Rivers of the Night - Chapter 679
Chapter 679: Welcome
“Welcome.” A pretty young lady behind a counter beamed at Theron. “Would you like to test to join the guild or would you like to hire?”
“Join,” Theron said.
“I see.” She nodded quite professionally. “The next round of examinations will begin in three days. Is that alright?”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, great. Please fill out the questions here to the best of your abilities. There’s also a fee of a Gold Mana Crystal for those in the Gold Mancy Realm.”
Theron raised an internal eyebrow. This must be the cost for joining from this branch. He highly doubted that the price was so steep elsewhere.
But that was good too. It meant that this branch would more than likely have what he was looking for.
Not all guild branches were created equal. Although you could rank up from any branch, the trouble was that many branches had a ceiling, including this one.
Meaning, if you were a Bronze Mercenary from a Bronze Branch, it was impossible to take a test to become a Silver Mercenary there.
This branch not only had the facilities to test to allow you to become a Cloud Mercenary, but also a Heaven Mercenary beyond that. It was the absolute best in the region.
By extension, this branch also received a great deal of traffic in terms of missions and the like.
The downside was, of course, that the competition was many times fiercer here, and the danger was likewise up to par with the expectations.
However, the bright side was that the receptionist was surprisingly cordial despite Theron’s age and low cultivation. Not that Theron would have really cared one way or another.
Theron took the badge and walked out of the guild. It seemed that he was going to have to find some accommodations.
His cultivation also felt like it was on some sort of speeding train. He could feel that with a little extra push, his cultivation would improve to the Third Resonance of Gold Mancy.
He was honestly trying to slow it down for a bit, not wanting to affect his foundation. But it seemed he had accumulated for so long in the Quasi Gold Mancy Realm that everything was coming with shocking ease.
If his foundation wasn’t going to be affected, why bother to slow it down, then?
First he would go and find accommodations for the next few days, then he would check to see if this city had anything of interest. Maybe he could use the Nightingale Ancestor Bird’s eyes to pick out some good stuff others might miss.
**
Venlow City was one of the largest cities in the galaxy. In fact, they were easily amongst the top three. Located in the Shonagh Clan’s territory, it was brimming with Mana and power.
This city in specific, though, was a hub of many Clans—one that was frequented by many powerhouses.
As one might expect for a city like this, it also had its dark corners. And right this moment, at a dark corner maybe every Patriarch in the Sector wanted to know the location of, a hooded figure appeared.
The room couldn’t have been more pitch black. Even a Cloud Mancer wouldn’t be able to see their palm before their face, and yet a figure sitting in meditation and another walking toward him seemed unbothered.
“Urelius Bon’s ship has entered our airspace. It was pinged minutes ago.”
The figure sitting in meditation didn’t speak immediately, instead looking up as though to gauge whether they were telling the truth or not.
Urelius Bon had been off the grid for hundreds of years, only to make such a rudimentary mistake? That was impossible.
“Someone has taken his legacy.”
“Yes. A child. Second Resonance Gold Mancer. Fifteen years old. The air around him is odd. I don’t suggest sending a Cloud Mancer after him.”
“Urelius wasn’t strong enough to gain such an inheritor.”
“His ego was far larger than it should have been.”
“If this was a child he personally picked, he would have given several warnings about exactly this. There is something wrong here. Your assessment of the child may be incorrect.”
“Your words make sense. But there is no need to take the risk. Send a Dome of Heaven expert.”
“… Agreed.”
**
Theron had no idea such a conversation was taking place about him. He found himself a high-profile hotel to stay in, one with abundant Mana and rooms that doubled as cultivation havens.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind, though. Ilzan had mentioned a “she” he still didn’t know about. There was no point in asking the Nightingale Ancestor Bird because it didn’t know about anything that had happened recently.
He was sure that Ilzan wouldn’t mention someone like that for no reason at all.
Theron’s steps suddenly paused, his head turning toward a stall. The movement looked as natural as could be, but he had originally never planned on stopping at this stall. He had made the decision at the last minute as though something had caught his eye.
‘An assassin?’ Theron thought. ‘Why would there be someone coming to assassinate me?’
For a moment, Theron thought it was because of his extravagant spending, but he eliminated the idea immediately. The reason he had chosen to not hide his wealth was because this was an entire city of wealth.
If you saw a youth spending a ton of money, your first thought wouldn’t be to rob; it would be to assume his background was deep and unfathomable.
Plus, Theron’s wealth all came from the Nightingale Sect. He hadn’t been bold enough to also rob the Hall of Ice and Heart, unfortunately. So, as great as the wealth was for an individual Gold Mancer, it wasn’t something that should trigger the greed of someone truly powerful.
Had Ilzan sent people after him so soon?
Theron didn’t look particularly worried as he chatted with the stall owner, asking about a few of the items casually. Instead, his mind was elsewhere.
This was a professional assassin. So… where was the assassin’s guild?