here…" the fur was replaced with light-blue scales, and Felicity stuck out her tongue. "It is not nice to laugh at my looks!"

Tristan exited the portal and his breath caught in his lungs as he witnessed an incredible sight. They were in an open city square, but the entire city was bathed in a deep, cerulean blue light that emanated from a huge crystal embedded in the top of the mountain, easily a mile above them. Buildings were carved into all of the walls, and the ground floor was covered with thousands of buildings as well.

Tristan saw more Drakonid than he had ever seen before, milling about, exchanging wares and goods. Makes sense, he thought, that they would put their marketplace and the portal to an inter-Realm market in the same location. Almost all of them were light-blue in color, but a handful were a darker blue.

He also saw Goblins which shocked him – normally the smart-as-dog creatures served dragons, but here they were doing menial jobs like sweeping and picking up trash. I mean…that makes sense I guess. If they are as smart as dogs, they can be trained with a reward system like one. He shook his head as he continued to follow Torvald into the enormous city inside the mountain.

The main thoroughfare they walked down was a straight shot to the exit – a massive, fortified wall that had a smaller gate built into the base. He could not see the outside past the edifice, and as Torvold walked up, he turned in place and walked backwards. He raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. "Okay! We are going to split up but stay in our groups! Group A is going with me, Miss Serre, and Tristan the dragonslayer. Group B is going with Mister Carver, Bertram the dragonslayer, and Rory the riot!"

Tristan looked over at Bertram, then made eye contact with Rory. "Interesting title," he said with a slight smile.

"It's because I'm a riot of a time," she said with a grin on her face. She slapped Bertram's armored buttocks, "Come on sweet cheeks, let's go out there and kill something!"

The students split themselves into groups and Tristan was approached by Eloise as Torvald went to talk to the people at the gate. "I want you at the back of the group with me," she stated. "I will have a protection spell placed on myself, but not you. I want to see how you get along."

Tristan had been both-direction spinning his crucible the whole time, almost constantly whenever he was not occupied otherwise, and instead he diverted some of the flow to his armor. The stored Scales of Our Foe spell activated, and he was clad from head to foot in armor that was almost identical to his white-grey set. This more steel-grey suit was a bit bulkier in the shoulders, bracers, thighs, and shins – but otherwise was similar enough that Tristan felt comfortable. "I'm ready," he stated.

"I hope so," Eloise said softly as the smaller doors in the gate began to open and she gestured for him to follow at the back of the trail of students. "Come on, then. Let us see what awaits us in the Thundering Plains."

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