Path to Transcendence

Chapter 256: Meeting Some Adventurers

After Julius talked to Rolus, he found himself sitting inside one of the wagons just as Rolus recommended he do. They had taken off from Blumand not too long ago and would be traveling to Greenwich for the next couple of weeks.

The route would take them through several other towns and cities before they made it to the end of their trip. Which would mean Julius would have the opportunity to see some new things as well.

He looked around the surprisingly spacious wagon with curious eyes. The wagon itself had seats for all of them to rest on and was filled with the noise of chatter.

He was surrounded by a bunch of other people who all seemed to know each other in some way or form. About a handful of them were merchants if he had to guess while the others were clearly in some sort of team. He thought this because they all wore similarly colored armor and equipment.

He was also somewhat glad to see the same woman and man who had given him directions on the other side of the wagon. They had seemed like nice people and he didn’t think their team would be too bad if they were a good representation of the others.

Everyone on the wagon was Tier 3s and had been ignoring Julius for the most part. They knew he was there but nobody had tried to engage him in any type of conversation as of yet. The woman was busy discussing something with their leader, but she had recognized him when he entered their wagon.

Just as he was getting comfortable, a large bearded man who was sitting across from him uncrossed his legs and turned to Julius with a nonchalant smile. The man’s grey jacket with green accents shimmered as the mana lights inside of the wagon hit them at an angle.

“Aren’t you a bit young to be traveling with us?” The man asked in a slightly patronizing tone. Julius didn’t know if that tone was just because of his own age or if the man had something else against him, but he didn’t react outwardly and simply looked up at the man’s eyes, the hood that he had used to shroud his face slipping off as he did.

The man’s nonchalant smile dipped a little bit as Julius’s stony eyes gazed right back at him. Perhaps he expected someone Julius’s age to be a bit more intimidated or uncomfortable in a wagon with ten strangers.

At this point, the rest of the people in the wagon seemed to halt their conversation and pay attention to the new development with interested looks. Some seemed to notice the tense air between the two of them.

Julius still didn’t say anything and kept his eyes on the man for a few moments longer before turning away.

He sensed the man’s fist clench slightly in response to his indifference with [Spatial Perception] but the man didn’t do anything else. Instead, the woman who he had met earlier spoke up.

“Don’t worry about Beck. His mouth works faster than his head and he comes off as more rude than he really is,” she said with a quick glance at the man. “On the other hand, I didn’t think you would be coming along with us. I thought you were just delivering something,” she said curiously.

“Nope, I am technically a part of the escort,” he said while turning to look at her with a small smile.

“Interesting. So are you a solo adventurer?” She asked, her tone unlike the man from earlier was much more warm and polite.

“I’m not registered with the guild,” he said while shaking his head.

“Oh my bad, I thought you were some young adventurer who got chosen for this mission,” she said while rubbing the back of her head. Her long brown hair was tied up in a tight ponytail and she had quite the pretty hazel eyes as well.

“It’s fine,” he said to her.

“By the way, my name is Stephanie! It’s nice to meet you,” she said with another smile.

He smirked a little bit at her enthusiasm. “Julius,” he said while pointing at himself.

“So Julius, how did you get selected for this mission? While Beck was a bit rude, I am also curious how someone your age was chosen for such a dangerous mission,” she commented throwing out a quick dirty look at her teammate.

Julius looked over to the man who had first talked to him who was looking properly chastised before looking back at her.

“Dangerous mission?” He asked, feigning ignorance.

“You didn’t know?” She asked worryingly. “The Adventurer’s Guild rated this mission as an A-rank danger for Tier 3s.”

“Oh,” he said, not having to pretend to hide his surprise. He had no idea that this mission was already deemed as dangerous by the Adventurer’s Guild. Although, it would make sense. If there have been so many targeted attacks against House Easten’s routes, then a higher danger level would be appropriate.

“So how does the ranking system work for adventurers? Can only some people take dangerous missions or is it just a warning for teams who choose to accept them?” He asked, actually interested in hearing the answer.

She nodded her head. “A bit of both. It is a good way to warn all potential adventurers that death or injury is highly likely. E-rank means there is little to no danger, D-rank means there is a little danger, but nothing an average Tier 3 can’t handle, C-rank means there is the normal amount of risk, B-rank is a bit more dangerous, and A-rank means there is a real possibly of death.”

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When she saw him nodding along with her explanation, she continued.

“All adventurers are given a rank for their tier. They start out at E-rank at every new tier and rank up as they complete missions and get stronger. For example, I am a B-rank. That means I can take all B-rank missions and below without issue. However, since our entire team is B-rank, we can take a higher-rated mission if we attempt it as a team. It also helps that our team leader is an A-rank himself,” she explained while pointing at the other man who was looking out of the wagon’s window.

Julius took the time to examine the team leader in more detail.

He had already marked his presence earlier when he first entered the wagon. After all, the man’s aura was by far the most impressive. However, at the time he didn’t try to investigate it further. He didn’t want to come off as rude or anything.

But he did take note of it. However, now that his teammate had pointed him out, he had a better excuse to take a closer look.

The man was tall and didn’t have the bulkiness that Beck had. Instead, his limbs were lithe but he didn’t miss the signs of tightly corded muscles showing through his own grey and green jacket.

Julius reached out his aura with a gentle probe. The man’s aura was firm and well-controlled. A sign of good training and strength.

Furthermore, his probe didn’t go unnoticed. The moment their leader sensed someone poking around, he stopped looking out the window and directed his gaze toward him in a blank stare. But when he gave him a once over and saw that he was just a kid he went back to ignoring him.

“Yep, that’s Matt. He’s our leader and a swordsman. He is also pretty good at spells as well,” Stephanie said with pride.

Julius bobbed his head. “Indeed, he seems strong,” he said with total sincerity.

That seemed to make Stephanie as well as the other members of the group grin.

Another man interjected with a hesitant tone. “So how did you get selected to join then if you aren’t registered at the Guild?”

Julius didn’t see a reason to hide some of the truth. “I have done things for House Easten in the past and they offered me this job.”

“Oh that makes more sense,” Stephanie said in understanding before pointing at the group of merchants. “Gregory and the other merchants also were chosen because of their connection.”

“Yeah, but they are also not fighters. So what’s the reason why the kid is coming along?” The man named Beck spoke up. The dismissive tone was no longer there and he noted that it contained genuine curiosity. It did come off as a bit harsh though.

Stephanie gave the man in question a dark glare again and was about to speak but someone beat her to the punch.

“It’s none of your business, Beck. He’s here like the rest of us to do the job. Now stop being an ass before I throw you out of the carriage and you can run alongside us until we make camp,” their leader, Matt said softly but looking at Beck directly. His aura flared up in warning and also as a challenge. Daring the man to argue with him.

Julius didn’t pay attention to how Beck reacted though. He was too busy trying to control his aura which had risen up to Matt’s aura. Luckily, he was able to catch it in time and his ruinous aura wasn’t let out.

After he did, he made sure to throw a grateful nod toward their leader to which he didn’t get a response, but that was fine. He was appreciative of his actions. Not everyone would have spoken up against one of their team members so easily for a stranger. It would also make Julius’s trip with them a bit more drama-free.

***

Several hours went by as they left Blumand and headed toward their next stop.

If he recalled, it was a town called Willow’s Front. It was a medium-sized town where they were dropping off some supplies and some of the merchants to do some business.

On the bright side, the group must have felt more comfortable around him after Matt spoke up because they all started to talk again, but this time including him in their conversations, asking him various questions.

Things like where he was from and why he chose to come along. He lied about where he was from. He told them that he was from Blumand and tried to avoid most of the more personal questions.

Luckily, he found a topic that helped him avoid these questions. Food.

“Carmen’s is pretty good, but Plopski’s is so much better!” Stephanie argued passionately with him.

Julius shook his finger at her. “Nope, Plopski’s meat can be drier than the leather of my boots. I have never had a dry piece of meat from Carmen’s,” he argued right back.

“What are you talking about?” Beck exclaimed loudly. “Plopski’s is the place for anyone who knows what they are talking about,” the man backed up his teammate. After Matt had properly reprimanded the man he had become less aggressive. Even going so far as to actually engage Julius in conversations.

Julius gave Beck a deadpan expression and looked meaningfully at the man’s torso. “I bet you love Plopski’s so much because they have cheaper prices on alcohol.”

The man was about to retort but there must have been some truth to Julius’s words because instead he pouted and looked away guiltily. The rest of his teammates laughed at the man’s reaction.

Stephanie grinned widely. “You have no idea how true that is. We always end up going to Plopski’s for that reason. But I actually love it because of the lively atmosphere. They have some great music and the occasional fight in the back,” she said bashfully.

Julius gave her an incredulous look. “You like that sort of thing?”

From what he had seen from the woman, she seemed all prim and proper. Definitely not the sort who liked to watch backyard fights between drunk people. He had seen one of those fights the last time he went to Plopski’s. It was a fight between two Tier 3s who were absolutely hammered and who could barely stand on their two feet.

To their credit, it was hilarious. They were so drunk, the actual crowd would have been in more danger if not for the enchanted barrier surrounding them.

“Oh, so you’ve seen them? A young boy like yourself shouldn’t be seeing stuff like that quite yet,” Beck joked to him.

“Oh, but a proper young woman can?” He retorted back, looking at Stephanie as he did.

She gave him a shy grin. “What? Can’t a girl enjoy herself once in a while?”

Julius shook his head in bewilderment and was about to reply when he sensed something approach them from the distance.

It was hard to tell from so far away, but there was something coming toward the caravan just over the horizon.

He wasn’t the only one to notice either. Matt had already gotten up and was looking at a place where Julius had sensed them.

“Get ready everyone, something’s coming,” He commanded, his aura wrapped around all of them. Almost infusing them with some sort of buff.

Julius wanted to take time to analyze this technique as it was quite interesting but didn’t have the time. He was too focused on the incoming aura presences closing in on their location.