A handsome man covered in shining armor knelt in front of a statue. Light entered the church through the stained glass depicting many events and histories of how God gave hope to its worshiper. The man closed his eyes and brought his right fist to his chest.
"O'lord, who art in heaven, blessed be thy name. Give us strength and forgive our sin as we forgive theirs. Led us away from temptation; whispers of the devils, and deliver us to the light."
Footsteps came from behind. The man opened his eyes and stood up.
"Your prayer is longer than usual, Arthur."
Arthur turned around, showing his smooth flawless skin. Even after years of battle, he was without a scar or wound because heroes had superb regenerative ability.
"We are about to be away from the kingdom of our lord. We need his blessing to ensure our safety."
Jake smiled. Even though he had a strong frame with big a shield and sword, he had a kind face that did not look threatening at all. "Hugo is waiting outside with the carriage. Why don't we go out before he makes a noise?"
"Good idea."
They both exited the church and saw a 165 CM tall man leaning on the carriage with crossed arms. His brown eyes darted towards them. "What took you so long? I was so bored."
"Don't be whiny, Hugo. You only waited for a few minutes." Jake walked to the back of the carriage and checked the supplies.
"A few minutes is long. Do you know how bored I am? I need some girls to keep me company."
Jake rolled his eyes and ignored him. Arthur ruffled chest-nut hair and smiled. "I apologize for taking too long. Why don't you drive the carriage instead of Jake?"
Hugo's eyes lit up. "Really?"
Jake peeked out the back of the carriage. "He's going to destroy the carriage."
"No, I will not." He turned to Arthur and. "I assure you. Everything will be fine."
Arthur bitterly smiled. "I give you my trust again, Hugo. Even though you have betrayed it a bunch of times already."
"A lot of times, actually," Jake added.
"Shut up, Jake. I know what I'm doing." Hugo laughed and caressed the horses like he already owned them.
Jake looked at Arthur and gave him the expression that said 'Why did you let him drive?'
Arthur smiled and shrugged.
"Are you ready to leave, Arthur?" A man with a white robe came and asked him.
"Yes, father. Jake and Hugo have prepared the supplies and carriages."
The priest sighed. "Be careful out there, Arthur. This treasure is too important. A lot of people will look for it, and you have to face them."
"I am ready, father."
"I hope you are. Thankfully, only Gold Rank can participate in this treasure hunt, so you have a chance to fight for it."
"What happens if a Platinum Rank looks for this treasure, Father?"
"Terrible thing. I do not know how this rule came to be, but this treasure appears every hundred years or so, and those who have it will have a chance to reach Adamantite Rank. But only a Gold Rank can look and have this treasure. If a higher rank tried to find it, a malevolent curse will fall upon them."
"What curse is that?"
"If they directly prevent others from finding it, and try to find it themselves, their body will be dried, shrunk, and then turned into dust."
Arthur and the others trembled when they heard this. Just imagining their body dried was terrible enough, but at least no Platinum Rank or higher would disrupt them.
The priest held his shoulder. "Remember, child. Everyone outside Montcresia is blinded by evil emotions and desire. Be very careful out there."
Arthur nodded. "I will."
Pressure Platoon II and Red Rose platoon elegantly danced around the pack of copper wolves. With steel swords in their hands, they quickly decapitated wolf after wolf. Many of them plummeted to the ground, but they did not stop, and continued to fight, slaying a bunch of wolves that tried to run.
Aldred watched as their levels increased a bunch of times because of the battle. He did not receive any EXP from what they killed unless he contributed some damage to the target, but he was fine with that. The soldiers needed to get stronger first.
They were currently traveling to the north where Mount Fargon was, but they met a pack of copper wolves by chance. Thinking it was a good opportunity to increase levels, they decided to fight the wolves.
"How is their progress, Aldred?" Bartrem asked.
"To be honest, not as good as I expected. Different people need different EXP, so some soldiers took longer to level up than the others."
"At least their improvement is much better than before. Soon they all will reach Silver Rank." Bartrem clenched his fist. "I almost reach Gold Rank as well."
Aldred smiled. "Let me say my congratulation before that happen."
Bartrem laughed.
Mary was sitting on top of the carriage until she saw something coming at them from a distance. "Hey! Something is coming!"
Aldred turned around and looked at her. "What is it?"
Mary stood up and narrowed her eyes. "It's some kind of monster."
Aldred was curious, so he activated his flame jet and flew up. His eyes widened at the creature he saw. It has a wolf head, a snake body, wolf legs, and a scorpion sting. It stood around 8 feet and it moved really fast towards them.
"Wakanda shit is that?"
"It's a Silver Rank, Monster." Bartrem smiled. "Aldred, you stay out of this. I will use this opportunity to increase my strength. The rest of you follow me!"
Bartrem charged toward the monster with the same valor and bravery when fighting against a human formation. Aldred had never seen the man show an expression of fear.
"Pongo." Pongo squeaked as he sat beside Aldred.
"What do you think, Pongo? Can they win?"
"Pongo pongo (You want to bet?)"
"What's the bet?"
"Pongo pongo (the one who loses will have to steal Mareona's underwear and give it to the other party)."
"Deal. I say they will win."
"Pongo pongo (I guess you will have to steal an underwear tonight)."
Sophia and Mira wondered what Aldred was talking about with the penguin.
