During the feast thrown by the village elder, I discovered more about the villagers. This particular village belonged to a noble of baron rank, and it was the baron's responsibility to send mages and construct necessary buildings. However, due to the village's proximity to a strong mana region, it was deemed foolish to build structures since the harvest would often be destroyed by mana beasts. With this in mind, I took extra precautions and built homes stronger than originally planned.
My astonishment was unfathomable as I unraveled the truth of Ares, who stood before me as a renowned grand master. The realization struck me, rendering me utterly flabbergasted. The certainty solidified within me - my reliance on divine sight alone could no longer serve as an accurate measure of an individual's inherent might.
knighted after saving a noble's life on a mission. The village elder had adopted him when he was just a year old, which explained his presence upon my arrival. Grandmaster rank martial artists were not common in remote villages, and even in Duston Castle, only two knights held that rank. This explained why Ares was allowed to behave towards the villagers as he did.
My perverted father, on the other hand, was only a master rank martial artist. However, I doubted that Ares could defeat him in battle, as my father possessed not only mastery in martial arts, but also high magic skills. I couldn't help but wonder how much stronger my father would be if he had focused on honing his abilities instead of indulging in his carnal desires.
After bidding farewell to the villagers, we left the village. Ares attempted to bring the lady of the night along with us to the town, but I quickly put an end to that idea. As we traveled for three days and approached the town, I could see its largeness with my divine sight. Although it wasn't as big as Dus, which happened to be the largest town in the Douston viscounty, it was still impressive.
Due to the village's proximity to the strong magic region, most of the villagers knew how to manifest aura, as they were always on edge for mana beast raids. However, their aura abilities were weaker compared to Ron and lower ranking knights of Duston viscounty. Witnessing boys and girls younger than myself manifesting aura in the village, I couldn't help but feel a dent in my self-confidence. Nevertheless, their knowledge of basic aura enhancement allowed them to travel faster and didn't hold me back as we closed the distance to the town.
"Ael, what do you want to do in town?" Ares asked me, his voice filled with curiosity. "I want to obtain official identification," I responded, as he continued asking the same question repeatedly. "Don't tell me you want to join a mage tower? Those losers are nothing more than a bunch of cowards," he scoffed, disdain dripping from his words.
"Why?" I asked, genuinely curious. Though I knew that mage towers were independent organizations that trained individuals of low birth with magical talent for future servitude, just like what my father and Lady Sara were doing with me, I had never visited one. However, I had hoped to join, as I could sell some of the magic circles I had copied from Duston library.
"Well, you see this scar?" Ares pointed towards his scar, a visible reminder of past events. "This scar is because of those losers. They were supposed to protect my party during a mission, but they did nothing, hoping I would die so they could claim all the rewards. I won't go into detail, but those bastards have no honor," he divulged, his voice filled with anger and betrayal.
"Then, what would you recommend? Should I join an Adventurers guild?" I asked, my tone mocking. Unlike many others, I knew the truth about adventurers. They were nothing more than hired swords for those with money, willing to face death in order to gain fleeting fame.
"Nah, they're just as bad as the mage towers," Ares stated shamelessly, despite being an adventurer himself. "Fighting between different guilds is common, so I wouldn't recommend them. However, you should still register with them. It'll give you easy access to most cities and towns, and the receptionist at this town's Adventurers guild is a total knockout," he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
"More than your lady friend in the village?" I teased, a smirk playing on my lips.
"Oh, you have no idea," he responded, his tone filled with amusement. He proceeded to use vulgar hand movements to indicate the size of the receptionist's breasts.
As we reached the outer wall of the town, we saw a line of people trying to enter. Normally, the village chief and his guard would have to wait in the common people line, but due to Ares' presence as a grandmaster rank martial artist, we were able to move to the line reserved for the high-borns. The town guards asked for my identity, but after Ares vouched for me, I was allowed to enter without any official identification. However, I had to pay a silver coin for entry and leave another as collateral to ensure I wouldn't cause any trouble.
The town was protected by a defensive barrier that I could tell would be challenging to break, even if I were to attack. The barriers were strengthened by runes casted by dwarves, constantly absorbing mana from the surroundings to maintain their strength.
After entering the town, I parted ways with the village chief and his guards, who wanted to purchase medicine for the villagers, as well as seeds for rare vegetables that only grew near the strong mana region. I tried to send Ares away, but he insisted on staying, stating that he would recommend my application to the adventurers guild.