Dungeon of Pride, Laplace

Seeing the intense fighting spirit of the people in front, Alvara was not amazed, she knew that her Miss was an ethereal beauty and given her charms, no men could stay unaffected.

Cynthia nodded her head from the expected reaction before stating in a stern and serious manner.

"All of you get ready, the convoy is about to leave. I would like the adventurers to stride forwards and become the Vanguards".

Although telling the adventurers to become the front liners a little callous, nobody displayed any unhappiness at that command since they knew that after all of this was over, a large reward was waiting them.

NIEEGHH… the sound of dozens of horses neighing could be heard during this time and when Simon glanced over, he was astounded to see that the horses used to pull the carts, were as big and tall as a camel. Their appearance was just like reindeers and they had a thick coat of fur around their neck.

"Haha, is this your first time looking at a Bane Moose? These are what we used around the north-western part of our kingdom. They are a kind of species bred with monsters and horses; the offspring is what we call a Bane Moose. They are an excellent steed and more powerful than any ordinary monsters".

"However, they are quite rare and expensive to have. Other than in the possession of a few rich people and nobles, I'm afraid that you wouldn't see them anywhere else in this remote corner" Chuck who was walking beside him, saw him throwing a curious glance and explained.

Simon nodded his head and pulled his gaze away from the couple dozens of Bane Moose. With just a glance, he could see that they were multiple times more powerful than any ordinary horse, even some low-level monsters would be no match for them.

An offspring between a monster and a horse, it would be no exaggeration to say that the cost of even having one would be quite high. From this one could see how deep the pockets of the Serene Palace Merchant Guild was to enlist multiple of these Bane Moose into their midst.

Well no matter how powerful they were, Simon's interest wasn't piqued at all. That was because no matter how excellent a steed they were, could they even come close to the Bloodthorn Demonic Warhorse? The answer was obvious to his eyes.

Simon and Adalinda walked forward and was just about to board the wagon in the front when Chuck who had boarded the second wagon, called out to them.

"Hey, the both of you why don't you come and sit with us?" to these words that suddenly sounded out from behind, Simon did not reject it and unceremoniously boarded the second wagon. Naturally, Adalinda sat along with him.

The rest of the adventurers either decided to board the first or the third wagon. There were more than ten wagons plus soldiers riding Bane Moose so there was no need to worry about not having ample space to sit.

The first few wagons at the front were unlike the ones behind which were fully covered and focused more on comfort. The ones at the front that adventurers boarded, had ample space to look at the scenery outside and was wide enough to enable the adventurers to immediately hop into action. Apart from that, the wagon only had a few other necessities. <br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

While the adventurers boarded the wagons at the front, soldiers that were not riding the Bane Moose, boarded those wagons at the back. Although it couldn't be said that their wagons were like the ones at the middle, it was much more comfortable than the wagons the adventurers were riding.

This way, the line-up of the wagons was like: adventurers on the front, the client, the staff and the non-combatants in the middle and the many guards wearing silver armour on the back.

One could say that the line-up was quite good keeping the safety of the client in mind.

With the neigh of the Bane Moose in front, the convoy of wagons started moving and soon exited from the eastern gate.

When they passed through the gate, Simon could see how high the rampart that fortified the entire city was. At a glance, it was more than ten meters high and was made of thick pillars of stones layered together.

                                                                        ****

The noise of the wheels turning and the galloping sounds could be heard in the background, quite a while had passed since the convoy left the city of Mountmend and departed for the capital.

The road they were currently travelling on was a flatland that has been in use for travel for quite a while and hence became smooth with the flow of time.

Simon leaned back on his seat and observed his surroundings. It had been an hour or so since they departed, by now the radiant light of the sun brightened the surroundings and signs of life could be seen springing to action.

Birds chirped as they flew around, and the fresh wind blew across brushing the petals of the flower covered in morning dew. Currently, they were in the intersection between two cities that were near the city of Mountmend.

Guards from these cities would sometimes petrol the area and pass by them on their way. Thus there was no need for the adventurers and guards of the Serene Palace Merchant Guild to be overly guarded.

It was only after they passed through this intersection would they need to survey their surroundings.

Chuck who was seated at the front, directed the driver who was unsure of the route before coming over.

"Haha, the journey has only just started and will take a long while. Fellow adventurers, this might be our first time meeting for some of us, so why don't we have a chat in the meantime and introduce ourselves?".

He smiled and tried to deepen the bond between the many adventurers seated at the wagon. His charisma as a leader and his friendliness to adapt to his surrounding was laid bare.

Simon couldn't help but admit that Chuck was a very experienced leader and immediately saw through the weakness of this group.

While these people might be individually strong, they were divided into groups and segmented. During the journey when they needed to hold frontlines, they would have to leave their backs to these very allies who they do not know or are meeting for the first time.

When the moment for them to take action came and they couldn't trust their allies, their strength would be more than halved.

Chuck who had a rich experience of leading a guild, swiftly saw through this and hence initiated a conversation to smoothen out the relationship.

The adventurers seated unanimously approved of his decision and thus started introducing themselves one at a time.

Chuck had a big reputation among the adventurers of the city of Mountmend and quite a few adventurers knew about him, the guild that he belonged to was also famous kingdom wide.

Although his reputation after the incident back at the Ghastly Winding Forest had taken a hit and dwindled quite a lot, who among these adventurers had the guts to challenge the authority and power he had built through these years.

The adventurers after being instigated, started telling their names, the guild that they belonged to and some of their exploits which garner awe and praises from the surrounding adventurers.

These people were all adventurers and loved to hear the stories and battles of their fellow comrades sharing the same profession. The atmosphere inside the wagon soon became a warm one as adventurers mingled with one another and shared stories of their great feats.

"Haha, mark my word.. this sword of mine is made from the bones of the Anemodactyl that I hunted myself alone when exploring the Ghastly Winding Forest" a man with quite a long nose said caressing the sword buckled to his waist gently.

"Brother Bignosio is quite brave to have hunted an Anemodactly alone. You must be quite powerful, I heard that they are pack hunters and even a youngling anemodactyl that is recently born, is at the least above level 100" an adventurer beside him, praised.

"Hahaha, is that so… that must be the case then" Bignosio laughed while scratching the back of his hair.

The other reaming adventurers soon introduced themselves and shared some of their exploits which similarly received many praises and acknowledgement from the crowd. Although they did not reveal their classes, based on the outfit that they were donned on, it was not hard to guess what their general class was.

Soon it was the turn of Simon and Adalinda who were quietly sitting in their seats in a corner with their eyes closed.

When Simon felt that the adventurers had suddenly become silent, he immediately understood that it was their turn. He opened his mouth to speak while still leaning back on his seat lazily.

"Simon, provisional adventurer, this here is Adalinda, similarly a provisional adventurer". After saying what he needed to say, he closed his eyes and went back to his previous dozing state.

SILENCE~

Quite a lot of adventurers knitted their brows at this display of attitude which showed no intention of blending with the others. When the mood around the wagon was about to turn sour, a loud snicker could be heard coming from one adventurer as he commented.

"Ke ke… they are just newbies with no prior adventures to speak off. There is no need to spoil our mood because of some inknown provisional adventurers". 

The man who just spoke was none other than Bignosio who up until now was the centre of limelight.