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Travel South, Tymon reminded himself as he flew across the dry desert.
He continued southward until the scenery changed. He was entering a new district. Surprisingly, the temperature dropped immediately from dry and hot to stale and moderate. He expected there to be a gradual change, but it was like crossing through a veil.
"Strange biomes," Tymon muttered as he looked back at the sandy desert.
Looking around, the district he was in now was barren and unkempt. He could see the shape of a large city far on the horizon and headed in that direction.
Apparently, he needed to stop by the district's city since it was illegal to fly through a district's airspace without first purchasing a flight pass. Anyone caught would be subject to that district's penal system, so Tymon decided to abide by their rules to avoid trouble.
This is why he was entering the city instead of flying over it.
Conveniently, he was able to purchase a flight pass at the entrance gates to the city of Morium. They had different versions, but they were limited, so he chose to acquire the pass that covered all of Pneuma City, and he wouldn't have to worry about renewing it for one UST year.
Now he just needed to keep heading south. He continued through the decrepit city, flying neither too high nor too fast, as flight laws stipulated that personal flight exceeding 200 mph within city limits was prohibited unless granted special permission by the Crest Head of the district.
"All these rules are getting in the way," Tymon grumbled, but sighed because he understood the necessity of them.
Eventually, he came across a region of the city that was a no-fly zone, so he had to land and walk through.
While walking, he saw a group of pneumarians and klevonians gathered inside a small, mostly crumbled building. He didn't know how it still stood. Those gathered inside appeared to be having a meeting. Due to the lack of walls, broken windows, and busted doors, it was easy to pick up on their conversation.
A pneumarian, beefy guy, stood before them holding a digital tablet in his hand.
"So, by now, I'm sure you've all seen the new drop," he stated, receiving several shouts of excitement and glass breaking with enthusiasm.
The pneumarian raised a hand for silence but grinned and nodded his head. From what Tymon could tell, these were mercenaries, meaning the 'drop' must be a new hit list or deadpool. He wasn't surprised that a place as shady as Morium would house those kinds of people.
"Yeah, it's gonna be a nice payday for many of us. Remember the cut the house gets. Don't want Crete to have to hunt down some of our own because some of you were too greedy," the pneumarian continued. "Speaking of, he's made it clear that the #1 mark, Shachaf the Deceiver, isn't to be hunted until further notice. He's a powerful vakumite, nearly as strong as a Tenshu. Some believe he'll actually make the cut given another millennium, so everyone's being warned not to pursue him."
"How'd someone like that end up on our list?" someone asked.
"Apparently, he broke it off with one of the klevonians from the succubus crest. Since klevonians nowadays can't procreate outside cindarians, their relations were permitted. Unfortunately, not many species love like we do."
There was laughter, and someone said, "Scorning a succubus...ah, man. Still, 10 billion is a lot to walk away from...but an order is an order."
Tymon decided to keep moving. Several blocks away, he walked past some klevonians and civilians in a broken-down bar. Many of them had scars or were missing parts of their bodies, including fingers, eyes, teeth, arms, legs, or wings.
As he walked by, many of them spotted him. He got a lot of side eyes, some chuckles, but also a couple of nods of approval. Outside the bar, on the elevated patio, were a couple of klevonian mercenaries discussing a new contract concerning a target on the deadpool. Likely the same one from earlier.
"Hey, plan to claim the new bounty?" one asked.
"You kidding?" the other answered, taking a swig of whatever was in his cup. "Not only is the SOB stronger than us, but the target's on Vake, too. That's Celestial territory. I'm not that stupid."
The other klevonian looked down at him with disgust.
"And you call yourself a klevonian. Where's your drive? Get up. A few of us plan to sneak over and split the money. We'll need your ability," he said, grabbing the guy's arm, causing some of his drink to spill.
The other klevonian snatched his arm from the other's grip.
"If you all have a death wish, go ahead. Leave me out of it."
The two continued, but Tymon had already moved on. Soon, he was out of the no-fly zone, but continued to walk. Twenty minutes later, he was stopped by a couple of klevonians who spotted him. He'd spotted the first, though, and had already released his energy with Last Breath around him.
"That's a nasty aura you got," one said, jumping in front of him. "It's not much, but it oozes something fierce."
"Never seen you here before. You new in town?" the other asked, circling Tymon.
Unfazed, Tymon kept his eyes on the guy in front of him and his sense on the other.
"Something like that," Tymon responded flatly.
"Where you headed?" The one in front of him pried.
"Nowhere that concerns you," Tymon retorted, looking him in the eye.
This irritated both of them.
"You pickin' a fight?" The one circling Tymon asked aggressively, both threateningly releasing some of their energy.
"I'd rather not have to kill you, but if you don't move, you'll be forcing my hand," Tymon told them nonchalantly.
The two looked at each other before bursting into laughter as more klevonians came from the worn-out building nearby, surrounding Tymon.
Tymon transformed and boosted the power of the aura he emitted, layering his dark energy with Last Breath at full power.
As some charged at him, someone powerful (Tymon innately knew he was a pneumarian) ordered them to stop.
"Do you simpletons have a death wish?" He asked, leaning on a balcony above. Tymon couldn't see much of him, but he had brown/grey skin that caught Tymon's eye. "You touch him and you won't go unscathed. Stand down."
Judging from his power, it wasn't easy to say for certain, but Tymon figured the pneumarian was about half as powerful as Rabae was, meaning his EQN had to have been somewhere around 350 million, maybe. He wasn't likely someone high up the hierarchy.
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