Over a kilometer above Nick was a complex, chaotic, but beautiful array of structures.
The huge pillars were surrounded by a couple of metallic plates, which Nick couldn't see through.
He guessed that these were platforms where the people of the middle layer lived.
Surprisingly, almost 80% of the "sky" was blocked by these metallic platforms.
In a way, Nick was reminded of when he had been swimming in the sewers and looking up at the ceiling.
It was very similar here.
One of the most important differences, though, was the fact that the "light streets" in the sewers were solid while the "streets" in the middle layer were actually empty spaces.
Well, not completely empty.
Nick saw rails going along the streets.
Every street had at least one rail going through it.
It was like the sky was made of huge circles and a mesh of thin lines surrounding the big circles.
Nick wanted to know what the rails were there for, and he looked around until he found his answer.
Capsules?
Nick saw a capsule moving along the rails.
While it was moving, it was swaying back and forth a bit, which filled Nick with a bit of anxiety.
There was a human in there, right?
Didn't they feel unsafe with the constant swaying of the capsule?
From what Nick could tell, the capsules were not very big.
At most, they were three meters long and only about a meter wide.
Nick watched as the capsule moved upward along a rail until it was hidden behind one of the huge circles of metal.
"Is that the middle layer?" Nick asked.
"It is," Wyntor answered. "The big metallic platforms are where the people live, and the rails are for the vehicles."
"What are these vehicles?" Nick asked.
Wyntor smirked. "You'll get to see one real soon since we'll need one to get to the middle layer. Without them, we can't get there."
Nick just looked around the lower layer again.
Earlier, Nick had been excited about going to the middle layer, but now, he didn't want to anymore.
What if he fell down?!
What if one of these rails collapsed?!
Nick would be falling for an entire kilometer!
He would die!
"Come, we need to get going," Wyntor said as he stood up.
Nick's heart rate increased, and he took a deep breath.
Then, he nervously stood up and followed after Wyntor.
After walking along the river for a while, Nick saw something that shocked him.
There were long moving things in the water!
Was that an animal?!
"What is that?!" Nick asked in shock, pointing at the thing in the water.
"Oh, that's a trout," Wyntor answered.
"A trout?" Nick asked.
"A fish," Wyntor elaborated.
Nick blinked a couple of times. "Is that an animal?"
Wyntor nodded. "It tastes pretty good. We can eat one after the meeting if you want."
Nick just looked with wonder at the trout.
How would something like that taste?
Would it be as good as chicken or mosquito larvae?
The two of them walked through the lower layer, and Nick kept looking at every two-wheeled contraption that drove by him.
"It's a bicycle," Wyntor said. "Or bike, for short. The people of the old world used them to move around in their cities."
"A bicycle," Nick repeated absentmindedly.
After a couple of minutes, the two of them closed in on some kind of building with several rails coming out of it that seemed to go towards the sky.
Nick saw one of the capsules exiting the building on the rails and driving towards the sky until it reached the middle layer.
Was this how people traveled from the lower layer to the middle layer?
The two of them walked over to the building, and Nick saw two guards casually chatting in front of the entrance.
Compared to the guard presence between the border of the Inner City and Outer City, this was barely anything.
Outside, there were many guards standing near the entrance, but here, there were just two who seemed quite relaxed.
Wyntor walked up to one of the guards while Nick followed him.
"Ah, Mr. Melfion," one of the guards said with a polite smile. "Going back home?"
"Not today," Wyntor answered with a smile. "We're here for the yearly meeting."
The eyebrows of the two guards raised in surprise. "Oh wow, you got an invite? Congratulations!"
Wyntor nodded with a smile. "Thank you."
"May I view the ticket?" one of the guards asked.
"Of course," Wyntor said as he took out a small piece of paper, which he handed over to the guards.
Naturally, Wyntor was allowed to go wherever he wanted, but Nick wasn't.
Because of that, an invite had been sent to Wyntor so that his Chief Zephyx Extractor could enter the middle layer.
That was the first time something like this had happened.
Chief Zephyx Extractors tended to be a bit stronger than Nick.
They didn't need invites to get to the middle layer.
In fact, they could all also go to the upper layer, except for the one from the Spartans, who was only a Peak Veteran.
The two guards looked at the ticket, nodded, and gave it back to Wyntor.
"You can pass," one of them said.
"Thanks," Wyntor said as he walked past them.
Nick followed behind Wyntor without saying anything.
The two guards were looking at Nick with strange expressions.
The guards didn't know what to feel about calling someone this weak a Chief Zephyx Extractor.
An Initial John was about to meet the most powerful people in the city.
This was so strange.
Wyntor and Nick entered the building, and Nick immediately saw several capsules hanging from a couple of rails.
Wyntor walked over to one of the capsules and opened them.
Now, Nick could finally see the inside.
He immediately recognized the pedals since he had just seen them on the bicycles.
"This is a mode of transportation from the ancient world," Wyntor said. "Only very, very few have been found, which means that they have belonged to the most illustrious people."
"We are pretty sure that they used to be status symbols."
"Because of that, Crimson Fungus City uses them to move around. Additionally, they are great at moving vertically."
"You simply lie in it, put your feet onto the pedals, and move the pedal. It's very simple."
"According to documents we have recovered, these are called Shweebs, and only the richest and most powerful people used them."