Roman and Arnold had stumbled into the eastern part of the city, and they were making sure their faces weren’t seen.

Roman was leading the way, even though he had no idea where he was heading, and Arnold was relentlessly following up. After what had happened back in the caravan, he had since started to see Roman from a different perspective.

How had he suddenly summoned those monsters from nowhere?

How had he commanded them to do the job so perfectly that they were able to escape without stress?

Roman had done all these as a mere Fourth Class who had a thirty-six percent chance of getting summoned into the Badlands on the Day of the Red Zenith.

As if that wasn’t enough, he had even dismissed them without even saying a word or making a command!

As far as Arnold was concerned, there was no way the BSP could do such a thing, and even a Summoner would have to make some gestures before doing all those things.

Arnold had just seen Roman doing all these like he was making the commands with his thoughts, and surely, he was getting to believe that maybe Roman, whom he had underestimated since the day they joined Blood Trial Outpost, had something very special with him.

Because there was no fucking way a Fourth Class graduate would get a chance of getting the Summoner Profession, much less be able to control his companions so casually like he had created them.

All this time while he was thinking, Roman was still running, and soon, they had gotten to a part of the city where almost no one could be seen around.

It was at that point that Roman stopped running and gave himself some time to rest, and when Arnold made sure he had caught up to him, he almost collapsed on the floor, gasping for air.

"Damn, man. What was that long run for?" Arnold asked as he gasped.

"Exercising the body. We needed that," Roman said with a wry smile.

"Who needs to exercise when we have Attributes? Just say the truth and tell me you wanted all the oxygen in my lungs burnt out," Arnold responded, his face dark.

"Not a bad idea." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Roman shrugged.

And Arnold was about to frown when he remembered the monsters, especially the Blade Ant, and he kept his face balanced.

"How did you do that?" He hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Do what?" Roman furrowed his brows.

"Summon those monsters? Everyone in the outpost has been calling you a Mage, but now it pretty much seems like you are a Summoner," Arnold spoke.

"Oh..." Roman shook his head.

He stared right and left, and decided that they should go left. Going right meant they would be heading back to the Mayor’s residence, which could be dangerous because he was pretty sure they might be in search of them at the moment.

Then he spoke as they walked.

"I am not a Mage. I was never a Mage. I’m a Beast Tamer. You see those monsters right there? I tamed them from the valley, and I have learned to control them over time," Roman lied.

However, what would it have taken for Arnold not to believe? He had never clearly seen Roman in combat before, and had only heard the rumours that he was a Mage.

Surely, this was the one he just had to believe.

"Are you really sure your Academic Standard was Fourth Class? Don’t you think there was a mistake with the results?"

At that point, Arnold began to ask, since he still wasn’t processing how a Fourth Class was having a Beast Tamer Profession, while he, who was a First Class, had satisfyingly settled as an Archer.

Arnold wasn’t only doubtful about his AS, he was also confused by the unbelievable connection.

However, Roman just didn’t have enough to say to him. This wasn’t the best moment to expose himself to anyone, and even then, not to Arnold of all people.

They soon reached a quiet spot where they found a hidden point right at one side. It was a building that was still under construction, but almost all parts had been covered.

"Here’s where we’ll hide," Roman said.

"What? Why not escape out of the city tonight? We can find shelter right after that. If we don’t get out of the city, they might end up finding us again," Arnold objected.

"That’s if we keep quiet and hide well. If we get to the gates, it would be worse because they might have sent word to the gatekeepers to keep an eye on everyone going out," Roman explained.

"And what about the walls? We can..."

"The walls are too tall, and we can’t climb them. There’s always a patrol team on every portion of the walls. Even if you try, they would notice you right before you can cross to the other side," Roman interrupted.

At that point, Arnold’s face had darkened, and soon he realised that there was no way out at that point after having to observe by himself.

"We are going to figure a way out tomorrow, and make sure we get back to the Frontier as soon as possible," Roman added before they rushed into their hiding place.

Truly, Roman would have just started figuring out a way right after they had escaped from the caravan, but why had he really not?

It was simply because he wanted to get to meet the so-called Mayor of the city. While he wanted to invite her to hunt with him in Terror Lake, he also wanted to discuss more about the Cross Operation.

Which had been in his mind for a while.

Getting to Strength City at this time was never in his plans, but now that he had happened to be there, he wouldn’t take it as a misfortune or an issue based on the conflict between the messengers.

He would take it as a vital opportunity.

******

A modern caravan arrived at the gates of Blood Trial Outpost, and when the gatekeepers noticed the seal on the engine, they didn’t waste a second before letting the gates open.

The caravan stormed in like it was invited, and rode right towards the Head’s quarters, drawing almost all attention.

Many of the rookies thought it was the messengers returning Roman and Arnold. Some thought it was, perhaps... Rena.

However, when about five figures stepped out, dressed in some middle-class attire, their hopes faded at once.

One of these five figures approached the Head, Sylvester Trench, who had already stepped out of his building and had a look of slight surprise when he saw them.

"General Warden. I never received any message that you were coming," Sylvester said.

"You don’t always have to. The Mayor decided to make it a surprise this time," he said and gave a wide smile.

And Sylvester only hesitated before nodding.

"So we have good news... Is it good news?" He turned to the others, and without waiting for their response, he turned back. "Yeah, must be good news."

Sylvester still didn’t say a word and just listened.

"We just discovered an Extraordinary Monster at the deep end of the valley," Warden announced.

Sylvester’s eyes lit up in shock at once.

"What? This same valley? Blood Trail Valley?"

Warden nodded as he gave a soft laugh right after.

"Yeah, don’t start shitting your pants now. It’s a very, very far part of the valley, and yeah, there would be no sign of a monster outbreak, ever," Warden said, patting Sylvester’s shoulder.

Sylvester forced a nod, but no matter how he viewed it, he still saw it as a threat.

What if one of the rookies gets to stumble upon one at these early stages? What if there was really a monster outbreak?

Monster Outbreaks are cases when monsters leave their territories, getting far out of hunting zones and even attacking communities in the process.

It happened mostly in weak communities like outposts, and occasionally in Refuges, and it was always brutal because firstly, the community is taken unaware, and secondly, the kinds of monsters that carried out such acts were the high ranks.

The Extraordinaries.

Sylvester couldn’t get to imagine this probably happening to the community he had been trying hard to build for years.

And as if that wasn’t enough...

"As ordered by the Mayor, my team and I are sent to clear the territory, and we are also going to need four of your best Entrants to join us as well," Warden said.

He noticed the dark look on Sylvester’s face, and then he smiled again and mused.

"As ordered by the Mayor."