Naturally, one of the first questions to pop into Asher's head upon seeing a city located out in the center of a massive lake was 'how do we even get out to the city from here?' As it turned out, they didn't go out to the city.

The city came to get them.

As the caravan slowly but surely made its way toward the lake, they got to witness their first example of the modular, floating city at work. A small chunk of the city, probably no larger than one or two city blocks back on Earth, detached from the edge of Poltar and gradually drifted its way toward them. By the time their wagon trains made it to the coastline, the chunk of the city that had detached from the main body was floating barely a hundred feet from the shore.

Asher watched in awe as dozens of people leapt into action like a well-oiled machine the moment the city-fragment came to a halt. Half of them dove straight into the water with the grace of Olympic divers, while the other half started extracting what amounted to a giant, temporary bridge out of the bottom of the city. The city-fragment appeared to be floating on some sort of porous material that was only a couple of feet thick, and part of it seemed to have been hollowed out in order to store the bridge when not in use. As the bridge was extracted and pushed toward the shore by the dry-team, the wet-team ensured that it got put into place correctly and worked to lock it down so that it wouldn't shift about by the gentle waves near the shoreline. Many of them used a handful of interesting skills, such as stilling the surface of the water all around the bridge, or constructing pillars from the sandy floor to better secure the walkway.

All in all, the entire process of constructing a sturdy, hundred-foot bridge stretching from the city-fragment to the shore took less than a minute.

Which was one hell of a first impression in Asher's opinion.

"Welcome to Poltar!" a loud, feminine voice greeted them, seeming to come from the very water itself. Before Asher could pinpoint its exact location, an older woman launched out of the water like a dolphin, landing gracefully atop the front of the bridge and beaming at their large group.

The woman's hair was cropped short almost like a buzz cut, and she wore tight, smooth clothing that showed off her impressive muscular physique and reminded Asher of a wetsuit in how the water seemed to slip off her body without resistance.

"Brant, good to see you again!" the woman laughed, walking forward and wrapping the large man in a big hug as soon as he'd dropped down from his mogrant.

"Same to you, Mags," Brant said, smiling as he patted the woman on the back.

Asher watched this physical display curiously, wondering just how well the two of them knew one another. From what he'd learned of this world so far, either Brant and Mags were far closer than he would have assumed, or this new city didn't have quite the same dislike for physical contact as the other cities did. In Whikoga and Dormaul, it was considered quite rude to touch anyone for more than a fraction of a second, largely due to the sheer number of skills in this world that required a firm touch to activate.

"Glad to hear you guys made the trek okay," Mags said, taking a step back and giving them all a worried look. "I heard about that emergency message that came in from Stokes and her caravan only a few hours ago. No idea what happened just yet, but from what we could hear over the sending stone, it didn't sound good."

"Stokes?" Brant repeated, frowning at the news. "She was barely two days behind me! You really don't know anything more?"

"Nothing," Mags shrugged. "Audrey took off on Slipstream as soon as we got the news, so hopefully we'll know more soon. You know how fast those griffins can fly."

Guess that's what the truthseeker was flying off toward, Asher thought, wondering what on Earth must have happened to call for a truthseeker response. Even now, he could recall the incredible strength Bordan had displayed with his greatsword. If it was another bandit attack like the group that had stopped them on their way to Dormaul, those poor bandits were in for a rough time.

"Anyway, no need to make your travelers' first impressions of Poltar a sad one!" Mags said, throwing her arms wide open and tossing them all a large, toothy grin. "Like I said, welcome to Poltar everyone! Or at the very least, a very tiny sliver of it!"

Mags had to stop talking as she laughed as though she'd told the world's funniest joke, and Asher couldn't help but share a smile with Samantha as they waited for her to get control of herself. They'd known this loud woman for all of a few seconds, and already he was beginning to like her.

"I've known Brant for years now, and I have no doubt he gave you as thorough a rundown on the basics of our floating city as he always does," she said, looking around as if waiting for anyone to raise a hand and disagree. When nobody did, she continued, holding up what looked like a thick, round belt. "Well then, one last question before we let you all on board and head back to reconnect with the main city. Is there anyone here not confident in your swimming ability? We can lend you these flotation belts which will help you tread water in the event that you fall overboard."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

About three dozen eyes slowly turned to gaze at the one scrawny man who had mentioned he was a poor swimmer, and the man's face turned bright red.

"I said I was a poor swimmer, not that I couldn't swim at all!" he snapped, refusing to raise a hand for the belt.

"In that case, no need to waste any more time on boring old dry land!" Mags laughed, slinging the belt over her shoulder as she turned and gestured for them to follow her across the bridge. "This way!"

Brant hopped back onto his lead mogrant and guided the beast onto the bridge. Despite the massive weight of the animal and wagon train it was pulling behind it, the temporary bridge didn't even so much as creak under all the strain. The swimmers in the water continued using their skills to keep the bridge steady, and Asher quickly followed beside their own wagon with Brian at his side as they joined the train.

Samantha walked about a dozen feet away from them, strolling across the surface of the lake with a massive grin on her face.

"Show off!" Asher teased as he watched the hunter finally get the chance to really practice her new Water Walker skill. Up until now, the best they'd managed to do was have her stand atop large pails of water or small streams the caravan stumbled upon, so he couldn't imagine how much fun running around on a massive lake had to be.

"You're one to talk," Samantha snorted, pointing at him with an accusatory finger. "Do you have any idea how often you use Distortion to close doors from like ten feet away instead of just getting up off of the bed?"

"You do act kind of lazy," Brian nodded, throwing in with his sister.

Before Asher could threaten to throw the twelve-year-old in the lake in response, Mags must have finally spotted Samantha walking along the bridge beside them, as the loud woman swung back and stepped off the bridge herself, walking backwards and facing them with her customary smile.

"Ah, a fellow Water element holder! Is this your first time really getting to flex your skills?"

"Yes… I've only had the element for a few weeks," Samantha admitted, looking a little embarrassed for whatever reason. "Seeing you guys use your skills so fluidly and with so much grace was amazing! I'm hoping I'll be able to use mine half as well one day. The only thing is…"

She paused, her face heating up as she finally came out with what was bothering her. "…I can't really swim all that well. I grew up in a forest. Other than learning how to float in a small river, I don't really know much else."

"A Water element holder who can't swim?" Mags repeated, sounded outraged at the very thought. "Well now, we can't have that! Tell you what young lady, I don't know what your plans are now that you're finally here, but once the three of you have gotten settled, you should come find me. Just ask anyone, they'll be able to point you in my direction. My job is quite literally making sure tourists are enjoying the city and haven't fallen overboard and are drowning anywhere, so I'd be happy to give you some lessons and help you get a handle on your skills. You'll be surprised at how quickly one can learn to swim when they don't need to worry about such pesky things as breathing air!"

"Thank you, that would be amazing!" Samantha said, excitement clear on her face at the news.

"I know I am," Mags chuckled, planting her hands on her hips as she looked toward Asher and Brian. "What about you two, do either of you need any lessons? Even if you're not a Water element holder, I certainly don't mind teaching you the basics."

"I actually do know how to swim," Asher said, before placing a hand on Brian's shoulder and volunteering him. "…though I bet Brian here could use your guidance. He's Samantha's younger brother, he grew up in the same small village as her."

Asher was surprised to realize that Brian was actually shaking a little bit, and he glanced down at him. It wouldn't have been the first time he'd found the twelve-year-old trembling with excitement, but it was clear from a quick glance this was different.

Brian was doing his best to hide it, but based on the nervous looks he kept throwing at the water beyond the bridge as they got further and further from dry land, the poor boy was utterly terrified by the sheer volume of water surrounding them.

"I think you're right," Mags said a bit more softly, no doubt picking up on the same worries he had. "It's all right, kid, the water isn't going to hurt you. The lake provides for us and keeps us safe. So long as you treat her well, she'll do right by you."

"Duh. I'm not scared," Brian sniffed, looking offended that she'd even suggest such a thing.

"Of course not, nobody said you were," Mags said, laughing as she raised an eyebrow knowingly. "Does that mean you don't want to join your sister for swimming lessons?"

"…I'll still join," Brian mumbled under his breath, earning a chuckle from the three of them.

"I thought that might be the case," Mags smiled. "I have a boy myself, you know. Love him to death, the absolute pain in my rear. He works as one of the fishermen, and every day I pat myself on the back for managing to keep him alive through his teenage years. Things were pretty touch-and-go for a while there."

"Oh no, was he sick or something?" Samantha gasped, covering her mouth with her hands at the news.'

"Hardly," Mags snorted. "He was such a brat I had to fight off the urge to throw him overboard every time he mouthed off. Luckily for him, I am the pinnacle of restraint."

"That's not how Fred tells it," Brant called back, revealing he'd been listening in on the loud woman all this time from the front of the caravan. "Last time we spoke, he told me you still toss him overboard anytime you have a disagreement!"

"Bah, the boy can swim, I'm just helping him get washed up!" Mags shot back, giving them all a quick wink before running toward a yelping Brant who was quickly apologizing and trying to explain how his current clothes couldn't get wet.

"I think this will be a fun leg of our trip," Samantha said, chuckling as they watched Brant summon his ethereal mogrant trunks to bat Mags away when she leapt up onto his mogrant and tried to wrestle him into the water. "Maybe things will actually be peaceful for a bit!"

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