Chapter 22 : Entering A City!
In the wilderness, there's a caravel that is on the way to a city that is named " Snowing Garden ( Xue Yuan ) ". The name was given by a warrior who contributed a lot in the war against the neighboring kingdom. When the king of that time asked why did he name the city so, he replied that the name was actually his wife's, and the sole reason why he worked so hard and fight back the enemies from invading his country.
Back to story, on the caravel sits two people. Which was Wang Qian and his new daughter, Bai Lian. Bai Lian sleeping in the embrace of Wang Qian.
"You have a cute daughter, young boy" the old merchant who was opposite to him praised.
"You think so too right? She is just the cutest girl in the world!"
Hearing his reply, the old merchant's eyebrows twitched and gave up talking about this with him. Yes, the demon lord that the people feared the most has now turned into a father whose world only revolves around his daughter.
"Anyways, thank you for giving us a ride to the city. If it weren't for you, she and I might have to walk for multiple days before reaching there."
"There's no need to be this formal. It's only right to help those who are in need of help."
It can be seen that the merchant in front of them was a kind person as he decided to help them without asking for them to repay him. On the way to the city, Wang Qian asked a lot of things. Such as his opinion on what kind of job should he do so as to earn money, the safety of the citizens in the city, and things to look out for when they reach there.
The old merchant didn't insult him for not knowing anything, and instead explain everything to him patiently, saying that Wang Qian should go to the adventurers guild and test his stats and other things, if he is good enough he'll be registered at the guild and will need to complete mission to earn Quins, which was the currency of this kingdom. He also said that the city's defense is one of the strongest in the whole kingdom and assure him that he will be safe inside as the city lord there is not like a tyrant and treats everyone equally so he can just act as he wants as long he doesn't do anything that disrupts the peace of the city.
The distance between the village, Goddess's home, and the city , Snowing Garden, wasn't that long. It takes about a week or two to reach the the city from the village by foot, and 3 days through a caravel. Wang Qian met the old merchant after walking for 2 days, and after asking , they only need about 1 and a half day to reach the city. Normally, it should have been 2 or more. but since Wang Qian was carrying Bai Lian the whole time and sprinting at full speed, he managed to lessen the distance by a lot. If he were to be thrown off the caravel, and can only run over there, he might even reach the city earlier than the caravel can. The reason he choose to follow the old merchant was just to let Bai Lian sleep more comfortably.
The merchant then asked his subordinate to stop at the side of the road and ordered him to go grab a few branches to light a fire and cook dinner. Just then, Wang Qian said
"How about I help out by hunting a few animals nearby and we use them as materials for dinner?"
"Ooh, that would be very much appreciated."
"Then I'll leave Bai Lian in your care for now. If she wakes up, just tell her that I'm hunting animals'
"Don't worry, I'll make sure the little girl will be ok under my care"
Wang Qian then started to get ready for hunting. Before he left, he looked at Bai Lian, who was sleeping soundly until now, and said in his mind
'I'll be back soon'
He then started to running around in the wild, looking for animals. While running his also summoned out his status
"Status"
[ LEVEL : 25 ]
[ EXP NEEDED FOR NEXT LEVEL UP : 0/ 250000
[ NAME: NONE (WANG QIAN) ]
[ MAGIC VALUE : 67000 ]
[ STRENGTH VALUE : 67000 ]
[ SYSTEM STORAGE : MAGIC SWORD OF HATRED ]
[ SKILLS : STRENGTH INCREASEMENT ( MAX LEVEL ), MAGIC INCREASEMENT ( MAX LEVEL ), MAGIC CONDENSATION ( LEVEL 6 ), DEATH POSSESION ( LEVEL 1 ), HIGH-SPEED REGENERATION (LEVEL 3), HIGH-SPEED MAGIC REGENERATION ( LEVEL 3 ), REVIVAL( CURRENTLY UNUSABLE), MAGIC PRESSURE ( LEVEL 5 ) ]
[ COMBAT SERIES : SWORDSMANSHIP ]
[ SHOP ]
[ DAILY QUEST ]
[ MAIN QUEST ]
[ SIDE QUEST ]
'My current stats raised a lot after the system upgraded, and my level already reached 25, probably due to the 999999 exp I got after killing the MC' as he was in his on thoughts, he came across a pack of wolves. He stopped running and turn towards them
"Hello there, my dearest prey. I didn't expect to see you guys even here, I suppose there's a lot of you around the world huh... it's a good thing though, I'll get to see you guys everywhere I go. Isn't that great?" Wang Qian said creepily before condensing a sword.
The wolves unknowingly cowered after hearing what he said. When they noticed it, their heads already dropped onto the ground. Wang Qian looked at the headless bodies of the wolves, in shock of how easy it was to behead all of them at once.
"Looks like the current is already very powerful, to be able kill all of them with one strike. Hehe"
He then dragged two bodies back to the caravel while leaving the rest there for the other animals who can find it. When the old merchant saw that he came back after time only passed by 20 minutes, he thought that Wang Qian failed to hunt for any animals. Just as he was about to comfort him, he suddenly noticed two adult wolves on both of his hands with their heads gone.
Bai Lian, who had woken up about 10 minutes ago started to run towards him while calling his name out loud
"Wang Qian!!"
Seeing her, he immediately put the two bodies down and ran towards Bai Lian with his arms open and calling out her name
"Bai Lian!!"
She then jumped into his embrace, while Wang Qian hold her up high and turn for 2 rounds before letting her back down. Before he can go back and picked the bodies up, the merchant suddenly asked him
"Did you... killed them yourselves?"
"Yes, I did. Is there anything wrong?" Wang Qian asked
The old merchant then took a deep breath before asking : "Was there only this two wolves when you killed them?"
"No, it was a small pack of wolves" he continued to reply in confusion.
"Then was the rest of the pack also killed by you?" the merchant asked again.
"Yup, with all of them in the same state these two are." He replied proudly.
"....I didn't knew you where this strong...."
" Am I? But I think these wolves are very weak though"
It was then the merchant dropped a big bomb
"Do you remember what I told you about the guild's ranking?"
"You said there was 7 classes right? With the weakest being F, and the strongest being S, and between them was E, D, C , B and A. What about It?"
"Monsters also have their ranking depending on how dangerous they are. These "animals" you killed are ranked E individually, but a pack is ranked C. So do you understand what I'm saying now?" the merchant asked while massaging his temples.
"So, you're saying that my current strength is rank C or above....?" Wang Qian became stupefied after understanding what the merchant was saying. The nodded his head towards him.
"Wow! So does that mean Wang Qian will be a C-rank adventurer once he joins the adventurers guild? That's so cool!" It was at this time, Bai Lian who was listening quietly at the said.
"Well, what you said is more or less correct. Anyways, let's put thing aside and start to prepare dinner" the merchant said
"You're right. Let's go help out, Bai Lian"
"Okay"
....
All of them went to sleep after finishing their dinners, and the merchant gave Wang Qian a blanket to cover himself and Bai Lian when they sleep. After thanking the merchant, he went ahead to hug Bai Lian as he slept next to her and cover both of them with the blanket.
When he woke up, he realized that the merchant has long woken up and is already making some soup outside. He carefully carried his daughter off the caravel and walked towards the old merchant
"Good morning, you're up early."
"This is just the normal time to wake up if a person is on a journey alone. More importantly, come here and try the soup I make. Wake your daughter up too." the merchant said as he passed a bowl to his subordinate and one to him.
"Bai Lian, Bai Lian, wake up now. Let's try the soup made by the merchant. I'm sure it will taste good!" he said softly to her.
"What is it?" Bai Lian said while being half-awake.
"Try the soup the merchant made, it's very warm and tasty." Wang Qian said after trying it himself.
"Okay" she said as she opened her mouth, waiting for him to send the soup into her mouth.
"Ahhhh~" Wang Qian said while sending the spoon to her mouth.
After tasting the soup, she suddenly turn energetic as she said :" It tastes so good! I want more please!" "Here you go, my little princess"
At the side, the merchant's eyebrows was twitching non-stop.....
.....
After keeping everything they've taken out, they continue on their journey. This time, Bai Lian didn't sleep as she was excited to enter a city. It didn't take long for them to reach the entrance to the city. They lined up behind the line and waited patiently for their turn to be checked. During this, Bai Lian dozed off as she laid in the arms of Wang Qian. When it was their turn, the guards asked them to hand out 3 copper quins. Wang Qian didn't have money, so the merchant decided to help them out again. Just as he was going to thank him, the merchant said " Just think of it as me using money to building a relationship with a C-rank or above adventurer" Hearing so, he stopped talking and decided to help the merchant out if he ever needed him.
When they enter the city, what entered their eyes was the streets full of people where children run around playing. The streets was bustling with life.
"We'll be parting here, I hope we meet again"
"Same here, thanks for taking care of us on the journey"
"Don't mention it. I'll be going now"
"Bye!"
Wang Qian and Bai Lian got off the caravel after finding a place to stop. They said their parting with the merchant before walking on their own.
'Finally, my new life will start here' Wang Qian thought
But what he didn't know was, even if the plot wasn't here anymore, he still wouldn't be able to live the life he wanted. At least, not now.