The sun was shining, the birds were tweeting, and Aejaz was groaning as Ares dragged him backwards through the foliage towards the Federation. The time to set off had come at last but Ares still felt the need to put Aejaz through his paces one last time before setting off which had resulted in his inability to walk right now. Aejaz had Voidwalked until his legs were sore pretty much everyday as of late and he could now maintain it for two hours straight if he really tried. Of course mana was also an issue but, then again, he had no real reason to use it for that long as of right now so that was fine. It was still worth setting up a good foundation for his stamina to improve upon later though and Ares had spared no effort in putting him through his paces to facilitate that. Of course Ares was no slouch either and whenever he wasn''t pressurising his Primordial Blade he was doing some training himself. Voidwalking, controlling physical pressure, swinging his scythe around, etc... Just about anything and everything. He was usually a little lazy in this regard but that was mostly because he was also busy and didn''t have the free time to mess around with stuff like this. He had enough passive advantages that he didn''t need to keep actively training every waking moment of every day but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t do it when the opportunity came knocking.


    Anyway, Ares used his annihilation enhancement to pick Aejaz up by the back of his collar and, about ten minutes of lugging his brother around later, they''d arrived at the port wherein the Federation was docked. And what a sight it was... Ares obviously knew the thing would be massive, how could it not be? It was an entire Federation so it naturally would rival, at bare minimum, the size of Sheryashka''s smallest country which, funnily enough, happened to be its current destination, Xasca. But rivalling Xasca was just the start as this group of varying ships and boats were, in total, roughly 1.5 times as big as the desert they would be sailing towards. This hadn''t always been the case but the great thing about a country not founded on pre-existing land was that adding more to it over time was easy. They didn''t need to saw off part of another country and attack it to their own, they simply needed to buy and / or create more boats! Very simple and very easy to do with the exorbitant amount of money flowing through this place.


    Argosies, trawlers, yachts, you name it and that type of ship or boat was definitely present somewhere amidst the sea of wood and metal. Plenty of sturdy bridges connected vast vessels and thousands of people could be seen going about their daily life as they walked from one ship to another to find the quadrant of the Federation that had whatever it was they needed. No matter what you were after it was typically said to only take a ten minute walk at most in order to find a business that sold it or could find it for you wherever the Federation docked next. Ares could spy some fishermen raising a net full of marine life that would pass through the nearest supplier, which appeared to be no more than a few buildings away, before heading off to the market on the next ship over. The market place was like a central hub of sorts, connected to in an octagonal fashion with bridges coming toward it from every which way making it flow efficiently whenever deliveries were inbound. One of those bridges led directly to a large residential area too, making it easily accessible without having to boat hop multiple times, and the design of even this small segment of the Federation really showed the care and cleverness put into the thought making process behind every single ship in the Federation. Even the towed Argosy boats were being protected from their rear and flanks by a small armada that were acting like personal bodyguards for the rich merchants who paid a little extra when boarding. This was a very necessary price to pay, however, as these sorts of ships were attacked with great frequency on these journeys by all sorts of aggressors, be they monsters or otherwise. Of course they needn''t concern themselves with bigger threats, however, as the captain of the Freeride was known to deal with such issues personally whenever they cropped up. It was a form of free protection for those that didn''t pay but he was only really doing it to keep his Federation, and the people on it, safe so the cheapskate merchants were just indirectly benefitting.


    Even before Ares and Aejaz got near to one of the many boats used to act as a gateway for boarding they could see various people of various races living the high life on deck chairs, sipping away on colourful cocktails and other such curious concoctions that were unique to various parts of the world that didn''t exist here in Central Land. Given that the Federation was a particularly mobile country, one that made contact with every other country in Sheryashka at least once every 7-8 months, the people living or riding aboard it were naturally from many different walks of life. In that regard, it was sort of similar to Central Land but it was even more applicable as it doubled down as a mode of transportation which means that settling down wasn''t the only reason people had to come to this place and stay here for a lengthy period of time.


    A lot of these rarer races, like the crocco kin (crocodile people) for instance, wouldn''t be found in Red Sun no matter how hard you looked because they were mostly a sea-dwelling race. They could live underwater for weeks at a time, and generally preferred to, so they took up residence near coastal areas for the most part. They were sort of just sporadically dotted around the globe until the Federation showed up and now they typically always lived here as the water was never more than a few feet away from them but they had all the comforts that came with land-based civilisation. In these lower domains, living underwater was an incredibly basic affair as the runemancy needed to have regular appliances and such function underwater just didn''t exist. Even if it did the level of expertise with the pillar needed to even create the runes, and enough of them, was something flat out impossible to find down here. As such, the crocco kin were happy to bathe in the sunlight atop their boats, with their jaws kept slightly open and a straw sitting in it ready to be clamped down on when they wanted a drink, before heading off to one of the specialised boats that allowed them to hang around underwater even when the Federation was on the go. These boats had what could be considered underwater ''swimming pools'' of sorts and were perfect for races that liked to spend their free time under water. Like icebergs, these boats were relatively small on the surface but, underneath the waves, they grew massively as they sported a giant, upside down bubble dome that let in water and wild life but prevented anyone inside it from being left behind accidentally by gettin pushed out by the tides. It was basically like a one way mirror sort of rune and that was plenty good enough at simulating an underwater experience without the ''cage'' you were trapped in being all too apparent.


    A lot of stardust had been invested into these ''submerger'' boats by the higher ups of the Federation as getting these sea-dwelling races aboard their country was seen to be a huge deal for them. Sea-dwelling races could work in engineering and fix issues with the boats that were mostly inaccessible to normal cultivators. Say some sea creature damaged a part of the boat under the water, for instance, these crocco kin, with the right training, could fix it up in a jiffy. Plus if they lived here that was another source of guaranteed revenue so any race that could breathe underwater was favoured heavily on the Federation. They became engineers, hunters, and guards more often than not and, point in case, the armadas were all predominantly lined with strong cultivators with gills visible across their sailor-uniformed bodies. They were very well paid for their work but that didn''t necessarily mean they were rich or anything, just considerably more wealthy than the average person boarding the Federation.


    There was a monstrous gap in terms of financial power between the upper echelon of this place and the no-names who were just passing through or living in some of the poorer areas on the ships that were more prone to rocking during stormy weather, amongst other such disadvantages. To put it into perspective, Ares had 130 high grade right now and his wallet could still be considered destitute by the nobles and businessmen who casually tossed around thousands of high grade like it was children''s play-pretend money. On the other side of the scale were the mortals or weak cultivators without means to increase their savings because they lacked the strength, business acumen, or resources. Mortals were usually the kind of people who might not even be able to tell you what a mid grade stardust even looked like because it was simply out of their realm of knowledge. They''d never seen such a thing let alone a high grade and these types of people absolutely still existed on the Federation. It was two very different extremes but that was important for any society to function properly, according to the economists living on the Federation, and so little was done to reduce the gap. There were plenty of available resources and low-end shops for those who could be considered lower class so it''s not like they had a hard life, fraught with starvation, or anything, they just didn''t get to enjoy the same luxuries as some of the other people on the Federation.


    If Ares had to rank himself in the Federation hierarchy, strictly in terms of purchasing power, he was probably in the top 30% of everyone who was on this ship at the moment but it was worth noting that, from roughly the top 25% onwards, the difference in terms of monetary possessions was staggeringly STEEP. The least richest of the top 25% might have upwards of even 60-70,000 high grades at their immediate disposal. These were all people that had businesses in their respective countries of origin that were internationally famous and had been raking in profits for generations. Oil barons, fine grind blue quarry investors, conglomerate owners, etc... The average person simply couldn''t compare and there was no point losing sleep over it because it basically could never be changed unless a massive stroke of luck blessed you with an unforeseen encounter. There was a pretty famous story of a homeless man who snuck aboard the Federation once and rescued a drowning noble who fell overboard. He was given riches beyond his comprehension and lived the rest of his life out in a way that other people in his position could only dream of from their wet cardboard boxes in the rainy streets. Even to this day there were plenty of poor people trying to search high and low for such golden geese on the Federation. Some succeeded but most failed and were led astray, wasting their entire lives here...


    There were rumours the successes that littered the myriad failures were enabled by the higher ups of the Federation to keep luring more and more people in to become wage slaves aboard the Federation but that was never proven without a shadow of a doubt. Also, it just made even more people come because the barrier of entry to getting rich was even lower. They didn''t have to save anyone''s life or anything, they just had to be one of the lucky few who won this manipulative lottery and then they would be set for life. Then there were the last group of people who came here with such intentions and they were easily the most crazed lot as they tried to actively engineer dangerous situations for the rich people. They would swoop in and save the people''s who very lives they themselves had put in danger. Poisoning food and pretending to be a doctor with the antidote, making the decks of dangerous boats slippery and waiting in the wings to throw a rope at the overboard noble, or even bringing dangerous monsters aboard and then fending them off. These people received harsh punishments and almost always failed but, then again, it was impossible to tell when they succeeded because they would have made it look completely natural for the most part. How many of the nobles that had been rescued in the last hundred years had been saved by well-intentioned individuals or those who put them in that position to begin with? It was unknown but it did spice things up a bit on the Federation as everyone had to have their wits about them!


    There was a lot going on here but that was to be expected as the Federation was always bustling whenever it entered port. The most notable change was that people with no affiliation to the Federation would stop by and try to make sales to people in the queue. There were two reasons for this. one, the queues were long so food and drink were typically items that sold rather well. It was entirely possible to have a thriving business just from selling meals to people who didn''t bring anything with them. In some cases the food was so good that people intentionally didn''t bring anything because they planned on eating restaurant quality lunches and dinners in the queue. Some of the higher end businesses even rented out tables and chairs with wheels on them for a dining experience that was rather unique. As the customer ate, a servant would roll them forward whenever the queue shortened. Sometimes the food at such places wasn''t even that great but people still paid for the service just to appear richer than everyone around them, this was something else that was particularly common on the Freeride.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    There was a pretty significant show-off culture wherein the rich constantly competed with one another to upstage everyone around them at every opportunity. It led to some pretty ridiculous scenes wherein fashion, politeness, tech, and general behaviour became quite whacky at times. Showing up to an impromptu banquet and finding everyone wearing some non-sensical get up for no reason other that it had become a local, expensive, fad was not a rare sight at all. In fact, Ares could already see the newest fad on display as some up-their-own-ass types on the Federation, watching the poor people board with smug and condescending grins, were wearing it proudly... Which they really shouldn''t have been... Any sane person would look at their clothes and turn their nose up at it... What they were wearing was clothes made of water. Evidently some water pillar fashionista of high class renown designed a magical method to create thick water and then shape it into articles of clothing. It was somewhat see-through but the main draw was that it could look elegant if used correctly as the light shimmering off it, and the natural aesthetic, could blend well if creative people used their brains a bit. One such person was wearing a water scarf that highlighted their sand-coloured dress quite impeccably but, unfortunately, they were seemingly the only one with any common sense...


    Everyone else was just wearing water clothes from head to toe with no regard for their obscene appearance as they had more money than common sense. These people were basically half nude but they wore very genuine smiles in spite of that because they had spent more money than the people who didn''t look like them and that was enough to boost their ego and help them tune out the shame they should have been experiencing. In some cases it was a matter of peer pressure too as people who could afford to wear full body water clothes, but knew how stupid it was, would do so anyway simply not to have everyone else look down on them. It was a situation wherein even those with the capacity for rational thought went along with the flow so as not to be the odd one out. In that sense, there really was nothing unique about any of the people doing this because they were all doing it in the exact same way... It really did just come down to them all basically going ''look how much money I have you peasants! bet you can''t afford even the shoes I''m wearing let alone everything else!'' As far as they were concerned, claims that they looked dumb were unsubstantiated and based off nothing more than mere jealousy... Although really most of them should have been painfully aware that wasn''t true, it was just a very convenient excuse to keep doing what they were doing. The only ones with the right to be exempt from this peer scrutiny were the filthy rich who didn''t need to display their wealth in order for people to know they had it. People like Onno''s father fell in this category because if anyone dared call him ''cheap'' they''d end up penniless before they could even notice their business crumbling apart.


    Mind you, it wasn''t all about status as the water clothes were still made of magic at the end of the day. They functioned as a sort of last ditch barrier on the skin and could even block some attacks head on, depending on how strong they were, so it wasn''t all show and no function. It even looked like it could cool the wearer down under the blazing sun while preventing sunburn too. It was definitely the kind of thing you should wear sparingly but, well... Some people cared more about pointless grandstanding so things devolved from there and the original intention behind the clothes was lost entirely. As a side note, the way these things became popular in the first place varied and could really be for just about any reason. If a famous designer created something new it could become a sensation or a flop and it was all basically random. There was even one time a noble discreetly copied something they saw a commoner wearing and that became the new fad...


    That of course changed the second people realised what was happening but it did temporarily drive the prices of that article of clothing sky high which ended up being enough of a jumpstart for that business to become something larger than it ever would have. That very same business was now one of the top clothing stores on the Federation because, even though they originally sold things for cheap, having that limelight shed on their quality made countless high class women invest in them. They were treated like a diamond in the rough when, really, they were just pretty ordinary overall and it was the rich lot''s stubbornness that prevented them from seeing that normal businesses had interesting things to offer all the time. they refused to believe it was all a mistake from the beginning and they believed that this specific business was secretly greater than all the others which is why they were enamoured with the commoner''s clothes...


    Putting the price tag before the actual item itself often led to these people wasting small fortunes on garbage that wasn''t any better than something a normal mortal could buy at their local tailors. It was all a massive farce but the people involved were hypnotised by the crap they themselves propagated and sold each other in a bid for popularity. Hell, if Ares wanted to, he could start his own fad. All he had to do was obstinately wear something silly and everyone else would follow along in due time. Maybe not if he were a random mortal but now that everyone knew who he was he could make anything strange catch on like wildfire if he put his mind to it and kept flaunting it to these rich morons. While that sounded fun Ares had more important things to be doing, unfortunately, and didn''t have the week or two spare it would take to throw a wrench into the world of popular culture aboard the Federation.


    Back in the queue, Ares was interrupted from his thoughts by a salesman who was trying to sell him something... Something he really wasn''t interested in. For every good business here there would inevitably someone like the guy pestering Ares, someone trying to sell him oranges because they were good for preventing scurvy... This guy either had a few screws loose or must have thought Ares looked like the kinda guy who did and, honestly, Ares was already feeling offended because it was looking like the latter! This dope was giving Ares some long ass explanation about the dangers of scurvy and how it could plague even the most careful of traveller but the more he spoke the more Ares wanted to feed this guy to the fishes.


    "... So you see, tangerines, my good sir, are essential to preventing scurvy and you really ought to buy some!"


    Ares played along with this guy and threw up a dumb smile. "Tangerines are essential?"


    "Yes, very!"


    "So you could say they''re tangential?"


    "Yes! Wait... No..." The man looked confused which Ares couldn''t help but laugh at which, in turn, made the man realise hew as being mocked so he stormed off in a fit. This would have been a good thing for Ares, as he could get some peace and quiet while he waited to be allowed onto the Federation, but all it really meant was that he was open to being bothered by someone more annoying and persistent. Ares should have really had that guy keep talking for another five minutes or so because Ares was only going to get hounded by another person now that he was gone and never coming back... Point in case, some strange, stubby guy who was sweating nervously approached Ares with a smile that made Ares want to smack some confidence into him. Was this guy trying to sell him something or was he about to go fight fear incarnate? Why was this guy quaking in his boots and looking at the ground over and over again?! Ares was really wishing this guy would just disappear because he was starting to believer this guy was going to try and sell him a bomb or something equally dodgy... Though, actually, a bomb was pretty inconsequential given... Well... Everything Ares was and stood for. Giving Ares, of all people, a bomb was like giving a waterfall a hose. That is to say it was entirely redundant and Ares was, by far and away, the bigger bomb and it wasn''t even close. Still, despite hoping the guy would second guess himself and not try make the sale, Ares was now morbidly curious to find out what thig guy was trying to pull. As such, Ares extended a greeting to get the ball rolling for him.


    "Hey fella, whatcha got for sale? I came across some stardust recently and I''ve got a hankering to spend it." This was not true. Ares had zero desire to spend his stardust on whatever this man was selling but if it helped progress the conversation then a little white lie was in everyone''s best interest.


    "You''re interested?! Oh good heavens! In that case, allow me to show you this!" Why did this guy seem shocked someone was willing to give him the time of day?! Ares sighed to himself as he watched the stubby guy pull out some kind of odd sphere... Before he could explain it, however, a partner of his came bursting into the picture with energy to spare. The man was hyped up on a drug called confidence and seemed to think the world was at his fingertips.


    "Well well well! A customer? Then allow me to take over this little explanation as, you see, unfortunately, my comrade here is still quite new to all of this so he''s a bit nervous. Let me show him the ropes and take his place for now, ok friend?"


    Ares just nodded along without saying a word. The new man threw the sphere lightly into the air and, after a brief flash, a miniature beach appeared around everyone was close by. Ares was stunned because it all felt so real and surreal, like he could reach out and actually touch this stuff. Wasn''t it just a hologram?


    "See this? This technological marvel comes from a planet in Vraizon. It''s a simulated planet with all sorts of techy wonders such as this and I happened to get some stuff from there at a wonderful price. Now I''m down here trying to sell it all off to any interested parties! This sphere is a portable beach! Comes with all the blees and whistles but I gotta remind you it''s all a hologram! Real though it may look, nothing here is real which makes it ideal for relaxing on a make believe holiday without ever having to leave the comfort and convenience of your own home!"


    Honestly? Ares was a little impressed something like this even existed. It was a decent product but something was awry about this whole situation... That first guy who was trying to sell this product had no reason to be so apprehensive if the product was this good even if he was still a newbie salesman... Ares looked around, and was about to activate his Omniscience, when he spied a snake slithering around across the beach... It was a bit of an odd design choice to have such wildlife present in what was supposed to be a relaxing hologram... And why was it slithering towards him? Ares raised a few questions to the salesman... "What''s this thing?" Ares pointed at the obvious discrepancy in the hologram.


    "Ignore it! it''s just a part of the background!"


    "It''s moving?"


    "it''s a moving background!"


    "It''s biting my leg?"


    "It''s interactive!"


    "It kinda hurts?"


    "It''s immersive!"


    "Will it eat me?"


    "Not if it likes you!"


    "Then why''s it eating me?"


    "..."


    "..."


    Sigh


    The salesman retracted the sphere and made the nibbling snake disappear before providing an explanation... "Yeah, the goods are faulty..."


    "I noticed." Ares looked down at the bite mark on his leg...


    "We were conned... We really did get this from the simulated universe up in Vraizon but, when we initially trialled the product inside the planet, it didn''t function like this. The salesman must have used some techy trickery to hide the snake while we were making the deal. As soon as we left the planet we realised we''d been duped and he sold us a backfire artifact. Yeah, sure, this thing creates a beach hologram on the go but that snake is very much not supposed to be there... We spent so much money on these failed artifacts and really need to get them off our hands..." The salesman laughed half-heartedly as he scratched his head...


    "How much?"


    "Eh?"


    "I''ll buy one and that''s it. My brother here..." Ares pointed at Aejaz. "... Happens ot be able to make use of backfire gear so today''s your lucky day. Just one though, don''t try and push your luck any further."


    "Oh thank you! What a kind soul you are! A handsome..."


    "Ok, that''s enough kiss-assing, just tell me how much and get lost. The queue has moved up and it''s time to board. You''ve been helpful in keeping other salesmen at bay but your usefulness to me ends here so make the sale and skedaddle." Ares wanted the product but he didn''t appreciate the attempt at a scam so he had mixed feelings about it all... At least the fault was easy enough to spot without Omniscience. Anyway, Aejaz could use that one art of his that foisted backfires onto people and maybe make use of this by making the snake poisonous or something, that was for him to figure out. In the end, the price came up to one singular high grade even though the salesmen originally wanted four for it. Ares almost slapped the guy''s teeth out when he tried pulling that crap and so the price was reduced appropriately when factoring in the fact that it was a backfire, he tried scamming Ares, and he was likely ever going to only make this sale and this sale alone. The guy was not in a position to haggle, and one high grade was pretty damn fantastic considering the circumstances, so he took his ''loss'' on the chin and left with the stubby guy, who''s poker face was atrocious, to go look for more people to scam further down the queue.


    As for Ares, it was finally time to board the ship, he just needed to speak with an official, and give a few small details, and it would be smooth sailing from there on out!... Although, regrettably, it looked like this specific official was having a bad day and even refusing to let some people onto the Federation for whatever reason... Of all the people Ares could have wound up talking to here at the ''border'', why did it have to be this one angsty and moody guy?! Today was not off to a great start and this level of foreboding was making Ares sick to his stomach...