The leader of the mercenary team patted his shoulder and said one last thing, "Kid, if you ever need a job. Come to my Wolfberg Mercenary Team, don't forget it. Our doors will always be open for a strong lad like you."
The others also nodded towards him with friendly gestures. Kale sighed and bid farewell; they really were a good-hearted group of people, not easy to find. Though it wasn't much, they treated him quite well once he got to know them along the road.
Kale made a mental note to remember them. If possible in the future, he decided to lend them a hand if he ever reached such a position.
Kale walked a bit far ahead towards the center of the city. As his viewpoint changed, walking out of the shadow of a few massive structures, only then did he witness the most eye-catching thing the mercenary leader had told him about.
His eyes widened at the most unavoidable object or structure he had seen in his two lifetimes. A gargantuan red flaming tower, it almost looked like a tall pillar of scorching red sunlight, given physical shape.
The more he looked at it, the brighter it seemed to get. Until he was forced to look away, a passerby, an old man, mocked him, "What a fool. Must be the first time to the capital, embarrassing himself in front of everyone."
To which Kale looked around, and there indeed were many people giving him strange looks, but Kale didn't really care much about it. He had asked the mercenary leader about it, like what exactly the flame tower was.
From what he said, this was a special structure, belonging solely to the royal family. The flame tower contains a separate space. This structure stands right atop the royal palace. But mundane people knew nothing more concrete about it.
Another thought flashed through his head, 'So, that bastard Renard is in there, huh? he could likely meet the bastard through the token he left him.'
But it was better to stay away from him as much as possible. He would have to deal with his own shit. Not to mention mingling with that guy will only bring him more unnecessary attention.
Kale turned away from the Flaming tower. He asked a few people about the direction of the capital's public library, from where he could learn anything and everything he needed to, at least what a common awakened would be allowed to learn, also something that the mercenary leader told him about.
The first thing he did was wrap a torn piece of his cloth around his forehead, then he ordered the system, 'Make the soul sigil mark visible again. But make sure it's subtle, I don't want the negative energy of the curse oozing out of it, screaming for attention.'
[Instructions noted. Making the Soul Sigil mark visible once more.]
[Host is advised to stay away from the users of Dragon authority.]
Kale frowned and asked, 'Are you talking about the individuals belonging to the Dragon Church?'
[Yes, and anyone else who uses the powers blessed by the Dragons.]
Kale could only nod hesitantly to that remark; he would try to stay away from those fantastic fools, but in this bustling city, it was quite easy to bump into them. He could only try his best and be careful.
As he stood in front of the gates of the library, two guards in full body armor, even helmets, spears in their hands, they remained as motionless as statues until the left guard directed his emotionless gaze at him and said in a practiced tone.
"Only awakened beings are allowed to enter and must pay one silver."
Kale nodded, already knowing the requirements. He took off the wrap around his forehead and held one silver coin in his hand, gesturing for the guard to take it. But the moment the two guards' gazes fell onto the black, almost putrid-looking soul sigil mark on Kale's forehead.
Their expressions changed, showing almost disgust. The left guard spoke to him once more, his tone unfriendly, "Two silver coins."
But the right guard, who had been silent till now, interjected, "No, three silver coins."
Kale gritted his teeth; one silver coin was enough for one person to live the night in a normal inn, along with three fancy meals for the day, all that within even the pricey land of the capital. But to demand three silver coins for a single day of entry was literally daylight robbery.
But he had no choice; the system couldn't just change how his soul sigil mark looked. That was not possible. As that mark displayed his core awakened identity. As long as the curse remained, the mark would remain that way.
Brushing down his hatred, he could only reluctantly hand over three silver coins; if not for the fact that he had done some extra work for the mercenary team, he would have been helpless at this moment. The mercenary leader was also generous enough to give him five silver coins, just for those measly jobs.
Which was far beyond the norm. He thought that at least for a few days, he wouldn't have to worry about the money, but it seems that wouldn't be the case. He would literally have to start worrying about it today, or at best tomorrow.
The two guards gave him a nasty glare, as if still unwilling to let him inside, and the right guard warned Kale as he was about to go in, "You can only remain inside for 4 hours."
Kale stopped in his tracks, his expression turned cold as he said, "What the fuck are you talking about? It was supposed to be one silver coin for 12 hours of library time."
But the guard sneered, "Take it or leave it. That's the rule for you."
Kale then entered without speaking anymore. He heard the whispers of the guards, filled with contempt, "Must be a fucking Fleshcrafter, wretched things. They should be killed the moment they awaken. Cursed by the divine church."
Kale clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles had almost turned white. Unfortunately, as it may be, there was nothing he could do about it; as much as he wanted to kill both of those arrogant bastards, he could not do so. He would be found out.
As he entered, he was faced with rows and rows of bookshelves that seemed endless in their expanse. It took him a good amount of time to find the section containing general knowledge about awakened paths and other relevant information.
Picking up a few books with interesting titles, he sat in a dark corner where no one would bother him and immediately started devouring all the knowledge written in them.