Travel (1)

A bit later in the night, Drake and his 10 subordinates arrived at the caravans.

'Such efficiency…Indeed, Sillius does possess a lot of influence in Helios'

Unlike the Magi who stayed in seclusion for their research, Grand-knight Sillius was famous for his achievements. He completed many missions that acolytes did not dare to take. In a few hours' worth of time, he had prepared six caravans full of goods, with a small dozen of real merchants who would handle the trading. They only heard of Marius Dayne, and could thus be considered trustworthy.

Drake came in a beautifully crafted ebony carriage, something that was used by the Northerner High Nobles. It was quite spacious and filled with luxury ornaments and comfortable beds. Drake only let Lewis stay next to him, and the rest was filled with stashes of vitality potions, the two water tanks containing the grade 3 body strengthening fluid as well as some dried meat from magical beasts cooked by Felicia herself, probably the only 'friend' Drake had in Helios.

"Greetings, Marius Dayne!", he said, "I am glad to finally meet you!"

It was a fat youth, wearing silk robes and jewelleries. However, Drake noticed that it wasn't a nobody. This youth had awakened his spirit.

"You are…"

"I am Donald Ball, two-star merchants of the Silver Guild! I also happen to possess the status of a rank 1 acolyte, but I am only a grade 1 talent. After learning a spell, I decided to return to my old lifestyle of merchant to make a fortune. Who knows, I might get my hands on Primordial grass and break through the second realm. Evergreen has been under attack, which is why I and 8 other merchants decided to join you in supplying the city. 30 sentinels will accompany us, but I didn't expect you to bring another 10 peak knights. Getting past the orc lines will be tough, but a group of adventurers is awaiting us at Brosis, a village located south of Evergreen City. They will lead us safely.", he said excitedly.

Drake nodded. When you weren't talented, obsessing yourself with becoming stronger would only yield frustration. Donald's mindset and decisiveness were enough to earn Drake's respect.

[Beep! The Silver Guild is a merchant organization that holds extraordinary influence in economical exchanges throughout Barnolia. One-star merchants can purchase and sell grade 1 materials, elixirs and weapons. Two-star merchants can purchase and sell grade 2 materials, elixirs and weapons, etc…Each permit can be bought at a high price: 10 000 gold coins for a one-star permit, 100 000 gold coins for a two-star permit. Host has been gifted with a three-star permit]

"Welcome, then. I will travel in a separate carriage. If you need anything, talk to my butler, Lewis. He will take care of all matters. He is a half-grand knight"

Donald Ball gasped upon hearing that Lewis was just a butler, despite being a half-grand knight. He had sought to purchase slaves or servants of such high strength, to no avail. Half-grand knights were too rare after all.

Drake didn't say other word, and returned in his carriage. Rey and the other 8 sentinels were escorting the carriage on the back of the finest horses that could be found in the sentinel stables. With Rey in the front, and White Rat and Black Rat in the back, any potential threat would be taken care swiftly.

White Rat and Black Rat had abandoned the spear for the sake of wielding the enchanted shields and defending against enemies. Under Rey's teachings, they also learnt how to wield great swords and surprisingly reached the intermediate proficiency in less than six months. Although they rarely wielded the great swords in combat, they were extremely strong and they had already learnt how to use [Demonic Cleave], a knight killing technique that Rey created in an epiphany.

Lewis then entered the carriage after talking a few words with Donald: "My lord, I have been briefed by Grand Knight Sillius earlier: here is the report I have made"

Lewis had learnt how to trade in the past months besides training. By running errands on Drake's behalf and negotiating on behalf of other sentinels, he had developed this skill and I surprisingly came in handy. It would make the identity of 'Marius Dayne' much easier to bear. Drake scanned it and tossed it aside. Lewis was used to this behaviour, and he had long since suspected Drake's eidetic memory since he was 8. It wasn't strange anymore.

Rey ordered the other caravans to follow their leads, and eventually reached the gates of Helios in the middle of the night.

A group of sentinels guarding the gates nodded upon seeing their fellow brothers escorting the caravans, and sweated slightly upon seeing the name: [Marius Dayne] on the sigil. Everyone ignored his whereabouts, yet he surprisingly appeared once again in Helios!

Meanwhile, Drake was already entirely focused on strengthening himself. Although it was his goal all along, he could not use his special strengthening methods around Marianne. Drake didn't drink the fluids directly, like common sense recommended it. Drake entered the water tanks and bathed in it, while practicing the Grand-knight level breathing technique and his original meditation technique. Each dive would not only strengthen the body, but also the mind. This method was impossible for normal human beings to do. It required tremendous concentration and the ability to multitask for extended period of times.

Normally, he was not able to meditate for more than half an hour, since his meditation technique enabled him to absorb elemental particles at an abnormally fast rate, as if he was meditating like regular acolytes in areas extremely dense in terms of mana, like a Magus-level meditation room. To do so, he opened his pores and absorbed the raw elemental particles like a madman. It's not like nobody thought of that, but the risks were too great. A single mistake would result in very painful side-effects, with a risk of bursting the blood vessels of one's body. But Drake's 11 points of constitution allowed him to reduce these side effects and his mutated heart perk increased his recovery rate. Adding to that, bathing in the body strengthening fluid basically replenished his vitality every few seconds.

With grade 5 talent, grade 3 body strengthening fluid at his disposal and these methods…He was basically growing stronger at an incredible rate. In fact, a single day of such cultivation was enough to match an entire week worth of training if he didn't use this method.

His growth rate was so quick that it almost felt like he was cheating.

'Is it really alright to progress so fast?'

Meanwhile, the merchants were discussing among themselves:

"Is he really Marius Dayne?", a man asked

"He is really wealthy and a legend in the Silver Guild…but from what I have heard, he disappeared a decade ago, not giving any signs of being alive or whatsoever", a woman called Jennifer answered. She, too, was an acolyte seeking opportunities in Evergreen.

But Donald quickly intervened: "I have seen his sigil, and although he always wears this knight helmet, I saw him hug Sillius. You must know that he is one of the Great Seven Commanders of Evergreen. The man would never let anyone approach him, much less hug him. I believe he has been training his body during this time. Everyone knows him as a merchant, but as the son of a Grand Knight, he must have a crazy aptitude for knight training, right? I mean, look at how strong his subordinates are!"

Jennifer then nodded. Indeed, even if Marius was wealthy and had a Grand-knight father, he wouldn't have been able to subdue a Half-grand knight warrior such as Lewis without having strength himself. Even Sillius only had 5 half-grand knight subordinates, 5 generals who were known throughout Helios. Half-grand Knights were respected in all thirteen kingdoms. You could become a Count if you were a half-grand knight, perhaps even higher with proper achievements.

Mystery, strength and extraordinary wealth. Without doing it on purpose, Marius had become extremely respected without lifting a finger.