Chương 52: Copper-class Adventurer

"Dad! What happened to you?" Dane quickly rushed forward, holding Doyle's arm and steadying him.

"Well… I had an accident." Doyle shook his head and didn't say more.

"Dad…" Dane's expression distorted, and tears welled up in his eyes. Looking at his father's limp legs dragging on the ground, stained with dust and dirt, he felt a fiery lump burning in his heart. Doyle sighed and looked at the iron tag hanging on his son's neck with a complicated expression. He turned to look at the rest of the team and said with a forced smile on his face.

"My son and I will go back first. You're welcome to drop by my house for dinner anytime." Luke and Dane helped him up into the carriage again before Dane drove the carriage away. As the carriage wobbled away, faint scolding from Doyle for Dane to steady the carriage could be heard, eventually fading into the distance. The remaining three looked at this with heavy expressions.

'Facing the devastated family of a team member that had been critically injured isn't pleasant.' Kyle was feeling a bit down. He wondered whether there was anything he could do to help. Doyle had saved his life, and he hadn't found a way to repay him yet. After a few seconds of silence, Tina turned to them.

"I'll be going too; I need to help in church. May the Goddess bless you and have a nice day." Tina bowed slightly before riding her horse away. In the end, Kyle and Luke were left looking at each other.

"It seems it's just the two of us now," Luke said with a wry smile.

"Yeah." Kyle nodded awkwardly. After a few awkward seconds, Luke pointed ahead and said, "Do you want to go with me to complete the processing for this quest? I also remember that it's your third completed E-rank quest. You can complete the upgrade process in Velkaris if you want."

"I'm fine with that." Kyle nodded in agreement. He was lost on what to do next. Velkaris was unfamiliar, and he didn't want to go back to Mirevale yet. He figured that following Luke for a while wouldn't be a bad idea. The two of them rode their horses and threaded through the busy streets. Kyle also got an answer to his previous question. A carriage moving the wrong way was stopped by guards who appeared out of nowhere and fined.

"These guards appeared so quickly..." Kyle muttered under his breath. Hearing this, Luke followed his gaze and saw the carriage being fined.

"Ah, that. Do you see these crystals on top of those poles?" Luke pointed at the tall poles on the side of the road and asked.

"They not only serve as light sources during the night, but they're also remotely controlled surveillance items. After they were installed a few years ago, the crime rate throughout the city had greatly decreased." Pausing for a moment, Luke shook his head.

"They were smashed quite a few times, though. In the end, due to cost and protection, they're placed just within the main streets of the outer city and the inner city. Most of the other areas have just lighting crystals."

'Remote surveillance? In a world that still uses horse-drawn carriages?' Kyle was shocked. His perception of the world kept changing with each discovery. This was far different from the medieval magical world he expected at first. The two of them soon reached the adventure guild. In terms of appearance, Velkaris's branch was almost the same as the one in Mirevale, but it was at least 5 times bigger. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Kyle had stopped being surprised. After placing their horses in the reserved stables, the two entered the guild. Looking at the extremely large hall, divided into a dining hall, waiting benches, counters, and the task board, Kyle had a calm expression.

'A very similar layout,' he remarked internally.

"Take a seat somewhere in the hall and wait for me. I'll go process the quest." Luke pointed at a table in the corner. He took a few steps before remembering something and walking back.

"I almost forgot; give me your adventurer tag. You aren't registered as a member of the Stormwind party in the guild's logs. I need your tag to complete the quest registration." Luke pointed at the adventurer tag and said.

"Sure," Kyle handed Luke the tag and walked to one of the tables in the corner, ordering a meal for two and waiting. He was famished. The meal was quickly delivered. Looking at the juicy steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, and fruit juice in front of him, Kyle was drooling. The aroma of food even dispelled his heartache at the meal's outrageous price. Just as he was pondering whether to start or wait for Luke, the latter soon walked up to him.

"Here's your tag and your cut of the quest's reward. I'll deliver the others their cut later." Luke placed the iron tag and a small pouch on the table before digging in the meal.

"Thanks." Kyle nodded before joining in. The two weren't the talkative type, so they ate their meal in silence. Kyle let out a satisfied burp and wiped the trace of gravy that got on his hand with a piece of cloth before looking around at the guild. He noticed that the number of adventurers didn't seem much higher than Mirevale.

'Is it because of the recent goblin horde? Or that Mirevale is located on the edge of the Silverbark forest, making it a large gathering place for adventurers.' Kyle wondered.

'The number of rank 1 professionals is much higher.' Kyle's gaze fell on the copper tag hanging on the neck of many adventurers.

"If you want to complete the grade upgrade today, you can do so at that counter. It shouldn't take long." Luke pointed at a counter at the corner before taking a sip from his fruit juice.

"Hmm, if it doesn't take long, it's better to complete the process now," Kyle said before standing up and walking toward the counter. Upon arriving at the counter, the counter lady behind the glass immediately caught his attention. It was a beautiful blue-haired girl with cat ears and a tail. She was leaning on her hand, dozing off.

'A cat beastkin!' Kyle was entranced by the unconscious movements of her tail for a moment before snapping back to reality. His face flushed slightly; he held almost no resistance to cats. He was struggling to hold back the urge to pet her.

'I wonder how Milo is doing?' An image of an orange cat briefly surfaced in his mind before he focused back on the catkin clerk. He coughed, hiding his embarrassment, then gently tapped the counter, waking the cat girl up.

"Ah!" The cat girl woke up with a start, her tail straightening up in fright. It wasn't until she saw Kyle standing on the other side of the counter, looking at her with a strange expression, that she relaxed.

"Hooo… That scared me, meow. I thought it was the supervisor." The cat girl muttered softly, her hand over her heart. Looking at the strange expression on Kyle's face, her face turned red with shame.

"Ahem! What do you need, dear adventurer?" She straightened up and asked with a serious expression. Kyle contained his laughter and placed his adventurer tag on the counter.

"I heard that this was the place to upgrade adventurers' grades." The catkin immediately perked up.

"Upgrading to copper-grade?" She said as she picked up the iron tag and placed it on a small crystal plate. A translucent screen appeared above it. Name: Kyle Vaelthorn Rank: F Completed F-rank quests: 12 Completed E-rank quests: 3/3 The cat girl nodded before picking a small crystal ball from a small drawer and placing it in front of Kyle.

"You've already completed the basic requirements. Please inject your mana into this crystal ball to determine whether you reached rank 1." She said with a serious expression on her face. Kyle nodded and placed his hand over the crystal ball. A few seconds later, it started glowing green.

"Hmm, you have indeed condensed a mana core. This measurement ball shines green when mana from a rank 1 professional is injected into it and red when an apprentice does so." The catgirl clerk nodded with a faint smile. She placed Kyle's iron tag and a new copper tag on another crystal slate, transferring the information to the copper tag before threading a small rope into it.

"Here you go. Congratulations on becoming a copper-grade adventurer!" The catgirl said, beaming, pushing the tag in front of Kyle.

"Thank you." Kyle nodded with a smile on his face and hung the copper tag around his neck.

"Good luck on your adventure!" The catgirl waved her hand with a big smile on her face, appearing even more excited for his promotion than he was. Kyle waved back before walking towards Luke.

"Congrats, you're a true adventurer now," Luke said with a faint smile on his face.

"Thanks." Kyle nodded with a faint smile, his mood brightening. Even he couldn't help feeling a bit proud as he looked at the tag hanging on his neck.

"Wanna see what's up on the second floor? There are quite a few perks offered at the adventure guild that only copper-grade adventurers can enjoy," Luke casually asked as he stretched and stood up.

"Sure, I have nothing else to do now." Kyle nodded. Although he had seen the second floor back on Mirevale, he couldn't personally explore it. Besides, this was Velkaris; the second floor should be even more luxurious here. The two of them walked to the other side of the guild and walked up the stairs to the second floor without hesitation.