Chapter 117: Chapter 117 - Adventurer Party(Part 1)

"Uh, can I help you?" I inquired warily.

"Come now, there’s no need to be tense! You’re the one who’s been clearing Labyrinth quests one after the other for the last week or so, right? We’re all Platinum ranked, our party name is Deatrio, a combination of death and trio. I’m the leader, my name is Ekspen Derble," Came the friendly response.

The fuck is this about, anyway? I’m kinda starting to get a bad feeling here...

"Okay...nice to meet you? I’m Larrk Stryker," I replied awkwardly, not sure what to make of this.

It’s the 17th of December, a couple of days later. It was currently around midday, and I was at the Kaygee Town Guild, confirming my latest successful quest. Right as I’d received the payment for it, this trio of Adventurers approached me.

This Ekspen guy then started talking to me, and I’m kinda uncomfortable at his bubbly extrovert energy. He looks like he’s in his late-twenties, was tall and well-built, with medium-length light blonde hair that was parted in the middle, brown eyes and a pale complexion.

He was wearing fully metal armor that had a silver sheen to it, with a flowing blue cape attached to his shoulders. Yeah, he’s way too flashy for my liking.

"Nice to meet you, Larrk. Let me introduce you to my party members," He grinned, before gesturing to them, "This is Sakri Fischle, and this is Dispo Zubble."

"Uh, hi," I nodded at them politely.

"Hello," Smiled Sakri in response.

She looks about the same age as Ekspen, with white hair tied up in a couple of messy buns, dark purple eyes and was on the tall and skinny side. She was wearing light, leather armor, the top long-sleeved with a high collar, and knee-length trousers with tall boots.

"Good to meet you," Added the third member, Dispo.

He looked a bit older, maybe mid or late thirties. He had thick, curly pink hair with a receding hairline, a thick mustache with the ends twirled up and was missing his left earlobe. He was a bit short and had a stocky build, with a dark complexion, and also wore metal armor.

"So, uh, did you all need something from me?" I inquired uncertainly.

"Yeah, we’re helping young, talented Adventurers reach their full potential. And we’d like to help you, you’re clearly skilled and talented, given that you’re Platinum ranked at your age. We want to help nurture that talent. It’ll be a temporary arrangement for just a few days, we’ve helped several young Adventurers like this, and all of them have gone up at least one rank as a result," Explained Ekspen with a smile.

Huh, that’s actually pretty nice of them, if he’s telling the truth. But I don’t need this, I’m doing just fine for myself as is.

"If you don’t mind me asking, why are you doing this?" I inquired curiously.

"Our goal is to raise the overall average rank of all the Adventurers in Obsidian. Since this town is near the only Labyrinth in the nation, the Knights show up quite often, at least once a year for a couple of months or more.

The Guild and our Mayor cooperate with the Knights with even the most absurd requests, innocent citizens willingly handed over as slaves to those bastards...we’re tired of letting the Knights walk all over us and treat us like we’re beneath them.

And to do that, we Adventurers have to become a force more formidable than that of the Knights. It won’t happen overnight, but our hope is that, eventually, Adventurers will be more powerful than Knights, at least on average," Sakri informed me, a look of determination on all their faces.

Yeah, that makes sense as far as motivation goes, no self-respecting person would be cool with being treated like subhuman garbage by the Knights.

"So, what do you say, young man? Would you like to join us?" Ekspen asked me.

"Well, your offer is very generous and I appreciate it, but I have to turn you down. I work better alone, I’m no good at teamwork," I shook my head in response.

It’s definitely true, I have almost no experience with being a part of a team. It took me a while to get used to fighting alongside Prysm instead of doing so solo, teaming up with three people whom I know absolutely nothing about seems like a pretty bad idea.

And besides, I’ve been enjoying using the full range of my powers in the Labyrinth, I won’t be able to do so if these people are around.

"At least give it a try, it could be more beneficial to you than you think. If you don’t work well with others, then this is a great opportunity for you to improve in that aspect," Pointed out Dispo.

I mean, that’s a good point and all, but it doesn’t address my real reasons for turning them down, which I can’t exactly mention.

"Yeah, I don’t know...instead of me, why don’t you find another young Adventurer who has potential or whatever?" I suggested in response.

Maybe if I can get their attention off of me, they’ll focus on someone else and leave me alone.

"Oh, we have, our plan was to have you and one other Adventurer be a part of this. Experiencing and fighting alongside different people and their combat styles is more effective than you would think," Said Ekspen, as they continued to try and persuade me.

Come on, just take no for an answer already! Damn it, why me? If I snap back rudely, they’ll probably back off, but I’d rather not create tension between me and the Adventurers here.

Plus they’re being nice, so me responding in a rude manner would definitely paint me in a bad light. I don’t want to stand out too much and attract too much attention, and the more I try to reject them while they keep trying to convince me, the more attention I’m going to get from the other Adventurers around, and negative attention at that.

"Uh...can I think about it and get back to you later?" I blurted out, as my mind blanked on any other response.

"Well, I suppose that’s fine. We’ll be at the bar just opposite to the Guild tonight, you can meet us there once you’ve decided," Replied Ekspen with a nod.

The way he said that, it’s like they’re expecting me to ultimately accept this offer. What a pain, I hate this so much. I then excused myself and left the Guild, heading back to the hotel I was staying at.

Yup, that’s right, a hotel, not an inn like I usually go for. I mean, I’m a Platinum rank now, so I’m not exactly gonna turn too many heads if I splurge a bit...Platinum quests pay quite handsomely, so it’s only natural for those at that rank to be pretty loaded.

Rosary had booked the rooms, two rooms attached by a door. The room I was in had one large bed, which I’m having all to myself. The other room has two smaller beds, where Rosary and Prysm are staying.

I thought it might be suspicious that we’ve booked three beds between the two of us, since the hotel isn’t aware of Prysm. According to Rosary, when the receptionist inquired about that, she responded by saying the two smaller beds were to sleep in and the bigger bed was for...other stuff.

Which isn’t untrue...once Prysm goes to sleep, Rosary has snuck into my room a few times. It’s a pretty awesome arrangement, I get my own bed for the first time in ages, and I’m getting laid on the regular.

Prysm is a pretty deep sleeper, so there isn’t much concern of her waking up. It’d be pretty awkward if she did, here’s hoping it doesn’t happen.

Anyway, I should ask Rosary about this whole teaming up thing, maybe she’s got a good excuse I can give them to turn down the offer. Ooh, maybe I can ask her to act like she’s going to be training me, since we’re registered at the same Guild and all.

Yeah, that sounds pretty convincing. I mean, why go for a few Platinum ranks when I can train with a Diamond rank instead? Wish I’d thought of this before I left the Guild, it would’ve been the perfect excuse.

Besides my powers that’d give away the fact that I’m a Heretic, there’s plenty more abilities that I’d prefer to keep to myself. The blue flame Spell I recently came up with, my Skills, and the full extent of my Spellcasting.

Distance Casting and Chantless Casting are both extremely rare abilities to see mastered, especially among Commoners, and I’m pretty proficient at Distance Casting, along with having fully mastered Chantless Casting.

Yeah, I’d rather play my cards close to the chest, too many people know about what I’m capable of as it is. Adventurers may value privacy and are therefore unlikely to reveal what others are capable of, but I don’t want to risk it either way.

That’s why it’s for the best if I turn down that trio of Adventurers. I do feel a little bad since they were just trying to help, but I’m not taking any chances...I just need to get Rosary on board, and I’ll be set to reject them without a worry...

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