"Tsk! You are late as usual," Liam snorted when he saw Eric.
"I'm not late. You guys just came early. As I can see, the adventurer team hasn't arrived yet." Eric chuckled, walking up to the duo and smiled at Jake. "Hello, Jake."
Jake was a year older than Eric and Liam but looked as if he was in his mid-twenties because of all the stress marks on his face and his growing gray hair. He was also skinny, just like him and Liam, because of malnutrition, since his family condition wasn't much better than Eric's.
Despite all this, his eyes still burned with passion to achieve something, which Eric liked the most about him. In the slam area, Eric had seen countless people who just accepted their situation and just wanted to pass their days. People like Jake were very few.
"Hello, Eric." Jake returned the greeting with a smile.
"So, how long until they come?" Eric asked Liam, who smiled awkwardly in response, "Well, they didn't give me specific time and, however, they should arrive before noon."
"Really, man?" Eric couldn't help but give him a mocking smile.
"Hey, what's with that look? Just so you know, I asked them at what time will we depart, but you know how haughty these noble kids are? They outright ignored me, only saying that we should wait for them." Liam said in frustration.
"It's alright. We can wait. I just hope they are better than others and don't treat us like shit," Jake commented with a sigh.
Liam and Eric nodded at his words. They also hoped the same but chance of happening that were too low since almost every warrior, be it a noble or commoner, had a lot of pride and arrogance. Apart from other warriors, they didn't even see others as humans.
…
Zoom~!
When the sun was almost at the top of their head, a car came flying toward the city gates. When Liam, Jake and other people in the vicinity saw it, their eyes lit up with desire.
"A flying car! I've to become wealthy enough to afford one. How cool and convenient it would be to travel in it?" Liam muttered.
Eric shook his head and smiled bitterly. Unlike him, he couldn't yet dream of possessing such an expensive luxury because his priority was to make sure his family had all the basic necessities.
Vroom!
The car stopped right in front of the trio, which confused them.
Suddenly, Liam's eyes lit up in realization and he excitedly said, "It should be that adventurer party. If we are lucky, they might let us sit in the car."
Unfortunately for him, just as he finished speaking, a cold snort sounded from the car and a head popped out of the window, staring contemptuously at Liam. "Hmph! You want to sit with us? Are you qualified?"
It was a good-looking, crimson haired young man who seemed even younger than them.
Eric felt his already low self esteem hurt when he saw his disgusted expression as he stared at them.
Liam's face also fell when he heard his mockery but didn't say anything apart from clenching his fists.
The boy noticed this and smirked. "What? Are you feeling angry? Why don't…"
"Leon, stop wasting time." A female voice from inside the car interrupted him, which made his face gloomy.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance and shouted at the trio, "You three are our servant for the trip, right? Meet us in front of the forest in half an hour. Don't be late or you'll be sorry."
Saying this, he ducked his head inside the car. The window closed, and the car flew out of the city gates.
After they had left, Jake sighed. "It seems it was too much to hope for better employers."
Eric patted Liam's shoulder. "It's alright. Don't feel down."
Hu!
Liam took a deep breath and smiled. "Don't worry. I'm already used to it and it no longer bothers me much."
He then looked at Eric and said in a serious tone, "However, I'm worried about you. I'm sure that jerk will surely do or say something that will anger you. If you lose your temper like usual, I'm afraid this time we won't get away with just a beating but will be killed instead since we won't be in the city but in the forest."
Eric wanted to retort, but he couldn't because he had lost his temper a few times because his employers had insulted him beyond the limit. The result was always him getting beaten until he lost his consciousness.
Although he knew he should endure and don't become angry since he has no other choice if he wants to earn some credits, he just can't control himself when someone crosses the line with their bullying or insult his family and he just erupts not bothering with the consequences. Very stupid indeed!
"Ahem! I'll be alright. Don't worry about me." He assured.
"Okay. Let's go or that prick will make things difficult for us. Fuck! Couldn't they just have taken there?" Liam grumbled and walked out of the city, followed by Eric.
Jake hesitated a little before following. 'I hope nothing goes wrong. I can't let anything happen to me.' He mused, his eyes flickering.
…
In the evening, six people were traveling through the forest.
Two young men and a girl were walking in front of the group.
One of the young men had crimson color hair, wore a sky-blue long robe and had an arrogant look on his face. He was the Leon who insulted Liam at the city gates.
The other young man, also in sky-blue robes, didn't have any striking feature apart from the fact that he was carrying a sword on his back. He had a calm expression as he walked.
The last one was the girl. Unlike them, she wore a long, one-piece green dress. She had a pretty face, thin pink lips and almond eyes.
Her silky, long, black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, almost reaching her round bottom. Her figure was slender, and she possessed all the necessary curves in the right places, which increased her feminine charm by another notch.
Behind the trio were Eric and others carrying backpacks on their backs and hands.
Because of all the weight they were carrying from morning to until now without rest, they were exhausted and their breathing was strained while sweat covered their bodies.
Fortunately for them, Leon didn't make things difficult for them until now, since he was completely focused on the beautiful girl in green clothes who didn't seem much interested in him.
She would occasionally nod her head or smile faintly when he said something to her and would not actively engage in conversation with him.
Rustle! Rustle!
Suddenly, they heard rustling noise from the left side and all of them became alert.
For some reason, they felt a sensation of extreme danger wash over them which gave them goosebumps. Jake and Liam had even started to tremble.