When they got near to the city gate, there was a row of eleven men standing in wait. When they made eye contact with Jack and the others, their expression turned savage.
"Friends, our enemies had appeared! Let's avenge our leader! For Warriors of Solidarity!" One of them shouted.
The Man laughed, "idiots," he said.
When the eleven men were about to charge forward, they heard yelling from their backs. They turned around and saw six Fighters rushing at them.
"Your men?" Jack asked.
"Yep!" The Man replied before using Charge skill and crashed into the middle of the group from Warriors of Solidarity. His underlings arrived at the same time.
As the two groups were tussling, Bowler tossed a few spells to assist, while Fierce Flame shot arrows continuously with her bows.
Archer, Jack thought as he glanced at Fierce Flame. He would need to ask Peniel about this class' skills, in case if he met an opponent with that class in the future.
Jack looked at the two groups fighting, he didn't see the need to involve himself. This group from Warriors of Solidarity clearly were just a bunch of newbies, unlike the elites at the woods. Despite them outnumbering The Man's group, they were still at a disadvantage. In addition to Bowler and Flame's harassment, their enemy soon ran away with tails between their legs.
Out of the eleven that came to intercept them, four ran away into the city, seven lost their lives. Several low-level normal equipment scattered on the ground after their corpses vanished. The guards that kept watch on the gate did not take any action to interfere. As long as they didn't create too much disturbance that blocked others from entering the city, the fighting outside was none of their concern.
"Hahaha! What a bunch of jokers!" The Man exclaimed in high spirit. His people only lost a few HP, without any casualty. After picking up the dropped equipment, they went into the city.
They noticed the four that ran away were standing at one side and glared at them.
"What? Do you want to continue? Let's go out and have a few more rounds!" The Man uttered.
The four's faces went red from the provocation. "If you dare, wait until sir Goliath is back. We will take you on!" They retorted back.
"Hah! You jokers can only gang up on people. Don't think I will get tricked again! Everyone will learn how you agree on a duel but instead go back on your words and use numbers to fight. The Warriors of Solidarity, pah! You have truly embarrassed your piers!"
The Man went on to scold the four, his loud voice and vehement tone did not allow the four to make a retort. It also caused other passing players to turn to them. Since the four also knew about how their leader had shamelessly schemed on that duel, they had no comeback to say. They soon scurried away with reluctance.
Jack chuckled, he then said to the others, "well, now since you are no longer in danger, please excuse me. I still have matters to attend to."
"Thanks a lot for your help, boss! You should come by to the Raven's Den sometimes, I will buy you drinks," The Man offered.
"Another time then," Jack replied.
"I will hold you to it! If you ever need anything, just give me a holler!"
Bowler came to Jack before he left, "bro, how about we go on a quest together again? I need to increase my level, everyone is leaving me behind now."
Jack had used his God-eye monocle to check on his three friends. The Man was already a level 17 Warrior, while Flame was a level 16 Archer, Bowler was the only one still at a basic class Magician of level 15.
"You should spend more time getting experience and less time chatting with people," Jack chided him. "I originally plan for a team quest as well, but something comes up, so I can't accompany you these few days. You are already level 15, why don't you try applying for an advanced class?"
"I heard the advanced class are pretty tough, I'm thinking of applying after I increase a few more levels," Bowler replied.
"Not every class application test is the same. For Mage class, you actually can pass it easily as long as you have good memory and concentration. But of course, if you invested more on high intelligence stat, that will help also."
"How do you know about that?"
"Uh… I have a friend who had taken the mage class, I heard from him," Jack quickly said.
"Is it so? Anyway, I intend to try for Healer class," bowler said.
"You do? Well, I guess that suits you as well, considering how a people person you are."
"I agree," Flame said. "You will be more useful that way."
"Hey! Are you saying I'm bad as a damage dealer?" Bowler protested.
Flame just looked away without replying.
"Well, I think you should give it a try," Jack continued. "The Warrior class' test penalty made you lose a level if you fail, but Mage class simply banned you for a few days before you can try again. I think the Healer class will be the same."
"Archer class test was also the same," Flame said. "And the test was testing my accuracy. I managed to pass due to my good eyesight."
"Well, since you two say so, all right, I will give it a try!" bowler uttered.
They parted ways after saying goodbye. Jack headed to the Adventurers Association, to cash in his rewards for the Duke's quest as he originally intended. On his way, he asked Peniel in his mind, 'If I used the Orb of Disguise, is there a way for others to see through my disguise?'
"There is no absolute," Peniel replied. "If someone had a Godly skill or Godly tool that can see through a disguise, there is no guarantee that you will not be found out. But then again, your God-Eye can be considered as a Godly tool that I am unfamiliar with, and even with that, you still could not see through Winston's disguise. So I guess it's a safe bet to say that this Orb of Disguise will provide you the best cover at this stage, unless you met an Eternal or Divine being of course."
'Divine? I remember you said Eternal was one grade above Mythical. Is Divine a stronger one?'
"Well, that is one way to say it. You can see Divine as a special kind of Eternal, and yes, they are stronger. In fact, you have met one already in the past."
'I have?' Jack was astonished. When did he ever meet such a powerful existence?
"Have you forgotten already the one that sent me to you?" Peniel replied with a tone as if she was speaking with a low IQ creature.
"The Goddess!" Jack blurted out loud after coming to a realization. 'She was a Divine?'
"That she is. You are the only person I have ever seen to have talked in such a rude way to a Divine being. She could slap you to death if she wishes so."
'Hm… I will keep that in mind the next time I see her.'
"See her? You wish. Do you think a Goddess will just appear before your lowly self again? You are extremely lucky to have met her the first time. Don't count your luck for a second time."
'Sometimes I really admire your optimism.'
"Are you being sarcastic?" Peniel said in a threatening tone.
'No, no, you are just imagining it,' Jack hurriedly said.
When he arrived at the Adventurers Association, he went directly to the Silver Hall. There were now a few other players in the hall. Everyone was progressing in a hurry, he could not afford to slack behind, he thought. Since there were not many players yet, a lot of the counters were still empty, he went to one of them.
"Hi, I want to submit a completed quest," he said to the girl at the counter while presenting his Adventurer Badge.
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