No matter who, every single person standing near or around the city gates looked incredulously in Alex''s direction. But Alex remained calm. After all, who wouldn''t give strange looks if they suddenly saw a man riding atop a huge lizard come out of nowhere, and someone who looked completely unfamiliar to them no less.

    In fact, despite the weird looks and attention he was stirring up simply from Brontes'' presence as his mount, Alex actually felt quite happy and relieved inside. Was this not his most hopeful outcome?

    It beat just immediately getting attacked, that was for sure. But Alex was also positive that their C tier aura''s were a part of the reason they weren''t attacked. If they revealed B tier aura, or god forbid their actual aura, then only god would know how these people would have reacted to their sudden appearance.

    Seeing the attention that they had garnered at the gates, it was only natural that people would want to investigate. As the officials in charge of guarding this section of the wall, the city guards quickly made their way over.

    They descended from their posts atop the walls with clearly practiced efficiency, with their armour not looking any special to the first glance.

    ''Must be because of the lack of trade with outside forces.'' Alex thought to himself.

    This city still gave him quite an interesting feeling – a place so large, yet so isolated. It only made him wonder how this situation exactly came to be. But despite all that, he was a newcomer here so if he went around asking questions about the city''s status and history, then he could rouse some suspicion that he would rather not gather.

    The less people that knew about him in this place, the better. Though that wouldn''t stop him from going about his business as usual of course, it just meant he had to play things carefully.

    "Halt!" One of the guards barked at him when he neared the gate. His voice was amplified by his clear C+ rank Mutant class strength, which Alex and Brontes both felt clearly through the aura he was permeating.

    The guards had no reason to hide their strength, in fact showing it so brazenly like this acted as a good deterrent for any would-be criminals, making them second guess entering this city. With how little visitors they had, they were sure to be more thoroughly investigated after all.

    "State your identity and purpose!" The same guard shouted at Alex.No?v(el)B\\jnn

    Alex raised both his hands in gesture of peace, keeping his actions calm and steady to not agitate anyone.

    "Name''s Alex. Just a traveler passing through, looking for supplies and information. I don''t want any trouble here." He said, maintaining a calm but confident tone.

    The guards didn''t look convinced, but one of them stepped aside and spoke to that same device on his wrist that he''d used to scan Alex and Brontes earlier. After a few tense moments of a staring contest between Alex and the other remaining guards as they waited, the massive gates began to creak open, revealing the bustling city behind.

    Alex tried using his enhanced hearing to snoop in on the conversation between the head guard and whoever was on the other end of the communicator, but there was some sort of filter that blocked him from understanding what they were saying. The words were all garbled, and it was clearly interference, not them simply speaking a language he didn''t understand.

    "You''ll be watched," the lead guard said as he walked back to Alex. "Any sign of aggression, and you''ll be dealt with immediately."

    "Understood." Alex said, nodding at the guards. "Thanks for the hospitality."

    Brontes soon strode through the tall, imposing gates of the city with Alex curiously looking around on his back.

    ''I forgot to ask what the name of this place was...'' Alex chastised himself, but let it go instantly.

    However while he was thinking, Brontes suddenly let out a huge yawn, and promptly fell over onto his side, knocking Alex off in the process.

    He''d clearly just entered a deep slumber, but this time there was something different than the first time he did so...

    He disappeared from view completely!

    [Tame Brontes has entered the taming space.]

    [Beasts in taming space: 1]

    ''...''

    ''Are you telling me you could have just done that the whole time, instead of having us go through that whole mount ruse???''

    Alex didn''t know what to think.