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• [Crusader] The orc warrior 261
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I would also like to thank the donators for December 2025 (Ko-Fi account is unavailable at the moment due to technical reasons):
• [Crusader] uxel - $5
This chapter 2/3 for the 3rd week of December 2025.
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Novus 30, 3023, Day of Thura, 6:58 a.m.
It was a cloudy sky with biting cold winds and wet streets when Felize, Torr and Gaze arrived at a departure lot space located at the west section of Luxen City.
Despite the cold weather and the time, the lot was still filled with several carriages of different types and sizes, animals and monsters for pulling carriages, and people; guards, coachmen, porters, peddlers, merchants, fighters, etc.
The teens headed over to where "Mr. Charles" and the rest of their companions would be at.
When they arrived at where Charles' caravan was located, they saw a carriage and a wagon, but no sign of Charles, only, only Cole, the assistant and brother-in-law of Charles.
The teens approached him him but kept a distance of a couple of feet because he was busy talking to an employee of the parking lot and a porter.
Once the employee left, the teens finally approached him, and then offered a quick and slight bow.
"Good morning, Mr. Cole."
Cole turned to them and then smiled.
"You guys are finally here, great. And good morning, too.
"Mr. Charles is currently inside the office processing the Traveling Papers. He'll be here he's done. In the meantime, let me introduce you to the rest of our companions."
He turned to the rest of their "companions" for the trip, who were waiting on the side near the two carriages.
There were 3 Silver Rank Adventurers, 4 Gold Rank Adventurers, and 1 Mercenary.
"Everyone, these guys will be joining us on our trip. Make sure you include them on the strategies," Cole said and then left to deal with other matters.
Felize, Torr and Gaze stepped forward.
"I'm Felize, Wizard, Copper II Rank Adventurer!"
"I'm Torr, Warrior, Copper II Rank Adventurer!"
"I'm Gaze, Warrior, Copper II Rank Adventurer!"
They then lowered their heads.
"We look forward to working with you all!"
One person let out a scoff, causing everyone to turn to him.
It was a silver-haired man in his early 20s with a Silver II Rank pendant around his neck and he had a battle axe on his back.
"Why is a cripple coming with us?" he said while looking at Gaze. "This kid doesn't have any Magic Arts. He'll only be deadweight. I don't even understand why the Adventurer's Guild allowed him to be an Adventurer."
Hearing the words, Gaze could only hold his gaze down and clenched his fists. He was already used to this. In the Adventurer's Guild, there were a few who would openly mock him, while most would simply ignore him. But there were still also a few who would still talk to him as a fellow Adventurer, such as Flein, Diane, Chisa, Drake and etc.
Torr kept a passive expression on his face, but his grip around his Silver-Grade poleaxe that Vivian gave him tightened.
Felize, on the other hand, she was looking at the silver-haired Adventurer with barely hidden murderous intent and had her left hand grasping her sword's handle on her left hip.
Given that Gaze was already used to this, there have been occasions where Felize and Torr got into a fight to defend Gaze to the point that they even received Negative Quest Points.
"It's fine, guys," Gaze whispered to Felize and Torr, and then flashed a friendly expression to the rest of their companions.
The silver-haired Adventurer ignored Gaze and Torr and focused on Felize.
"Why are you giving me that look, bitch?"
Tap.
A hand landed on the silver-haired Adventurer's shoulder.
"Cuan, come on, man, they're just kids."
It was a man in his early 20s with long black hair, a Silver II pendant around his neck, and a bow on his back.
Cuan pulled his shoulder away and then turned to the man with a raised eyebrow.
"Did I say any lies, Tomas?"
Tomas shook his head.
"Try to think about it from Mr. Charles' point of view," he said and then focused on Felize. "He probably hired their group because of her. So if they, especially her, end up not wanting to work with Mr. Charles in the future, it would be all your fault."
Cuan gritted his teeth.
"Of course I thought of that! I'm just stating the truth!" he said and then pointed at Gaze. "If we include him with the battle formations, and we got attacked, he would truly be deadweight!"
"Mr. Charles also probably wants to establish a connection with the Temple of Priests through them," another Adventurer said.
This time it was a green-haired man in his early 20s with a Silver II Rank pendant around his neck and two long dangers on the side of his hips.
Cuan and Tomas turned to him.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Paddy?" Cuan asked.
"Remember the purple-haired Brown Cloak Priestess who joined the Adventurer Guild? They used to follow her around like her personal pets."
The Gold Rank Adventurers who were silently observing from the side, when they heard what Paddy said, one of them -- a brown-skinned woman in her mid-20s with red hair styled into a ponytail, a Gold I Rank pendant around her neck, and 2 long daggers on her hips -- suddenly wore a surprised expression and then turned her companions.
If Vivian were here, she would recognize the woman: It was Sansa, the one who tried to recruit her into her group called Gold Dust.
After a quick chat among the group of Gold Adventurers, a man in his mid-20s with brown hair, a Gold I Rank pendant around his neck, and a large and thick sword on his back stepped forward.
"I'm Lorcan, a Warrior. Looking forward to working with you as well," he said and smiled.
Sansa stepped forward.
"I'm Sansa, I'm a Thief, and our group is called Gold Dust," she said and smiled.
A man in his mid-20s with long brown hair tied into a ponytail, a Gold I Rank pendant around his neck, a bow on his back and a dagger on her right hip stepped forward.
"Marcel, Hunter," he said with a bored and disinterested tone, and then turned away to resume whatever he was doing.
Vooom!
Someone suddenly rushed forward toward Felize, Torr and Gaze.
It was a woman in her mid-20s with light green messy hair, a Gold I Rank pendant around her neck, and she was holding a brown-colored staff that looked made the metal staff look like it was made out of wood and had a teal-colored orb on its head.
Poke, poke…
She poked Felize's cheeks.
"Hmm…" the woman said with a serious and curious expression on her face.
When she tried to poke Felize's cheeks again, Felize evaded it.
"W-What are you doing…?" Felize said with an annoyed and confused tone, but the woman had already moved to another person.
Vooom!
Poke, poke…
This time, she was poking Torr's stomach.
Torr's cheeks turned red as he quickly backed away .
"What are doing… Miss…?"
"Hmm…" the woman said as she studied Torr.
Chud!
The woman was about to move to Gaze, but someone grabbed her by the collar of her armor and then pulled her back.
"This is Aurora, our group's Herbalist…" Sansa said with a tired tone. "Please don't mind her behavior…"
Aurora turned her head towards Sansa.
"What are you doing...?! I'm simply trying to understand why that Brown Cloak Priestess rejected your offer but chose these kids as her companions…!"
Sansa pulled in further, shoving her towards Marcel.
Aurora made a sad face like she was about to cry.
"Marcel… Did you see what Sansa did…? She's such a brute, isn't she…?"
Sansa barred her teeth and got into a fighting position as if she was going to beat Aurora with her bare fists.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"
Marcel completely ignored both of them.
Lorcan turned to Felize, Torr and Gaze.
"Please don't mind them. Assuming that there won't be any other Herbalists in our group, she would be the only real healer in our group."
Felize, Torr and Gaze looked at each other.
They understood what Lorcan was trying to say. In Quests where they had to travel for days, apart from the client or the goods, the healer was the most important member.
The Herbalist has a Class Magic Spell called [Panacea] which heals wounds and other ailments such as poison, fever, headache, etc. However, it can't regenerate lost limbs like the Priest's Class Magic Spell [Greater Heal].
The teens returned their gaze to Lorcan.
"We don't mind at all, Mr. Lorcan, we were just surprised… That's all…" Torr said.
Lorcan held out his hands and let out an embarrassing laugh.
"Just call me 'Lorcan'. I'm not some rich merchant or powerful fighter," he said and then turned to a person. "But if you're looking for a powerful fighter, that's him, you can him 'Mr.' all you want."
The person that Lorcan was looking at was a man in his late 20s with gray slick hair wearing an all-black attire. He was sitting on top of a crate and eating a couple of skewered and grilled meat that he bought from one of the food peddlers walking around the parking lot.
"Who is he?" Torr asked.
"Gearoid, his Class is Thief, and he's a Mercenary. He's one of the Mercenaries who will be accompanying us."
"One of the Mercenaries who will be accompanying us…?" Torr said absently.
"The other one is Daragh."
"Looks like everyone's already here!" a voice said.
Everyone turned to the voice and saw Charles, who was being accompanied by 4 people:
The first one was Cole.
The second one was a dark-skinned and bald fighter in his late 20s with an orange-colored beard and dressed in all black.
The third one was a fat coachman in his early 30s with blue hair and a beard.
And the fourth one was a skinny coachman in his mid-20s with black hair.
Clap, clap.
Cole clapped his hands twice.
"Make sure to prepare everything so that we depart from this city at 8:00 a.m. as scheduled, people!"
***
6:28 p.m.
A caravan consisting of a carriage at the front and a wagon at the back was traveling down a muddy road in the wilderness under a cloudy sky of a setting sun.
There were 2 people riding Karfaxes in front of the carriage -- a Gold I Rank Adventurer and a Silver II Rank Adventurer; Lorcan and Tomas.
At the carriage, sitting beside the coachman was a Copper II Rank Adventurer -- Torr. And inside the carriage, there was Charles, the dark-skinned Mercenary called Daragh, and the Gold I Rank Adventurer Herbalist, Aurora.
There were also 2 people riding Karfaxes behind the wagon -- a Gold I Rank Adventurer and a Silver II Rank Adventurer; Marcel and Cuan.
And at the wagon, sitting beside the coachman, was a Copper II Rank Adventurer -- Gaze. Meanwhile, inside the carriage was Cole, the other Mercenary named Gearoid, Gold I Rank Adventurer Sansa, Silver II Rank Adventurer Paddy, and Copper II Rank Adventurer Felize.
The caravan started to slow down when they reached a certain spot. And when it finally stopped, Lorcan pulled the reins of his Karfax, ordering it to head over to Marcel.
"Spot anything?"
Marcel shook his head.
"Looks fine."
Lorcan nodded before pulling the reins of his Karfax once again. This time, ordering it to head over to the first carriage.
Marcel, on the other hand, dismounted from his Karfax.
Tap, tap!
And then tapped on the wagon.
"Time to do our jobs, Your Lordships and Ladies!"
Marcel and Tomas, the ones with the Hunter Class, left the group to search around the rest of the surroundings.
Sansa and Paddy, the ones with the Thief Class, began checking the surrounding area and setting up traps for their camp.
Felize, Torr and Gaze began carrying the necessary items for camping.
And Cuan began patroling around.
When Lorcan finished talking to Charles in the carriage, he joined Cuan to patrol around.
***
2:03 a.m.
Three people were gathered around a campfire; Lorcan, Tomas and Torr, under the cold and rainy autumn night.
Despite the rain, the fire continued to burn because underneath all of the chopped wood was a Magic Item specifically designed to burn or cook things, regardless of the weather conditions.
Lorcan stood up.
"It's time for the next shift."
Achoo…!
Tomas, who was holding tightly around his rain cloak, let out a sneeze and then got up.
"Fucking finally…!"
Lorcan raised an eyebrow.
"You want to them tell instead?"
When it comes to taking turns on watch duty, there was a basic rule that everyone followed: If there are 2 or more members, only 1 member will have to go inform the next batch. That way, even if an attack happens during the middle of the shift change, the remaining member(s) could set the alarm and intercept the attack.
"Yes…!" Tomas said with gritted teeth.
"Okay," Lorcan said.
As Tomas rushed over to the wagon, Lorcan and Torr could hear him cursing the cold and rainy weather.
"Even with all the powers granted to us by the Elemental Gods, we're still people," Lorcan said with a smile.
Torr, who was shivering under his rain cloak, didn't say anything but was quietly listening to Lorcan. Naturally, he wasn't just listening to Lorcan, he was also listening to everything around him in case there was an attack.
Lorcan, Tomas and Torr were actually the second batch of the watch duty.
The first batch was Sansa, Paddy and Felize. Their watch duty was from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The second batch, Lorcan and his group, was from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
And the third and final batch was Marcel, Cuan and Gaze. Their time was 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.
After 5:00 a.m., everyone had to be awake to prepare for the journey.
A few minutes later, Marcel, Cuan and Gaze arrived with rain cloaks and their weapons.
"We're taking over," Marcel.
Lorcan nodded and then headed over to the wagon.
Torr, on the other hand, got up and then nodded at them, especially at Gaze, before finally heading over to the wagon.
Marcel turned to Cuan and Gaze.
"You two wait and guard here. I'll check the traps to see if they're still working."
Marcel wasn't a Thief, but a Hunter. However, as an Adventurer, especially as a Hunter, setting and identifying traps were still important skills in his line of profession.
"I can help. My father used to be an Adventurer and part of the Temple of Hunters," Gaze said.
Marcel shook his head.
"You'll only slow me down," he said and then left.
Chud!
Cuan suddenly shoved Gaze.
"Stop causing problems, cripple!"
Gaze didn't react and simply sat down.
Seeing Gaze not fighting back only caused Cuan to feel more disgusted and a series of scenarios of what he wanted to do to Gaze flashed inside his head. But in the end, he simply sat down.
"Fucking cripple…!" he said under his breath as he stared at the campfire and then turned away.
A few minutes later and the rain slowed down, Marcel returned.
"One of the traps got damaged by the rain, but I've fixed them," he said and then sat down.
Gaze turned to him.
"We're running low on wood. I'll go grab some."
Although Marcel was looking at Gaze, he couldn't help but notice the stare of disgust that Cuan was throwing at Gaze under his hooded rain cloak.
He nodded.
"Sure, but just take enough that would last us for the rest of the night and when we have to reheat food."
"Mr. Charles and Mr. Cole wouldn't want to have warm water to wash in the morning?"
"It's still too early. When they wake up, around 30 minutes before that, that'll be the time."
Gaze nodded.
"I see, I understand."
He got up and then went over to the wagon, because the firewood were placed underneath it to shield it from the rain.
While Gaze was busy picking up firewood, Cuan turned to Marcel.
"He doesn't have any Magic Arts. You're only encouraging him to continue being an Adventurer by being kind to him."
Marcel didn't look at him and simply stared at the fire in front of him.
"You plan to be a Mercenary in the future, right?"
Cuan was born with 2 Magic Art Affinities: Fire and Dark, which were both True Magic Art Affinities. And his current Physical and Magic Force was Mithril or around 90 points, part of it was because of [Warrior's Body] which increases Physical Force by 1 Grade and physical stamina, and [Warrior's Mind] which increases Magic Force by 1 Grade and mental stamina from his Warrior Class.
Most Mercenaries would start as an Adventurer first before switching over to becoming a Mercenary. The reason behind that, in the world of Mercenaries, one needed high Physical and Magic Force, because it was a profession where they would be operating on the gray area of politics and most of their enemies are people or sentient beings.
Another thing about Mercenaries, since one needs high Physical and Magic Force in order to survive in the profession, most of them need to have at least 2 True Magic Arts.
In the case of people like Cuan, as an Adventurer who's aspiring to become a Mercenary, his plan was simple: While he's still young and building enough Physical and Magic Force, he could earn coins, learn about survival tips, and build connections in the meantime. And once he becomes older and transitions into becoming a Mercenary, although he would still be a greenhorn in the Mercenary world, he wouldn't be that much of a greenhorn compared to if he started as a Mercenary right from the beginning.
"If you want to become a Mercenary and live long enough, drop that attitude of yours," Marcel said. "One day, someone is going to check you -- some might even take your head as a trophy just for shit and giggles. There are some places where talking about someone's Magic Arts or anything related to fighting gives the person or anyone related to them the right to kill the one one who can't keep their mouth shut. And in a place like this where we're in the middle of nowhere, far from any human settlement… Well, just don't be surprised."
Cuan's brows knitted.
"Of course, I'm aware of that. Or are you saying you're going to do something?"
Tomas raised his gaze and looked at him with a smile that wasn't exactly a smile, causing Cuan to feel like there was an invisible blade pressing against his neck.
"I couldn't be bothered."
Cuan remained defiant, refusing to look away from Tomas' gaze for a couple of more seconds until he finally did.
"That person is nothing...!" Cuan cursed under his breath. "The tall one only has 1 Magic Art and the female has 2 Magic Arts, and they're younger than me. They could never do anything to me if they wanted to, and will never catch up."
Tomas picked up a stick and then rearranged the burning wood.
"You don't think they have other companions?"
"Are you talking about the Brown Cloak Priestess they used to hang out with? She's already gone and no one has seen her for months. And even if that Priestess were to return, I have more connections. My father and uncles are Mercenaries. There's even a Noble who's willing to introduce me to an Aristocratic Noble once I become a Mercenary."
Tomas placed the stick down on the side.
"Good for you, I guess. I'm just saying you're making future enemies for nothing."
Cuan's brows knitted together.
"For someone who claims that he couldn't be bothered, you seem to really enjoy poking your nose into other people's business."
This time, a genuine slight smile appeared on Tomas' lips, but it had more of a reminiscing tone.
"I guess so..."
Clang, clang, clang…!
Cuan was about to reply when one of the traps suddenly got triggered.
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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