Following them

After getting their last member, a porter, who was a fit and lean-muscled man in his twenties, the party of mercenaries departed to fetch their ride, a horse-drawn carriage to Rajed Ruins. Little did they know that while they were negotiating with the coachman, a boy quickly sneaked inside the carriage, confident no one had seen him amongst the group.

With no one noticing Lock, who was now hidden behind the blankets and barrels that were already inside the carriage before he even came, the travel proceeded uneventfully.

Lock couldn't help but be proud.

Even though he lost most of his skills and his stats had probably decreased more than tenfolds, his hiding abilities were still ingrained in his body.

'Well, if they were James (his most loyal royal attendant), he would have found me even before I got in.'

Fifteen minutes later, Moon received the system's notification.

It was a quick trip. According to the map that Lock had seen, Mujad Ruins was indeed dangerous, but it does not belong to the more dangerous areas outside of the town. It was also one of the closest, making it very favorable for Lock. He already decided that he will visit the Mujad Ruins to get stronger.

With his current level, that was the only thing he could do.

If he the reaches at least Level 7, that would be when he would consider going farther from the town. The farther he was from the safe zone, the more danger he will encounter, meaning the more experience points he can gain.

Lock's thoughts were interrupted when a hand suddenly grabbed the thick cloth that hid his presence.

A shocked coachman, which slowly turned to an angry one, immediately welcomed him.

"Who are you? Were you trying to steal from me?!"

The coachman, which was probably in his forties, grabbed Lock's shoulders and tried to lift him up from his goods. But Lock smiled and immediately swatted the adult's hand away.

During the travel, he had already seen the coachman's stats, and his stats were almost the same as his after he leveled up.

Since their stats were almost equal, it was technique and skill that separated them. Lock, of course, already saw that the coachman had no fighting skills at all.

"You!" the coachman bellowed, as Lock jumped away from the goods and grabbed a few slices of loaf bread.

He had not eaten yet, and that was an excellent opportunity. In fact, he had already eaten a few slices, and the coachman saw that. And there was nothing he could do.

Lock ran away after eating all the bread very quickly. If he was going to be a polite and good boy here, he won't survive in this place.

The party of adventurers who had already hopped down the carriage unconsciously turned to the carriage and stopped discussing their plans at the entrance.

There, outside of the carriage, they saw the same boy who had offered to be their porter running away from the coachman.

The party of mercenaries was confused at first.

Was the boy related to the coachman?

What was he doing here?

The angry coachman that was trying to catch the boy answered their questions, which was so agile and light-footed, like the most annoying child ever.

"Don't tell me. That boy followed us?"

"I think so too."

"He really said he needs to go here after all."

"What are we going to do? Ignore them?"

"No, that carriage is our ride. If the coachman gets more angry, he might leave us here. I don't want to go home walking."

"I agree, but that child...what should we do about him?"

The leader of the group, which was a 19-year-old teen holding a sword that was about an entire arm's length, sighed. If they leave the coachman and the boy here alone while they go out hunting, he felt like something bad will happen.

"Let's just bring him too. It's not like this place is that dangerous for him, anyway. That boy graduated from the academy and could use a spell. Tell the coach the boy is with us."

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After a few minutes of explaining to the coachman, the coachman only calmed down after receiving twenty copper coins, making the party look at Lock with unwelcoming gazes.

Twenty copper coins could already buy a two snacks of bread, and they had to pay the coachman even though they were not the one who ate it.

"What's the big idea? It's just twenty copper coins, that's not even money." Lock said as the walked inside the Rajed Ruins.

When the party heard the boy speak as if it was nothing, they wanted to strangel him.

"How could someone with literally no money even say that?" a man sarcastically said.

"Hahaha, don't worry. I said, I will help you guys slay a few beasts here and then, and even find you a magic core if you want."

"Magic core? Hey, you. Do you have any idea how hard is it to find beasts with magic cores? Stop talking nonsense, you weak fire caster."

Lock nodded in great admiration, angering the man who spoke to him.

A girl who looked to be in his late teens then could not take the words coming out of Lock's mouth anymore. She was the member who opposed Lock into the party as a porter solely because she didn't want to make younger kids carry their stuffs or her especially, but she felt like Lock just deserved that punishment.

The girl took a few luggages from the porter, and gave it to Lock, giving him baggages as if he was going somewhere very far.

"Here. If you talk again, I will increase it with one bag, okay?" the girl smiled evilly.

Moon smiled too, but a sarcastic one, angering the girl again. Right now, she could vividly feel the urge to slap the cocky boy's face.

She was about to retort when she suddenly saw the boy had suddenly gone alert.

Lock's eyes darted very quickly, and his gazel later landed on a few ruins where a hole heading to the ground was seen.

"Goblins, 30 of them are coming!" Lock said.