443 Don't Flesh Up So Soon!
It had taken a while for Skullius to reach the front of the line. He and Yuyui had had to wait for roughly four hours, which in truth was quite fast considering how long the queue was.
Arriving here this quickly could only be attributed to Skullius sprinting the rest of the distance from where he had been.
What a sprint it was.
Yuyui could barely believe the speed Skullius was moving at as even seeing the view of her surroundings during the speed run was impossible for her.
The service at the gateway into Genhuis City was pretty efficient, a feature Skullius noted to be a sign of how different this city was.
A sense of deja vu smote him as he stood in line, making him think of the first time he had reached Inhone City.
It was just a little while ago, the circumstances he had been in being vastly different that time.
Sigh, harder times.
Standing in the line that fed into the small city back then while eavesdropping on conversations happening all around him had been his pass time and the same applied in this situation.
Though Skullius’ natural sight was missing, he could pretty much ‘see’ everything through his extraordinary senses though with a lot of deficiency when it came to detail.
Skullius had thought of using [Basic Evil Sanction] to collect information from some of the individuals blurting out pinches of detail that he needed but the Knights standing guard had discouraged him.
These Knights were different from the ones he was used to. They had a certain air about them that was… dangerous.
If Skullius had to guess, some of these guys were the Capital Order Knights that Bek had talked about, their strength greater than that of ordinary Knights.
Given the fact that [Basic Evil Sanction] was a Special skill, he doubted its activation would go unnoticed.
Therefore, Skullius continued eavesdropping while making sure Yuyui didn’t get into trouble. For some reason, he just got the feeling that it was necessary to keep a close eye on her.
To ensure that he didn’t look suspicious, Skullius had worn an ordinary get up, the design sponsored by the first set of his armour, the Casual VergeRider which could morph into any type of clothing he desired so long as it was… casual.
The thickets of snow blanketing over the ground as well as the visible white breaths leaking from everyone around, displayed that the cold was ever strong here as well.
However, many people within the queues did not wear overly warm clothes as most of natives to this region were not afraid of the cold.
It was a staple of their home, after all.
Skullius decided to dress casually as well to blend in.
Yuyui was covered as she didn’t look anything but ordinary with her oversized clothes.
Now, as Skullius chuckled at the prospect of seeing Silrat’s face when he noticed how different Skullius was, he felt something strange.
He, Yuyui and Daggs were approaching the entrance to the city, a wide gap where people were entering and exiting freely.
But…
Skullius stopped.
He frowned.
Daggs stopped to turn to Skullius, Yuyui instantly coming to a halt as she dashed over to her master while clinging to his arm.
She knew to trust her master when it came to noticing things that many others wouldn’t.
“Master Festos…?” Daggs said with concern… and apprehension.
“Daggs… what’s going on? What’s this… presence over the city?” Skullius asked while turning his white eyes to the man sharply.
He could feel an unusual… pressure that lightly bore down on the city, starting from just a meter ahead of him.
Daggs’ eyes narrowed for a moment.
So far, his impression of Skullius was turning out to not be as Silrat said at all.
The question that Skullius posed served to make him consider two things.
‘Is he truly blind?’ was the first thing he thought and then…
‘Strange. I thought only powerful individuals could sense the pressing effect of the Daylight Dominion? It’s only possible to see the sun once you enter the bounds of the city too so…?’
Anyone entering Genhuis City for the first time would notice the odd brightest coming from above and not the pressure this object bore down unless they could interpret the weavings of the make to some degree.
So Skullius…
These thoughts haunted Daggs only for a brief moment, with his enquiry over whether Skullius was blind or otherwise stemming from the simple fact that his eyes looked strange – white with a blank feel to them.
There was proving to already be that much mystery behind this man, even more than Silrat summarised.
Unfortunately, in response to Skullius’ question…
“Please forgive me, Master Festos. Master Silrat warned me about your… condition. I cannot provide you answers myself. However, in anticipation of what you might want to know…” Daggs said as he reached into the breast pocket of the suit he wore and pulled out a piece of paper folded immaculately, handing it to Yuyui instead of Skullius. “Master Silrat wrote down the basics of what you need to know immediately after entering the city.”
Yuyui grasped the paper before looking to Skullius who shook his head with a subdued smile.
“I see,” he said but refused to move before having this sensation explained to him.
“Yuyui, read it,” Skullius instructed to which the lime haired girl promptly went began doing so.
” ‘I’m sure you have been developing ways to get around your curse during your short journey. Well, I have been too. Filling you in on this information could have been done when we meet but unlike in Inhone, we can’t afford to be careless here…'” Yuyui read.
” ‘Festos, the sun you see above the city is a surveillance technique of the City Guardian of Genhuis City, Daylight Dominion. Everything the light touches in the city is relayed to him, so make sure you do nothing to attract attention. Additionally, if you look around, there are seven tall towers scattered around the city. They belong to seven powerful Diviners who constantly monitor the situation within the city as well, so once again… I stress, don’t do anything funny.'”
” ‘As if that isn’t enough, a large power should be visible to the East of the city from the gate. The one that looks like it is made of diamonds. That’s the Academy. The place where special individuals are trained, in particular, Mages. These guys are not like Terian. They are incredibly dangerous. Keep to yourself until you and Daggs reach the residence. And for the love of Quintess make sure he doesn’t die.'”
That was it.
Skullius hummed as he swallowed up all this information.
There was a sun above the city and it was someone’s technique, huh?
Seven Diviners and an Academy with powerful Mages?
‘It seems like Frock wasn’t wrong. In comparison to this, Inhone might as well be a template of the real deal. Ah, I miss that sockethole,’ Skullius thought.
As he was lost in his sentiments for a brief period, a set of heavy footsteps came from behind the three, approaching them.
“Is there a problem here? Please move out the way, you are compromising the order we set up.”
A Knight decked in a slim silver and gold armour spoke. It was a woman.
Vibrant waves of energy swam around her, leaking from her to compel the three to move.
“There are no problems, Lady Knight, we will be moving along,” Daggs said respectfully. “Master Festos?”
Skullius nodded as he took a step forward.
‘This is just surveillance, right? So it shouldn’t be a problem,’ he thought as he entered the bounds of the city.
The moment he and Yuyui entered, Skullius grit his teeth lightly, Yuyui looking up as she was prompted to by a soft light in the air.
“Woooow…” the lime haired girl marvelled as she understood what she had been reading now.
The sun.
It was less glaring than she thought. Outside of the bit of light it produced, it was more like a nicely painted image on a canvas.
A smaller sun giving a light peach coloured heat and hardly any heat.
It was magnificent.
Skullius, unlike Yuyui felt the pressure from the sun a bit more clearer.
This was definitely a high level technique.
It was profound.
He truly felt like he was being watched.