Even before reaching the capital, Alex could see the giant black tower that dared to reach the skies. This was bigger than any towers he had seen in any city he had been to.

Not only was it tall, but it was also rather wide too. Ning wondered how many people the tower could fit.

The sun was just rising when he finally reached Damir city, the capital of the Serian Empire.

Damir city was a massive city that was half surrounded by Baylen Lake on one side, while the other side had a river that marked the start of the city.

It started with grassland, some suburban areas for people to live in then came the Flythorn River, and finally, Damir city lay beyond that.

Ning dropped out of the cart in front of the Flythorn bridge before lining up to enter the city. He watched the cart get dragged away by the Aether beasts to Alexis knew where.

The bridge had inspections going in and out, that seem to have been started by people in the tower.

As Ning walked up through the bridge, he noticed a significant lack of Aether in the area. It seemed the people had used his glass beads here as well.

With a show of an identification card that the Aether tower provided him, he was able to get into the city with ease.

He brought out a clock to look at the time. There was still a good 3 or so hours before the recruitment would start, so he decided to roam the city.

He walked amidst perhaps the most urban city he had visited in this world.

Ning saw men-powered carriages more here than anywhere else. There was also an electric train service that ran through the city called a Tram.

Did he have those back on Earth? He couldn't remember. He really needed to ask the system to restore his memories prior to getting the Eidetic memory skill on of these days.

He walked along the morning streets that were still somewhat empty, compared to what he thought it would really be once everyone left for their job.

The store signs were still lit up early in the morning, and Ning found a small diner nearby.

While having a high Aether rank improved his body quite a bit, it still didn't stop him from feeling hungry after a day.

He had eaten nothing but fruits the last 2 days, but now, he wanted something better.

He got into the diner and sat at an empty table, and ordered himself some breakfast.

As he waited for his breakfast to arrive, it felt like the city just woke up and suddenly everyone started moving at once.

Ning could see a massive number of people walking left and right from the window of the diner.

Many people also entered the diner, and before his food even arrived, it was getting crowded in there too.

Ning's food finally arrived and as he was about to eat it, he heard the loud voices of a few people that walked in.

Ning looked towards the door to see a group of 4 people, 1 girl, and 3 boys, who seemed to be quite young.

It was one of the men that was really loud, saying things like, "Why the hell do we have to eat in a place like this? Let's just go to a proper restaurant."

The man who spoke had long black hair that fell to his shoulders and wore flashy shirts and pants that showed that he might have been a noble from birth.

"You idiot! Restaurants don't open this early in the morning. Just thank your luck that there was a diner here, otherwise I would've just resorted to buying normal bread for food," A man of similar height, but not as much flashiness in his clothing said.

Ning stared at them with a slight shock in his eyes.

The men turned around, looking for a spot, and saw Ning staring at them.

Since Ning's table was the only one that could house them all together, they walked towards him.

"Hey brother, do you mind moving to that table? We need a place to sit," the men said.

"There is plenty of room here. Why don't you just sit?" Ning asked.

"Please brother, we are in a bit of a hurry to go take part in the Tower's Battle Force recruitment. If we don't hurry, we will miss it," the third man with a long face said.

Ning smiled. "What a coincidence? I am going to the tower too. And I know that there is still a good 2 hours before the tower starts accepting the recruitments."

The man's face changed. He had wanted to use the tower's name to move Ning, but he didn't expect Ning to say he was going there too.

"Oh, is that true?" the noble-looking fella's eyes widened, and he sat down in front of Ning.

The other 2 men sighed and sat down as well. There were still two other seats, so the girl sat on one of them.

Ning's eyes followed her as she sat away from them.

"I am Banrod Wilkers, nice to meet you," the noble guy said.

"I'm Terran Forn," Ning shook his hands. He shook the other two men's hands as they introduced themselves as Harris and Peter.

When it came to the girl, Ning stopped for a second before deciding to offer her a handshake as well.

"Ah, brother," Banrod Wilkers just shook his head.

Ning made a confused face and dragged his hands back. But he understood what was happening. After all, that was his plan, to act like he didn't recognize her.

"I'm sorry. I am a germaphobe," the girl said to explain why she didn't accept his handshake.

"It's fine. Everyone is different," Ning said with a smile.

"Thank you," the girl gave a nod, her black hair falling before her. She pushed back her hair and introduced herself to Ning.

"Hi, I am Rachel."