Sam leaned over. "I couldn't help but overhear. What exactly is going on here? I'm new to this place. Is it dangerous?"

The others looked him up and down suspiciously. "The hell are you?" the human asked. "There haven't been any newcomers here in ages. Elvras' defense array sees to that."

Sam shrugged, but internally, his mind was racing. "I have family here. But that doesn't matter. What's this about conscription?"

"Fancy yourself a match for the cultists? I wouldn't bother them unless you have to. All the taxes go to the army anyway. Let them deal with it."

Sam nodded. "Is this a serious threat to the world?"

He received an incredulous look. "What do you think? They're trying to summon an avatar of their god to consume this entire planet, and them with it."

"Alright. It seems serious. Perhaps I should get off world before everything goes south."

"You should do that." The man leaned in closer, bending around his friend. "This isn't a place for people like you."

"People like me?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow beneath his helmet. "What are you trying to say? Humans? Offworlders? The first of those seems a bit hypocritical."

"I know exactly who you are. You're working for Elvras, aren't you? Rooting around for discontent. That training maniac likes others to monitor what he does not."

"No? I was just curious." Sam was a bit confused at the last bit, but didn't say anything.

"Curiosity isn't welcome around here," a new speaker said, a bulky Teruvarian man. He rose from his seat, and cracked his knuckles menacingly. That effort failed miserably, as after all, he still had knuckles to crack. He was a mere F Ranker, and Sam paid him no attention. Instead, he rose from his seat, leaving his beer on the counter.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

At this point, others were standing up around him, trying, and failing, to intimidate Sam. He simply pushed out with his will, a wave of aura pressure slamming into the patrons of the crowded tavern. Like a group of plywood houses before a wrecking ball, they fell over in unison. Some foamed at the mouth. Sam frowned at the sight, but kept moving. He hadn't really interacted with F Rankers in such a manner before. His aura, fueled by a plethora of various powers, was like a physical force to those of a lower level.

The door creaked open with a light touch from his hand. Sam strode out into the sunlight.

"Heh. Find… find what you needed in there?" The drunkard from before was still waiting outside of the pub, even more inebriated than before, despite the absence of a bottle.

Sam muttered under his breath and kept moving, ignoring the layabout. A plot was unfolding before his eyes. If he wanted to complete this Tower level, he needed to find out more.

***

Behind Sam, tailing from a distance, a woman clad in the outfit of the city guard watched. She was a Santarian, an alien species famed for their abilities as trackers. She looked much like a human, but had a third arm protruding from her back like a tail. In that arm was clutched a large gun, crackling with barely contained energy. It drew a few wary looks from the passersby, but her uniform encouraged them to keep walking.

Her name was Amari. Sent by the local guard captain, Amari was the only one of her unit who had been able to pinpoint the location of the intruder. There hadn't been any unauthorized access to the city in months. It took a massive degree of strength to break through the energy fields surrounding the capital of the Worldsea.

Looking at her target, she had to say, there wasn't much special about him at a glance. While his armor was quite good, it was only mid E Rank in strength. All of the higher ups in the city guard had high E Rank or peak armor and weapons. Beneath that armor, revealed by a monocle enchanted to see through most barriers, Amari observed a normal looking human man. However, beneath that veneer, there was a faint, thrumming current of raw power. It was hard to detect, as Sam had his aura veiled, but it was still there.

With a sigh, not sure what she was getting into, Amari continued, keeping Sam in her sights as she went.

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