Path to Transcendence

Terus POV

"How are we going to bring all of this stuff back with us?" Josh asked with a tired groan.

"We might have to leave some of it here and make two trips," Terus said, exhaling a sigh. Truth be told, they could probably get it all in one trip, but that would mean they would have all of their arms full on the trip back. If something or someone attacked them on the way, they would be in a lot of trouble.

At the very least he wanted his team to have one person who could fight and react at any moment. However, that would also mean they had one less person to carry stuff. Which led them back to their problem.

It was too bad all four of their storage rings were stuffed to the brim already. After such a long trip into the forest, it was bound that they would no longer have any space in them. He knew that he should have invested in a larger ring when he had the chance.

They were just so damn expensive the larger they became. It wasn't like they could get rid of their other stuff either, though. It was probably more valuable than the collection of equipment that was in front of them.

"Do we really want to make a second trip? We were already supposed to be back yesterday. My wife and daughter are already going to scold me for being late," Roark said with a dreary tone.

"Yeah, and who will stay behind to watch our stuff? Does that mean one of us will have to sit here and wait with it?" Josh pointed out.

"Would you rather we just leave it out here and practically throw it away?" Terus asked

"At this point, yeah. We might be losing some money, but I am not exactly strapped for gold right now. The annoyance might be more than it is worth. Plus, I suspect a lot of it will be melted down for materials," Erik said flippantly.

"Money is money, though," Josh pointed out.

Terus agreed. There was no point in wasting perfectly good materials just because they were too lazy to take them back to town. Terus's father would slap him silly if he heard Terus thinking that way.

The rift they had come across on their way back was a relatively weak Tier 3 rift. It was full of humanoid monsters wearing armor, which is why they were currently stuck with so much of it. The armor itself was quite poorly made, but the steel it was made of would be quite useful to any blacksmith, especially since it was steel from a rift.

Although magically enforced steel from a rift wasn't the rarest find in a rift, it always fetched a decent price. It was just too bad that it was a pain to drag it back to town.

They only needed an extra couple of people to get the rest of it.

He sighed. "It sucks. But we might be better off to just hide it in the forest for now and come back for it tomorrow. If something…"

"Hey, boss," Josh interrupted suddenly.

"What's up?"

"There's someone nearby."

He looked over to where Josh was pointing. He didn't sense anyone, but Josh was their team's scout and had a great skill that allowed him to easily track lifeforms. But this was good news. Perhaps they could ask this person to help them carry some of their stuff. Even if he had to pay a fee for their help, it would be better than potentially wasting the materials or having to go through the pain of coming back tomorrow.

"Quick, let's go ask them if they can help us."

They swiftly followed Josh and chased after the stranger. It didn't take them long to catch up, but when they did, they all paused.

"It's just a kid," Josh muttered.

Terus examined the person they had tracked down. It was a young boy with ashy black hair and equally dark eyes. But what was equally surprising was that this kid was already Tier 3, which made more sense why he was out here all alone.

Despite the fact that they were on the edge of the forest, it was still dangerous for lone Tier 2s to walk about. Terus didn't even like it when he saw teams of Tier 2s out here without a Tier 3 to supervise them.

He had seen more inexperienced children killed by a random ambush from a Tier 2 monster than he could count.

"Can I help you?" The boy asked while looking at them with suspicion.

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Terus didn't blame him for that either. Upon further thought, he realized that having four grown men run at a lone person in the middle of the forest might be mistaken for something else. He placed his hands up in the air.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to startle you, but we were wondering if you could help us with something," Terus explained.

The youth relaxed at this for some reason, as if he believed Terus at his word. Honestly, Terus appreciated it since it was him and his team, but couldn't help but feel like this boy was too trusting. However, he knew better than to stab himself in the foot and quickly explained what their issue was.

To his pleasant surprise, the boy only wanted one thing in return for his help.

He wanted to know where a good place to eat was in Peralt.

***

Julius POV

He was glad to find out that these people weren't trying to rob or hurt him. Perhaps his past experiences had colored his expectations. However, he did notice that he felt a small bit of disappointment.

Was it bad that a tiny piece of him was hoping for them to attack him? Or was it a sign that he was becoming too messed up?

He shook his head in denial. He wasn't that far yet, he reassured himself.

According to them, they were looking for someone to help bring that pile of equipment back with them. He didn't see why he wouldn't help them and quickly accepted their offer. He made sure to inspect their auras thoroughly, and he found that most of them were not very skilled at hiding their auras.

Of course, they were able to keep them contained like any trained Tier 3 should be able to, but there wasn't anything more than that. He was able to examine them without worrying about getting caught. The only one he was careful about touching with his aura was the Josh guy. He seemed to be the most sensitive to aura and was able to hide it much better than the others.

This worked out great for him because it allowed him to feel much more comfortable about being nice.

Before he knew it, his back was getting piled up with equipment. They asked to use his storage space. He accepted, but he let them know that he didn't really have all that much space left in it. This reminded him that he probably needed to get an upgraded ring. He was currently using the same one he had taken from that noble kid.

"Are you sure you are okay?" The man named Terus, and the team's leader, asked him worriedly.

"Yeah, I can handle this much," he said with a strained smile.

He could probably carry much more, but didn't want to show them that. He did manage to negotiate his way into getting a free meal when it was done. He probably could have asked for more, but he didn't really need money at this point. He had a whole stack of valuable potions and stuff that he could sell if he really needed some money.

The Josh guy was the only person who wasn't carrying that much. Everyone else was like a pack mule and was slowly trudging their way through the brush. To be fair, he was the person who was on lookout to make sure nobody or anything was sneaking up on them. Something that Julius appreciated, even though he didn't really need it. Not with [Absolute Spatial Perception] being so strong.

Julius didn't just decide to help these people out of the kindness of his heart. He had realized when he arrived at Heston and Blumand that knowing someone who knew the environment and the general details of the town was valuable. Thus, he took this time to ask about the Endless Forest. These people were obviously locals and probably knew more about the forest than most. He was glad to see that his kindness was repaid quickly. They were more than willing to explain to him whatever he asked.

For one, he learned that there were certain areas of the forest that were known to be safe and others that were known to be crawling with dangerous people or monsters. Apparently, the one he was in at the moment was considered one of the safer ones. There were usually only Tier 2 or weaker Tier 3 monsters hanging around.

They gave him advice on the best types of missions and which ones he should take if he wanted to rank up quickly. He also managed to get them to tell him about parts of the forest where there were a larger number of undiscovered rifts. He found this particular piece of information very tantalizing because it would be the perfect place for him to go delving.

He would finally be able to test his new [Void Step] skill as well. He could test it without rifts, but fighting monsters with skills was much more satisfying and better training.

Speaking of monsters, Julius spotted the first monster he had sensed since entering the forest.

Actually, that was false. He had sensed many monsters roaming around, but this was the first one that seemed interested in following him and had hostile intentions. He looked over at Josh, but it didn't seem like the man sensed the monster yet.

It was a small, catlike monster. From its aura, it was either upper Tier 2 or weak Tier 3. Thus, Julius didn't worry. These four men he had found were all Tier 3 and decently strong.

It was close, but Josh eventually sensed the creature before it leapt on them. Julius watched as the man unslung a bow with practiced ease and shot an arrow right through the animal's throat before it could move out of the way.

The entire group didn't even react to the attack. It was like they had complete trust in their teammates' ability to keep them safe.

They came across two more monsters on their way out of the forest. Josh handled all of them without any issue. Along the way, Julius got some more information out of the team. They were more than willing to share as well.

When they finally got out of the forest, he dropped the equipment from his back with a groan. Even though it wasn't that heavy, he was still glad to be unburdened by it. He hadn't realized it at the time, but walking through a forest with hundreds of pounds of metal on his back wasn't that comfortable.

With that being said, he was very glad when they treated him for some food when they returned back to Peralt. The food wasn't that amazing if he was being honest, but he used this time and took advantage of their consumption of alcohol to get more information about the general layout of the forest.

And he left the restaurant feeling pretty good because he had a good idea what he was going to be doing tomorrow and where he would need to go in order to achieve it.