Rumors about powerful humans arriving in the Koran City had already spread, reaching the City Lord's ears.
It wasn't strange because a thing like this was as rare as it could be. Humans in the Distancia Continent were scarce, weak, and easy to bully.
Learning that a powerful human existed generated two different thoughts. The first was a sense of danger. However, most people wouldn't take it seriously. After so many years, the generations that lived when humans roamed the Continent freely were already gone.
The other reaction was curiosity. How did a weak race like humans manage to nurture a mighty warrior? It was indeed a mystery for them.
If the City's slave owners weren't sure they could catch them, they would've probably tried to get their hands on them already. However, Jorey, one of the most prominent merchants, didn't try to take them by force, so they became careful in the matter.
In a building near the middle of Koran City, the City Lord looked at papers when this news reached him. He was a mix between a wolf and a human. His skin was on the darker side, and his fur was black. His head was in the middle between a wolf and a human, but his body was entirely that of a human. His legs were muscular, and a short and bristly tail was behind him.
He was part of the [Steel Back Wolf Clan], a strong clan even between the plethora of families in the Distancia Continent.
He read the reports and asked the common-looking female, brown-feathered harpy on his side. "I received reports about a strange group with high strength. Are they that strong? Do we need to be wary of them? Although they seem like merchants, the reports about strong humans are quite problematic."
Like almost all variants of her race, the harpy was naked with a stack of papers on her claws. Her arms and wings were attached into one, but her fingers were separated and looked agile enough to work with in delicate work.
Despite her nakedness, she didn't act out of turn and answered formally. "We've failed to observe them in detail. However, I received a report five minutes ago that most of them had left the house. I told one of our spies from the [Phantasmal Night Owl] race to watch over them. I believe they can do their job well and inform us as long as there is trouble."
The City Lord's facial expression was not good. He looked into the eyes of the harpy with disdain and asked coldly. "Are all of you slacking? How did you not gain any information after a whole night went by? You could've infiltrated their house or tried to guess from which family they are!"
The City Lord had a low growl in his voice while he spoke. "The only thing I've got after ignoring all the useless flattery in the report is that they have a powerful human, a dragon, a two-tailed fox woman, a phoenix woman, a young crustacean, and a wolf from an unknown giant race! I can fill a report like this after looking a single time! Useless!"
The harpy's feathers ruffled in fear. Although she was not weak, the aura of the City Lord was much stronger than hers. Therefore, she hastily explained before something went out of control. "City Lord, calm your anger. They have a mighty formation master. All the people I sent to inspect it couldn't even look inside at what was happening. Even the wolf seemed to have popped out of the house once they walked outside. Clearly, their vision disrupting formation is of an extremely high level."
The City Lord's wild facial features scrunched as he looked at the trembling harpy. However, he didn't do anything in the end. "You are lucky you have some backing, or else you would've already lost your head. And what if they have a formation master? Don't we have a lot of them too? Unless they are from the [Sky Formation Palace], I don't believe our experts can't beat theirs."
The harpy sighed in relief after the City Lord calmed down. Then, she straightened and explained. "We tried contacting the Senior that is currently allocated in the City. However, he told us to wait some days before he could do something about it. It seems he is speaking with the people from the Nine sects currently in the City."
The City Lord pondered about it for a second and didn't insist.
His Koran City wasn't strong, after all. In the whole Continent, they could be counted as a small power. If he weren't from the [Steel Back Wold Clan], many would have already tried to push him out of his current position.
After reading the documents for a while more, he was doubtful of the description of the Dragon. "Did you hire a poet to write the description of this Dragon? The Moon and the Sun in their wings, scales as beautiful as a starry night... This should be exaggerated."
The harpy shrugged; she was also curious when she received the text. "Leader Fu, I've confirmed with the person who saw the dragon directly, but he said that this text doesn't do justice to the actual beauty of the creature."
The City Lord scanned the document again with a raised eyebrow. "Did we discover which race it is from? I'm getting interested, to be honest."
The harpy shook her head with a sigh. "No. This dragon species is unknown! Not even the librarian could find out about it. After she ensured that the Dragon we described existed, she even went to the house's surroundings to look at it with her own eyes."
Leader Fu nodded. "I see. What about its bloodline? Is it grown up? Speak to me about it a little more."
The harpy moved to the side and bend to pick up a document. The City Lord's eyes couldn't help but land on the plump butt.
After she straightened and turned around, she came back to him. He recovered his gaze and listened to her explanation. "With the limited information we have, we can guess this creature is young. After all, the Merchant Jorey from the [Mountain Traveling Merchants] treated it as such. The Dragon didn't resist her hugs, treats, or other gestures."
The City Lord nodded. "Well, if it were an adult dragon, there is no way they would allow others to humiliate them like that."
The harpy nodded. "We've also learned that it is a female dragon. One of our spies caught one of the women calling her "My beautiful dragoness." I think this is enough to confirm her gender."
The City Lord's eyes shone with interest. "A female dragon of an unknown race? That's even rarer than the powerful humans. What about her bloodline? Is it strong enough?"
The harpy's gaze became serious. "We've tried reading her bloodline with our skills and items, but we didn't manage to read any of them."
Leader Fu frowned. "None of them? That's impossible, right?"
The harpy sighed. "Leader Fu, this is my speculation, but I'm ninety percent certain that the formation master has created a disruptive layer. If they are strong enough to hide an entire mansion, they should be able to create a low-scale, moving formation that hides their traits."
The City Lord nodded. "That's reasonable. Tell me more."
She continued. "However, although we couldn't directly measure their bloodline, it can't be low. Have you read the characteristics of the Phoenix woman, City Lord?"
He nodded. The harpy said seriously. "We think she is a descendant of the [Moon Phoenixes]. Although that's a mythical change, all the traits shown by them appear in her. Indifferent, aloof, with silver wings and blue eyes. She has three phoenix tails, and her beauty is catastrophic. Her face alone can make Kings and Queens wage war to gain a smile from her."
The City Lord was surprised. The Harpy race was beautiful by nature, his secretary didn't look bad, but she could be considered ugly among those in her race. For someone like her, standards were set high since birth. Therefore, to speak like that only meant that this Phoenix Woman was a peerless beauty.
Still, he was the most interested in the Dragon. The harpy didn't leave him hanging and spoke. "Taking into account this, and seeing like this Phoenix Woman was very careful with the dragoness, we can assume that the dragoness is at least in the Divine Level bloodline-wise."
"Divine level!? Only leaders of an entire race can reach such heights. That's impressive."
The harpy nodded. "We can only guess that a new clan is emerging to the surface. Our Continent's hidden clans are many, and although most of them are weak, some rival the leading powers of our Continent."
The City Lord got thoughtful and stood up, walking toward the window and looking outside. Then, he said. "Try getting into contact with them. Remember to be friendly. Also, if you get into their good books, try to dig for information on why they came to our City."
"Although we don't fear anyone, we also can't afford to offend a powerful family. Also, when you are near, try to measure their bloodline. I'll lend you the most powerful bloodline detector we have. It is very precious, so don't you dare lose it."
The harpy was petrified. She didn't want to get close to these people. What if they thought that she came to harm and killed her? They looked like people you wouldn't want to mess with, even from a distance!
However, she was unable to go against most of his orders. She was here to increase the alliance between their clans, after all. Although they hadn't had any intimate contact until now, she could feel his eyes all over her while she worked.
Usually, this was something to feel prideful of for harpies, but she was brought up in a family with other races, so even if she was naked because of culture, tradition, and necessity, she didn't like people ogling her body.
She answered with a sigh. "Understood, City Lord. Is there anything more you want to discuss?"
He turned around with a smile that looked quite ferocious and nodded. "Good. By the way, Ghana, when will you let me mate with you? Aren't we here to create bonds between our clans?"
Ghana's feathers stood up in fear, and she answered. "City Lord, please remember that I'm not interested in starting any relationship. I would like for you to get me out of our thoughts. We've been working together for decades, so I hope to clarify this."
He stared at her up and down for seconds, forcing Ghana to use her wings to cover her body, and then snorted. "You are so ugly, so I wanted to be magnanimous after you didn't find a husband for such a long time. Who would've thought that you would answer like that? Anyway, speak to me about the strange things around us lately."
Ghana frowned, but she didn't answer his mocking remarks. She went back to take other documents and then began reporting. "The horrifying screech of pain that resonated throughout the Continent is confirmed to be Heaven's scream of pain. The forest in the area has basically died. From the focal point, it is estimated that more than ten thousand kilometers in radius died because of powerful Death Energy. The person who challenged the Heavens probably died after hurting them."
The City Lord's expression darkened. "That forest was a good spot to gather resources. Anything more?"
The harpy nodded. "There are reports of people seeing cracks in the sky and people falling through them. What should I do about this?"
The City Lord laughed and waved his hand. "Mark them as rambling lunatics. Cracks in the sky? If that happened after the Heavens were attacked, I would take them seriously, but the reports are from before, so they are probably a group trying to gather attention. If there isn't anything more, please go meet with the group in our City."
Ghana nodded, and after grabbing the air below her waist area, she walked away.