Ning was finally allowed into the fortress, although with a few people following him discreetly. They were there to watch over him just in case he came into contact with someone else.

He had been handed back his sword, so he definitely wasn’t a prisoner for sure.

He entered the fortress with Sophie and the rest. The massive stone fortress was nearly a kilometer wide, housing many streets and buildings within it, no different from a regular city.

However, since everything was built in the fort, it all felt like one large building that they had to navigate.

The streets were narrower than most cities, but not so much that it was too crowded to walk. Two carriages could pass side by side on most paths with enough space for people to walk through as well.

“Did you sleep well?” Sophie asked as she walked next to him.

“Like a baby,” Ning said with a wide smile. “What about you? You don’t look so good.”

“I didn’t get a wink of sleep,” she said. “I was so worried that I was going to be killed, and then that stunt they pulled. I nearly killed that damn masked man.”

“You mean Erman?” Ning asked.

“That man was brother Erman?” Sophie asked with a shocked look.

“Did you not realize?” Ning asked. “I thought it was obvious from the silhouette and the way he walked.”

“I didn’t realize,” she said. “Gosh, I was so worried too.”

“Well, you’re not worried anymore, right? Just enjoy your freedom,” Ning said, sneakily looking at the man that was following him from afar.

“Sigh, I think I’ll just go to the safehouse and sleep. I don’t see what else I can do,” she said.

“Right, where’s the safehouse?” Ning asked.

“There are a few taverns and houses,” Sophie said. “I don’t know exactly which one it is, but we can figure out if we go to the Mercenary station.”

“Mercenary station?” Ning asked. “They belong to the gang?”

“No,” Sophie said. “They are their own independent thing, but they form alliances with the gang members so that they get the better-paying jobs.”

“What do they get in return?” Ning asked.

“It’s not what they get, but rather what they don’t get,” Sophie said.

Ning looked at her curious. “What do they not get?” he asked.

“Destroyed.”

“Ah! As expected of a gang.”

Ning felt the slightest jingle of Essence coins in his pouch that hung by his waist and wondered what he should do with it.

“Do you want to go get something to eat? I’m super hungry since I got to eat nothing,” Ning said.

“Hmm, me too,” Sophie said. “Let’s stop by a restaurant or shop then.”

Ning nodded. He looked around the fortress, wondering if there was something he wanted from the shops that he passed by.𝑶𝐕𝗅xt.𝒞𝑂𝔪

Just then, his ears picked up some noise from the front. It wasn’t just him either. Many others by his side noticed that something was happening up ahead.

The crowd and curved pathways didn’t let them see what exactly it was though.

“Why are people gasping so much? Did they see a dead body or what?” Ning asked.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Sophie said before her eyes narrowed in a frown. “So much Essence. If I’m not wrong, it must be the Fort lord’s tamed beast. I did hear that he likes to go on a walk with his beast from time to time.”

“Beast?” Ning asked curiously. “You mean a pet?”

“No, a beast,” Sophie said. “An Essence beast. Do you not know about them?”

“No,” Ning said. ‘So there are beasts that can cultivate Essence? I suppose that makes sense given the existence of Divine beasts. So normal beasts can cultivate Essence too, huh?’

“How do you not know about Essence Beas— oh wait, you don’t have any memories, sorry,” Sophie said quickly. “I mean, there’s nothing special about these beasts other than the fact that they can use Essence like humans. They are usually wild and found only in the southern regions. People here aren’t used to it.”

“Only in the south? Why?” Ning asked.

“No one knows,” Sophie said. “But people do think it’s because there is more Essence in the south. Maybe the beasts migrated there to get stronger.”

“More like the beasts that were there improved and survived, and the ones that weren’t, went extinct,” Ning said. “Then I guess the Origin is in the south.”

“Origin? What’s that?” Sophie asked.

“Nothing, I’m just talking to myself,” Ning said.

The commotion up front got louder and the group realized that the beast was most likely coming in their direction.

“Although it is a tamed beast, it is still a wild beast. If you agitate it or cause it to get aggressive, it will most likely kill you. So be careful,” Sophie said.

“Why would I cause it to do anything?” Ning asked. “It will just pass by, won’t it?”

“I’m just speaking in general. I wasn’t talking about you specifically,” Sophie said. “The beast is in a higher realm than the Essence Manifestation realm, so you need to be careful. No one is that strong here, so if it goes wild, we will die.”

“What a load of… if there’s so much danger, then why isn’t it being kept locked up?” Ning asked.

“Quieter or the lord will hear us,” Sophie said.

Ning sighed. As the group parted, he too parted with it, moving to the side, hugging the building he was next to. Sophie stepped next to him as well and hid as much as she could.

Finally, the open road led to him seeing what the beast actually was.

It was a red dog the size of an elephant. Not only that, it had a long crimson mane that made it look quite ferocious. It strolled with obvious pride its steps that a beast usually wouldn’t have.

‘Is that really a dog or is it actually a lion?’ Ning thought.

Suddenly, the beast’s head jerked to the side and stopped as it stared at something.

It was staring directly at Ning.