Rivers of the Night

Chapter 703: Claw Marks

Theron walked forward in wisps of Dark Mana, half hiding his aura and half not. He seemed to have returned to a state he had almost forgotten the feeling of.

No matter the assassin’s guild, somehow these walls felt just the same.

In the Daggers of the Night, the walls were earthen, the smell of mildew constantly hanging in the air.

Here, things were very much different. The walls were marbled—dark, and yet carrying with them a sense of grandeur.

The locations couldn’t have been more different, and yet they felt so very similar nonetheless.

Theron took another step past an archway, and the scene before him completely changed. He saw seas of assassins, cloaked in black. They moved as though in the hustle and bustle of a metropolis.

This was what the nightlife of the pavilion should have looked like, since cultivators at this level didn’t need much sleep. But now it was housed in here, hidden from the world.

Several gazes landed on Theron all at once. They were all incredibly subtle, and Theron couldn’t see a single head actually turn toward him. But he didn’t hesitate to react with [Entangling Silence].

Their senses felt as though they had fallen into the ocean; not even Theron’s cultivation was clear to them at that moment.

Most of them had reacted on instinct, having seen someone they didn’t recognize. Every one of them was in the Dome of Heaven Realm as well. If they had been any weaker, they would have never taken the risk of trying to investigate someone they didn’t know.

But all the same, they instantly regretted it.

Theron’s head slowly turned toward the closest of them, a single one of his eyes visible as plumes of black fog rose out from it. It looked like the rest of his body was still hiding in the shadows, obscured from view.

The dagger that appeared in his palm was somehow both there and not all at once, the danger feeling very real to the Dome of Heaven expert, and yet like it was a world away at the same time.

Immediately, the latter lowered his head.

"Apologies."

Theron looked at him for a short while and then turned away, his dagger vanishing back into his sleeve as he took his steps forward toward the common desk.

The hustle and bustle never stopped, but anyone worth much of anything had seen the interaction. Whether by design or not, a great number of people began to give Theron a wide berth.

Theron had been watching this wide reception desk from the start. Though he didn’t slow his steps, he had managed them for just long enough to see how things worked. So when he got there, he didn’t hesitate about how to go about things.

His eyes flashed and his Mana moved, pulling on the Cloud Mana in the air with his [Entangling Blood Vein Pupils].

The receptionist’s gaze flickered. Theron’s control was shocking, but he was too close. He knew Cloud Mana when he sensed it.

A Cloud Mancer dared to take such an aggressive stance against a Dome of Heaven expert? Did he have strong backing? Or was he one of their geniuses?

Regardless of what the answer was, the receptionist didn’t say anything as Theron began to go through the list of missions.

I’m nowhere on here. Now is that because it disappears after a mission is taken? Or is there another reason for that?

The access to missions he had due to the woman’s pendant was actually quite substantial. It seemed that things were broken into tiers just like they were in the Daggers of the Night.

There were likely very few, if any, missions available that he couldn’t see. But...

There it is.

Chen’s assassination mission was there—still incomplete, but very much there.

At first Theron thought that this was because this was the mission the female assassin picked in the first place. It made sense that she would be able to see it.

However, his gaze sensed several auras on it. Two others, to be specific. And the mission itself had three little markers that looked like claw marks to the side of it.

When Theron checked the other missions, he could see that all of the ones with auras on them were similar. Whenever they were claimed by someone, a claw would appear.

Troublesome. This means if I try to claim a mission, it’ll mark my aura. This means I can’t impersonate someone else to claim a mission without potentially exposing myself. But it also means that if I join, it’ll be an issue to protect my identity.

Theron already expected as much. No assassin’s guild was a free-for-all. All the members here were permanently or otherwise tied to the guild by some form or fashion. Many of them had been trained since childhood.

The only way you could have real freedom in a guild like this one was to rise to the very top of it all. Otherwise, you’d be playing with little more than fire.

However, this wasn’t useless to Theron. Now he knew of all three people who were targeting Chen. How he could use this to his advantage wasn’t clear yet, especially since he had already saved Chen once before.

What good was it to save him more times? If anything, that would just expose him to scrutiny.

That said, having more information was never a bad thing.

Theron pulled back without choosing a mission and directly left, entering the corridors. He could feel the receptionist’s gaze on his back, but he didn’t pursue the matter.

He walked through confidently, never hesitating on corners or anything of the sort. He was using his eyes to scan for something very specific as he climbed higher and higher.

Found it.

The female assassin’s living quarters.

However, just as Theron was about to reach the door, a figure appeared down the other end of the corridor and began to move toward him.

This was another problem. Anyone who could come here likely frequented this place. They would know if the wrong person was entering a room they shouldn’t.