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.