Chapter Thirty: Companions

  The Rosen Hotel was located on the corner of the street, and it wasn't a big place. The first floor was a restaurant, while the second and third floors were for lodging. When I arrived at the hotel, it was around noon, and there were several customers scattered about in the restaurant. The owner of the store was a fat man, who asked me about my purpose after I made myself known. He pointed to a table in the corner of the wall and said: "Over there, do you see? The table with three men and one woman is them."

  I followed his pointing finger and looked over, in a corner of the restaurant, there were indeed four people sitting. A burly man with a sturdy build had his back to me, so I couldn't see his face clearly. A tall woman with her hair tied up in a ponytail at the back of her head had dark skin, but it was radiant and shiny, somewhat like the color of wheat. Her eyebrows were unexpectedly delicate, and the corners of her mouth curved upwards in a smile. Her eyes were also curved into crescent shapes, making you feel like she was smiling even when she wasn't. To the right of this woman sat a young man with long hair, his face expressionless, wearing tight-fitting clothes that made him look handsome and capable. Across from the woman sat a short-haired man wearing a long robe, his hair seemingly unwashed for a long time, tangled together and messy on top of his head. The long robe hung loosely on his body, flapping in the wind as if there was nothing inside.

  Except for the big Han, three people looked at me. I walked over, took a look around, nodded to each person and said: "Hello, I'm Yalik Solrens, a mid-level archer introduced by the Mercenary Guild."

  The woman spoke first, smiling at me and saying: "Great, we're finally all here. We were just talking about how we didn't know when we'd have enough people, and then you showed up. My name is Fenny, I'm a sword-and-shield warrior." She pointed to the weapon placed beside her, a one-handed sword and a round shield, standard equipment for a sword-and-shield warrior.

  "Come, sit down, let me introduce you. This handsome young man with long hair is an assassin named Aven. Aven is also an excellent scout, and we rely on him to explore the road ahead." Fanni invited me to sit down, then enthusiastically introduced me one by one.

  Evan still nodded at me expressionlessly and continued drinking from his cup.

  "Don't mind him, that's just his personality, cold on the outside and warm on the inside." Fenny saw me looking a bit embarrassed, comforted me with a sentence, then continued to introduce me.

  "The person sitting across from you is a rare undead mage named Kla, don't be afraid, he usually doesn't summon those disgusting creatures."

  When I heard Fanny's introduction, my heart skipped a beat. A lich mage? Could it have something to do with the lich mage I killed or the one that died together with Anka teacher?

  As I thought of these things, I looked at Kla opposite me with some inquiring meaning, but Kla seemed to have no feeling at all, smiling and greeting me, and I could only pretend that nothing was wrong and nodded to him.

  Finally, Fanny pointed to the burly man beside me and introduced him as our team leader. He was a high-level dual-wielder named Tricky. It wasn't until then that I got a good look at his face - square-shaped with sharp features, piercing eyes, and an aura of quiet confidence that commanded respect, making him look like someone who could lead others anywhere.

  Fen's words had barely fallen when Trick suddenly threw a punch at me. I was shocked and quickly dodged his attack, but before I could even catch my breath, Trick's other fist was already in front of my eyes. I hastily flipped backwards, and as I landed and stood up, the arrow was already on the bowstring, aiming at Trick, and magic began to build up.

  I didn't expect that the first time I received a task, I would be mysteriously attacked. If all four of them had come at me together, I'm afraid I would have been done for today. Although my heart was racing with anxiety, I tried my best not to show any desperate or fearful expression on my face. Instead, I used the corner of my eye to search for an escape route. As long as I could make it out onto the streets, those few people wouldn't dare attack me openly in such a big city.

  But what happened next surprised me again. Trick didn't continue attacking me, but instead nodded at me and said: "Good reaction, good response, very calm, you're a pretty good archer." He even smiled at me and beckoned me to come over and sit down. The other three people had already stood up when he appeared unexpectedly, and now they looked at each other and sat back down.

  Fenny said enthusiastically to me: "Don't be nervous, Trick just wants to see your level. You're not bad! Come on, sit down, don't worry."

  What's going on here, you scared me half to death. It turns out it was just a test of my abilities. I let out a sigh of relief, put away the bow and arrow, and sat back down at the table, only this time a little farther away from Tricky.

  Terry didn't mind, and with a smile asked me: "Looking at your skills, it seems like you had some foundation as a swordsman before?" I nodded in admiration and said: "Yeah, I even passed the beginner swordsman exam, but I prefer using a one-handed sword." As I spoke, I pointed to the sword on my back. At this moment, I suddenly felt that the undead mage Kura across from me seemed to have glanced at me.

  Several people were talking when a voice floated down from upstairs: "Oh? Are you all here? Who is this young man?"

  I lifted my head and saw a meatball slowly "rolling" down the stairs, Fanny whispered in my ear: "This is our escort object, rich businessman Ben Fenster."

  When Mr. Fenster came before us, I handed the token of Mercenaries' Guild to him and said: "Hello, I am Yalick Solrens, a mid-level archer, participating in this escort mission."

  He took the plaque, looked me up and down, smiled at me, turned his head to ask Trick: "Mr. Trick, do you have any questions?" Trick turned around and said: "No problem, we can set off."

  He took out a silk handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face, saying: "Alright, let's set off now. We'll try to reach our next stop before sunset."

  Just as he was about to turn around and head out the door, he suddenly seemed to remember something and turned back around, saying "Oh right, I almost forgot. I've prepared some medicinal water for each of you, which I specially bought from the priest at the church. It's unlikely that things will go smoothly on this journey, so please take care."

  I turned around and asked Fanny: "What did he mean? Is he being pursued by the Qi family?"

  Fenny shrugged: "How would I know? We just escort him anyway."

  I knew that asking again would not get anything out of it, so I packed up my things and set off with everyone else. I felt the ghostly magician staring at me from behind once more, a chill running up my spine...