At six in the evening, the marketplace of Nhadal had gotten livelier.
The outside stalls that sold raw meat, vegetables, and fruits during the day were replaced by stalls selling all kinds of goods from accessories, array materials, armors, beasts items, herbs, weapons, local street foods, etc. Bars and pubs started to arrange tables and chairs in front of their stores and lit up their signs.
Amidst all this bustle, the Mercenary guild also exuded the same vigor as most establishments because most mercenaries who went out to hunt were returning one after another to claim their bounty rewards mingle with the other mercenaries or simply to rest.
While so many mercenaries entered the guild, either to check-in or went to the public cafeteria or simply to hang out at the reception area, a man in a black coat with half of his face covered actually went over the counter and checked out.
This man was Kyran. But right now, only the receptionist and the Guild Master knew that he was ‘Tyr’.
“You’re already leaving?” The man at the reception desk looked at Kyran in surprise. Even the female receptionist beside him was surprised.
Two hours had not even passed since the time he received Kyran and his companion. His companion also left more than an hour ago. While mercenaries were not rare to come and go, Kyran and his companion’s stay was too brief that the man felt a little uncomfortable. Because after he reported to the Guild Master about Kyran’s arrival, the Guild Master had asked the kitchen to prepare a small feast to serve for his dinner. If Kyran left now, wouldn’t that be wasteful?
“Yes.” Kyran replied without elaborating. He was not entitled to explain.
When Kyran answered the receptionist, it drew the attention of some mercenaries hanging out at the guild’s reception area.
“Leaving at this time?” One mercenary said with a slight frown.
“Who cares, he’s probably just going to have some fun at some pub or clubhouse.” A mercenary chimed in with a snigger.
“I saw him check out, though. If he plans to have fun out why did he have to check out?”
“Then he probably wanna stay at the clubhouse.”
“You and your dirty mind, don’t you think he looked too dignified if his destination is that place?”
Whisperings from the other mercenaries sounded. Some of them reexamined Kyran. The determined look on his unusual aquamarine eyes and his purposeful stride actually gave them the impression that he was going out on a mission.
Ignoring the whispers around him, Kyran said, “My token.”
As if waking from a trance, the man blinked once and said, “Oh. Yes, apologies.”
He immediately took Kyran’s token out from the cabinet. However, he looked hesitantly at Kyran before reaching out his hand to return the token. He contemplated how he should tell Kyran about the Guild Master’s order.
“Would you like to have a dinner first?”
“No need,” Kyran turned down the offer and took his token.
“Sir, if you plan to visit look around the town’s marketplace you don’t really have to check out.” The receptionist tried to explain. “You can keep your room and-.”
“I’m leaving Nhadal. Thanks anyway,” Kyran curtly replied while he put his token back in his pouch.
Those who heard what he said could not help but gasp in fright.
Who among them did not know that leaving the town of Nhadal at night was very dangerous. It was during this time that most mutated forest beasts were active. These beasts were also considered as the most ‘ferocious’ ones among the known beasts around Nhadal.
This reason was why no mercenaries or hunters wanted to stay outside Nhadal after the sun had set.
“But sir-.”
“Thanks,” Kyran interrupted the man before he could say more and left at once.
“W-Wait-.” The receptionist tried to run after him, but another group of mercenaries had already approached the desk wanting to submit their mission for reward, and the female receptionist was quickly overwhelmed.
The mercenaries could only look at Kyran in regret.
They did not try to persuade him because it was futile. Looking at how young he looked, he would definitely ignore their warning. Young mercenaries were like that. Arrogant and reckless. Veteran mercenaries believed it was easier for young ones to learn of the danger by themselves. If they had skills, they might be able to survive and return to Nhadal. If not, then tough luck.
Since his destination was the Valley of Morte, Kyran was aware of the condition outside of Nhadal at night. It would not stop him from going. And to be honest, he preferred to go at night because his target, the Theihorns, were most active at night.
Others might think that it was better to hunt the Theihorns during the day, where they would mostly stay at their nest, either sleeping or idling around. However, this actually posed more danger. Because when Theihorns were inactive, the whole pack would stay close to each other for protection. Unlike when they were actively hunting, where they went out in groups.
The receptionist dealt with his matters and went out of the building, hoping to run after Kyran. However, once he got out, Kyran was no longer in sight.
‘Oh, no. If the Guild Master found out that I failed to stop him, I’ll be in trouble!’ The man thought in distress.
Dealing with people with special identities within the Conclave was very stressful!
=================
The Valley of Morte was only about 3,000 kilometers away south of Nhadal.
In order to avoid the Nhadal’s security from stopping him from leaving town, Kyran found a blindspot and used a teleportation token to teleport outside. He used a token than warp out himself to avoid being detected by the army’s magic detector installed in town.
After confirming that he teleported at a good distance outside Nhadal, Kyran checked his location before going on his way.
Contrary to what he initially expected, Kyran did not encounter any forest beasts along the way. Because of this reason, it only took a quarter of an hour for him to arrive at the edge near Valley of Morte.
Kyran stood on top of a tree branch and looked ahead.
Around fifty meters from his position, there was a clearing that led to a small canyon. The Valley of Morte was located at the other end of this canyon.
‘From the Conclave’s information, this canyon’s distance was only 200 kilometers. But there was a cave opening near the middle where a mutated Basilisk lived.’ Kyran recalled the information he read.
‘However, the Basilisk is one of the large-sized forest beasts that are active at night. Meaning there is a good chance it already left its nest to hunt for food.’
Using the Regis Body Tempering Technique, Kyran closed his eyes and strained his ears for any sounds or movements around him.
He heard forest insects, whistling wind from the canyon, a flow of stream nearby, other small noises made by small-sized beasts. There was no slithering sound that snake-type beasts usually made.
Kyran opened his eyes and jumped down the tree.
He urged his Void Core, and soon a Void Spear appeared on his left hand, and the Void Armor covered his body.
‘There’s a good chance the Basilisk is still in the cave, but it doesn’t matter. I just have to kill it when it appears,’ Kyran thought and entered the canyon.
After walking along the canyon, Kyran could not help but feel eyes looking at him from a distance. However, based on his enhanced senses, there were no beasts nearby.
‘Strange,’ Kyran thought.
He really hated the feeling of being watched. Apart from this, he had a bad feeling about not encountering any forest beasts.
When he was on his way to Nhadal, he also did not encounter any beasts. At first, he thought that maybe it was because the bandits cleared the forest, or he happened to venture along the path where there were no forest beasts.
Thinking back from when he was running away from the army, the forest near the Regis Estate was actually full of small to medium-sized forest beasts, but he also did not encounter one. Not that he was complaining.
He just found it strange.
An absurd thought crossed Kyran’s mind, which made the bad feeling he had to worsen.
Could it be that the forest beasts were avoiding him?
Kyran shook his head at the thought.
Though forest beasts were sensitive to the danger, they would not deliberately avoid a human. Even if that human had insane magic with a physique that could use almost invincible tempering techniques.
…
Kyran took a deep breath. He felt an incoming headache as he continued walking down the canyon.
No way, right?
Because, if his idea were correct, wouldn’t that mean the Theihorns would also ‘avoid’ him?
‘Stop overthinking,’ Kyran scolded himself.
Then he remembered the array he previously found that he suspected belonged to the bandits.
Kyran stopped in his tracks as an idea formed in his mind.