“Good, we’re getting closer to the road,” Grillion said as the four reached the river outside the forest. The same river Toby crossed to get to the forest.

Before them was the same vast grassland Toby had seen before. It was still the same with the low grass hand monsters disguised as berry brushes.

Toby looked at the deceivingly slow and calming water that actually flowed like a flood.

“How are we going to cross? I can swim through just fine, but I don’t think I can say the same for you three.”

Grillion shook his head. “We’re not going to swim and get caught like fish on a frying pan, little Toby.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack.

The goblin placed the paper on the edge of the river and said, “Earth Bridge.” They backed off.

Magic circles drawn on the paper lit up, and Toby ‘saw’ dark, brown, dust gather around the paper before it erupted. The paper was torn, but a bridge made of earth and dirt was slowly formed, connecting one side of the river to the other.

“What was that?” Toby asked with the excitement of a child seeing a new toy. Lukas was the same.

“It’s a Skill Scroll. An Item that carries a Skill in it. You pour Mana into the scroll and imagine the outcome you wanted.”

“How can I get one?” Lukas asked.

“You can buy one from a Scroll Maker. They usually set up shop in a town or a city. But the high-rank Scroll Maker will like to travel the world rather than staying in one place.” Lily explained.

“That’s cool,” Toby exclaimed. “But why call it a scroll when it's just a piece of paper?”

“Because it’s romance,” Lukas shouted.

“That is correct. It’s romance indeed.” Grillion nodded.

“Oh. So it’s romance. I see. That’s explain everything.” Toby also nodded like it was so obvious he was dumb not to notice.

Lily stared at them before shaking her head. “Men.”

“Anyway, let's get going. It took about twenty days by foot to travel to Eldium so we better move.” Grillion said as he crossed the earth bridge first.

Toby, Lily, and Lukas followed behind. As he looked down at the water, Toby realized he could float, yet the first thing he thought of when looking at the river was to swim in it. Either I’m an idiot or a turtle’s yielding for water was that great.

When all of them crossed the bridge, it crumbled. Grillion looked around and at the sky, he smelled the air and took a handful of dirt to smell it too. Then he pointed to the right and said with a tone as sure as the day was long.

“The road is this way.”

“There’s a road near here, Gramp?” Toby asked.

“Yes.” Grillion nodded. “And if we are lucky, we might meet a merchant caravan. If we can join a caravan, then we only need around thirteen days, at most, to reach Eldium.”

With that said, the group continued traveling along the river's edge. When they passed the point where the river rose into the sky, they kept moving straight. Barely ten minutes later, Toby saw a well-maintained dirt road. He looked up into the sky with a defeated look.

It took him so much to cross the river and to find a safe place inside the forest. Turned out there was a road nearby.

But on the bright side, he met Gramp and the kids. So it was worth it.

When they reached the road, Toby looked both ways. There was only a long road reaching out toward the horizon on both sides. Nothing he could use to indicate the way to the city. Lucky for them, Grillion was in the group.

“This way.” The reliable goblin led them to the left.

During the seven days they traveled along the road, they didn’t encounter any major risks, just some small Rank 1 monsters. Toby didn’t directly kill any. He just helped the others fight by throwing things at the monsters. He still couldn’t even entertain the thought of killing. Not after that.

And rather than Exp, the thing Toby got out of those encounters was information.

System, why am I not getting Exp from these new monsters?

[The user can not gain Exp from killing beings with lower Rank]

Oh, that sure sucks.

[No. The user cannot suck Exp from beings with lower Rank]

Screw you. That wasn’t what I’m talking about.

It was a good thing he knew that early. If he didn’t know such a thing, Toby would have rushed to Rank Up as soon as possible. But now, he would take his time and explore what every Rank had to offer first before each Rank Up. He didn’t have to spend Life Exp right away all. He could be a hoarder all he wanted.

But then came another question.

System, can I indefinitely keep Life Exp and not spend it?

[Yes. The user can do so]

Neat. Hum. If that's the case, is there any use in spending Life Exp in my Rank if I don’t have enough to Rank Up?

[The closer the user comes to a Rank Up, the more the user can understand about the conditions needed to Rank Up]

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

You mean I need to do more than dance to Rank Up now?

[Yes. From a certain Rank, the user must fulfill certain conditions to Rank Up. And dance]

…That last part was intentional.

One more good thing Toby achieved during the weeks of traveling was to gain a better understanding and get better at using his Skills. Especially [Float] and [Push]. He had to do both constantly for both him and Lily after all.

[You have expanded your understanding of Rank 2 Skill – Float]

[Reward: 15 Life Exp. Life Exp: 80 -> 95]

[You have expanded your understanding of Rank 1 Skill – Push]

[Reward: 15 Life Exp. Life Exp: 95 -> 110]

The more proficient he was at using a certain Skill, the more he got rewarded for it. It was awesome.

If he could only float around like a balloon held by a baby through a thin string a week ago, then he could move vertically or horizontally at a quick pace after training. He could stabilize himself with [Float] while pouring more Mana into [Push] to make a quick dodge. He couldn’t push himself in any direction he wanted yet. But he was getting better.

[Push] had a surprisingly long range too. Fifty feet. The same range of the omniscience view he had before.

On the ninth day of their travel, they saw a merchant caravan coming closer from behind them.

The group had three carts. From the front, the first cart had two humans, a coachman youth and a merchant-looking middle-aged guy with brown hair and green eyes. The merchant had a brown tunic and a black pant. His tunic looked quite sturdy as it was lined with leather, and could be for extra comfort and durability during long travel. He had two badges on his right chest, a badge with the image of two crossing hammers on it and a badge with the image of a coin. He had a high-quality-looking black leather boot, but it was slightly weathered as the color seemed to be fading just a bit.

When they were in view, Toby pulled down the cloth to hide his eyes immediately.

The four of them discussed it a few days before. Grillion didn’t tell the kids the specifics, but he did tell them Toby needed to hide his red eyes since it might bring unnecessary trouble. They brainstormed together and thought of using a cloth to hide Toby’s eyes. He could only see blurry images and shapes through the cloth, but it was better than having to close his eyes all the time.

“Excuse me, my good fellow, are you heading toward Eldium by any chance?” Grillion asked the merchant.

“Oh, travelers are quite rare in this part.” The caravan stopped, and the merchant spoke to Grillion.

The goblin took out his bronze tag, “I was on a mission around here. But as you can see, I need to come back sooner than expected.” He looked at the children.

The merchant also scanned the children with his eyes as if trying to find out if there was something he needed to be wary of.

“Isn’t floating like this take a lot of Mana?” The merchant asked.

“Sir, if I don’t float like this. I’m afraid I won’t be able to move at all.” Lily said as she tapped Toby, who was on her lap. With the signal, Toby lowered Lily’s legs and floated himself in place.

Turned out, a Healer wasn’t supposed to have a Mage’s Skill. Who would have thought? Certainly not Toby, and he was floating around like it was nobody’s business. It was only after they talked did he know that. In hindsight, he should have guessed it based on how only Dark Lords could use Skills from any Path.

“Ah, sorry, lad. That was insensitive of me.” The merchant looked at Lily’s dangled legs. “The name Rufus Lysand, member of the Builder and the Merchant Guild. Nice to meet you all.”

"Likewise, my good fellow. I’m Grillion. This is Lily and Lukas.” The goblin introduced himself and the kids. “And this is Toby.” And Toby.

“Hello, nice to meet you too.” Toby waved.

Rufus Lysand looked at Toby. “Oh? This is the first time I see a talking turtle. Nice to meet you too, lad.” He looked back at the carts behind him then toward Toby’s group and smiled. “If you don’t mind, can I know your Path? I’m a merchant, you see. It quite dangerous to let stranger into your caravan.”

“Of course.” Grillion nodded. “I’m a Chef.”

“I’m a Mage,” Lily answered.

“I don’t have a Path yet, but I’m going to be a Hero. The strongest Hero there is.” Lukas said. He was as high energy as before.

“I’m a Healer,” Toby said as he used [Insight].

[Rufus Lysand – Craftsman Path – Builder – Rank. ??? – Lv. ???]

Nodding with a more satisfied smile, Rufus Lysand said. “We still have space left in the third cart. You four can…”

“Hahahahahaha.” A loud, ear-piercing laugh intruded on their conversation. “The strongest Hero there is? Hahaha. What kind of joke is this filthy little mud think he is telling?”

A human jumped down from the third cart. As he walked closer, Toby got a good look at the asshole who laughed at Lukas’s dream. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a face that screamed “I’m the fucking best” as he kept tilting his chin a bit upward. He wore light steel armor and had a longsword on his waist. He didn’t have gauntlets, but he had leg armor, which was quite strange for a swordsman.

Toby used [Insight] on the guy immediately.

[Jerek Voss – Hero Path – Hero of Swiftness – Rank. 2 – Lv. ???]

Toby got frustrated at how he couldn’t see more information. It was the first time he saw a Hero too, and it didn’t start with a good impression. I should upgrade [Insight].

The prick stood in front of Lukas and looked down at the boy. He smirked and poked Lukas’s forehead repeatedly.

“A twerk like you should know your place. A Hero? Ha. Can you do this?”

He raised his hand, and Light Element gathered in his palm as his eyes turned red.

“See this? Only Heroes like me can use Light Element and have red eyes. You? Ha.” He sneered at Lukas and got back into the third cart.

“I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have trusted the recommendation from that snake.” Rufus Lysand shook his head.

“It’s fine,” Grillion said. “There are many kinds of people out there. There is simply a bad egg in a basket.”

Looking at Lukas with drooped ears and tail, Lily said. “You will show him what a real Hero looks like soon, Lukas.”

“That’s right. The shithead won’t even know what hit him.” Toby agreed.

Grillion patted the boy’s back. “You’re still young. No need to rush.”

Lukas looked at the three of them. He nodded as the fire in his eyes burned even brighter.

“You four are really close.” Rufus Lysand gently smiled.

“Yeah.” Lukas nodded. “They are my precious family.”

Rufus Lysand’s gentle smile turned into a gloomy frown as he said apologetically after he heard that. “I’m sorry, but the only space left is in the third cart.”

“It’s ok,” Grillion said. “We are grateful that you let us come with your caravan. If you need anything. Please let us know.”

With that said, the four of them went inside the third caravan.

“If the shithead says something to you, just ignore him, Lukas,” Toby told the boy, and Lukas nodded.

As expected, when they got into the cart, the clown had to open his mouth as he leaned on the cart’s wall while putting his legs on the opposite crate like he owned the place.

“Oh ho. So the weak little twerk wants to go to the big city and make a name for himself. Look at you. Your mommy must be so…”

Before he let out another word, Toby floated up, drawing the bastard’s attention.

“What? You going to fight me, a Hero, or something, pet?”

Toby turned toward Lukas, “You can just ignore him. But I don’t have to.” Without saying anything else, Toby used [Push] and propelled himself toward the blonde.

The guy reacted in time and tried to draw his sword, but his elbow hit the cart’s wall, preventing him from drawing his sword. He looked down with surprise written on his face before looking up at Toby, who was right in front of him.

Toby used [B*tch Slap] with as much force as he could. He slapped the Hero, hard, causing his head to turn and hit the wall behind him. A big, red, flipper-shaped mark was clearly visible on his swelling left cheek.

“Manners, maketh, man.” Toby rolled his imaginary sleeves. “But it seems your harlot of a mother never taught you such a thing. Right, little bitch?”

The guy’s eyes shook before they turned bloodshot.

He pounced at Toby like an animal as he shouted through gritted teeth. “I’ll kill you.”