09. MARIWA

It didn't take much for the group to arrive at the town. Actually if not for their bi-hourly rest; it would only have taken them a day at most.

Noah understood that if he ran at full speed, it would take him only a few seconds to get there.

They arrived at the end of the forest and got to a 20ft tall wall. Which had a massive wooden gate of equal height.

The gate had had guards standing at its entrance; inspecting those entering the town.

There were also more guards on standby probably, there in case a magical beast strayed out of the forest.

On getting to the gate; Gerald and Anthony took the lead. One of the guards stopped them but quickly bowed and apologized.

The individual seemed to recognize the leaders of the hunting group. Noah didn't miss any of their interactions, he guessed that this was because the duo were tier 2's

The gate was already open, so the group simply walked in after they receive permission.

On getting in, the first of the multiple details Noah noticed; were the crowded streets, which made the town very noisy. The averagely, poorly built buildings, gave the impression of poverty.

And lastly; the grand mansion on the hill, facing the town, that Noah was certain, was the lord of the town's abode.

He made a mental note to ask Gerald about it later.

Apart from the powerful aura coming from the mansion that looked beautiful even from the entrance of the town; the town was just how he expected a back-water town to look.

Gerald led the group of 21 to a building, which was probably where he would sell the dead beasts.

On their way there, Noah inspected the shops and stalls along the way. He heard some merchants advertise magical weapons. Some food. While some advertised potions.

He had enquired of Gerald if there were things like healing potions. Since the world was more like a fantasy world, he expected something like that.

And to his expectations, they existed. Potions also came in tiers and each tier had a quality grade from lower to high quality.

Each with their different prices, actually there were other types of potions like mana potions, potions that helped in their "cultivation" as Noah liked to call it. And even potions that helped men in their "business"

He also sighted shops that displayed amours and clothes.

But since none of the men from the group wore any, they were probably too expensive. Still, he wondered why those merchants still displayed their products.

It was obvious that not many would be able to afford them. But as it wasn't any of his concern, and he didn't care about it, he pushed the matter back of his mind.

Gerald exited the building with a boisterous smile. It seemed the exchange had gone well.

"Tonight we celebrate! All drinks are on me," Gerald announced happily.

The men from the group soon hailed him in return. They were all satisfied with the outcome of the hunt.

Gerald led the group to a closed space, away from the public; to distribute the gains among them. Most exclaimed in surprise not expecting to receive that much.

Some even gazed at Noah with gratitude in their eyes, they probably wouldn't have killed that much if not for him even though there were already two tiers 2's with them.

Noah simply smiled back at those that thanked him with their eyes.

After Gerald had given the others their share, he walked toward Noah and handed him a bag, which Noah opened to find a lot of brown-colored coins.

Some are bigger than others.

Noah glanced at the bag then back at Gerald, who expected Noah to exclamation in surprise.

After a few seconds of glancing back and forth, Gerald seemed to understand something before talking.

"Let me guess you do not understand the currency system," He said with an incredulous expression.

Noah simply gave a helpless smile in return.

"Where were you born? The forest?" Gerald asked, his voice oozing pure astonishment.

Noah gave no reply to the question.

"Listen carefully, I won't say this again," Gerald started to gain Noah's attention.

"There are three types of coins. Copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins. Each comes with a grade, small to medium to big," He explained.

"A medium copper coin is equivalent to 10 small copper coins. A big copper coin is equivalent to one hundred small copper coins. A small silver coin is equivalent to one hundred big copper coins. While a medium silver coin is equivalent to 10 small ones. And so on. We follow that grading system even for gold coins," Gerald explained.

"I'm sure you understand," Gerald ended.

"I do. And thank you very much," Noah performed a bow. Gerald had been a great help in allowing Noah to fill the gaps in the new world's system. He would have been extorted if he were alone.

Now that he understood what each coin meant. he felt shocked to find 100 small copper coins and ten medium copper coins. This was equivalent to 200 small bronze coins.

He wasn't sure how much it was worth, but it was a lot.

He then glanced at Gerald with surprise in his eyes.

Gerald immediately felt satisfied with the surprise on Noah's face, before his voice rang out.

"You can earn even more, if you stay with us," He suggested.

Noah instantly paused. He understood that Gerald was trying to play his card to get Noah into their hunting group.

The attention of the others was immediately on them. Gerald had said it loud enough for the others to hear.

Noah remained unfazed by this. He wasn't going to stay with them. Heck, he never even planned to meet them, so he politely turned down the man's offer.

"Thank you, but I will have to refuse," Noah said in a calm and polite tone.

"Why not?" Gerald asked with a tinge of disappointment in his tone.

"I desire to travel around the world. Learn new things and achieve more power. And you said it yourself; this place isn't filled with those types of opportunities," Noah calmly answered his question.

The moods of those present turned gloomy at some point. They understood that if he left they would probably not earn this much for a very long time.

Noah killed the beast incredibly quickly, and most of the time they were not tired.

Unless someone with his type of strength, stumbled upon them as he did, they would never earn much, and the chances of such happening were nigh zero.

They understood that powerful people like him who had bright futures, couldn't hang around in backwater towns like this one.

Heck, they didn't like the place. And put in his shoes they would not hesitate to do the same. Although they knew it was pathetic and selfish of them, they wanted him to stay.

After a minute or so of everyone thinking their thoughts, the person who decided to break the silence wasn't Gerald, but Anthony.

"You all should stop being gloomy. It's his life, and also aren't we supposed to be celebrating I don't see any beer around. let's gooo!!..." He announced with a jovial tone, walking away. Probably to a bar.

At those words, everyone cheered and followed him to the bar. Most men coming to terms with Noah's departure. Each one of them swore to work harder and get stronger.

It took them a while to get to a bar that could accompany their number as most of them were filled up.

'Some things never change, even in a different world,' Noah thought with a smile.

Upon entering the bar, the group sat around a big table, immediately ordering drinks. It seemed as though all of them had forgotten what happened earlier.

But Noah knew that wasn't true, the best way a man could let out his emotional stress was through drinking. And that was what they did...

The same couldn't be said for Noah, who had already begun cursing the system for its unwanted detoxification.

He had drunk a bit more than six bottles of the strongest beer in the bar, but each time he drank a cup or even an entire bottle, all he would experience was the burning sensation that went from his throat to his stomach.

And that only lasted for but a split second, before the pop-up of the system detoxifying it arrived.

The men looked at him with amazement. He could kill beasts easily and also hold his own with beer!

A few of them even challenged him to a drinking contest but lost brutally.

At this point, the sick joke wasn't funny anymore. Noah felt pure anger.

The night passed silently, with most of them going home, albeit in groups, due to their drunken state.

Noah eventually lodged in an inn that Gerald brought him to. He was going to rest well that night because the next day he would take the affinity test.