A Warlock's Ascent

After running away from the goblin riders, and walking for that long, Dave and their clients were in desperate need of rest. As Grump announced the 15 min pit stop, they all lay on the ground, catching their breath.

After about 5 min, he got up. The old man and his grandson sleeping on the ground, they were clearly more tired than he was. He walked to Grump to talk to him about their next step.

Grump was standing near them, keeping a watch, and he didn't look tired at all. Looking at his energetic face, he really wondered about what kind of training would an old man like him must have gone through…

"Need some rest?" he said while walking towards the old man.

"No. I am fine."

"How are you fine? We have been walking for like 4-5 hours now. And then we ran like 1-2km when we met those gigantic Porcupines. And even after all of that, you are still standing in front of me like that you go another round. What is your secret? How are you so… you know.. Still standing?"

"I have great Endurance kid. You don't get to become a Solo Adventurer without great Endurance."

"Speaking of Endurance, what about them? They look like they will break into two pieces if we end their break now."

"They would be fine. That old man is a Potion Maker. He would have a fresh batch of Stamina Restoration potion with him. They would both need a bottle each and then they would be able to walk just fine."

"Stamina Restoration potion? Something like this exists in this world?"

"Yeah. Earth didn't have anything similar to the Stamina Restoration potion?"

"No."

"Well, that is just sad. Because I tell you, in the right situation that potion could become useful. Especially when you have a very energetic woman  in your arms."

He completely ignored his snarky remarks and asked him again. "Are you sure, you don't want to rest?"

"I am fine. You go on and rest for a while. You will need it." Grump said.

"Sure."

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He went back, flopped down on the grass again, and shut his eyes. He only woke up when Grump kicked him, it was time to go. And then they all started walking again. The amazing part was that now the old man and his grandson looked fine. They looked as energetic as they were when they started their journey.

They must have taken that Stamina Restoration potion, he thought.

It was then, the young man slowed down a little bit and started walking side by side with Dave.

"Hello. My name is Ricardo." The young man said introducing himself from under cloth that he was still using to hide his face.

"Hi, I am Davy."

"You are an Earthian right?"

"Yeah."

"Woah… I never met an Earthian before. You know when I heard that Earthians have started to come on Midgard, I pleaded with my Grand Father to get me one too. But he never got me one." Ricardo said with enthusiasm. But his innocent comment made a chill run down his spine.

These little fucker! What does he think, Earthians are dogs that he could put a lease on. Grump had warned me about something like this would happen to me, but I never took it seriously. he thought.

"By the way, I have to ask, did you have an interest in swordplay in your original world? " Ricardo asked.

"Not per se. We didn't have use for sword in my original world."

"I know that. I am interested in why you choose Swordsman as your official class?"

"How do you know, we had a choice while choosing a class?"

"I have a friend in Infragilis. Her family hired two Earthians for their house. Since Earthians have come to Midgard, we have been exchanging letters. And she was the one that told me that Earthians when came here were given 4 choices of classes to choose from."

"Is that so..."

"Yeah... Did you know beforehand that it is one most useless classes among all the other classes?" He wanted to slap the boy and tear him a new one. When he was choosing the classes, he didn't know what he was getting himself into. So he chose what first came to his mind.

"No, I didn't know. That is why I am trying to do better by working on mastering other weapons because of how useless my class is."

"Good for you… Also, did you know beforehand, that this class would have no skills? Or despite knowing that, you choose this class?"

From what he remembers, he didnt understood what was happening in his meeting with that talking skeleton. He just choose this class because he felt like it felt cool, and more recognizable than any other class. "I didn't know that."

"I knew it! Because it felt weird to me that why would someone even choose Swordsman if they knew that the only perk that comes with the class is bigger Pocket Space…"

"So is it true? Archery and Mage Combat don't have bigger pocket space when compared to the person with Swordsman?"

"Yeah. I thought you knew that?"

"No. I have not met any Earthian in ages to know this."

"Is that so? That is sad… So do you not know what are the skills that come with Archery and Mage Combat?"

"No."

"You should at least know that much… Anyway, let me tell you. There are two skills that come with Mage Combat. One of them is the ability to fire balls made of mana. And the other one is the ability to cast a shield in front of the Mage. And they have supposedly the least amount of Pocket Space. While Archers have a skill called Sharp Shooter. they could use this skill thrice a day. And when the skill is activated, they could slow down time for 5 sec from which they could accurately shoot an arrow. It is a pretty amazing skill…" Ricardo then went on and on about knowledge that he had gathered about the Earthian from his friend.

Although one might think that he was getting bored while hearing the blabbering of a child. But that was not true at all. That child's blabbering was giving him some valuable information…

That chile told him that most of the Earthians are present in the Infragilis. And some of them have even made Party called Hope. Before the beast tide hit, their party was not considered that strong. After all, there were many parties in Midgard that could outrank them. But since the beast tide had hit, their rank might have changed.

The young boy also talked about how he was under the tutelage of his grandfather. And he was training under him to become a Potion Master. He, who had never heard about Potion Master was very interested in talking about this profession. So, he asked several questions regarding it to the boy. Which the young man was more than happy to answer.

As the name suggests, The Potion Master is a profession in which a Mage brew magical potions which have extraordinary properties. Like the Health Replenishing Potion that Grump gave him. It was made by a Potion Master as well. And the only prerequisite for becoming a Potion Master was that a person must be a Mage.

After further talking about potion brewing, the young boy started talking about the profession that the Mages could take on. There were Runic Engineers, who were essentially Mages that could use the power of Runes. They could make various Magical Artifacts by inscribing special Runic Circuits on items.

The Runic Circuit gives special abilities to the material it had been inscribed to. Like the Boom Cracker that they use way back. The old man inscribed a special Runic Circuit on the ball which in turn exploded that thing after a particular amount of time.

He got really interested in Runes and other Mage stuff that the boy talked about. He asked several questions regarding the matter and the boy was very happy to answer most of them. And when he asked him where did he learn about all of this stuff, he bragged that their Ancestral Home had a lot of books.

According to him, his ancestors gathered those books by diving into the dungeon and then buying them from Dungeon Shop. Hearing that one could buy these types of books from Dungeon, made him more adamant about returning to try out Dungeons one day.

It was only for reference, he asked the young boy whether he could see some of his books, he wanted to see what these books are like. And most probably the boy would have agreed to show him his books, but it was then the old man walking in front of them yelled…

"RICARDO! COME HERE THIS INSTANT!" he yelled. And then without giving him any answer the boy then went back to Grandfather with his head low.

Sensing that the boy have been scolded because of him, he felt a little bit guilty. But what he didn't understand was what the hell did he do that the old man got so angry.

It then did he realize, while talking to the young man, time passed by very quickly. By the time the young man was being scolded by his grandfather, the sun had started peaking from the East. They had been walking all night and the sun was up now. And by the time sun had fully out they have reached their destination. They have reached the River…

The River was huge. The flow of the river was so intense that even proficient swimmers could face some problems while swimming in the river. The great thing about the river was that the water of the river was very clean. And he could see big fishes hopping in and out of the stream, making this scene very serene and beautiful.

Grump started walking alongside the flow of the river. While the rest of them followed him behind, he on the other hand got confused…

According to what he told him, they were supposed to follow the Midgard Bridge, it is a road that starts from Ravenshade and then goes to Infragilis while going from Clouldhold, Vecrus, and Barcelma. The only domain that the road does not cover is the domain of Roghort. And he remembers seeing the road clearly when he saw the map of Midgard at Carlin's home.

<A.N- Please take a look at the map to understand what the MC is talking about. You will be able to spot the Midgard Bridge pretty clearly on the Map, as it is the only road that goes through all the Great Cities.>

They were supposed to go to the corner of the Ravenshade's domain, and from there they were supposed to take a secret passage and cross-domain…

The river originates from Death Valley. And they are going with the flow of the river. That means that Death Valley should be somewhere behind them. Based on the direction they were originally headed, and where they are going, he realized that they were currently moving toward Roghort's Domain. And he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

***

In a brightly illuminated room sat a man. He had a big bushy beard and brown skin with curly hair. The man was sitting at a desk and was looking at a bunch of documents. The man seemed to be lost in his work, but it was then he heard…

KNOCK KNOCK

"Come in," the bearded man said. And then the door of the room was swung open and a woman walked in. The woman looked like she was in her thirties. She had short black hair and pale white skin.

"Everything is in order." The woman said after standing in front of the man's desk. Hearing the woman's statement, the man put aside the papers that he was previously reading and looked at the woman.

"Is it confirmed?"

"Yes. The old man and his grandson are coming to the city." The woman said.

"Well, then you know what to do. We cannot afford that old man's return to the city. Take a few good men with you and eliminate him before the old man sets foot in Barclema's territory." The man said.

"Done. But Sebastian, is it wise to take such a step? If City Lord Damien found out about this, then he would kill us all." The woman said with concern.

"Katrina. Do you know why other Earthians choose me to be the leader of the Hope Party?"

"No."

"Well, the answer is simple. Because I know when to step forward and when to step back. When all of you were looking for a leader, I came forward. And now here I am, leader of one of the most successful parties of Infragilis."

Then he removed his glasses and then continued. "God has given us another chance to elevate our status further. And we shouldn't let this chance go… Go and kill that old man for me. And then come back and witness how I make the Hope Party rise and put us on the Top. We will rise so high that even Damien wouldn't be able to do anything to us." Sebastian said with a smile.