Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The ride was a bit bumpy, especially with the hired carriage. 

Since the custom Family carriages that had been brought to Genhuis City had been taken by Stylla and her brother who were going about their individual business, Daggs had had to resort to finding a replacement.

One that was above a certain set of standards at least.

Skullius was fine with it, but Terese… 

She kept throwing a fit, cursing at Stylla and her brother.

The two guards in the carriage could only remain silent and wear serious expressions to mask the uncomfortable presence that this spoiled brat leaked with each and every one of the gripes she hurled at Daggs about the carriage.

The poor man could only nod while accepting that it was his fault. It was indeed his fault that he made do with what he could find for this trip to happen.

It was his fault for trying his best to do a job he felt he was lacking in.

Yes, he was at fault.

As an attendant, his duty was like that of a steward but more lax.

What he was doing currently wasn’t his inherent job in the Family as managing the affairs of the house and those of the children of the Bryne Family, was the duty of a middle aged man whom they had left at the Bryne Family estate to tend to the bunch of pending matters.

It was a sad experience to be underqualified for a post but luckily, there were two other attendants that were with Stylla and her brother.r

This alleviated Daggs’ pain somewhat.

Contrary to the attendant’s pain, Skullius enjoyed the view outside.

From what he could sense, it was quite lively out there, and as the carriage went on, he began to understand a bit more of the structure of this city.

From the entrance onwards, only the most credible and visually pleasing buildings were erected to give a better first impression of the city, an illusion of a complete beauty being propounded.

However, after a few hundreds meters of this, came a transition into the lesser, more unrefined districts that sprang from here, spreading their roots into the inconspicuous parts of the city, but they didn’t taint the streets as much because of the patrolling Knights.

Still, they remained at large but hidden from main streets that would normally be treaded by important personages.

Within Skullius’ Koten which kept moving as the carriage barrelled on, many individuals with blue cores and strange energy signatures kept getting scanned, the Hybrid Luman testing the uniqueness of the different forms of mana, with some that seemed evolved from the same generic setup that most people had.

Even as he felt the differences however, Skullius felt that his current level was far from adequate.

His [Elevated Mana Manipulation] was lacking in giving him some of the more hidden details he desired.

He really needed to evolve it into the next version of itself.

When he did, everything of his would become drastically more powerful.

He was sure.

It was actually surprising how many people in this city had general presences rivalling those of the mercenaries from the Guilds Association in Inhone City. 

Most of them were probably lone wolves with a variety of reasons fo—

…!

Skullius suddenly jerked up from his relaxed position in the carriage, his mana almost exploding out as he sensed…a threat.

An incredibly dangerous presence suddenly peeked out from a certain man who was walking on the street thirteen meters away from the carriage!

His slowly moving figure entered a small shop, becoming masked by the passers-by but not to Skullius.

This man…

Skullius, furrowed his brows as he condensed his Koten to get a better feel for this individual, his mind instinctively drawing out a memory of something he had been warned about by Stylla.

There were three individuals he had been told to be wary of in the Premium Age Royale.

Even before all the other participants had been decided, the rules and venue for the Royale still unknown, there were rumours going on about these individuals participating in the event.

One was known as the strongest.

One known as the most dangerous.

The last known as the most unpredictable.

Skullius was almost led to believe that the presence he had felt just now belonged to one of these three.

However, that was too presumptuous.

What were the odds?

‘Whoever that man is… I hope I’ll get to meet him at least,’ Skullius thought. It wasn’t because of a hostile sentiment.

“Hey! Don’t do that so suddenly! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Terese who had been startled by Skullius’ reaction yelled.

The guards had also been prompted to high guard as they thought that something was wrong but it didn’t seem that way.

Skullius didn’t pay Terese any mind.

His focus was on the remnants of a dangerous air that slipped from his Koten as the carriage went on.r

….

Daggs, Skullius and Terese disembarked from the carriage along with the guards, coming to face the massive building with a very welcoming board on its face reading ‘Genhuis Branch, Guilds Association’.

A reddish hue was plastered over the building with white adorning the frames of every door and window in sight.

A large set of steps preceded the expansive doors to the building where hundreds of men and women decked in powerful armours were spat out or fed in.

To Skullius, this was reminiscent of the Association Branch in Inhone, but this was much better as a fortress for mercenaries. It gave them more dignity and pride just from how magnificent the building was from the side.

‘It feels a bit more intimidating,’ Skullius remarked.

Daggs led the way in, a colossal space being exposed, its size as if compensating for a possible Giants’ visit.

A clean shiny floor in a pale yellow colour and white walls in the foyer, which was the most common place in the Association could be discerned, civilised clamour sounding from all around as hundreds of mercenaries went about their business.

At the very end of this foyer was a wall made of something akin to light wood, behind it dozens of men and women who sat on desks tending on the mercenaries on this side with all their enquiries and requests.

There were organised queues where mercenaries received remuneration, where they handed in requests for dealing with various issues, formally known here as quests, and some that dealt with registration in general.

“Hmm?” Skullius hummed quizzically when he felt some coins in the pouch of one of the mercenaries.

“Is that…mana?”

These coins emitted hints of mana like pixie dust and they were not exclusive to this man who chuckled to his friends as stored the coin pouch.

Many people had them!

“You’re still going to persist on being late, Festos?” Silrat’s voice came from the side, the former Branch Head of the Guilds Association walking towards the group with another man in tow.

Skullius’ attention was immediately drawn to this other individual but shockingly, when he tried to probe the man’s mana core… he was pushed back!

“Oh?” Skullius said while raising a brow.

“He’s as curious as you said, Silrat. I wouldn’t dream of letting my guard down in the presence of a Mage,” the man said with a smile under his moustache.