"Hey, Vans, why do you look unhappy?" Nick asked me.
"Ah, it's nothing," I replied, suppressing a sigh.
I was currently inside a passenger cart being pulled by two horses. It was a truly terrible mode of transportation for me. This horse-drawn carriage had extremely poor suspension, causing it to jolt even from small potholes or uneven patches of ground. If I had known my journey would be like this, I might have brought a cushion to protect my rear.
We were currently on a mission from the guild, but they provided us with inadequate accommodations. The transportation I was using now was a type of passenger carriage, with a round roof frame covered by a simple white cloth. Moreover, the cover seemed to be made of ordinary fabric, only useful for blocking out the sunlight, not protecting against rain.
As for its capacity, it could only hold a maximum of eight passengers, and currently, there were six of us inside the carriage. Four of them were Flitz and his group members, then there was me, and a thin man with dark circles around his eyes, wearing a long white coat. He worked as a cartographer for the adventurer's guild.
"I didn't expect the guild master to include you in this mission," Nick said to me.
"Yeah, the guild master asked me to join this mission as proof of my suitability for a rank promotion in the guild."
Indeed, the guild master asked me to join this mission, but it was entirely voluntary, and I had no obligation to participate. I joined because it was my first dungeon mission and an opportunity to gain strength and experience.
"On the first day, you ranked up to E, and in the first week, you became a D-rank. Isn't that too fast?" Nick complained to me.
Nick would probably be even more surprised if he knew I could even achieve an A-rank. I did indeed rank up quickly, but it was due to my own strength, not through any cheating or bribing guild staff to increase my rank. Besides, it seemed there were no such cheating methods in the adventurer's guild.
"Nick, why are you the one having a hard time accepting it? Isn't it good that Vans can rank up quickly?" Flitz said to Nick.
"Well, it's not like that. Maybe I'm just a little envious seeing how fast he's progressing compared to how long it took us to reach D-rank," Nick replied, still wearing a complaining expression.
"Vans, how about joining our group instead?" Flitz suddenly offered me.
"Yeah, Vans, I don't mind if you join our group. It's better than adventuring alone, right?" Myira added to the offer.
"Sorry, I can't," I replied, declining the offer.
"I see, I can't force you either," Flitz responded.
Of course, I wouldn't accept an offer to join a specific adventurer group because I had my own goals. If I wanted to join a specific adventurer group, I would have accepted one of the offers on my first day in the adventurer's guild. I received many invitations to join groups on that day due to an incident that happened during my first day.
This mission also marked my first time venturing with a different adventurer group. Previously, I took missions on my own while training in the forest. This mission involved exploring a newly appeared dungeon, located about twenty kilometers south of Castalla city. It was a considerable distance to cover on foot, and the location was deep within the forest. That's why I had no choice but to join Flitz's group, which happened to be participating in this mission as well.
In addition to Flitz's group, there were other adventurer groups participating in this mission. There were a total of three carriages in this mission, with each carriage housing one adventurer group, all of whom were D-rank adventurers. I asked the guild master why there were only D-rank groups in this mission and why a higher-ranked adventurer wasn't assigned as a guard in case there were challenges that the D-rank groups couldn't handle. The guild master explained that currently, there were no ranks higher than D-rank in the Castalla guild, so he couldn't provide a guard for the mission. He also couldn't join the mission himself due to his responsibilities as the guild master, so he suggested that I act as the guard since my true rank was equivalent to an A-rank. It seemed excessive for me.
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"*Kyieeek..."
"*Kyieeek..."
Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt as we heard the screeching sound of monsters. Using my magical perception, I could see in front of the carriage that there were more than two hundred goblins and several Hobgoblins blocking our path. It was quite a large number.
Flitz and his group quickly got off the carriage, and I followed suit, but in a more relaxed manner. I believed they could handle the goblins with that number. The cartographer gentleman remained inside the carriage as he clearly couldn't engage in combat.
"*Slash..."
"*Wuush..."
Flitz's group immediately charged forward and launched attacks toward the horde of goblins, and the other groups followed suit, each coordinating their attacks in their own way.
At the front line, Nick and Flitz executed a brilliant cooperative attack. They simultaneously attacked with their backs close together, a standard technique for sword wielders to avoid blind spots. This form of attack only works when you have a reliable partner. Despite their different body structures and sword sizes, Flitz and Nick were still able to combine various attack forms. They thrust and swung their swords simultaneously toward a group of goblins approaching them.
"*Slash..."
"*Slash..."
Meanwhile, Myira swiftly and flexibly killed several goblins. Her attacks targeted vital points on the neck, requiring just one strike for each goblin. Myira's attack style differed from Flitz and Nick, who relied on their sword size and coordinated strength.
Myira utilized her exceptional speed to swiftly move from one point to another, displaying remarkable agility. In terms of speed, she surpassed Flitz and Nick. She resembled an early-stage assassin, and she might truly become an advanced-level assassin as she grew stronger.
However, there was something slightly different about the weapon Myira was currently using. It wasn't the usual pair of daggers an assassin would wield. The weapon she had now was a short white rapier, the first time I had seen such a short rapier. Its size was more akin to a dagger or a knife, possibly referred to as a mini-rapier. Moreover, it seemed to be a modified weapon, crafted from mithril as I identified it.
Lastly, Viola stood beside me with a cold gaze. As a mage, she provided ranged support from the back. She sent several offensive spells toward other goblins that evaded Myira's and Flitz's attacks.
From the rear, she observed and ensured the safety of her comrades, allowing them to attack more freely. She provided additional attacks as a precautionary measure.
That was the role of a mage in the backline, offering support to the best of their abilities. Viola herself specialized in two attributes: wind and water. Several times, she cast an Ice Spear and Wind Arrows toward the goblins.
I shifted my gaze to observe the attack formations of the other groups. One particular group displayed impressive coordination in their attacks. They were all male adventurers, consisting of a sword and shield user, a greatsword user, an archer, and a mage. Their composition was well-balanced, with two front liners and two back liners. They also demonstrated good coordination, especially the shield bearer, who seemed to possess the ability to draw the enemy's attention.
"Hey Vans, you bastard, why are you just watching!" Nick yelled at me.
Was I needed in this battle? They were all attacking well without me. Dozens of goblins had already been swiftly killed, and now they were also dealing with a few more troublesome Hobgoblins.
"Well, I better participate too," I muttered to myself while preparing a spell.
I envisioned the magic I wanted to use and infused it with magical energy. A highly compressed arrow of fire formed in front of me. I locked onto my target and immediately launched my fiery arrow, throwing it like a baseball pitcher. It soared quickly towards the intended target.
"Headshot..."
"*Crash..."
One Hob-goblin fell with a single strike of my magic, its head pierced by a large hole. It was a perfectly accurate attack.
Suddenly, everyone turned their gaze towards me. Was it an excessive attack? Wasn't it easy to kill with a single strike? Besides, it was just a Hobgoblin, not an orc, ogre, or troll. So, I thought it would be easy to execute such an attack.
Beside me, Viola also looked at me with a surprised expression, a different expression from her usual cold demeanor. I wanted to let her know that diverting attention from the battle could be dangerous.
I continued the fight using my sword, assisting Flitz and Nick at the front line, delivering additional strikes, and finishing off the remaining Hobgoblins.
After a while, the battle finally came to an end. Around two hundred goblins and thirty Hobgoblins had been swiftly killed.
Then, I used my storage magic to collect all the corpses. Flitz's group was also surprised when they saw me using storage magic. I thought they were overly astonished by such a common spell.
Finally, I used cleansing and purification magic to remove the blood that had splattered on our bodies during the fight. After that, we resumed our journey.