Chapter 358 C358. Mike
Looking down, he saw the paved road flying past them beneath the carriage, as though he was currently seated on a modern vehicle from earth. He did not know if it was because he was close to the ground or because of some other reason, but it felt like they were moving faster than they actually were.
Of course, even this speed paled drastically to what he could achieve with his own feet, and even flying would become an overkill. However, moving at near light speed, especially without the use of Magic to infringe on inertia, one would easily cause massive damage to everything around them.
It also required a drastically high level of Mana control to be anywhere beyond light speed else one would fail to interact with the very fabric of space and time itself. Although with Tyler\'s Spatial Domination, it was easier for him to exist in a world like that, he didn\'t possess any Time manipulation skills to completely counter the negatives of moving in that state.
Even moving at supersonic speeds would cause massive shockwaves that would obliterate anything the object pass by so going even faster would easily obliterate an entire city within seconds.
There was also the threat of causing devastating ripples across time and space the closer one approaches the speed of light without any protection from skills or spells.
However, moving at such speeds wasn\'t something that could be enjoyed so leisurely hence why the use of carriages was still the most popular form of transportation and the world was slowly headed into the modern age as new forms of transportation and technology was being invented.
Even now, they had passed by a few automobiles or self-drawn carriages along the streets of Royal borough. There were also a lot of exotic beasts pulling fancier carriages than theirs but Tyler didn\'t mind the simplicity of his carriage.
He was also quite impressed with how well the six-eyed bull (Mike) stacked up against all these expensive beasts around it. Perhaps if he used his innate ability on Mike he could evolve into something even more amazing than these exotic breasts, but that was something he couldn\'t test anywhere near a city related to the Five Greats.
While Tyler fantasizes about Mike\'s possible evolution he seems to be awakening a hidden side to him. One which seems to resemble the ambitions of a beast tamer. To see how far their tame beast could grow.
\'How interesting.\'
Nadine was currently the one driving the carriage as she held on tightly to the reigns but Tyler was also seated up front even though there were no cargos in the back this time.
He wasn\'t sure if he was imagining it but it seems as though the six-eyed bull was taking pride in being their sole mount as most of these other carriages were pulled by at least two monsters and there weren\'t that many Magic beasts.
\'What an intelligent guy you are Mike. With pride like that, I\'m sure you\'ll evolve in no time. Next time we\'re back in the city, these other creatures won\'t have shit on you.\'
As though their thoughts had been communicated through telepathy, Mike bellowed with excitement as he increased his speed even further. This was the main street and only large carriages were allowed to drive in this lane at high speed but there were still a few carriages on the road.
However, their large carriage swiftly moved past the other fancier carriages as though challenging them to a race before leaving them in the dust. Of course, Nadine seems to be having the time of her life showing these overly expensive-looking carriages off.
Seeing these two have so much fun, Tyler couldn\'t help but chuckle to himself. Although the last six-eyed bull he had named Mike had met a gruesome fate at the hands of the ColdFire drake, Tyler simply had a good feeling about this one and decided to make him the most powerful mount in the region as he couldn\'t use Drago here.
\'Good boy Mike.\'
Tyler nodded his head in satisfaction as he enjoyed the smooth ride through the streets as they headed towards the Runic weapon shop.
While he didn\'t need any preparations for the quest, his city still needs a lot of supplies and now that he had gotten some more funds from his earlier sales, he naturally had to restock as much as he could.
Of course, even with so many more fancy carriages present in the city, theirs seems to still garner a lot of attention and most of that was directed at the demi-human seated next to him. After all, their speed naturally reduced when they came upon a minor street.
With an unusually focused expression as she drove, her figure was a dazzling sight, skillfully guiding the gigantic bull as it galloped down the city streets. Her large single braid swayed gently in the wind, and her brown cape fluttered out behind her.
The way she still commanded the men\'s attention was still a puzzling sight for Tyler but he wasn\'t in the best position to comment on that.
In contrast, he didn\'t get any adoring look as he would get back in the darknar region. Rather, all he received were contemptuous gazes from those same men that couldn\'t keep their eyes off Nadine.
Well, if Tyler was being honest, that wasn\'t completely true. After all, it seem he had gained a rather peculiar fan club of some rather odd yet alluring women as he could sense them secretly tailing him with no ill intent yet their expressions continuously sent chills down his spine.
\'Damn, this is more than humbling. Are they, some sort of yandere?\'
As expected, the popularity he dreaded and maybe enjoyed a little in the Darknar region was abnormal as not many people even paid him attention besides those that seems to be fans of their Magician team which doesn\'t have a name yet. And the only fans he managed to pull seem to be from some unstable individuals.
Tyler sighed tiredly as these thoughts ran through his mind. He had been a little worried that his identity as Lix would not become the escape he wanted from the monarch\'s life but perhaps he was wrong. Still, what he got now doesn\'t seem to be any less stressful than the life of Tyler Fall Darknar.
Although when people recognize their party, they didn\'t go nuts just from seeing them and Nadine was the one attracting the bulk of the attention. He still felt worried about these abnormal groups of women tailing them.
While they seem to be relatively harmless now, who knows what they would do if he ever did something they didn\'t find worthy of whatever image they had of him. Worst-case scenario, they might even team up with Nadine\'s infatuated admirers and spread nasty rumors about him, ruining the precious reputation he was trying to build.
\'What a drag.\'
With their current pace through the city, they were somehow able to make it to and from the Runic weapon shop within two hours which was a lot longer than Tyler had first imagined.
However, they were quickly able to complete their shopping after placing an order with the shop owner that would be ready within a week. Giving them just enough time to complete the quest before having to be charged any extra for delayed pickup.
Departing the Runic weapon shop, they immediately headed towards the western city\'s gate, a journey which took less than half an hour, a time that was more than twice faster than when they had taken a public carriage around.
As their carriage approached the city\'s gates, they saw the inspecting guards flagging their carriage to come to a halt. Although entrance to Winged city was free, one would naturally be subjected to a rigorous string of inspections before receiving a temporary pass to stay in the city for up to seven days if that person was not already a citizen or part of any of the three organizations which gave that individual easier access to the city.
While leaving the city was a lot easier than entering. Everyone still had to face a strict and time-consuming inspection process, especially those that did not possess any form of identification from the city to discourage smuggling and other illegal practices.
However, that was only the case for the common folks and an exception was made for a select few. For instance, those who possess high-rank Hunter bracelets or Magician badges as well as VIP merchant licenses.
Lucky for Tyler, he still possessed a VIP merchant license even though he held only a Rank 2 magician badge.
As their carriage came to a halt, the female guard walked over to his side and he simply showed her his license for an unknown reason, the guard\'s brows seem to twitch rapidly as she appeared completely flustered for a moment.
Tyler— a little confused tilted his head slightly to the side but this guard seems to have taken his simple gesture to be that of impatience as she rapidly bowed her head several times in apology.
"Aiek! I\'m sorry. I\'m so sorry. Please go on ahead master Lix."
"Master?"
Tyler was completely dumbfounded for a moment. For some reason, this guard seem to be familiar with him but as she had her helmet on right now, he could not recall if he had seen her face and Uriel seems to be ignoring his question as though she didn\'t have the time for pointless questions.
\'Well, whatever.\'
The female guard promptly signaled for his carriage to be allowed through with all due haste so Tyler decided not to dwell in his confusion any longer as it seems his presence was making her uncomfortable even though she should not be able to feel it.
Nadine on the other hand seemed pleased by this guard\'s response. She had been quite annoyed by the last guard that had stopped them during their entrance so this new treatment made her smile.
\'Wait... was that the same guard from last time?\'
Such fleeting thoughts were left unanswered in his mind as he could only save his questions for the next time they meet in a week or so.
Sensing the presence of the women that had been tailing them all day remaining within the city, Tyler was glad he didn\'t need to complicate his situation any further by having to deal with them.
With Nadine in the driver\'s seat, the carriage sped through the gates as it headed south in the direction of the Mounta region. They traveled through the main road for about two hours and were preparing to make his usual stop when Tyler suddenly looked forward and saw a group of demons and demoness standing a distance away, with weapons in hand.
They were a team of five people, and they seemed better equipped than the members of the Platinum-ranked Hunting party \'Unrivaled\', with whom Lix had traveled with a little over a month ago.
Thinking about that party, Tyler was a bit worried about their well-being after hearing what Severus had said earlier. For some reason, he felt as though their disappearance may have been his fault but he couldn\'t imagine why anyone would target such a weak ass party especially after they had already reported the matter with the Grade 3 Gold mine to the City.
\'Hmm... I really should try searching for them when I get back. It\'ll be bad if they ended up dying because of me.\'