After Shyam picked up all the flowers, he returned to the village with both Ravina and the bandit to turn him in to the local guild. Villages don't have police forces, unlike cities, so the adventurer guild mostly takes care of criminals of any kind.
Ravina and Shyam went straight to the guild after landing afar from the village borders. After all, low profile matters!
There, they turned the bandit in to the guild, and it turned out he wasn't an actual bandit but an E-class adventurer working with a few other E-class adventurers. But Ravina and Shyam weren't your average E- and D-rank adventurers — they were a bit stronger!
It was still surprising to Shyam that Ravina, despite being an E-rank adventurer, could defeat three of her own class. Although, he still hadn't explored the world even the slightest, so who knew — there might be more powers and systems in this world than he currently knew. There must be!
After Ravina dropped the bandit at the guild, she was promoted to D-rank as well, as she only needed three more quests left, and defeating over three E-rank adventurers without the help of anyone else was enough proof of her upgrade.
After being promoted to D-rank, both Shyam and Ravina did nothing but take quests and complete them one by one.
Though after becoming D-rankers, they couldn't complete just a few quests to upgrade anymore.
Even the guild couldn't guarantee their upgrade. But the money was solid. After just three days of continuous quest hunting — NOT SO DANGEROUS THIS TIME! — they earned over 2 gold coins each, a total of 4 gold coins, but shared equally. That's right! Ravina actually shared half & half instead of 70/30 like Pallabi!
During this time, Shyam leveled up to Tier Two Sub Stage Two, and his sword skill also increased by quite a bit. Not to mention he also learned a little more about this world and its system.
Apparently, cities, countries, and kingdoms are given titles according to their power and importance to the world. After a village is given any title from F to D+, it becomes a city. But even Ravina hadn't known much about this world, as they lived in a village that wasn't even largely known among the other villages and cities. Even Tarayalya was just an F-rank city, whereas Vyomsetu was an E-rank city.
Dhatuvan falls under the territory of Vyomsetu, which is why the material supply mostly gets exported to Vyomsetu and then to any other city or the capital of Rājarka itself.
If Shyam wanted to become even stronger and fight stronger monsters, he would have to leave Dhatuvan eventually — not just Dhatuvan but Vyomsetu, or even Rājarka sometime in the future. But one step at a time sounds better than ten steps, which would definitely make him fall!
On the fourth night, Shyam planned to leave Dhatuvan and finally start his journey toward Vyomsetu, the second export hub of Rājarka.
Apparently, a city can only upgrade an adventurer to only two ranks above its own. So, to become a C-rank adventurer, or even to know how to, he would have to go to Vyomsetu. Shyam still hadn't tried out the book of spells — the grimwire he got from the ruins of Titiksha. Well, I wouldn't say he didn't, it's just that he failed, and stopped trying completely for now unless he gets a better manual for controlling mana. The one Golakart gave him not only had wrongs in it but it was also not suitable for Tier Below One.
It was now morning, the sun shone brighter than it did the past few days, but Ravina's beauty shone even more. Not more than Varnika's though — she stays at the top!
She stood at the inn door, tapping her toe on the floor slowly as she looked at the near-empty road with her lonely-looking blue eyes and normal-looking lips, unlike Ashima or Pallabi, who wore makeup almost every time they went outside.
Might be because she just wanted to be a girl, or because she didn't have enough money to buy makeup stuff. Either way, she looked better than any of those two. Yet, Shyam felt nearly nothing for her, just like he didn't for any of the women he met or saw thus far in his journey.
"Oh, HI!" Ravina approached Shyam, casual. He and she had become friends after fighting for days in the wild. And after she taught Shyam so much, he came to understand women much better than he did back when he first came here.
He also understood why Ashima wanted him to marry her so badly. IT WAS BECAUSE HE WAS CHARMING!
Actually, it was because he looked strong, and women need strong men. Especially in this world. I mean, who wouldn't want to show off their strong, masculine boyfriend to their friends to make them jealous?
"Hi," Shyam replied.
"So... what do we do today?" Ravina asked as she put her hands back, usual style...
"Nothing, I was actually planning to leave Dhatuvan today to go to Vyomsetu."
"Really... well, can I... come with you?" Ravina said, as small particles of hope — not magic! — spread across her body as she glowed. That's what Shyam imagined her to be like when she asked it.
"Will you leave me if I say no?"
"No."
"Sure."
"Thanks."
It was a pleasant conversation, yes.
After deciding where to go next, Shyam and Ravina filled their bellies and hopped onto the Blue Eagle. It was now time to travel to Vyomsetu!
They traveled through intense weather and countless stops at small villages to refill resources and to rest because even though two people could easily sit above the eagle, they couldn't sleep, and Shyam didn't want to risk his body for a wink of sleep. So instead, they rented rooms at random villages to take rests as they went.
What could have taken weeks only took about five days to travel, as they traveled with the eagle.
"This is Vyomsetu!" Ravina said excitedly as she stared at the big and long buildings of Vyomsetu. They were even taller and larger than the ones in Tarayala. Shyam had already noticed the high defense borders and a thin mana barrier above the whole city. It was an incredible view!
Without a second thought, they both landed near the entrance of the city and put back the eagle.
---
Somewhere in Trivanta
"I am aware I have transgressed… yet must you descend here merely to chastise me, Mother?"
The woman in the white, radiant robe sat with legs gracefully crossed, her gaze lowered. A divine luminescence surrounded her, proclaiming her status as a goddess — yet before the figure standing above her, whose presence was an ocean of authority, she was compelled to kneel.
"I would not have crossed the veils between realms, had you answered the summons I sent," the second woman's voice echoed like tempered thunder, her hand raising a crystal token that shimmered with the record of countless messages unanswered.
Suddenly, the second woman's message token pulsed with ethereal light. A flickering vision unfolded before them, akin to shyam's.
[The bounds of Kṣetralok have been expanded by—]
The final words dissolved into a distorted murmur, a name blurred by divine static.
The second woman's eyes narrowed, her voice lowering to a breath that trembled with knowin
"...Mother?"
---
Ch-41