Shim had not been the cleanest person. The state he had left the lab in had been disgusting with dried blood, rotten food, and waste spread out in most rooms. Spell formations did their best to keep the air breathable, but that wasn't enough for Alec.

It had taken a while, but he had managed to create a derivative spell from his Mystic Scan that identified separate objects, such as the stone floor and the dried blood or dust on it. Then, a layer of mana ran between the separate targets, sweeping the dirt together for easy removal and disposal.

Alec named the spell Clean.

It was handy.

But when it came to living beings and separating grime and sweat from the body's layers of fat and water inside it, it became a little trickier. Alec pressed his hands together in prayer for Bob the lab rat, who died gloriously testing it.

That was to say, Alec was filthy with unkempt hair. The closest thing to a shower he had found was a stream of icy cold water. He had heated it up in a bucket but he was still more than dirty enough to disguise himself as an orphan. The rags he was wearing only helped.

The guards at the entrance to the city barely even looked at him when he entered.

Orphans leaving the city by day to look for food or plants outside in the forest were common enough for them not to bother him.

It also wasn't worth hassling Alec over a toll. If he had been a regular traveler, they could have lined their purses a little. But he was poorer than them.

Alec looked down the main street. If he followed it to the end, he would find the Academy. His friends were there.

Alec turned to the side and went down a side-street, entering a labyrinth of narrow alleys, already veiled in shadows of the setting sun.

Gorao was a city with decent security. You wouldn't get stabbed or mugged in broad daylight.

That degree of security didn't stretch to cover going down dark alleys during night.

But then again, Alec couldn't exactly trust the city's security offices with his current appearance.

So, he cast a Simple Barrier to keep himself safe from ambushes while he looked for gathering spots along the dark side of Gorao. The side of Gorao where orphans, homeless, and the ones less inclined to obey authority lived.

The shadow streets of Gorao.

Gathering spots for orphans were usually places where adults couldn't easily get to since they were bigger, heavier, and clumsier. Rooftops, crevices between poorly constructed buildings, sewers, or places you needed to crawl through tunnels to get to.

Naturally, most such places would be hard to find for the safety of those who used them.

But Alec had one unfair advantage. He was a mage with keen senses.

Those senses had been sharpened by [Gluttony] and the Poem of Neverlasting Wisdom. It was the first time since he started using the Poem that he visited a place as crowded and bustling as a city.

His senses were overwhelmed by all the input they picked up, but at the same time, he managed to filter through it all with a calm mind.

Eventually, he picked up on a gaze lingering on the back of his head as he walked through the streets. He quickly darted behind a wall and remained there, watching the people walking around.

Despite being the back part of Gorao, it was still a decently sized city that supported the Kingdom's Academy. Dozens of people milled about with varying degrees of haste in their steps. That did not include the street Alec had stepped in on.

Very few passed him by.

But he ignored everyone except one.

Alec's hand darted out from the shadows, where he was hiding behind a stone wall that seemed to have been part of an old building, of which only the wall remained while the rest had been replaced with wood, turning it into a new building.

Alec's hand landed on the thin shoulder of a scrawny young boy who didn't even reach Alec's chest with the top of his curly hair.

The young boy froze for a moment.

"Hey, what's your deal, man? I am just walking here?!" He said in a loud enough voice to attract the attention of those around them.

If Alec wanted trouble, he would not get it without attention. It was a safety measure that would probably work if the kid knew anyone in the vicinity. Alec was a stranger, after all. If no one knew who he was, he was a threat.

Alec didn't let go, and he ignored those around them.

"I just want to know why you are following me."

"I wasn't following you!"

Alec frowned.

The young boy noticed that frown.

Alec looked young, but his voice was hoarse, and the rugged hair hanging down over his face made it hard to tell how young or old he actually was.

If Alec wanted to, he could probably stab him and take off.

"I-I swear, I wasn't following you! I don't even know who you are! Why would I be following you, man?!"

"Fine. But if I catch you following me again…" Alec let go of the young boy.

"You won't!" The young boy darted off as soon as the pressure on his shoulder disappeared.

He stayed true to his word. If he stayed on Alec's tail, Alec at least didn't catch it.

But he also wasn't as focused as before since something else occupied that part of his mind. It was the feedback of a spell he had been looking for an opportunity to test.

It was one of the three spells he had no memory of reading. It was an advanced spell that had taken him a while to decipher, and even deciphering it in its entirety still didn't quite detail how it worked.

He still had a lot to learn in terms of magic.

But after using it once, the fog partially lifted.

It was a tracking spell.

It marked a target and revealed its position to the user.

Convenient.

Uncomfortable. Someone had used that on him.

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