Nfirea Bareare did not hesitate. Seemingly very interested in Irvine Wolf, who was not much older than him, he said, "I need to discuss this with my grandmother first. Everyone, please follow me."
With that, Nfirea turned and quickly ran towards the exit of the Adventurer's Guild.
"Let's go together to meet the client," Captain Dosari said to his three teammates. He then looked at Irvine and laughed heartily, "Shall we?"
Irvine nodded slightly.
Captain Dosari walked out of the hall side-by-side with Irvine, while the other three team members followed closely behind, subtly forming a protective formation around him. After Irvine had displayed his healing magic, many other adventurer teams had been eager to approach him. The swift action of the "Stone" team now drew silent curses of frustration from those watching.
At the reception desk, the brown-haired girl, Daya, watched Irvine leave with the Stone team, a hint of envy and sadness in her eyes. "He's truly amazing. You can't tell from his appearance, but he's actually a Faith-based Caster. If only my brother…" she whispered to herself, but soon a professional smile returned to her face as she greeted the next adventurer in line.
Outside the Adventurer's Guild gate, a cargo cart was parked. Its somewhat worn wooden trailer was piled high with goods. The bottom layer held wooden crates of various sizes, while the top was covered with a layer of dried, straw-like plants. A strong, pungent herbal scent emanated from the cart.
At the front sat an old woman holding a whip, a light green headscarf wrapped around her head. This was Nfirea's grandmother, Lizzie Bareare.
Irvine and the Stone team emerged and saw Nfirea talking animatedly to his grandmother, clearly explaining the situation inside the guild. They waited patiently near the back of the cart.
They didn't wait long. Nfirea walked over, a happy expression on his face. "Grandmother agreed. Irvine, you can come with us." His smile then turned slightly apologetic. "However, Grandmother wants you to demonstrate your healing magic for her again."
"No problem," Irvine said softly.
Compared to simply attaching himself to any random merchant caravan or adventurer team heading to E-Rantel, traveling with the known quantity of Nfirea and his grandmother was far more reassuring. Furthermore, Lizzie Bareare was a magic caster capable of using third-tier magic!
Irvine followed Nfirea to his grandmother. Her wrinkled face and white hair made her appear very old. Her expressionless demeanor and slightly protruding jawbones made her seem difficult to approach. In reality, someone who had raised a person as gentle as Nfirea couldn't have a truly bad character.
"Where are you from? Black hair and dark brown eyes are quite rare throughout the kingdom," Lizzie stated flatly, her gaze scrutinizing.
Irvine paused. This was not an easy question to answer.
"Never mind, it's an unimportant trifle," Lizzie said, squinting slightly and cutting off his unspoken response. "Cast your healing magic on this horse of mine." She pointed to the black draft horse hitched to the cart.
The horse looked a bit old. A visible depression had formed on the back of its neck, seemingly from years of wearing a yoke. The hair on its rump was sparse, and a few faint red marks were visible on its hide.
"Alright." Irvine wasted no words. He raised his palm towards the black horse. "Lesser Healing."
The magical energy he could distinctly feel within his body was suddenly drained by a significant amount. A gentle white light enveloped the black horse, and the red marks on its rump quickly faded and disappeared.
Pffft! The horse shook its head and snorted, looking noticeably more comfortable.
Hoo~ Irvine exhaled softly. Though he didn't feel physically tired, his MP was almost completely depleted. The first-tier spell Lesser Healing cost 5 MP. Including the demonstration in the guild hall, he had cast it twice. With only 13 MP, he wouldn't be able to cast it again even if he wanted to.
Irvine glanced at the MP value on his status panel. From the first casting until now, not a single point had recovered. The automatic recovery rate of magical energy was much slower than he had anticipated! It was also possible this was because he didn't currently have a dedicated magic caster class. Although the "Genius" class could be converted into any basic class, it clearly did not provide the passive benefits or stat growth of a dedicated class.
"Hmm." Grandmother Lizzie finally nodded, a slight smile forcing its way onto her wrinkled cheeks. "The speed of our return to E-Rantel seems like it can be increased somewhat. Let's set off."
With that, she paid no further attention to Irvine. She called Nfirea up onto the cart to sit beside her.
Snap!
The crack of the whip against the horse's hide signaled their departure. The wooden wheels creaked as they began to roll over the stone pavement.
Irvine and the Stone team could only follow closely behind on foot—clearly, they had not been invited to ride on the already overloaded cart!
Fortunately, the heavily laden cart couldn't move very fast.
4th Year BCE, May 17th.
Irvine Wolf left the Royal Capital on his second day in this New World.
Within the Re-Estize Kingdom, most of the territory was plains, with the north and west bordering the sea, home to two large port cities. The kingdom was predominantly human, with a very small number of demi-humans—a fact related to the general populace's aversion to other races .
It was said that in recent years, the Slane Theocracy to the south had been at war with the Elven Kingdom further south. Occasionally, Forest Elves captured in these conflicts were sold into slavery in Re-Estize and the Baharuth Empire, their prices often exceeding 300 gold coins for a common elf. Those with specialized skills or knowledge could fetch prices over 1000 gold coins, essentially sold as "living magical tools" .
This was information Irvine gleaned from conversations with the Stone team over the three days since their departure. The team seemed eager to get closer to him and answered almost every simple question he asked. In this way, Irvine indirectly absorbed a great deal of basic common knowledge about the world.
The journey was uneventful, likely because they were still within the kingdom's secure heartland.
After a few days of interaction, besides growing somewhat familiar with his companions, Irvine finally understood why Lizzie, a third-tier caster, had hired adventurers: they were needed as labor!
The cartload of medicinal herbs needed to be aired out periodically each day to prevent rot or mildew. The work of unloading and reloading the heavy crates naturally fell to the Stone team. Captain Dosari had secretly complained to Irvine about this backbreaking task several times.
As for Irvine, he wasn't idle either. During the herb-airing breaks and rest stops at night, he was tasked with using his healing magic on the horses. It wasn't just for the superficial whip marks; according to Lizzie, healing magic could not only restore injuries but also recover a portion of the recipient's stamina .
This revelation made Irvine realize that the performance of skills in this real world was subtly different from their game mechanics. Simultaneously, through this constant expenditure of magic, he was able to observe his MP recovery rate: approximately 1 point per hour.