Rivers of the Night

Theron looked down, watching as seas of people, flashing landscapes, and whipping winds passed him by.

This was the first time he had flown in the skies like this.

Sure, it was as a prisoner, and he was shackled in not the most comfortable of positions, but it was a fascinating experience nonetheless.

He was basically being pulled by his wrists, his shoulders pulling against their blades and joints as the white ninja sped away from the Imperial City.

From start to finish, the golden-banded white ninja didn't speak a single word. Theron had a hard time telling if this was because he was disdainful of speaking, was a mute, or if this was just the protocol he followed on official business.

'This development… is quite interesting…'

Theron didn't actually know what was happening right now. Sometimes, even he could be caught off guard. He was just trying to apply some pressure to Ott to see what other things he could learn about, but he was oblivious to the true weight of things.

And he wouldn't know for a while…

Instead, he was baffled by the fact there was still no action taken at all, even as the minutes ticked by into hours, and then days.

And then he saw it before him: a city-palace of moats and rounded towers. It seemed formed of nothing but tanned clay and golden metal, ninjas dressed in white garb moving around like scurrying ants in their human-sized hills.

Theron had never seen such an interesting place before. The Mandate Guild, he presumed.

Despite the oddity of his current situation, Theron was still quite calm. The chapters on how to deal with search and capture in the Assassin's Tenets were quite extensive. Theron had never been in such a situation before, but he was confident in his ability to deal with them.

Something told him that he also wouldn't just be placed to rot in a cell, at least not permanently.

'Their reaction to the mark was interesting… the Mandate Guild probably won't find me useful anymore because of it. But they never planned to have me be of use in the first place if they were willing to use a method that might cause permanent harm to me.

'But that doesn't mean that I can't learn from them nonetheless.'

The white ninja dropped to the sanded ground, huffing for breath. It was only now that Theron took his eyes off of the gorgeous city-palace ahead of him to realize he was actually in an expanse of forest.

The sand was such a rich color that it was far more gold than brown. Everything just felt so fantastical.

It took the white ninja a while to regain his bearings.

Theron had a guess as to why he was gasping like that. It was almost certainly because of his inner armor. Honestly, with his Mana suppressed like this, it would probably become quite troublesome for Theron soon too. However, he doubted he would have the luxury to consider that for very long.

…

"Hm?"

The white ninja had finally caught his breath. By now, Theron was no longer by his side. Instead, he had entered a hall—or rather, what looked like a hall.

In truth, this was a personal cultivation room. It was just that it felt so large and expansive that it might as well have been a hall… if a hall had clear skies above and pillars that pierced the clouds.

This was nothing but an illusion, of course. They were actually deep within the Mandate Guild right now, and the white ninja was now standing in the presence of an elder of the Mandate Guild.

The Mandate Guild was separated into two major groups. The first of which were outsiders that were granted their titles and benefits, while the second were actual members beneath their umbrella.

The first group included the geniuses that managed to get themselves onto the Mandate Leaderboard. They would never formally join the guild, but they could gain benefits for doing so. They were also a method of the guild gaining quite a bit.

Because the Mandate Guild was the center of so many important resources, a lot of money flooded through it. How many of these rich young masters of various Clans wanted to get their hands on plaques and such? They had also become a status symbol, and many Clans vied for chances to have their youth be among their number.

However, there was also a second group, a group that helped the guild to function. An odd group, honestly speaking… because they didn't necessarily seem to be the greatest of powerhouses. But the methods they had access to were very dangerous…

Including the Mandate Mark. In fact, what separated them seemed to be this ability to use these unique methods as though they were extensions of themselves. But oddly enough, they didn't have a unique Path of Mancy that they all followed.

Some of them were Elemental Mancers, some Spirit, some Soul, and yet others Flux. Only the Mandate Guild themselves seemed to understand what was the true root of what made them so special and different.

What was clear to everyone, though, was that the Mandate Guild was untouchable by most, their methods so widely feared that few—if anyone—dared to cross them at all.

Getting on their bad side almost certainly meant that you would never be able to cultivate again.

Even so, the ranks of people were clearly divided, and not all of them could use it so freely.

The so-called 'white ninjas' were the lowest rank. They were known as the White Veils. Black White Veils were full-fledged white ninjas in training and didn't carry any of these special methods. By comparison, Gold White Veils were at the pinnacle of these white ninjas and had access to an arsenal that would make almost anyone think twice before crossing them.

Between Black and Gold White Veils were Full White Veils, who wore white bands.

As for the elder here, he was above a Gold White Veil and had the ability to direct them. However, even he seemed surprised by the result of today's mission.