Chapter 22

‘Тhаt guу…’

Кhan was оbsеrving thе ехpression оn Вyutek’s fаce, whо wаs smiling likе а fооl.

To bе preсisе, he wаs stаring аt Вуutek’s hаnd, which wаs tightly clеnсhеd intо a fist without аnyоne else nоtiсing.

‘Is he resentful?’

Thinking аbоut it, Byutek was a guу with mаny truly strange pоints.

Кilpheоn was а сitу sо massive that it was оn a cоmрlеtely diffеrеnt sсale frоm Grodek.

Тo becomе а knight in Kilphеоn, onе should at lеast be levеl 30.

But Вуutek was only levеl 3, not еvеn lеvel 20 оr 10.

‘He аbsоlutеly shouldn’t bе ablе tо bесоme а knight оf Кilphеоn… But looking at the name floating above his head, it doesn’t seem like he’s lying either.’

Even now, Khan could see the name displayed above Byutek’s head.

[LV.3 Lowest-Rank Knight Byutek]

Byutek, a lowest-rank knight at level 3.

Even for a lowest-rank knight, one should at least be over level 10.

‘He must be from a noble family, I suppose.’

While progressing through this orc-related Quest, Byutek’s true capabilities were fully revealed, so others were also casting suspicious glances at Byutek.

Then Khan, who had been quietly watching, opened his mouth.

“Byutek, are you alright? I mean, I told you not to push yourself to follow along.”

“Huh…?”

Byutek asked back with a bewildered expression at Khan’s sudden words.

“Even though you were injured in the fight with the Heavy Orc a few days ago, you insisted on coming along, and that’s what caused this trouble, isn’t it?”

“Ah…”

Byutek realized that Khan was lying to save his face.

“Ah, indeed…”

“Well, a knight of Kilpheon wouldn’t be taken down in one go by something like an orc.”

“By the way, a Heavy Orc? You defeated a formidable one.”

“As expected of a knight of Kilpheon…”

Orcs, for instance, are low-level monsters at level 7.

Even they are tricky monsters for knights, mercenaries, and adventurers in small cities like Grodek, but Heavy Orcs were monsters on a different level.

A monster at a whopping level 13.

It was several times stronger than a regular orc.

“Sir Khan…”

“Byutek, why are you standing there like an idiot? Come to my side quickly.”

“Yes…!”

Byutek approached and stood beside Khan with an unreadable expression.

And Jurente, who had been listening to their entire conversation, laughed and shouted.

“Hahaha! I didn’t even know Sir Byutek was injured. To go that far for our Grodek despite being wounded! Thank you so much!”

“Ah, haha… No, not at all. Sir Khan did everything.”

“Today is truly a wonderful day! Coincidentally, there is a banquet at my mansion tomorrow evening, so I hope both of you will attend. I will prepare a very nice gift and await you.”

At Jurente’s words, the expressions of several mercenaries momentarily twisted.

‘Why aren’t we being invited?’

‘We also risked our lives to go defeat the orcs…’

‘Tsk…’

But none could voice their inner thoughts.

It was true that they had risked their lives to go exterminate the orcs, but it was actually Khan who defeated the orcs.

“Of course.”

“Haha… I understand.”

In response to Baron Jurente’s proposal, Khan answered immediately, and Byutek also answered with a smile.

‘A banquet… I can’t miss such a good opportunity.’

One of the events that frequently occurred in <Geo Arc> was precisely banquets.

Even a banquet held in a small city like Grodek would surely provide an opportunity to become acquainted with famous figures in advance.

‘If I’m lucky enough to meet a high-ranking mage, that could be good.’

Just exchanging a few words with a high-ranking mage could grant enlightenment, so Khan was inwardly looking forward to it.

“Haha, I will provide monetary rewards to the mercenaries who successfully completed the commission and my knights, so don’t be too disappointed!”

“Woooh!!”

“Thank you!!!”

Since mercenaries moved primarily for money, they all smiled brightly and cheered at Jurente’s words.

“Then Sir Khan and Sir Byutek, please rest at the mansion. Having defeated so many orcs, you must be quite fatigued.”

“Understood.”

Jurente was paying particular attention to Khan and Byutek.

‘Defeating over dozens of orcs… He’s no ordinary mage!’

He wanted to bring Khan and Byutek into his territory like this.

‘First, I’ve gained something to showcase to the Viscounts at this banquet.’

Jurente was a Baron, the lowest rank among nobles, so whenever he held a banquet, he was always ignored by other nobles or had to listen to them boasting.

The level of the knights and mages that Viscounts brought along was far stronger than the knights and mages belonging to Grodek.

“You there! Sir Khan and Sir Byutek are benefactors who saved Grodek in its crisis, so serve them with utmost care!”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

Before they knew it, attendants were standing beside Khan and Byutek.

They answered Jurente and guided Khan and Byutek to the mansion.

A deep smile settled on Jurente’s lips as he watched Khan and Byutek gradually recede into the distance.

“To think I, of all people, would get a chance to recruit a mage. And not some half-baked mage… but a true mage! Hahaha!!”

In fact, Barons, the lowest rank among nobles, couldn’t hire mages.

To be precise, arrogant mages didn’t want to serve under a Baron.

Most Barons didn’t have that much money compared to other nobles.

Compared to Viscountcies, Countcies, or Duchies, the scale and size of their cities were overwhelmingly smaller.

But Jurente was an exception.

In the case of Grodek, commerce was highly developed, and the Deilis Trading Company supporting it was quite large in scale.

Thus, Jurente had considerably more money than other Barons.

It was with that money that he maintained friendships with other Viscounts as well.

More important than recruiting Khan and Byutek for now was the banquet to be held tomorrow.

Three Viscounts alone attended the banquet that Jurente hosted and held every year.

“I might be able to save face with this opportunity.”

In truth, the Viscounts attending the banquet had always ignored Jurente until now.

Of course, they didn’t ignore him outright, but the Viscounts boasted about what they had and subtly ignored Jurente.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow…!”

Jurente entered his mansion with a sly smile.

* * *

Having entered the room guided by the attendants, Khan was finally alone.

As soon as he entered the room, he recalled the bluish sphere he had seen earlier in the cave.

‘I’ve never seen such a blue sphere in <Geo Arc> before. What on earth is that?’

Sitting and pondering, it seemed that it was probably a Sphere of Mana.

An Orb of Mana that grants Mana when you touch it.

Recalling past memories, it seemed he had seen something like it once in the community.

-I just touched a glowing blue sphere in the game and my Mana Stat j- went up what is this?

• There’s something like that?

• What do you mean what, you’re probably making it up.

• You’re talking nonsense.

• If such a thing existed, wouldn’t it have been known by now? Huh?

• This bastard was making stuff up last time too, and now he’s doing it again lol lol lol

At the time, the person who posted on the community was ridiculed by others.

“Back then, I also thought it was insignificant, but to think it was real…”

Even Khan, a Ranker in <Geo Arc>, was seeing such a fortunate encounter for the first time, so he felt a bit flustered and also regretful.

“If my realm had been higher, I could have absorbed all the Mana in the sphere.”

And if he had known about it beforehand, he would have raised his realm a bit more and then revisited the cave.

But what’s done is done and cannot be undone.

“It’s regrettable, but there’s nothing to be done.”

Muttering softly, Khan immediately opened his Status Window and began a mid-check.

◈ LV.7

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 180/180

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Skill: (10★)Sage’s Heart, (8★)Growth Acceleration, (1★)Arrow, (1★)Barrier

He was already level 7.

“If I continue growing like this… I could become unprecedentedly strong.”

Despite being level 7, he already had four skills.

Moreover, all four were Hidden Skills, so Khan could exert power far stronger than an ordinary level 7 character.

“With ‘Growth Acceleration,’ it should be possible to defeat high-level monsters and grow even faster.”

In short, he had become a character with limitless growth potential.

“By the way, a banquet held in Grodek…”

Khan was very familiar with the banquet held in Grodek.

Because the next Quest would take place at the banquet held in Grodek.

“I should prepare, just in case.”

Khan muttered to himself and then called an attendant to make a few requests.

* * *

The next day, the day of the banquet.

From the morning, a huge crowd gathered at the entrance of Grodek city.

Outside the city gate of Grodek, numerous nobles, knights, and even mages were lined up.

Nobles from other cities passed through the checkpoint one by one and entered the banquet hall.

Khan and Byutek, who had already entered the banquet hall beforehand, were listening to the cheers pouring out from the banquet hall entrance.

“Haha! Welcome, Viscount Behrman!”

“It’s been a while, Baron Jurente. Have you been well?”

“I’ve been well, of course. I heard Viscount Behrman recently recruited a skilled knight; congratulations!”

“Haha, it seems rumors have already reached Grodek.”

Jurente stood at the entrance, welcoming other nobles with a smiling face.

“Baron Jurente’s expression is incredibly bright.”

“Indeed. He seems to be in the best mood I’ve seen in several years.”

Deilis and his daughter Sharin also attended the banquet, so they watched the other nobles entering from the entrance.

Khan and Byutek were looking at the knights and mages escorting the nobles rather than the nobles themselves.

‘Every single one of them is of a high level.’

[LV.10 Knight of Arkia Dex]

[LV.12 Knight of Avalon Merlin]

They were knights with much higher levels than the knights of Grodek.

Since they were all knights belonging to Viscountcies, they would naturally be stronger than Grodek’s knights.

Before they knew it, the entrance proceedings concluded and the last person entered.

Then.

Whoosh.

His eyes met those of a man standing beside the last noble who entered.

[LV.13 Magic Apprentice of Eldrida Bist]

It was the first Magic Apprentice over level 10 he had seen since entering <Geo Arc>.