A Stop At Huz Barony

"So, where are our next destination?" Shuri asked, taking a seat next to him. They are currently inside the Hidden Ancient Mansion. When he showed what the artifact was capable of, they were shocked by its capabilities. However, they were also glad because of it as it made their journey much easier. 

 "Well, there are no real destinations. We will look at the best option available for us. But the end destination will be the capital city of Birak Kingdom. But before we get there, we will just go seeing and see if there are any natural resources at every spot we stopped at,"

 Hearing his explanation made Shuri nod. In hindsight, she understands why he is reluctant to make any city his destination. After all, there is no telling of what possible enemy he could make, especially with several beauties around him. He will definitely beat those fools who dared to touch his women to a pulp.

 "As of now, we are close to several different baronies, three countdom and one duchy. I think we should go to the duchy first, after all, the size of the city and the resources available there would be beneficial for all of us," Lisha suggested. 

 Ryker thought about it before nodding, "Agreed. Let's head to the duchy then. How many cities do we need to pass before we get to the duchy?" he asked Lisha, who is currently holding the map.

 "Let me see, the closest way possible is actually by entering the territory of one of the baronies and heading towards its capital. Then head southwards to enter the duchy territory. That's the fastest path to the duchy capital city if you don't count passing through the territory of powerful beasts," she told him, holding the map wide open for the rest to see.

 The others took a look at the map before nodding, "So our next destination will be the Huz Barony Capital City before heading towards the Kilrun Duchy," he told them. The rest didn't voice any disagreement, meaning they all agreed with the decision.

-x-

 With their path already set, they quickly head towards Huz City. They didn't bother to stop to search for any resources as they had gained a lot, from the secret realm and the resources gifted by the Baron of Mariz.

 All of it combined plus some of the resources he was able to procure during the mission he took had made his wealth comparable to what a country possessed. And that is not after counting the most precious possession he gained from the secret realm, which would make his wealth rise significantly higher.

 With all that said, when they reach the capital city of Huz Barony, they book the most expensive hotel there. As for how long they will stay, they decided to take a week's rest in the city. After all, continuously traveling had tired them out.

 They also planned to let Shuri register as an adventurer. The reason why they didn't do it in the Mariz Barony is because it would cause some questions to be thrown, with her being rather famous in the Barony.

 Registering her outside of the Mariz Barony would not cause any trouble, except if there were some people wanting to flirt with her, which the person would likely suffer a horrible fate.

 Already settled in their room, Ryker decided to accompany Shuri to the Adventure Guild. With a Genesis Core expert escorting her, no sane person dared to look at her for too long, especially when they would receive a terrifying glare for even attempting such a thing.

 It didn't take long for them to reach the Adventure Guild. With him being a rather high-rank adventurer, at least in such a small branch, he was able to get Shuri registered easily. With that done, Ryker decided to let her pick a mission of her own.

 While Shuri is a Genesis Condensing expert, her strength and skill were slightly subpar compared to the elites and the more experienced Genesis Condensing experts. This is not surprising as she mostly focused on public relations instead of personal strength.

 However, with her need to put her own weight, she decided to train herself. While Ryker had trained her the best he could, the only way to see if she could handle challenges all alone was by trial of fire.

 Taking a mission at a Barony would be a good gauge of the enemy, while not too weak, it will not also be too strong for her to handle. Besides, if there are strong opponents, he would be the one to handle them.

 -x-

 "So, do you think I can handle this?" Shuri asked Ryker, who gave her a supportive squeeze on her shoulder.

 She had taken a simple mission of exterminating a small bandit group, which avoided law enforcement by splitting into many smaller groups. The bandit with the highest cultivation realm is at the Genesis Condensing.

 It meant the fight was something she could handle. It will also allow him to see if she was able to come up with a decent strategy to take all of the enemies without needing his intervention. 

 If she could do it, then he would allow her to take more and more dangerous missions. After all, they could only grow with both encouragement and challenges. 

 It didn't take too long for them to find the bandit. Instead, it seemed the bandit had been actively looking for them, especially Shuri by how they lick their lips.

 "Boss, this woman looks so good. I would love to have a chance to taste her," one of the bandits said, his eyes seeming to strip her clothes. To her credit, Shuri was able to control herself and didn't react when they moved closer.

 "Listen hear, this is the territory of the Green Grass Bandit Group. You should surrender yourself and we will go easy on you," the leader said, looking down at Ryker, who looked at the soon-to-be dead bandit. If not kill by Shuri's hand, then by his.

 Shuri seemed to realize as she began to take a fighting stance. Her weapon of choice is a sword, similar to his except the design is different as it looks more like an oversized needle compared to his sword. It was called a stiletto if he remembered it right.

 Realizing the woman in front of them wanted to fight them, the bandits laughed. "Looks like we get a woman to serve us for the night. Capture her boys but don't hurt her too much. We need to show them what real men can do,"

 Ryker wondered if bandits had some kind of manual they followed religiously. Seriously, every one of them says something about showing the woman around him what a real man can do that he gets tired of listening to it.

 While he was busy thinking about it, Shuri had already finished dealt with two of the bandits without breaking a sweat.