Besides Herberta, Riley's personal assistant, or so Rex's had dubbed her, there were three other people here on the request of Aridun Zeth. And, as a carriage was taking them towards the only sky gondola that was strictly controlled within the city, he had enough time to inspect them, though there was little that could rouse Rex's interest. The remaining three, after all, were men, and thus, for the life of him, Rex could not get himself to care enough to give them any of his precious time. All he needed to know, was their potential threat levels, and he had estimated that the moment he first saw them. Each and every one of them was on a similar level as Herberta, and if he had to guess, they were somewhere in the upper tiers of B rank. why else would they be asked to assist with an A ranker's evaluation. Rex was slightly interested i nwhat manner of monster he was supposed to take on, and why would the two geezers needed these four to cover their backsides. Not like they would go anywhere near actual combat zone.
His question was answered when, after disembarking the carriage, and passing a few checkpoints, each and every one personally cleared by Aridun, they boarded a sky gondola and descended, arriving in yet another fort like structure, though this one was many, many times more fortified than the one he had frequently passed through. Even the materials were much more sturdy and expensive, obviously. Still, he could hear some random, banging like sounds resounding in teh distance, some monster no doubt testing the durability of the forts walls.
As Rex used his mana pulse, he noted two, rather important facts. First, there were plenty of monsters surrounding the fortress walls, each and every one of them around the power of buss tarantulas. Though, unlike the tarantulas he had fought previously, there was quite a number of these monsters that roamed either in pairs, or even in groups of up to six individual creatures. And that, well, no ordinary A ranker could contend with such numbers. A one on one with a monster of the same tier, at least at this level, was a dangerous dance, where a single misstep could result in a grievous injury, or worse, death. At least, for your general adventurer that is, though not like Rex would just go and flaunt his not yet so obvious superiority to the people present.
The other thing he noticed however, was the response from the monsters, as there was reaction to his mana pulse, a few loud and excited roards resounded beyond the walls. 'Huh? A sensory type monsters? Now that is something I have yet to see. And to be able to percieve my mana pulse, now that is twice as impressive. Should I try and lace it with the concept of space, to eliminate even that tiny little fluctuation it creates?' Rex mused as the small group moved deeper in the fortress, their destination only known to Aridun and maybee Riley. No matter, Rex would find out soon enough, and he was more than ready for any possible ambush, even if he did not expect one to be there. Better safe than sorry after all.
Soon enough, they were on top of one of the fort's walls, standing in front of a window like opening, since the wall itself reached the top of the tunnel it was built in front of, serving as a seal to keep any monster from leaving said tunnel. 'So, it is indeed a ledge this fort is built upon, once it was reached the first time and cleared of any monsters around. Must have taken an insane amount of both manpower and military might to keep whatever monsters live here at bay during the construction. Hat's off to you, the forefathers of Monarchy of Sol. Hats off indeed.' Rex thought as he pieced things together, looking at the numerous monsters the crystals embedded in the tunnel's walls revealed to his eyes.
Though, he quickly noticed the problem at hand, but he still waited for Aridun to speak. He was nice enough to do so after all. And, not long after, the man in question indeed did so, pointing towards the monsters in distance.
"We would like you to show your prowess by dealing with some of the monsters here. I do believe you have the capability to do so after all. Would you be so kind? As soon as you do so, we will be able to update your adventurer ID to an A rank, as it should be, judging by number of A rank cores you have already turned in."
Rex simply scoffed at that, either he was taken for a fool, or the guild master was indeed just a pencill pusher and had absolutely no understanding of the power and senses A rank monster had, and he had no problem with dissing the old man for his stupidity.
"Fuck that. I am leaving, and if you are too stupid to understand why, dont ever plan anything at the danger level of peak B or above. Anyone who would sign off for such a task would be signing their own death warrant." he turned around and walked back towards the sky gondola they had just left. Could he, pulling out all stops and evoking some of the concept power at his fingertips, take down whatever horde of those monsters would fall upon him the moment he engaged even one of them? yes, but at what cost? He had no desire to display power beyond their comprehension, painting yet another, much more problematic target on his back, especially when he was trying to avoid as many murder hobo routes as possible.
"Surely, there is no need for such an overreaction? Its just one or two A rank monsters we need to vitness you take care off. Surely. Surely it would not be too troublesome?" the guildmaster of the branch questioned, quite confused regarding Rex's little outburst. It was Herberta, the one with the greatest experience among the gour B rankers, who pieced Rex's reasoning together from what little clues she had. And at that, her eyebrows rose as her eyes slightly bulged when she understood Rex reasoning. And the fact that he did it at a single glance, was enough of a proff that he had actually taken on more than a single A ranked monster. No one else here have had the pleasure? The chance to do the same, so of course, how could they understand teh actual terror and might of those monsters. And their senses? B ranked monsters were already quite dangerous, needing a strong group to take on. So, what about A ranked ones? Whould the rest simply stand around and do nothing while there was an intruder close by, the sound of their fight coming over? Of course not, and then, like a chain of dominos, a tide of monsters would be upon this intruder, drowning him in flesh, claws, fangs and projectiles these monsters had at their disposal.
She quickly proceeded to share her conclusions, the other three B rankers being the first to agree with her. They were no musclebrained fools, havign reached the point they had, and thus could immediatly understand the gravity of their sutuation, as well as the actual danger Rex could pose as an opponent. There were plenty of A rankers,in this wide world, born with the love of it in spades, who could actually act like muscleheads, using their heaven blessed talents to surpass obstacle after obstacle, emerging victorious at the end. And, there were plenty of them who, in their overconfidence, bit off more than they could chew, rushing headfirst into danger, and dying as a result. So, a level headed A ranker, who had a head on his shoulders was a true monster, and to have one appear in such a small kingdom as Sol, was twice as impressive.
Understanding slowly dawned on Aridun, as Herberta explained, the other three B rankers nodding in agreement, more than happy to not have the pleasure of experiencing a veritable monster tide, crashing down on their hides, no doubt ending with their bodies being torn apart in countless pieces and devoured by the monsters present. A chill ran down their spines at the more thought of such an outcome. "Good lords! We must hurry and resolve this misunderstanding!" exclaimed Aridun, now perfectly aware of the ginormous fumble, no, the veritable sea of shit he had just dropped himself into, with no land in sight, and no paddle to waddle in any direction with.
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By the time they reached the sky gondola, Rex had already departed to topside, seemingly not the least bit interested in dealing with the fools, so inclined to die. And once back on the main island, he frantically asked the guards as to where Rex might have gone to, outright panicking at the moment. Riley, who, as a space mage, had been on a few raids back in his day, though nothing as grand as a raid that dealt with A rank monsters, just sighed, understanding Rex's frustration and probable anger. He should have seen the issue first, scolding Aridun for his foolishness, but old age was a bitch and a half. His mind and senses no longer as sharp and acute as they used to be. All he could hope for, was that Rex did not stop his dealings with the guild entirely, though he was prepeared to hear the gloating of one of the other branch guildmasters or their aides within the capital, laughing their asses of regarding Aridun's incompetence. The old fool was quite the savant when it came to administrative problem solving, though he was dearly lacking when it came to dealing with monsters and such. There was a reason he never get to plan or set up raids, unless he was responsible for the logistics side of one. Supply deliveries, loot redistribution and sale, and the like- those were his fields of expertise.
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Rex, on his way back to Beth's Hearth, bought a snack or two, and munching calmly, went over his well thought our plan. And while it was not all that complicated, or genius in its complexity, Rex was quite pleased with his train of though, and so, soon enough he had reached hisdestination, quite a few carriages parked besides, each and every one adorned with a corresponding sigil of their noble house.
"Haaa, more than I would have expected. Guess they simply can't read between the lines." Rex sighed, noticing the number of carriages, then entered the inn, noticing near every table taken by some well dresed and refined gentleman, or a lady, properly dressed as one, not the supposed eye candies that were with them last night. His eyes going over the room and finding the table in the corner, the one he ussually sat at, once again with the sign 'Reserved' on it, another one by it's side stating 'Rex', he moved straight towards it, smiling lightly towards Beth, who was bussy doing her own things at the bar counter, and nodded to her in thanks. Once he was seated, he sighed once again and spoke in a loud enough voice.
"I dont have the time, or patience to listen to each and every one of you, or care for that matter, so by groups of five, and dont bother mentioning anything that the royal family can offer, be it coin or assistance. I dont need any, nor will I suddenly decide to serve any of you." then, the next words coming out of his mouth were cold, infused with a fraction of his bloodlust, indicating the finality in his words "None of you are worthy. If you want something done, make a quest request at the adventurers guild. So, if anyone still has anything else to say, now is the time." he moved his hand, gesturing towards the five empty seats around his table, and, unfortunately, the nobles seemed too damn enthralled with the shiny new toy on the block, each still desiring a chance to get their grabby little hands on it. The attitude Rex had displayed? The arrogance? Which A ranker did not have those? Whats more, he had yet to make absurd requests like fun times with their pureblooded daughters or other such nonsense. Sure, he was a possible asset, but that did not change the fact that he was a commoner still.
And so, as if beforehand decided, the most influential noble family, right after the royals, had their representative walk over, alongside with four other nobles, none of the others from the top three, royal family not including. And, from how much this noble 'gentleman' spoke, taking over the relatively short conversation, or sales pitch to be more precise, Rex could read the general gist of it. each of the top three wanted to set themselves in the best light possible, and as such, decided on this format, overshadowing other, lesser nobles, who could do nothing but bite their tongues, grind their teeth and try their best to entice Rex in any way possible with what little time and opportunities they were given. Honeyed words, generous offers, still laced with riches, glory and whatnot, with little to nothing that could trully capture Rex's interest. The same happened with the next two groups as well, the other two, top three noble houses doing the same as the first one, creating stark contrast between them and the lower nobles that were simply unworthy of his stature. Or so their words heavily implied.
Honeyed words, interwoven with praises and any other tactic imaginable, all in order to entice Rex to consider either joining, or heavily favouring their respective houses, going so far as to imply that the possibility to join their ranks through marriage was not entirely out of the question. And while outwardly Rex remained indifferent, he was smirking in his own mind, ridiculing the stupidity and narrowmindedness of said nobles. They were just humans after all, no special bloodline or unique ancestry within their veins, making the very idea of preserving their 'noble' blood pure was outright ridiculuous. 'No murder hobo route this time.' Rex reminded himself, keeping his laughter inside.
Eventually, aproximately an hour later, he was done with all the noble sales pitchers, showing no actual interest in their offers, leaving them with the same suggestion as he did before, regarding the neccesity to submit quests to the adventurer guild. And while notably annoyed, apaprently these branch members of the noble families were not taught to act well, they left without causing any sort of a scene, result of Rex's relatively civil decorum, at the very least for his own standarts. And from what he had heard in just teh last day or so, he had, probably, been far more tolerant than most A rankers might have been. He had used his bloodlust, heavily supressed of course, precisely to somewhat offset that part. A warning, that while he was more understanding and civil than ussualy expected, he was more than capable of riping throats out and the like.
"Damn, that was annoying." Rex grumbled, his gaze moving to Beth, who was behind the counter. "A solid meal would be apreciated. Gotta deal with the girl afterwards. Will be out of town for a while. Keep my room cozy for me please."
"Aye aye. Coming right up." Beth replied, shortly after dissapearing into the kitchen, and moments later, her little helpers, with wide smiles adorning their faces, came through, loading Rex table with plate after plate of roasted meat and some garnish, causing him to smack his lips in anticipation, and as soon as the first plate landed on his table, he pulled it closer, grabed his cutlery and dug in, enjoying the taste and texture of the food. Nothing better than hearty food to wash ones troubles, or annoyances in Rex's current case, away.
"Eat soemthing. We will be on the road for a while after. Cant have you pass out or something. How else will you bring me to that village of yours?" Rex jerked his head in the dirrection of the girl, who had descended the stairs when the nobles had left. And after his order, she did exactly as told, little as a mouse, sitting in the furthest corner she could, reaching for the nearest plate with food and nibbling away. "And make sure you are full before we depart." Rex added, not the least inclined to have an anemic girl collapse along the way.
"Right, what's your name. Cant be calling you peasant girl all the time." He asked, remembering he had a propensity to either completely ignore, or not ask for names at all, as if most of teh people he encounters are noting more than some extras. 'Damn, that's quite harsh, now that I think of it. Should probably try and be better.' Rex noted mentaly, noticing a rather significant flaw(?) in his character.
"Zena." the girl replied, her voice barely audible.
"I dont like this mouse like behaviour. What happened to the bold girl who was willing to fall on her knees and beg for assistance?" Rex sighed, not at all enjoying the current companion of his, slightly startling the girl. Most likely she had no actual idea just what an A rank power adventurer actually meant, and now that she had seen, or mostly heard, how carefully and near desperately noble clans tried top earn his favour, while not incurring his wrath, it had at least somewhat dawned on her. No wonder she was now as meek as a little mouse, in the presence of a lion that could snuff her life out like a candle, and no one would even blink an eye. Rex would need to work on the girl a bit to bring back that interesting and daring person he had found somewhat adorable, cute even, but hey, he had quite a bit of time ahead of him, from what the girl had shared, her village should still have some time, though not much. and as such, when he and Zena were full, he paid Beth for themeal and any other tabs he had acrued, reserving his room for another month ahead, leaving an extra gold coin or two to be used, should he get delayed with his return.