The thought of explaining Brontes'' presence to the guards at the gate gave Alex a headache, and that was if they even made it that far. He wasn''t sure whether they would just attack them without a word the moment they saw a man and beast walking side by side towards them.

    He couldn''t even be sure if they''d listen to reason before attacking.

    After a few moments of deliberation passed, Alex crouched down and rested his hands on his knees, looking at Brontes with pity.

    "This is going to suck for you, buddy, but I don''t think we have any other choice..."

    Brontes tilted his innocent little head, clearly not understanding what Alex was saying.

    Alex rubbed his temples, feeling a pang of guilt. "Look, I get it. You''re a proud Divine beast and all, but there''s no way they let us in unless you play along. Just act tame, okay? It''s either that, or I leave you out here — and I''m not doing that."

    However despite Alex''s continued explanation, Brontes still looked at him with an expression of confusion and utter ignorance, clearly unconcerned with whatever worries Alex was facing.

    Instead he looked up at Alex, tongue sticking out and all, and just started licking his hands.

    "You''re going to have to act as my mount, lil guy..."

    Alex let those words leave his mouth, and he held his breath as he waited for Brontes'' displeasure and adverse reaction. He closed his eyes, sighing as he expected the moment for Brontes'' emotions of resentment to come washing over their bond, but as the seconds ticked by, Alex felt no changes.

    He opened his eyes, a little confused, and found Brontes still happily licking away at his hands, clearly interested in washing Alex off, much like a house cat.

    "You''re not mad?" He asked, just to be sure.

    ''I''ll approach the gate and assume an identity as a beast tamer... let''s hope that convinces the guards enough.'' He thought to himself as they sauntered down the road.

    They made sure to stop some distance away to not attract any attention off the bat, and so it was a couple minutes until they encountered other travelers on their way to the city.

    As they were trying to blend in – well, as best as they could considering Alex was sitting on a horse sized lizard – they couldn''t travel at their usual speed since that would just give away their power and blow their cover.

    ''Oh shit yeah that reminds me!'' A thought hit Alex and he patted Brontes'' neck to get his attention.

    "Mask both our Aura''s little guy! We can''t have people around here knowing our true level of strength..." Alex felt a bead of sweat run down his back as he remembered to consider this.

    If he''d forgotten about such a crucial detail, then he''d have a difficult time when they approached the gates...

    Such a task was a breeze for Brontes, and soon both he and Alex were giving off masked auras.

    Alex gave off C+ rank Mutant class aura, while Brontes gave off C- rank Ordinary class aura.

    They had to be realistic, so making them both give off the same level of power would only attract some dangerous attention.

    It was much more likely for an awakened to have a tame at a lower strength than themself, than one of the same strength.

    Soon enough, they approached the gates.

    And they immediately attracted many tense looks from all around.