The ship glided into a cove a few miles down the coast from the main harbour.

Kai and Eevy dropped the anchor and waded through the shallow water to reach the sandy shore.

The hike to the capital took a few hours of steady walking, and the landscape slowly shifted from wild forests to scattered farming villages.

Eventually, the stone walls of the human capital loomed over the horizon.

The defensive structures were genuinely impressive, rising high into the sky with watchtowers spaced evenly along the entire perimeter.

But getting inside the city was a nightmare.

A sea of desperate refugees, travelling merchants, and exhausted farmers choked the main dirt road leading up to the iron gates.

People were packed together tightly in the heat, holding crying children and clutching meagre belongings.

The smell of unwashed bodies was clearly visible.

Kai and Eevy moved through the crowd, navigating around wooden carts and sick travellers resting by the roadside.

At the very front of the line, a minor noble acting as the guard captain was causing a bottleneck.

He wore polished armour over a rich green tunic, and his face held a permanent sneer of disgust. He stood safely behind a wooden toll table, surrounded by a dozen nervous city guards clutching long spears.

"I do not care if your village burned down," the captain shouted at a shivering old man wearing rags.

"The entry toll is five silver coins per head. If you cannot pay, you can sleep in the ditch with the rest of the trash."

’These nobles are so blind,’ Kai thought, watching the arrogant captain pocket a handful of extorted copper coins from a weeping mother.

’They are worried about extorting coins while a monster army is literally days away from their walls.’

Eevy pushed her way to the front of the noisy crowd, pulling her cloak tight across her shoulders to hide her rogue gear.

She wanted to handle this quietly and avoid drawing unwanted attention before they reached her guild handler.

The scout stepped up to the table, keeping her voice low and highly diplomatic.

"We are scouts returning from the northern lake," Eevy said, leaning forward slightly.

"We have urgent intelligence for the inner council regarding an enemy vanguard. Let us pass."

The captain looked her up and down with absolute disdain.

He noted her bruised face and her simple armour, completely missing the dangerous look in her eyes.

"Do you really expect me to believe a filthy street rat as you works for the council?" the noble scoffed, waving his hand dismissively.

"You are just another beggar trying to avoid the toll. Get out of my sight right now, or I will have my men throw you in the holding cells."

Eevy gritted her teeth, and her hand twitched toward the dagger hidden at her waist.

But she did not even get the chance to draw her weapon.

Kai decided he was done watching this pathetic display.

He did not waste time arguing with stupid people, and he certainly did not care about local noble titles.

Tapping into his newly expanded mana pool, he activated his newest skill.

The world around him blurred for a split second. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Shadows stretched across the ground, connecting his position in the crowded line directly to the dark shade cast by the captain’s toll table.

Kai stepped into the darkness and instantly reappeared right behind the arrogant noble.

Eevy watched him move, her breath catching in her throat.

She had just given him those the night before, and he was already using them with flawless precision.

[Shadow Step]

The guard captain felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

He started to turn his head, opening his mouth to yell for his men.

Kai raised his hand and delivered an open palm slap directly to the noble’s face.

The noble was lifted entirely off his feet, spinning in the air before crashing face-first into the hard dirt road.

He rolled twice and stopped moving completely, his jaw visibly dislocated and bleeding into the dust.

[Enemy Defeated: Corrupted Guard Captain Lvl 18]

[Experience Gained]

The entire courtyard went dead silent.

Hundreds of refugees stared in shock at the young man who had just assaulted a noble in broad daylight.

The city guards gripped their spears, their eyes wide with fear as they looked at the broken captain and then up at Kai.

Kai simply dusted off his hands and gave the trembling guards a flat stare.

"Does anyone else want to ask me for a toll?" Kai asked, his voice carrying effortlessly over the silent crowd.

Nobody moved a single muscle.

Eevy recovered from her surprise quickly.

She stepped right over the noble, reached into her hidden pocket, and pulled out a silver token bearing the crest of the elite scout guild and held it up high for the remaining guards to clearly see the insignia.

"We are on official guild business," Eevy declared with an authoritative tone.

"Open the inner gates right now, or I will make sure the city council hears about how you delayed a critical war report."

The guards scrambled over each other to follow her orders.

They grabbed the levers and pulled the iron gates open, abandoning their posts entirely and leaving the broken captain bleeding in the dirt.

Kai walked forward, matching Eevy’s confident stride and ignored the terrified whispers of the crowd as they parted like the sea to let him through.

He had established his dominance within the first five minutes of arriving, proving to everyone watching that the normal rules of this city did not apply to him.

[Location Discovered: The Human Capital]

The capital city was divided into rings, and the difference between the outer slums and the wealthy inner district was staggering.

While the outer defensive walls were choked with desperate refugees begging for simple scraps of bread, the inner streets were lined with manicured hedges and pristine marble statues.

Eevy guided Kai through the winding alleys, using her seasoned rogue skills to bypass the roaming guard patrols with ease.