Just like that, by using eighty percent of his strength, he managed to compress what would normally be a three to four-day journey for an ordinary person into a mere half-day.
Although it was called a town, its scale was as large as some county seats in his past life. Since the lord's manor was also located here, its prosperity far exceeded that of a typical town.
While merchants didn't form an endless stream, they were a very common sight. The shops on the streets flourished in a vibrant display, with blacksmiths, general stores, apothecary shops, and equipment stores lining the way.
Adventurers could be seen everywhere on the streets. Some were discussing their current quests, others were having gear forged at blacksmiths, and some were purchasing supplies needed for their missions.
Some even strutted down the street carrying the carcasses of magical beasts, the fresh blood still dripping from the bodies indicating that they had only recently been slain.
This was the most famous adventurer town within a radius of dozens of miles—Adewang Town.
Although the town's prosperity was like night and day compared to the countryside where he had been staying, Xia De was not mesmerized by it.
His goal was clear: the Adventurer's Guild!
Soon, he found his destination.
This building was not made of dark brown wooden planks as described in the works of his past life; instead, it was constructed from sturdy earthen walls.
A massive wooden sign hung above the main entrance, with the words “Adventurer's Guild” written in a bold, rugged hand.
Since it was daytime, the main doors were wide open. Xia De strode right into the Adventurer's Guild.
The interior layout was very simple. One half was a lounge area filled with tables and chairs for adventurers to rest, while the other half was a quest wall covered in notices. Behind the reception desk, Xia De could see several other rooms, though he had no idea what they were used for.
He approached the reception desk. A sweet-looking young lady with pale purple hair tied up in double buns greeted him with a sugary smile:
“Hello! How may I help you today?”
“I'd like to become an adventurer. Could you help me register, please?”
Xia De handed over ten silver coins along with a slip of paper containing the necessary information for registration.
Elulu took the items Xia De handed over and began processing them. She was slightly surprised when she saw that the age column read only fourteen, but she quickly recovered and continued with the registration.
“All set. This is your adventurer identification. This other document contains some related information that you'll need to keep in mind.”
Elulu handed a wooden token and a roll of brown paper to Xia De. Seeing them, Xia De felt a strong urge to complain.
Are they cosplaying with parchment paper?
However, he kept his thoughts to himself. After taking the items and offering his thanks, he walked over to the lounge area on the other side to examine his identity token and the documents he needed to remember.
Summarizing the contents, it was mostly about the promotion mechanism and general rules. For instance, adventurers were divided into six ranks: S, A, B, C, D, and E.
Completing 1,000 E-rank quests would promote someone to D-rank, 500 D-rank quests to C-rank, 300 C-rank to B-rank, 100 B-rank to A-rank, and 50 A-rank quests to S-rank. One could accept quests above their rank; completing three quests of a higher rank would promote them to that rank, though they could not accept quests more than two ranks above their current level. For example, an E-rank adventurer could only accept quests up to C-rank.
His current adventurer rank was E-rank. All adventurers started at E-rank, unless they paid an additional appraisal fee to use the guild's appraisal tools to assess their strength and determine a higher starting rank.
However, the appraisal fee cost ten gold coins. In a world where an ordinary family's annual income was only five gold coins, this was destined to be a service that only the wealthy could afford.
“Hahaha! You smelly brat, you haven't even been weaned yet! Go on back home to your mommy!”
Just as Xia De was reading through the documents, the reception area suddenly grew rowdy, followed by malicious, mocking laughter.
Xia De instinctively looked over. It was a good thing he did, because what he saw gave him quite a shock.
At the counter, a delicate-looking boy about five feet tall was being bullied by a fierce-looking man. The bully had shaved sides with a red mohawk down the middle, a lip piercing, and a menacing glare.
Since Xia De kept his perception magic active at all times to compare his strength with those around him—helping him determine which tier of power he belonged to and how he should act—he could clearly see everyone's Combat Power.
Beside the red-haired man, the status displayed: 【Combat Power: 759 (Attack)】. Meanwhile, the panel beside the young boy showed:
【Combat Power: 99 (Magic) / 10,000,000 (Awaiting Awakening)】
His pupils contracted, and his heart began to pound violently, as if it would burst from his chest at any moment. Xia De swallowed hard and slowly walked toward the two of them.
He was already mentally calculating whether he should find another town to start his adventure.
He had originally thought of himself as a top-tier expert and wanted to make some waves, but now he made up his mind.
He needed to keep a low profile and minimize contact with others as much as possible.
A Combat Power of ten million, especially in an "awaiting awakening" state, was an absolute magnet for trouble.
And trouble usually came with interpersonal relationships. Therefore, he could not afford to have even the slightest connection with the people around him.
As long as I sever ties fast enough, trouble won't be able to catch up to me. And once my strength increases, hehehe...
Putting aside his fantasies about the future for a moment, he had to resolve the bullying happening right in front of him. He had no idea what the trigger for the boy's awakening was.
If it was triggered by intense emotional distress, like a certain red-eyed clan from his past life, then he would be done for. Once ten million Combat Power erupted, absolutely no one in this area would survive.
If anyone asked why he suspected it would be emotional distress, it was because Xia De noticed the boy's eyes were gradually turning blood-red!
“Don't come any closer!”
Mingling in the crowd, Xia De watched as the boy suddenly snapped under the red-haired man's insults. Taking him by surprise, the boy thrust his hands forward, pushing the man hard.
Great opportunity!
A faint glint flashed across Xia De's dark pupils as he muttered in his heart, Wind.
“Smelly brat! Not only did you bump into me, but you even dare to launch a sneak attack? Die!”
The red-haired man had accidentally bumped into the boy earlier. But accustomed to throwing his weight around due to his strength, there was no way he would apologize.
He had overheard earlier during registration that the boy was only twelve years old, and he looked like an easy target, which was why the man had fabricated a reason to start a conflict. Now, seeing this supposedly weak target dare to attack him, his fury was instantly ignited.
He planned to channel all his magic into his right leg and kick the boy to death as he charged forward.
However, to his horror, he found that even though the boy's movements seemed incredibly slow in his eyes, he couldn't dodge them. Then, he felt a pair of hands wrapped in powerful, raging winds strike him.
The moment the hands landed on his chest, he felt as if his internal organs were rupturing. Coughing up a large spray of blood, he flew backward like a sandbag, crashing heavily against the wall before losing consciousness.
The entire adventurer's hall instantly fell dead silent, so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Then, an explosion of shocked chatter erupted from the crowd!
“Holy crap, no way! That's Red Thorn, a C-rank adventurer! He actually got knocked unconscious by a twelve-year-old kid?!”
“What on earth is this kid? Twelve years old and already this powerful!”
“Red Thorn had it coming! I've been sick of him throwing his weight around for a long time. Finally, someone taught him a lesson!”
“Hey, kid! Well done!”
As those words left someone's mouth, various voices of praise rang out, surrounding the boy, who looked completely shaken.
Hearing the praise from all around him, the boy finally snapped out of it. His blood-red eyes slowly returned to normal, and he scratched his head in embarrassment, waving his hands to dismiss the compliments.
Then, he raised his hands, staring at his fair palms with a look of confusion.
How did my strength become so immense?
Watching the bewildered boy from the crowd, Xia De nodded in satisfaction. Having successfully hidden his contribution, he turned around and left the Adventurer's Guild. The remaining documents didn't matter; he would have plenty of time to read them later.
Right now, he only wanted to get away from this den of trouble—
Far, far away!!!
Rate on N.U.
