"[Reptilian] Ah.. excuse me, great sirs. I thought you knew how this city truly works. I am truly sorry.." He said, bowing deeply though Draga could still catch the faint smile hiding underneath.

"[Reptilian] We aren't locals old man. If you would be so kind and explain what you mean?" Draga asked, frowning under the cover of his hood.

The old man smiled once more, as he gave a deep, polite bow.

"[Reptilian] Certainly, great sirs! It's no problem at all!" He exclaimed, pushing his fragile shaking palm towards the group. From the bright smile and the greedy glint flashing in the corner of his eyes, it didn't take a genius to find out what he was waiting for.

Reaching for the leather pouch he got from their Master, Draga grabbed a gold coin and placed it in the old man's eager palm.

Instantly, the hand closed up into a tightly clenched fist, the old man hurriedly placed the coin in some sort of inner pocket in the depths of his raggedy, tattered rags with an eager, hungry-looking, almost predatory gaze.

The next moment, he turned to the side, facing the wall, and whilst keeping his polite and now, much more genuine smile plastered across his face, he reached for a particular slightly loose brick on the wall.

Giving it a slight push, a muffled click sound could be heard thanks to the heightened senses of the group's newly evolved races.

A moment later, suddenly the entire wall began to violently shake, as a large frame formed from amongst the line of bricks. A mechanism activating, a large piece of the wall slowly, with a loud rumbling noise began to move. It slowly traversed inwards, revealing the surprising thickness of this seemingly inconspicuous alleyway.

After the large chunk of the wall reached about the depth of a fully grown Saurus's width, it finally stopped moving for a brief moment before it began to tremble and shake again in the next moment.

It slowly slid to the right, eventually vanishing from their site and revealing a dark tunnel leading further down, even deeper below the ground. The ground looked to be a rough, spacious staircase, with each step several meters long.

The tunnel was dark, with only a few candles lighting the way spread out rather sporadically.

The group's gazes went wide with shock as they gazed at the wondrous, unexpected reveal.

—

Not far from the four hooded captains, a shifty-looking group was looking in their direction. A short, stout skink with rough worn-down scales and several scars adorning his body all over sneered sinisterly. He wore a simple brown sleeveless leather chest plate above his white linen shirt, and black leather reinforced trousers.

"[Reptilian] Guys, I think I found ourselves a nice bonus for tonight's drinks!"

He exclaimed as the sneer grew wider by the minute.

As he said that, the group looked in the direction their boss was looking and saw the strange, ragged vagrants that had just entered the dark alleyway with no other way out, they all laughed, understanding the meaning of his words.

"[Reptilian] Shall we go grab them, boss?" Asked one, tall and muscular bare-chested skink that stood out like a sore thumb with his oversized frame. He was at least a head taller than the rest, reaching the size of a dwarf. Though still small compared to the once-dominant 'Bareskins', amongst his race he was considered a literal giant.

"[Reptilian] Should we take them to the guards for the reward or perhaps to the bla-" Before he could finish, a fist suddenly crashed into his face, forcing him down on the ground.

"[Reptilian] Shut up you idiot!" Their boss roared angrily as he stood over him. "Do you really want to shout it out loud?! Is there nothing but more muscle in that tiny head of yours?!"

Realizing his mistake, the big muscle headed skink didn't dare to show any complaint. He cast his gaze down whilst he stood back up and dusted himself.

"[Reptilian] I-I.. I am sorry, boss! I didn't think!"

"[Reptilian] Of course you didn't! You.." The boss roared again, annoyed and angry at the stupidity of his underling. Yet, he stopped himself in the next moment and instead took a large gasp of air, to calm his nerves.

"[Reptilian] B-boss.. What should we do now?" Another asked with a hesitant look in his large yellow eyes. He was clearly worried to suffer a similar fate as the other guy.

Shaking his head, the short rough looking skink, their boss spoke up.

"[Reptilian] Not yet. Let's wait a bit more and see what they are up to. Then, we make a plan. For now, let's just keep an eye on them from a distance. We can't let them escape!"

Meanwhile back in the alleyway, Draga and the rest of the group was long aware of the other group's presence. With the incredible gifts they have received from their Lord, it would have been quite an incredible feat if such a low-level group of local tyrant thugs could successfully sneak up on them!

One of the reasons why Ragor was so agitated and incited was because of this group. Ever since their evolution none of them had a chance to get a grasp, a feel for their bodies' new limits. They were immediately assigned to carry out the mission they had come to the city for and had no chance to duel against each other.

As they couldn't just openly oppose the Temple Guards as that wouldn't only be suicidal, but would also jeopardize the entire plan, they were really thankful for this gods' sent opportunity.

They only needed to make sure that the other side would lower their guards and jump at them!

Yet, to Ragor's great frustration, for the last several minutes they have kept up their vigilance and were simply watching them from afar!

Draga and the rest were growing slightly confused.. What did they want? Why aren't they coming?historical

However, just as the path opened up and they thought that this golden chance had slipped away from them due to the overly cautious nature of the other group, suddenly they each sensed the change.

The same-looking expectant smirk slowly emerged in each of their faces as they sensed the approaching figures sneaking from the far end of the alleyway.

"[Reptilian] Old man, you better go and hide somewhere safe." Draga suddenly spoke up, catching the smiling old man by surprise.

"[Reptilian] W-what do you mean, oh great l-lord?" He asked with a confused and somewhat frightened look on his face.

Did he make a mistake? Did he offend these moneybags?

Draga however shook his head, clearing the confusion with his next words, albeit only to give leeway to a new source of dread and fear.

"[Reptilian] I mean, we have unwelcome guests arriving to crash this party.. and something tells me they aren't coming to simply exchange pointers."

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>>>Check out my latest novel: The Strongest Demon Lord in the Modern World<<

It's an urban modern-day styled story, with a reverse transmigrated ('Banished') immortal entity from the fantastical world of Nova!

Planned Tags and Genre: # CULTIVATION # R18 # BETRAYAL # TRANSMIGRATION # URBAN # ACTION # ANTIHERO # OVERPOWERED (romance maybe at some later point)

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Just a friendly reminder, that from wherever you are reading , you can reach out to me using any of the below methods!

Links:

/shaele