Chapter 6: Uncle Sunshine, who is back to his old ways

Inside one of the rooms of the campground inn, a man and a woman stood in front of the window, gazing at the wagon that was fading away.

The man's right arm was bandaged, and his tone was somber, "Not even advanced quality poison killed him, Ian's life is pretty tough. Get ready to move; Flan gotta finish the mission before they enter Byron Town."

These two men were yesterday's looters.

After cutting Ian with a poisoned dagger, the two of them stood guard inside the outpost camp to confirm Ian's death.

But it turned out that Ian didn't die of poison.

Plus, inside the outpost camp, there were quite a few Kingdom soldiers on duty.

So it wasn't until then that the two assassins sought out a suitable interception opportunity.

The female Law Cleric named Flan was a bit hesitant, "Don't we wait for that shield guard to leave first? That guy is hard to deal with."

The grim man shook his head, "When the target returns to Byron Town, the power of the Lazar family will make it even more difficult for us to get our hands on him."

The man swept his head down to glance at his bandaged arm and continued, "Besides, that shield guard, he must have been hurt pretty bad yesterday, too. No human can survive a fireball blast unscathed/"

Fran gave her own advice, "Maybe it's not that much trouble; with enough money, the man might leave on his own."

...

"Elder O'Shield, an adventurer as powerful as you, must have been famous at one time, right?"

Inside the somewhat bumpy carriage, Ian inquired curiously.

The old-style helmet was ruined in yesterday's battle, and Jack, in his true colors, had a mature, reliable, yet unvarnished charm about him.

Jack's aura was like a bottle of old wine that had settled over the years and, at first glance, was perhaps not as dazzling as Ian's.

But the longer we get along, the more we can feel a unique and charming charm from this man.

Combined with Jack's own unassuming strength, even Ian, who was from a noble family, couldn't help but want to explore the story behind this man.

"Me, I'm just an uncle who had to go back to his old job in order to earn formula money for his kids."

Jack withdrew his gaze from the view of the mountains out the window as the early morning sunlight poured through the car window, casting a golden veil over the man's handsome side.

Jack said, "I haven't had an adventure in ten years, and the whole industry is changing so fast that it all feels a little strange to me."

Catherine, who had just finished a cycle of meditation practice, sniffed and agreed, "Yes, uncle, just from the fact that all you have mastered are basic skills, I can tell that you are an old-timer out of step with the times."

The so-called basic skills are those that humans are able to learn and master through teaching and practicing.

For example, "Shield Throw" and "Shield Block" were skills that Jack had finally mastered after countless days and nights of study and practice.

Another example is the "meditation" of the clerics.

As the basic skill of a mage to see into the spirit of the self and feel the magical elements from the outside, "Meditation" was mastered and practiced by mages ten years ago through the ancient method of master and apprentice teaching each other.

Beyond basic skills is the rapid development that has taken place during this decade.

The major invention that ultimately affected the entire adventure world and even rewrote the power system of the human world - the skill scroll.

This is a magical prop that can harbor transcendent powers.

From the Moonlight Butterfly's Illumination to the Flame Goblin's Fireball and even the Dragon's Spit and the Witch Demon's Frost Nova, all of them can be housed through skill scrolls and mastered by humans!

According to the strength of the transcendent power it housed, skill scrolls were categorized into several grades, such as beginner, intermediate, advanced, and master.

Adventurers are rated and divided on this basis.

Those with at least one primary skill are called lower-level adventurers.

Those with intermediate-level skills are called intermediate-level adventurers.

And so on, until after Master Adventurer, when the rating criteria change.

Jack was no stranger to this knowledge.

So much so that his favorite newspaper news to read, once still a laid-back lord of the manor, was these new and cutting-edge progressive inventions.

It's just that when Jack stepped back into the adventurer's profession, the cutthroat feeling of the times couldn't help but still make him feel a little strange.

It seemed to see Jack's desire to fit into the new era.

Ian said, "Elder O'Shield, you should know that all skills, including basic skills, can be upgraded to master level, right?"

Jack O'Shield since he was rated as a lower-level adventurer by the Adventurer's Guild.

It meant that he hadn't mastered any of the intermediate skills even though his skill proficiency was ridiculously high.

After all, the Adventurer's Guild's detection array had never had a problem.

Nodding, Jack replied, "By fusing five primary scrolls of the same field, one can raise one of their mastered skills to an intermediate level."

Having decided to get back into the business of making formula money for his children, Jack naturally had a new understanding of this familiar and unfamiliar industry.

Ian said, "Beginner scrolls that are in the same field as basic skills are not rare and often have a price. If Elder Aldun is not comfortable collecting them, I will find a way to raise them for Elder when we return to town."

At those words, a warm smile appeared on Jack's face, and the way he looked at Ian became much kinder.

He hadn't really thought about having a price or anything.

It was mainly the selling price of not less than 500 silver coins for a scroll that was the most important thing for Jack, the fallen manor owner, to consider.

Just as Jack pondered how a nobleman's son's thanks to his rescuer should be six or seven hundred silver coins.

Behind the carriage, there was the sound of Duk Duk's hooves again.

At this time, the carriage had already driven into a mountain road near the cliff.

The trail is not exactly smooth, but it is a necessary path for adventurers to travel between the outpost camp, and the town of Byron.

When the sound of hooves approached, Jack looked sideways, and sure enough, it was another lady dressed as an adventurer steering her horse.

"Good morning, guys."

The female adventurer had long brown hair and bright features and was slightly older than Catherine.

She snorted and harnessed her horse to lean over toward the car window.

"May I ask which way to go to Lake Wino? This map of mine seems to mark the wrong route ..."

Saying that the female adventurer put her hand into her traveling bag as if she wanted to take out a map to ask Jack and the others to help show the way.

There was something scrutinizing in Jack's gaze, his eyes never leaving the other man's hand probing into his traveling bag.

"Your voice sounds familiar. Ma'am, haven't we met somewhere recently?"

Catherine in the carriage couldn't help but roll her eyes.

That's the kind of cheesy pickup line that a dog has to shake his head at.

"I suppose not? If I'd seen a face as handsome as yours, I'd have been very impressed."

With a soft smile on her face, the female adventurer pulled a rolled-up map out of her traveling bag and handed it distantly to the car window.

"If you don't mind, we can get acquainted now; my name is Fran."