[Knight Training Facility, Jingshi Island, Tzu Empire]
Teams were ranked based on their strength.
The higher the rank, the more resources it would get access too. Elixirs, monster meat, equipment, priority over dungeons...As long as your team's rank was high enough, you would be able to get anything. This was the motto of the Knight Guild, a guild that was built upon meritocratie and strength.
Among the various guild members, most held the lowest rank possible: E-rank. In other guilds, E-ranks would hold porter or mining roles. However, in the Knight Guild, any rank could enter dungeon and attempt to clear it as long as they possessed the rights, the ambition and the strength to do so.
Of course, any dungeon would be swarmed with E-ranks willing to mine the crystals from within, as it was a guaranteed, risk-free manner to earn imperial coins.
However, Greem did not bother to look at those weaklings. Actually, even before looking at the list, he had a clear idea of who to choose.
The Knight guild possessed roughly 250 E-ranks, 100 D-ranks, 30 C-ranks and five B-ranks, the elders. All in all, it was a large-scale guild with about 390 members, 400 if you counted the ones working part-time.
However, this was not enough.
Although C-ranks were mostly bound in contracts tying them to a specific attack squad, E-ranks and D-ranks worked differently. They jumped from one team to another, waiting for an opportunity to clear a dungeon. After all, the requirements of teams varied greatly based on the size of the dungeon, and it was more probably to fit in a team if you were alone, rather than if you were a whole team.
However, being tied to a team was necessary from C-rank dungeon onwards. Unlike E-rank and D-rank dungeons, C-rank expeditions could last for weeks or even months. For the record, the tower of Abyss had lasted for decades if you considered time dilatation. As such, having a team to rely on was necessary, if only to be able to sleep and recover fully.
There were many reasons why Greem was not so worried about the Tower of Abyss yet, despite having experienced first-hand its horrors.
First of all, he had retained all of his skills, and he could certainly push them further with his strength and talent. In other words, the potential that he had not been able to exploit in his past life was his for the taking.
Second of all, he was not a hero or a saviour. He did not plan on preventing disasters from happening, but rather planned on building his own strength, as well as that of his guild. If evil actions were needed to do so, including passivity, he would commit to it regardless of outcomes. Such decisiveness was impossible for the likes of William Steel or the other heroes.
Lastly, he possessed memories.
Talents which only blossomed years after awakening as a hunter, betrayals that showed in times of crisis, loyalty when it mattered most...
This is why Greem did not hesitate a split second before choosing his teammates.
[Elise Huntingwood - D-rank Mage]
[Miguel Sanchez - D-rank Priest]
[Arthemis Tortos - D-rank Archer]
[Eres Yegger - D-Rank Warrior]
Elise Huntingwood, past lover who died prematurely. In Greem's past life, she had been the captain of the first attack squad he joined. Although she was just D-rank, she was in her early twenties. This meant that she had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, she died not too long after Greem's arrival in a red gate - a gate that was abnormally strong in terms of difficulty, either due to abnormal mana concentration, or a mutant monster.
Miguel Sanchez was one of the few D-rank priest. In any team, a healer was of the highest importance, as it could turn a deadly injury into something milder. In other words, the presence of a priest could increase the survivability rate by leaps and bounds. Though Greem did not mind much about losing comrades that came and went, he wanted to create an elite attack squad. If they died before he could train them into elites, then his effort would turn meaningless. Priests could also buff allies, which was a worthy perk.
If anything, Greem did not hear about him in his past life, meaning he probably died off.
Arthemis was a ranger. In the past, as Greem climbed the ladder of the Knight Guild, she had reached B-rank and became his teammate. She did not speak a lot, but she was strong and talented enough to be considered in his attack squad.
Eres Yegger was perhaps the one with least potential. Already thirty years old, he was still a D-rank warrior with few skills. His imposing frame and high vitality made him reliable as a tank, but he did not have any noteworthy past or perks. However, Eres had sacrificed his life for Greem in the very same red gate that claimed the life of Elise.
Greem was not foolish enough to choose someone based on previous life's debts. The people he would encounter in this lifetime were not the same people he knew. However, his loyalty proved that he was trustworthy, and it was valuable enough to be considered in this team.
As the four were summoned, they were slightly surprised to see Greem. If anything, they were expecting to see Arthur Knight, the C-rank warrior who was rising in the ranks of the Knight guild.
However, Greem's proposal made them unhesitant.
"12000 Imperial coins a month, valuable elixirs based on performance, priority over equipment found in dungeon, personal training with-", Elise read the terms out loud
Greem did not let them finish: "The terms are better than anything you can find on your own whether you create your own team or act as a mercenary, and more importantly, you would associate your name with Greem Knight, a fifteen-years-old D-rank warrior who passed the Knight family trial. What do you say?"
With the support of the patriarch, Greem's contracts were indeed of the highest quality.
Unsurprisingly, they all signed very fast.
"Good. I hope you are wearing your gears. I already reserved a dungeon. Although it is just a E-rank dungeon, it should be a good enough warm-up. Albert, if you mind, try to reserve another two E-rank dungeon for next week. I don't want my new teammates to be disappointed at their team leader for not being able to provide them with enough training!"