A Warlock's Ascent

Dave looked at the disoriented trolls, he knew something was up with them. They were now very energetic and were looking here and there frantically as if they were searching for a missing ring or something.

He called Grump. "Oye! Look at that." Everyone came to his side and looked at the trolls.

After observing the trolls for a minute or two, they could not understand what was happening there, it is then they saw two humans making their way outside and towards the trolls. Those humans were fast, they instantly started cutting the ankles of the trolls, making them immobile.

While some other humans started attacking the other trolls with magic and arrows, seeing this Grump smiled. "Adventurers! That is great. They would clear out the trolls for us, then all we need to wait for them to leave, and then we will be on our way."

Hamel also nodded his head, and so did Ricardo. While he on the other hand was simply amazed by the skills that these humans were showing. They were so accurate with their strikes and skills that it was making him as if they were very well trained.

It is then, he had a weird idea. They have already planned that he needs to stay in the Vecrus until Grump comes back from the escort mission, so what if he joins such a team? He could train under them, they could teach him a trick or two, and maybe he could change his name as well.

He turned towards Grump. "I want to join them."

All three of them looked at him weirdly. "Why? They have everything under control, plus we cannot be seen, remember?" Grump added.

"Do you trust me or not?" he asked straight away, he didn't have time to explain to the old man all about his plans.

Grump looked at him weirdly again. "Do you have a plan in mind?"

He nodded. "After I join these guys, I will lure them away. You can guys then carry on the mission. Also, find me when you return, I will most probably be somewhere around Vecrus's dungeon, honing my skills."

He thought that Grump would be against this, after all, he had not even discussed with him what he was going to say to these people, but instead, Grump nodded his head and gave him a go signal.

While running towards the bridge, he wondered why the old man just let him go. He figured that he didn't trust him enough, but it seems he was wrong, they have spent so much time together, maybe the old man had started to trust him.

While running on the bridge, he took out a bow and quiver full of arrows, he figured that he would keep him being an Earthian a secret, it had never worked out for him whenever he had revealed this fact, so this time he would be extra careful when divulging about his identity.

As he came to the other side, after crossing the stone bridge, he saw that one of the humans was in peril, instantly he took his bow and arrow and started shooting, he figured that this way he would be able to get on the good side of these people…

***

"My name is Gilbert." He cursed himself, he didn't know why he used that old man's name, it was the first thing that popped into his mind, so he introduced himself as such.

"So welcome to Vecrus, here for the dungeon are we?" the one name Brook asked.

"Yeah."

"So, what's your back story, came here to earn some coin?" Adaku asked.

"Not exactly… You see, I lost my home to beast tide. And then the woman who was supposed to protect us, vanished one day, I saw my people being slaughtered before my eyes... So yeah, I came here for the dungeon, but to get stronger."

His words made the three people before him smirk, those three also realized that the person before them was a Midgardian…

After getting familiar with all of them, he helped them dissect the body of the trolls, he helped them take out their nails and eyeballs, which were essential for alchemy and potion-making. After they were done, they put everything in a big jute sack and handed it to them.

"We are escorting you to Vecrus, at least you could carry our things." The one Igor said. He had no other option but to put a smile on his face and nod at their belittlement.

He was further enraged when he found out that they had horses, but they were not willing to share a horse with him. According to them, he must follow them to Vecrus on foot, while they would trot beside him.

He could endure as he followed them behind while carrying their load, it was pretty hard to keep up with them, they were deliberately making their horses go faster, but still, he persisted. His increased stats helped him in his journey. And finally, after an arduous journey of 4 hours, they got back to the city…

Vecrus was not like any great city, even though it shared the title of the great city, it looked more like a big town from out there. Most of the people were living in tents, on the outskirts, most of the buildings were destroyed, in their place, temporary wooden shacks were made, which were all occupied.

There were only a few buildings that were still intact, one of them was the city lord's manor, which was the place these guys heading towards, he didn't want to meet another city lord and create problems for himself, luckily Igor, their leader, took the jute sack from his hands and then send him his own way. And he was very thankful for that…

After that he started roaming the city, trying to figure out a place to stay and how he could get access to the dungeon. As he asked around, people sent him straight towards the adventurers guild, which was located in a rundown building that didn't look like much from the outside…

***

As Katrina scribbled the message to Sebastian, about no sighting of Hamel Gomez and his grandson, she couldn't help but sigh from frustration. She should have never taken this assignment, if she had known, how long and boring this would be, she had been waiting in Vecurus for that grandfather and grandson duo for 3 days, and still, there was no sign of them.

She was getting so frustrated that she promised herself, that whenever she would comes across them, then she would kill most brutal way possible.