152 Inhone City
The Discount Human stood, facing the city that was supposed to be small.
Inhone City.
It was bigger than he expected it to be, surrounded by thick walls that had different stations atop which could be manned to attack in times of crisis.
Right now, he was standing in a wife dusty street where several tens of people were lined up, entering the city one by one.
The surroundings were as verdant as they had been for all his journey which enraged Skullius as it almost seemed like he was the only one whom the sun wanted to bully.
Among the people around him were some had carts and carriages, others on foot as they all endured the procedure that was taking place at the wide open space at the wall where the gates were lifted.
Verification of identity before entry was really important in Inhone as well as all proper cities.
New entrants had to pay a fee that was in line with how long they would be staying in the city. If they wished to remain permanent residents of the region or the city, they had to pay for it, gaining an identification that could last for up to ten years given the right pocket before needing to be renewed.
Locals had it easy as people from this hot region could identify themselves easily and distinguish the foreigners because of their skin and tolerance to the hot one above.
Skullius had heard in the many conversations that were taking place around him of the situation and he was glad in this moment, that he had some coin.
In all truth, he didn’t know what coin was until just a few minutes ago when he listened to a few blabbering merchants who tossed a few silver coins in the air playfully.
‘This heat is a pain in the pelvis.. ” Skullius thought as he sweated.
The sun had not been kind to him over his journey from Santhi.
He was glad that Red Rage had secured for him clothing and water, otherwise he would have died in the most embarrassing way for an evolved Boneman in disguise.
It had been a rough journey but he had made it anyway, silent as it was, with Skullius running away from strangers and seeking for monsters to kill to gather Null Life Essence from.
He had found none as except for domestic animals that were kept in the many settlements which he had seen on his way, nothing else could be found.
His Conqueror’s Halo had vanished some time ago, though Skullius couldn’t be bothered as it had been made known to him that it was just a decoration.
An advertisement.
The Discount Human had become devoted to mastering the abilities of the Insurgent Magnus after his fight with Jackpot.
Since he would be stuck in cosmetic flesh for most of the time while he was with humans, he had to practise harder.
And practise he did.
[Basic Evil Weaving] had reached level 8 while [Evil Darkness Production] had reached level 6 following some dedicated work.
Skullius couldn’t wait to evolve the skills and unlock more options in his use of the power.
His current goal hadn’t changed as he aimed to find a way to save Red Rage while harvesting Null Life Essence.
Searching for more Clusters wasn’t a bad idea but during his journey here, he had found it rather difficult to come across a Cluster.
Hopefully, the word he had heard being tossed around a day ago in Namu and Santhi could help him with his goals.
Guild.
The line kept moving as the service was not stunted by any means, Skullius following along until he reached the front.
Now, he could clearly see the ones managing all the work.
A few men dressed formally sat on desks while at the edges of the gates, men in sparkling silver armour could be seen.
Capital Knights.
These men seemed more… professional and powerful than the ones Skullius had seen in Eofel. They had an air about them that demanded respect and even though Skullius didn’t dare use [Advanced Mana Manipulation], he could still feel that there crazy strong.
Two of them wore stern faces as they asked the same questions over and over again, the entrants paying up to the formally dressed men who sat desks collecting the coin in spatial rings.
As Skullius’ turn came, his figure standing before the Knight, he saw the man’s face twitch a little upon looking at his face.
“State your business,” the Knight said sternly with a bit of roughness that he didn’t inflict on anyone else.
“I’m here to… visit,” Skullius answered.
“For how long do you wish to stay?”
“A few days.”
“For how long do you wish to stay?”
“Bro, I said a few days.”
“For how long do you wish to stay?!”
The sword at the Knight’s side was unsheathed.
“Five days, bro,” Skullius relented, the Knight’s malicious air finally dying down.
Skullius had already been holding five silver coins that he had taken from Reon’s ring which he handed to the man at the desk who also looked at his face with grimace.
‘Give it a rest you bastards!’ Skill growled inwardly.
Upon entering the city, he was met with a vast world that announced everything within it quite blatantly. Tall purposeful structures that rose from the ground had different colourations and styles with symbols that showed what their function was.
Orderly streets that carried people of different kinds, some rich, some poor were artfully placed around the city.
Clamour and chatter along with sweet smells were everywhere, though Skullius couldn’t detect them.
No loud and disorderly marketplaces were evident as this seemed like a proper city with purpose.
Perhaps it was just a biased opinion from Skullius as he hated the reception from Eofel.
“Now. Where do I start?” Skullius thought as his eyes ran around, taking in full scenes of various activities.
He couldn’t bring himself to just ask as he feared provoking UNCoddled and getting himself screwed all over again.
Skullius gazed to the side and found a group of six men and women wearing colourful armour and holding impressive looking weapons.
They were on their way out of the city as they chatted joyfully while on the other side of the street, a few other figures with the same armour were walking towards a tall and wide building hidden behind several smaller ones in the distance.
“Hmmm… that would be a good place to start right?” Skullius asked himself as he walked towards the building.