Chapter 635 - 635 - Opportunities And Shadows

Surprise and a moment later, annoyance quickly began to rise in the Guard Captain's heart. The peculiarity of the strange situation was irking him to no end. 

Taking only a few moments to regain his wits, he turned to face the hooded merchant and hurriedly reached out to grab the hems of his hood once again. 

Yet every time he was about to touch the textile, the robed man dodged and evaded. Each time, he merely stepped away, or ducked down, leaned back… each and every action the strange old-looking man took was simple, yet it was just enough to escape from the Guard Captain grabbing onto him.

After several minutes and dozens of failed attempts, finally, the reality of the situation began to seep in to the Guard Captain's mind. He sighed as he took some time to rest and recuperate his lost stamina.

"[Reptilian] What in the… Just who are you truly?" The Guard Captain felt rather perplexed at the helplessness of his situation. 

Even though the robed and hunched man's movements seemed perfectly natural and it could be said that everything that happened was just pure coincidence, he knew it was not the case. It could be contributed to pure luck once or maybe twice but that wasn't the case anymore. 

They have basically fought for dozens of moves, and besides him wasting a great deal of his strength and energy, nothing else was achieved.

Sighing once again, he looked at the hooded, hunched elder.

"[Reptilian] Fine… I give up…" He raised his arms, giving in. "Can you at least tell me… Why are you so adamant about keeping your identity hidden?"

"[Reptilian] Apologies mighty sir!" Aiden bowed, speaking in a respectful manner. Cupping his hands, he continued. "We have shamed our ancestors by losing our homes. Because of that, we are not allowed the light of day to shine on our sinful gazes anymore."

Aiden made up a believable white lie on the spot. 

"[Reptilian] If sir have no more questions to this humble one, then I will take my return…" Aiden apologized and turned around to leave. 

"[Reptilian] Wait!" Before he could take even a step, however, the Guard Captain called out. 

Turning around, Aiden bowed down again, not just to show respect but also to make sure his facial features remained hidden from the scrutinizing gaze of the crafty skink. 

Seeing that even now, he was unable to catch the man unprepared, the Guard Captain frowned for a moment before speaking up.

"[Reptilian] You mentioned you are all looking for some way to earn coins. Was that true?" He started with a question, whilst he took a step closer. As he did so, he also looked behind the man, looking at the dark shapes and silhouettes that could be faintly seen through the dim lighting from the inn's first floor.

"[Reptilian] That is true, mighty sir. May I ask, why are you asking about it?" 

"[Reptilian] Seeing how quick you are despite your age, I may have an opportunity for you… It's perfectly legal and it doesn't require anything special but keeping a low profile. What do you say, are you interested in hearing more?"

Aiden took a few seconds silently contemplating what the Guard Captain had just said. At first, he wanted to deny the Guard Captain's offer, and just try to make him go away finally. However, after a bit of thinking as well as knowing that he still wasn't considered to be truly hostile, and was still donning his yellow, neutral colors in the system, Aiden decided to at the very least hear him out.

They did truly needed to find some form of income without raising suspicion. They needed to settle in at least for a few days whilst they worked out a way to gain entrance to the core city itself.

Sure, if all things fail, and everything goes awry, he could just forcefully break-in. The problem with that would be that he would raise the alarms, and alert the High Priest of his presence. This could then potentially endanger the safety of Tolliah's mother, where ever she may be currently held inside the High Temple at the center of the city.

The best would be to silently infiltrate the city and get in without anyone realizing. 

Standing silent and pondering on the skink Guard Captain's words, Aiden finally made up his mind.

Faking a cough, Aiden gained the man's attention and nodded ever-so-slightly. 

"[Reptilian] Yes, mighty sir. We are looking for some honest means to earn a bit of coin…" 

Turning around he waved towards the inn. 

"[Reptilian] Though we may not have much to offer, may I invite the sir to enjoy breakfast with us? That way we could hear the opportunity without bothering anyone else…"

The Guard Captain didn't hesitate for nearly as much as Aiden did just before. He instantly nodded, walking over to Aiden and taking his left side.

"[Reptilian] Yes, please lead the way!" He exclaimed, flashing a friendly-looking smile on his face.

They casually walked side-by-side, leaving the scene… seemingly unaware of the prying eyes watching them from farther away…

…

Standing atop a rooftop of a two-story stone building, a tall, slim humanoid-shaped figure looked in the direction of the inn where Aiden and the Guard Captain have just gone into.

The figure, looking much taller than these skinks, roughly matching Aiden's height in his default form stood over the ledges. Watching the scene unfold, it couldn't help but smirk, clearly enjoying the peculiar fight. 

When the two finally came together and left, a smile stretched across its face which mostly remained hidden due to the white, faceless mask that covered the entirety of the figure's face. 

A pair of blueish dots shone through the only two small eye sockets made on the wooden cover. They flickered with a mystical light, looking as deep as the oceans. 

"So HE really is here…  Everything according to the Grandmaster's plan." The figure muttered, before snapping its fingers. In the next instant, the small crimson gemstones in the skull-faced ring on its finger began to radiate a reddish hue, covering the figure in the next instant. 

"Time to work, I guess…"

In the next moment, the stranger figure turned blurry and hazy, before it wafted away by the wind, leaving no traces of it ever being there in the first place.

—

The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the ruins of what was once a beautiful perspiring city.

In one of its long-demolished streets, surrounded by dilapidated wreckage a fierce battle could be observed. 

The Silver Howl Mercenaries and Aiden's friends were currently surrounded, and were in a seemingly losing fight…

>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It's an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated ('Banished') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Update: First R18 chapter coming soon!

Planned Tags and Genre:  # CULTIVATION  # R18  # BETRAYAL  # TRANSMIGRATION  # URBAN  # ACTION  # ANTIHERO  # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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