Chapter 222 – Golden Rank Achieved.

“So this is it?”

“Yes Mr. Wayland, congratulations on passing your test and achieving the gold rank.”

Roland looked at his adventurer card which now had a golden outline on it. After the woman he talked to vanished for about ten minutes she rushed back down to proclaim that he had passed. What Loreena wrote in the letter was unknown to him but it seemed to have impressed the current guild master.

Even the process of updating his card was hastened, already after an hour of waiting everything was in order. The best part about it was that he did not need to get his status red for the update. This was something that he expected as the status check was done before the test was supposed to start. With the help of a certain sun elf back at his home he was able to go around this.

“Thank you.”

“Would you like me to explain the benefits of the gold adventurer rank?”

“Ah well, that’s fin…”

Before Roland could finish his sentence the guild worker was already blabbing away the information that he was already familiar with.

“Now that you are a gold rank adventurer you can choose to take a leadership role in small expeditions! You will be free to command lower ranked adventurers and receive higher rewards if placed in such a role!”

Bronze, Steel and Silver grade adventures were quite common and mostly seen as common foot soldiers. Now after reaching the gold rank an adventurer was seen as more experienced and with a future. This was the rank just before tier 3, it was the last step before the world of elites opened up.

This reminded him of one of his earlier adventurers in the ant-infested mines. There a group of gold rankers took over the show and instructed him, who was only a steel grade adventurer. They just sent them out as scouts without much thought about the dangers while waiting. Now he could actually join those types of expeditions and be the one giving orders but did he want to?

‘That does seem like a bother but…’

There were pros and cons to being a leader. On one hand, he could direct the forces as he wished to complete the task at hand in the way he wanted. On the other hand, if the mission failed he would be held accountable for any deaths or failures. It was a double-edged sword that mostly fell in favor of the higher rank as they were able to save their life by using lower ranks as meat shields.

“With your gold rank card, you will be able to purchase potions and various other necessities at a higher discount…”

The woman continued to list things that he already knew. With Elodia back home he already had a living encyclopedia that he could ask about all things related to the guild. One big change that the woman didn’t mention was concerning tamed beasts like Agni.

The Ruby Dire Wolf was over level 100 and only if their master was a gold rank adventurer could his pet be officially allowed into the city. This would require more paperwork and a special harness with a muzzle as he was a wolf-type monster with a strong bite. This would not be a problem for a blacksmith like him who could easily create one. With a few modifications, he could even make it come off automatically so if Agni found himself in trouble he could just use his mana to take it off.

“Thank you but I know all of this already, if that’s all then I will excuse myself.”

“Ah… please come again!”

Roland decided to interrupt the woman as she continued to babble on. The job that he concluded was still under review but he would not receive any rewards anyway. Due to it being a rank-up test he wouldn’t be receiving any more than this. Money was not what he came here for though and this would allow him to leave this city earlier than any other participant.

“Hey, Wayland!”

While walking away from the guild receptionist he heard a familiar voice that belonged to a fellow adventurer. It was Orson waving to get his attention, his entire party with an additional berserker were all there eating and drinking up.

“Are you finished? Have a drink with us lad.”

Dalrak laughed while moistening up his beard with some cheap beer. They all had clearly finished up giving their reports and were now winding down. This adventurer guild was a lot larger than the one back home and this cantine area was the same. It was mostly full with some empty chairs here and there.

‘I guess I haven’t eaten anything in a while…’

The moment he saw the food on the table he could feel his belly rumbling. The fresh food that Elodia had prepared for him before the trip was already gone and he was stuck with dried meat and bread.

“How is it?”

“Hah, what does it matter, food is food!”

As he sat down he turned in Grisalde’s direction, the large woman was munching on a drumstick belonging to an unidentified bird. It was a lot larger than one that belonged to a chicken and could actually belong to a monster. Monster meat was mostly too tough to eat but there existed some weaker ones that could actually be raised.

“I guess you are right, excuse me, can I have one of those too?”

He nodded before calling the waitress over. Though he had gotten used to the seasoned food prepared by Elodia, eating roasted bird from time to time wasn’t bad. When among other adventurers in heavy armor and a muscular barbarian woman he didn’t seem that out of place even when wearing this shiny armor.

“So, how long do you think they will make us wait?”

Asked Orson after taking a swig from his mug.

“I’m sure that merchant will try to weasel out of paying in full even though we recovered most of the merchandise.”

Replied Senna that was poking a piece of meat with a knife.

“We might be stuck here for a while, why don’t we visit the dungeon later?

Said Dalrak while laughing. Roland was listening in without saying much, this was quite a large incident that could take a while to resolve. It mostly depended on the merchant that could just fork up all of the money they were owed. If not the guild might have to confiscate some of the merchandise and sell it before giving the adventurers their wages.

“Maybe if someone didn’t drink all of the liquor from the carts it would go faster.”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Senna narrowed her eyes when looking at Darlak. At this moment Roland recalled how the dwarf had probably gone through most of the booze by himself. He was probably the only one that didn’t partake in the drinking as he preferred tea or just regular water.

“Hah, can’t blame a dwarf for quenching his thirst!”

“What about you Wayland, are you going to stay?”

“Me? I’m not sure…”

While Senna was arguing with Darlak, Orson posed a question to Roland who was going through the drumstick he ordered. He had done some thinking about his next step which mostly took him back to his own city.