After Surviving the Apocalypse, I Built a City in Another World

A/N: Round 2 of Character Voting is almost done guys! Hope Althea gets to the semi-final~

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With a couple of clicks on the platform, the deal was finalized. Almost as soon as he did so, the array lit up and five figures appeared.

Generally speaking, people could judge levels according to the aura they instinctively felt. If one was lower level though, there would be a lot of estimating involved. The higher the level gap, the more difficult it would be to guess.

From this, Helios could tell that the people who arrived were definitely much higher leveled than he was.

They were all quite eclectic in appearance, as well. The person in the middle—the obvious leader and the one with the highest level—had combed back hair. He appeared to be a middle age man but, considering how age worked here, then he must be really old to look middle-aged.

The man stepped forward. ”Hello, my name is Enok, I am the team lead of your escort team,” he said, making the standard greeting of the same level, which was just patting their chest twice. Helios followed his lead and also introduced himself.

”My name is Helios,” he said. ”My occupation is a swordsman. I’m heading to Bleuelle to find someone.”

When they looked at him and his level, they looked a little disappointed, but not too surprised. Helios knew that with his appearance and physique, people would think he should be of higher level. He was confident he’d catch up eventually though!

”I am level 39 Spearman from Avel City. These are my teammates, Raz, Senson, Puto, and Shim. Their levels ranged from level 32 to 35.”

Helios nodded and greeted them all. Raz, the level 35, seemed to be the right hand man. He had curly dark purple hair and a sword on his waist, indicating he was a swordsman. He also assumed he awakened the occupation, too, because one simply could not reach past level 20—and kill monsters of that level—without awakening an occupation.

Senson was a level 32 brunette with a bob cut. He was thin and tall and frankly looked a bit like a bamboo. Then Helios found out he was an archer, and he couldn’t help but worry if he had enough arm strength to make a killing blow.

Then again, it was best not to judge over appearances in this place. Wasn’t the petite and pretty Miss Althea a killing machine herself?

Next was Puto, a bald swordsman, though his sword was broader and larger than Raz’s, and could double as a shield. He was a level 33 swordsman, and had a perennial smiling face that made his cheek even more puffy. .

Finally, the last member at level 32 was called Shim. Helios looked at him and saw his features, reminding him a lot of Badjao and Gaudi. He had an axe as his main weapon.

Overall, except for the thin guy, everyone else had close-range capabilities. This was no surprise as it was the safest choice especially early on.

Basically, those who choose other occupations—whether it was long-ranged fighters, sheildsman, or life occupations—either lived in stable areas or had reliable teammates already taking the responsibility for close-ranged combats.

Speaking of this, in terms of variety within a team, Alterra and the adjacent territories probably had the most balanced compositions out there. Of course, in terms of level, they still had a lot of catching up to do.

Anyway, now that the team was complete, they headed out to the Lord’s villa, which got the mercenaries to look at him. ”He’s helping me out,” he said, and they borrowed a carriage.

Interestingly, the person who was driving his carriage was the same person who drove Gill to Jacoba Town before. His name was Toron, and he was very talkative.

Especially more so now because he felt Helios was much more approachable (and had a lower level) than Gill so he chattered with less worry.

Helios went along with it. He needed the distraction, otherwise he’d be too anxious. He even learned some more things about driving beast carts from him.

Toron was nearly in his 60s and was level 25. He had served Jonathan’s father since he was a child and had been a stableboy then. Becoming a Beast Cart driver was the highest promotion for his line of work.

After all, driving them required excellent control and chemistry. Even if they had the whistle made by the Beast Tamers, their control still had a lot to do with the drivers themselves. For one, they at least had to be stronger than the beasts they drive.

”It’s pretty risky to be promoted in this line of work,” he said. ”I had a lot of peers who lost an arm or a leg.”

Helios looked at him. ”In my place, we can travel fast across the territory with bikes or broats.”

”Oh?” Toron mumbled. ”Alterra, right?”

This also seemed to interest the mercenaries who were taking turns sitting in the carriage and running alongside it.

Speaking of this, they were quite curious how a weak guy like him could afford hiring them in the first place. What was he going to do in a place like Bleuelle City, too? It was estimated that he could get killed just by fighting with a civilian there...

”You should visit us sometimes,” Helios said with a smile, unaware of the judgmental stares sent to him by the mercenaries. The old man nodded.

”Yes, I’ve been meaning to,” he said. ”I love your instant noodles! I have a few bags in my space right now!”

Helios laughed, feeling a little proud.

”I’m curious how Broats could be better than Beast Carts though.”

”They don’t eat people’s hands at least,” Helios shot back, making the others chortle.

Helios shook his head and smiled, looking out to see the fast-moving trees and shrubs around them. He could also see some monsters actively avoiding them.

”Of course, traveling outside the territory is still limited,” he said.

Beast Carts were better than Broat Cart outside the territories because they could traverse long distances. Weaker mobs would generally avoid them, so they were better at least for Village and Town level. It could also do good in City-level regions, provided that there were strong guards that would deal with the strong monsters.

The highest monster that could be tamed was level 20, and the mercenaries soon had to start fighting as they encountered stronger mobs.

They traveled for days on end, without much rest, and when they started encountering more and more monsters past level 15, Toron stopped.

”As agreed upon, we’re approximately at the region near the city.”

Helios nodded in understanding, standing up to disembark. Jonathan agreed to lend him the cart with the condition that it wouldn’t be put in danger. Obviously, going past this place was too risky.

”Sorry about this…” Toron mumbled. Helios shook his head and handed him a handful of silver as tip. This made the old man’s eyes brighten as he waved them goodbye.

”You’re a little weak but you know how the world works,” he said. ”Good luck! May you all reach the City in one piece~” he said and whistled, getting the beast to rush back, leaving the rest of them in the dust.

Helios: ”...”