In a lot of ways, New York’s skyline looked the same as it ever had. There were plenty of recognizable buildings like the Empire State Building, Freedom Tower, and the Chrysler building. However, there were quite a few differences that became immediately obvious. Chief among them was that Manhattan had grown by quite a bit, and at least parts of the other boroughs had been incorporated into the new landmass.

It all felt jumbled. Chaotic. Nothing quite fit together.

Elijah even recognized a couple of other skyscrapers that had never been part of New York, suggesting that the reconfiguration of the world had combined a couple of metropolitan areas with the largest American city.

But even more noticeable were the pieces that were missing. Like the iconic Statue of Liberty. Or Brooklyn Bridge. Or a half-dozen other notable landmarks that even non-natives would recognize even if they didn’t know their names. Just as New York had picked up a few pieces of other cities, so too had it lost some.

“Still impressive, eh?”

Elijah glanced at the speaker – one of the other pedestrians who was waiting in line next to him. “It’s different, that’s for sure.”

“Bigger and better. The American way,” the man said in his thick New York accent. He looked the part too. Short and thick, with a receding hairline and a thin gold chain mingling with his chest hair – he could obviously trace his family origins back to Italy. He wore a white tank top and blue jeans, with sturdy work boots that glimmered with a hint of ethera. On his back was a large pack.

“You from here?” asked Elijah.

“Born and raised. Was here when the apocalypse hit, too. Difficult times, I’ll tell you that. But we made it through, same as always. Can’t keep New York down,” he stated with no small degree of pride. “No matter what happens, we know how to survive.” He shook his head. “Too bad that goes for the rats, too. Things are as big as dogs now. Aggressive too. Best watch yourself if you wander into the wrong parts of town.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Elijah said.

“Fancy suit you got there. I can smell the magic from here. Where you from?”

Elijah shrugged. “Here and there. Just stopping in on business.”

“Ah. Merchant. You’ll want the finance district, then. Well, used to be about finance. Now it’s where the Branch is. Also where you’ll find most of the shops. Some are big, like the Consortium store. Others are much smaller. But between you and me, you’ll want the smaller ones. Better deals. Better merchandise. All the locals know it, too.”

“I see,” Elijah said noncommittally. “I’m Elijah by the way,” he added, extending his hand.

“Tony,” the man answered, taking Elijah’s hand in his own. “Tony Giordano.”

“Good to meet you.”

As the line slowly shifted forward, Tony went on to explain the city’s ins and outs. That was one of the reasons Elijah hadn’t just flown to the island; getting a local’s insights into the layout was invaluable. The other reason was that Elijah wanted to skate in under the radar, and descending upon New York in the form of a rainbow-colored dragon-creature probably wasn’t the best way to do that.

Still, his impatience very nearly got the better of him as they shuffled forward toward the gate surrounding what looked like a small dock. It was only a few minutes’ wait, but it definitely felt like longer. During that time, Elijah studied his surroundings. The coast was festooned with the ruins of a time nearly a decade past. Most of the local buildings were abandoned, but Elijah caught sight of a few people moving here and there. Otherwise, it looked like a ghost town of warehouses and other long-deserted structures, cracked roads, and derelict vehicles.

According to Tony, most of the area had been part of New York’s extensive docks, but Elijah also saw the remnants of a couple of airstrips as well. Finally, there were a bunch of abandoned storefronts, their contents long since looted and their walls crumbling from disuse.

It was a sad sight when entering a city.

“Won’t last long once you get to the island. Greatest city in the world. Been that way since forever, and it’ll always be that way,” Tony said without a hint of irony.

Soon enough, it was their turn to pass through the gate. Elijah paid his fee via his folio, while Tony used physical coins – just a few copper ethereum – and they were allowed inside. It didn’t take long before Elijah saw their destination – a sizable ferry that could carry thousands of passengers with each trip. Clearly, people had been filing onto the ship for quite some time, because it was already three-quarters full.

Elijah and Tony found a spot near the stern, where they settled in. For his part, Elijah leaned against the railing, studying the water as well as the city in the distance. It was more than a few miles away, but using Eyes of the Eagle, he could already see that it was well populated and bustling.

“There any towers around here?” Elijah asked his new friend.

“A few on the island itself. A few more on the mainland back there,” Tony answered, hiking his thumb back the way they’d come. “My nephew’s an adventurer. You know the sort. Always running into towers and dreaming of joining one of the guilds. Thinks he’s invincible, just like half the kids nowadays. They think it’s all fun and games because they don’t really remember when the world went to shit.”

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Elijah listened as the man derided the state of the younger generation, but he couldn’t help but wonder what Tony might’ve said if he’d known even half of what Elijah had been up to. Likely shake his fist and the sky and yell about dumb kids.

“I don’t know much about the guilds,” Elijah said when Tony paused for breath. “They run things here?”

“Not officially. We’ve got a mayor. A council too, just like the old days. Then there’s the Merchant’s Circle. The Crafters’ Coalition. A few more fighters’ organizations. We even got the cops still. Wearin’ the old uniforms and everything. They keep the peace, but everybody knows they’re a bunch of paper tigers. Only a few strong ones in there. But those, you gotta watch out for. The Chief ain’t the kinda guy nobody messes with. Not even the guilds.”

Then, he went on to explain that there were hundreds of guilds headquartered in the city, though only a dozen or so that were “worth a damn.”

“Then there’s the big four,” Tony elaborated. “Not a one of ‘em is from here, though. At least we got Desmond Farina and the League of Ancients representin’ us. Most folks believe they’ll get into the top four soon enough, even if they won’t have the headquarters to show for it.”

“They’re all ranked?”

“Oh, yeah. All official, too. The city keeps track of it,” Tony answered. Then, he went on to explain that the rankings were based on numbers of towers cleared, average levels, infrastructure, and territory. “They post the results in the center of the square once a month. They make a big to-do about it all.”

“Interesting,” Elijah said as the ferry finally came underway. He continued talking to Tony as they traveled from the mainland to the island, though Elijah barely paid attention to his new friend. Instead, he kept an eye on the rest of the crowd, the looming city, and the waters beneath the ship’s hull. There were beasts down there, but they gave the ferry a wide berth.

Likely due to an ability in progress.

The ferry’s top speed was anything but exceptional, so it took more than half an hour to cover the distance between the shore to the island, and during that time, Elijah took notice of their destination. The island’s harbor was an impressive thing, with huge, metal cranes, hundreds of sizable ships of every description, and a significant defensive presence characterized by the now-familiar ethereal cannons.

If an enemy attacked New York, they’d get a rude awakening.

Eventually, the ferry slid into a berth before the ramp unfolded, giving the passengers access to the city. That was when Elijah and Tony parted ways. For his part, Elijah headed away from the docks and into the city proper while Tony had business nearby. Still, the older man did tell Elijah that if he ever needed a handyman, he was his guy.

It took a few minutes to leave the dock behind, but when Elijah did, he felt like he was surrounded by mountains of glass and metal. The skyscrapers were still in good condition, and he could tell that they remained in use. Moreover, there were thousands of cars carrying people back and forth through the streets. They all ran on ethera, and many looked quite a bit different than anything that had ever existed before the world’s transformation. But they still gave the city a familiar vibe.

Then there were the people.

Diversity was the first word that came to mind. Not only was every human ethnicity on display, but there were dozens of outworlder races represented as well. Gnomes, elves, goblins, and dwarves were the most familiar, but Elijah also saw quite a few ogres acting as porters as well. Each one sported a dull look that reminded him of Grod, the ogre he’d met back in the Trial of Primacy.

According to Sadie, ogres were an elder race that had once terrorized the multi-verse. However, seeing the hulking simpletons made that extremely difficult to believe. Elijah also observed quite a few races for which he had no name. There were people with feathers, people with scales, and people with crimson skin and horns. There was so much variety on display that it would have been overwhelming, had Elijah not already seen many of them at one point or another throughout his travels.

In addition to the cars, Elijah saw that the subway was working as well. He didn’t use it, but its presence contributed to a feeling he’d had since arriving at the ferry. The place just felt like New York, and in a way that was difficult to explain. Sure, Elijah was far from an expert, only having visited the city twice in his entire life. However, most people had seen enough movies and television shows to have an idea what to expect from what was arguably the world’s most famous city.

And the new version definitely delivered that.

Those thoughts and more flitted through his mind as he made his way through the city. Despite the presence of automobiles, pedestrian traffic was heavy, so Elijah couldn’t walk at anything close to full speed. That gave him an opportunity to truly immerse himself in the city’s atmosphere.

The only problem was that it lacked any significant ethereal density. Otherwise, it might’ve been an extremely pleasant experience.

After a while, he found himself on the edge of Central Park. The place was overgrown and wild, with a huge wall surrounding it. The only gate was guarded by a half-dozen armed and armored sentries.

“What’s going on here?” Elijah asked. “I’m new here. I was hoping to go for a stroll through the park.”

“You go in there, you’re going to die,” the leader said. He was a tall man with a square jaw and watery, red-rimmed eyes.

“Monsters?” Elijah asked.

The man nodded. “The sort you don’t want to mess with, too. Monstrous rats, mostly. But there are racoons in there, too. Giant bullfrogs. You know, imagine everything that used to live in there, then make it bigger and meaner. Used to be, they stayed put, but lately, they’ve been trying to get out into the city. Killed a few people, too. We had to hire a professional.”

Elijah narrowed his eyes.

“How monstrous are we talking?”

“They’ll kill just about anybody who goes in there,” the guard said, his hand on the hilt of his sword. “Sometimes, the guilds send new members in there to train. They don’t always come back.”

“This professional…they still in there?”

The man nodded. “Yeah. For a few days now. We think he’s still alive, but if he’s not, there’s no way to really tell, if you know what I mean. If he’s dead…well, you won’t find a body.”

“Any laws against taking a look?” Elijah asked.

The guard shrugged. “Not really. We’re here to keep the monsters inside and to warn people to stay away. But if you want to die, be my guest.”

Elijah grinned. “I think I’ll be okay.”

With that, he strode through the gate, barely even noticing the incredulous looks he drew from the guards on duty.

“You see what level he is?” one of them asked in a whisper that Elijah only heard because of his advanced cultivation.

Someone said, “No.”

“Me neither. Just question marks.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know. But I definitely wasn’t going to stand in his way,” came the lead guard’s voice.