"Are you ready kid?" asked Rydel. He found Jack sitting in the center of the rock garden with his eyes closed. It looked like he was either in deep meditation or sleeping while sitting up. Rydel bet on the latter.
"Sure thing," said Jack as he slowly opened his eyes to see Rydel standing above him. "So, what are we gonna do, captain?" Jack carried a sarcastic tone when he said the word captain, which caused Rydel to twitch ever so slightly. With that in mind, Jack smirked and took note to keep calling him that in the future.
Rydel didn't stop him from saying it because it was common for a party or squad leader to be known as the captain. Although the loner Rydel preferred not to be called that, he figured that if he gave it more attention, it would have the opposite effect with the nosey Jack. After clicking his tongue against his teeth Rydel answered, "I'll explain on the way, we've got to head out if we want to reach our destination in time."
The two left town square and headed west until they came up to the western gate. There were two enormous wooden doors, each large enough to let a couple of elephants through. Raised above it was a metal gate that was only dropped in case of emergencies.
Jack tried to converse with Rydel multiple times but never received a response. Only after reaching the western gate did Rydel say anything. He didn't stop like the others exiting the city. Instead, he shouted, "We're with the Adventurers Association, open up!"
Some of the guards didn't know how to act and just fidgeted around them. One guard was wearing full battle plate and stood on a raised platform to the right of the large gate. That man looked up and barked out orders, "Give 'em a light search before opening the gate."
Rydel's eyes narrowed when he saw the captain of the guard. "Fronks, just let us through. It's our right as association members to pass without a search. What are you trying to do?"
"Just following the new procedures. The Royal Court ordered that all who exit and enter require a search of their person and spacial storages. With the chaos running so rampant, it's better to be safe than sorry," Fronks answered easily as if he had rehearsed it many times before.
"What trash! The association is an international power, comparable to the entire Reinolt Kingdom. What right do you have to search us?" shouted Rydel, making sure everyone within hearing distance could hear him.
"Calm down Rydel, it's just a simple search." Fronks put up his hands, acting innocent in front of the newly watching civilians. "Everyone has to go through with it. Are you saying you're better than everyone here?"
"Not better, just more privileged. I've worked my whole life to achieve what I have, to reach lv. 29, and to become a member of the association. Just because the local branch is smaller than average doesn't mean that you can bully us," claimed Rydel, stepping forward towards the gate and ignoring the guards approaching him.
"Are you resisting a simple search? Come on, what's there to hide?" said Fronks, oblivious to Rydel's straightforward answer. "If you resist a search, I'll have to call the other captain and insist that you and your friend chat with us privately."
Rydel knew that Jack wouldn't be able to resist the other guards with his lv. 1 status. Everyone in the city knew that to become a captain of the guard, you had to reach at least lv. 25. Facing one wasn't a problem, but two would make a simple getaway impossible. He clicked his tongue and glanced back at Jack. What he saw caused his jaw to drop.
Jack had already nocked an arrow on his bow and conveniently pointed it toward the arrogant captain of the guard. He was easily overlooked as a lv. 1 and had no one paying him much attention, so doing that much was easy. After everyone followed Rydel's glance and saw Jack, he spoke loudly, "I don't think you can stop us, if I'm being honest. Besides, if we make a big enough commotion, chief Zariff might come and join the party."
All the guards froze when they heard Jack mention Zariff. It was true that the kingdom wasn't too friendly with the association and the relationship was worsening over time, but everyone was clear on Zariff's standing within the kingdom. As the number three in the kingdom, everyone would both respect and fear him.
"Don't listen to him! He's just a lv. 1 brat with a big mouth," yelled Fronks, knowing that his men were frightened by the words of the mouse-like threat in front of him. "If the brat has the balls, he'd take his shot. I doubt he could even reach this far, let alone—"
Fronks was interrupted by the twang of a bowstring and the whizzing sound of an arrow flying through the air. He was startled, not by the arrow but by the courage this lv. 1 adventurer showed.
The captains of the guard had heard all about Jack from Arnole and were given clear orders to make trouble for him if he tried to leave the city. Though he didn't know that Jack was a summoned hero that defected to the Adventurers Association, he knew that he had turned down the Royal Court and joined the association instead.
This was a slap to the Royal Court's face and would affect its prestige if news got out. Just as the arrow reached him, it blew past his head and left Fronks untouched. "Ha! You can't even hit a stationary target, what kind of hunter are you?"
"Who said I missed?" said Jack with a wry smile.
While thinking to himself, Fronts looked behind him and was shocked to see that the arrow had pierced and damaged the upper hinge of the massive right-side door of the gate. Everyone heard the wood creak as it began to bend and bow due to its weight. It wasn't enough to cause any problems, but for a lv. 1 to cause that much damage to the massive gate was unbelievable.
From the outside, the doors were too thick to easily breakthrough, but thanks to hinges on the inside Jack was able to exploit its weak point.
Rydel began to laugh hysterically and immediately drew his bow with two arrows nocked. "Not bad kid, but you need to hit it a lot harder if you want to bring the door down."
Before Fronks could yell in retaliation and get anyone to stop Rydel, the two arrows were released and drilled into the two remaining hinges of the right-side door. Unlike Jack's arrow that merely weakened and damaged it using the door's own weight, Rydel's arrows shattered the hinges into dozens of pieces.
Losing the support of the two lower hinges, the door peeled off the top hinge and fell to the ground, toppling over as it pushed against Fronks' raised platform and all the guards scattered.
The duo of adventurers took advantage of the situation and dashed through the opening. All the guards were either scrambling to get on their feet or were busy trying to support the raised platform to keep it from falling over. Captain Fronks was furious and immediately sent orders to distribute warrants for both Rydel and Jack.
Both hunters quickly fled into the outlying forest, laughing the whole way. Rydel stopped after reaching about a kilometer out and said, "Kid I like your style. I was worried that you'd be a handicap in a situation like that, but who would've imagined a lv. 1 doing something that crazy. How'd you do that by the way? You shouldn't be anywhere near strong enough to do the damage you did."
"I may be lv. 1, but I'm a lv. 1 hero. The logic of the other classes doesn't apply to me," laughed Jack. "I've got my ways to get stronger, besides EXP. But once I level up, I'll be able to do a lot more damage." Jack knew his strength was disproportionate to his level, but that was only for the skills he had upgraded. Any lv. 0 skill wasn't even worth mentioning, no matter what level he would reach in the future.
"I'll keep that in mind kid, but you need to stay smart too. Remember, you just pissed off a captain of the guard and helped me destroy the city gate. I'm not too worried cause I'm lv. 29 and can hold off most people till Zariff and the association take care of the warrants. You, on the other hand, are a lv. 1 kid that anyone could easily target. What are you going to do?" asked Rydel, truly curious why Jack did something so crazy.
"I wasn't going to let them scan my spacial storage, are you out of your mind. I might be lv.1 but don't forget that I was also an ancient hero," answered Jack as he activated his spacial necklace and took out the weather jade.
Rydel was taken aback that Jack could produce not only a spacial necklace but such a valuable item like a weathered jade. It wasn't too useful for anyone above lv. 20, but it was a treasure for anyone else valued at around a dozen gold.
With a weathered jade, Jack's level would soar even further with Rydel carrying him. If the guards had searched their spacial storages, they would've taken such a treasure from a weak lv. 1 like Jack. The lanky hunter chuckled, "You really are an ancient hero, aren't you? I don't know how you got your hands on something like that, but you're way too crafty to be some wannabe."
Jack smiled at the compliment and kept laughing. He was a little worried about him temporarily having a warrant, but it only made him more determined to not return until after reaching lv. 10.