Nfirea didn't hesitate, his curiosity piqued by Adam, who seemed only slightly older. "I'll need to discuss this with my grandmother. You all can follow me for now."
With that, Nfirea turned and hurried toward the Adventurer's Guild's entrance.
"Let's go meet the client." Captain Dosari said to his three teammates, then flashed Adam a hearty grin. "Together?"
Adam nodded lightly.
Dosari fell into step beside him, the other three trailing closely, subtly forming a protective ring around Adam.
After his display of healing magic, other adventurer teams had taken notice, their interest palpable.
The Rock team's quick move to claim him drew silent curses from the sidelines.
At the reception desk, Daya, the brown-haired girl, watched Adam leave with the Rock team, her brown eyes tinged with envy and melancholy.
"So impressive." She murmured. "You'd never guess he's a Faith-based Magic Caster from his looks. If only my brother…"
She trailed off, then plastered on a professional smile to greet the next adventurers.
Outside the guild, an old cargo wagon stood waiting, its weathered wooden frame laden with goods. The lower layer held various-sized crates, topped with a layer of dried, straw-like plants.
A sharp, pungent herbal scent hit as they neared.
At the wagon's front sat an old woman with a whip, her head wrapped in a pale green scarf, Lizzie, Nfirea's grandmother.
As Adam and the Rock team emerged, they saw Nfirea speaking with Lizzie, likely recounting the guild hall events.
They didn't approach immediately, lingering near the wagon's rear.
The wait was brief.
Nfirea returned, his face lit with excitement. "Grandmother agreed. You can come along, Adam."
"But she wants you to demonstrate your healing magic again." He added with a smile.
"No problem." Adam replied softly.
Compared to joining a random caravan or adventurer team to E-Rantel, traveling with Nfirea and his grandmother, known quantities, was far preferable.
Moreover, Lizzie was a Magic Caster capable of third-tier spells.
Adam followed Nfirea to Lizzie, whose wrinkled face and white hair betrayed her age. Her stern expression and slightly jutting jawbones gave her an unapproachable air.
Yet, someone who raised a gentle soul like Nfirea couldn't be too harsh.
"Where are you from?" Lizzie said, her face impassive as she studied Adam.
The question caught him off guard. It wasn't easily answered.
"Never mind, it's trivial." She said, squinting slightly. She pointed to the black horse pulling the wagon. "Cast your healing magic on my horse."
The horse looked aged, its neck sagging visibly from years of pulling loads. Its hindquarters had sparse fur, with faint red marks visible.
"Alright." Adam said, wasting no words. He raised his hand toward the horse. "Minor Heal."
He felt a significant drain on his mana as most of it was siphoned away.
Soft white light enveloped the horse, and the red marks on its hindquarters faded, healed completely.
"Pfft!" The horse shook its head, snorting contentedly.
Adam exhaled.
Though not fatigued, his mana was nearly depleted.
The first-tier Minor Heal cost 5 MP. Including the earlier cast in the guild hall, he'd used it twice.
With only 13 MP, he couldn't cast again now.
A glance at his status panel showed his MP hadn't recovered a single point since the first cast.
Mana regeneration was slower than he'd expected.
It might be because he lacked a dedicated magic job.
While Genius could convert to any basic job, it clearly didn't carry their attribute boosts or effects.
"Hm." Lizzie nodded, a smile creasing her weathered face. "We'll get to E-Rantel faster now. Let's move."
She called to Nfirea, who climbed onto the wagon beside her.
Crack!
The whip snapped against the horse, and the wagon's wooden wheels creaked over the stone pavement as it lurched forward.
Adam and the Rock team followed on foot, clearly not invited aboard.
Fortunately, the fully loaded wagon moved slowly.
Year -4, May 17.
Adam's second day in the New World, and he left the Royal Capital.
The Re-Estize Kingdom's terrain was mostly plains, with its northern and western borders meeting the sea, home to two major port cities.
Humans dominated, with demi-humans exceedingly rare, a reflection of the populace's disdain for other races.
Rumors held that in recent years, the Slane Theocracy to the south was at war with the even farther south Elf Kingdom. Occasionally, forest elves were sold into the Re-Estize Kingdom and Baharuth Empire.
Their price was steep, 300 gold coins for an ordinary elf, and over 1,000 for those with job skills.
Such elves were treated as "living magic items" in the trade.
Three days had passed since leaving the capital. Adam gleaned these details from chats with the Rock team, who seemed eager to build rapport and answered his basic questions readily.
This helped him pick up essential common knowledge about the world.
The journey had been uneventful, likely due to traveling through the Kingdom's heartland.
Over a few days, beyond growing familiar with each other, Adam learned why Lizzie, a third-tier Magic Caster, hired adventurers.
They were laborers!
The wagon's load of herbs required daily airing and drying.
The Rock team handled the heavy lifting of moving crates, a task Captain Dosari had privately griped to Adam about.
Adam wasn't idle either. During herb-drying sessions and evening rests, he was tasked with casting healing magic on the horse.
It wasn't just for treating minor whip marks.
Per Lizzie, healing magic also restored some of the target's stamina.
This made Adam realize skills functioned differently in reality compared to YGGDRASIL.
The repeated mana use let him track his regeneration: roughly one MP per hour.
***
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