Alex finally reached the merchant shop and could see his friends sitting down in the building close to the merchant shop and the looks on their faces says it all.

“It seems they waited for me, I hope Gabriel doesn’t punch me” Alex whispered as he walked towards them.

“Hey guys” Alex spoke from afar, as soon as Gabriel’s eyes landed on his he stopped moving and took a step back.

“We have been waiting for over an hour, where have you been?” Max shouted.

“We wanted to leave, we tried messaging you but it didn’t work, where were you?” Rebecca asked.

“You made us sit here after over an hour, you better have a good explanation about where you were,” Gabriel said as he glared at Alex.

“Stop glaring at me, I was really busy, I’m sure you are going to be surprised when I tell you guys what happened,” Alex said as he walked towards them.

“Now that he’s here we should leave, there’s a carriage waiting for us” Lena spoke.

“A carriage…did you arrange a carriage?” Max asked.

“Yes, I paid for a carriage to get us to Zenith city, but we’ll have to pay more, I didn’t think we’ll be this many” Lena spoke with her head down.

‘A carriage straight to Zenith city, I was hoping we could stop pass through the forest and hunt for beasts, but no problem’ Alex mumbled as he walked for them.

Zenith city was the next large city after Melmond, on foot it would take at least three days for the group to arrive but on a carriage, it would take a day or less given they are not attacked by anything.

The group left the merchant shop and Lena directed them toward where the carriage was, the group now consist of Alex, Gabriel, Max, Rebecca, Lynx, Lena, and Zina.

The group followed Lena till they were close to the gates, but it wasn’t the gate they knew, it was the gate at the back of the city, the carriage was parked there waiting and Lena quickly approached the rider.

“Hi…sorry for taking too long,” Lena said.

“You’ll have to pay me for waiting, hundreds of people already requested my service but I refused just because of you, you’ll have to pay me for waiting,” the man said facing away from Lena.

[Gabriel]

[Level 35]

“No problem,” Alex said with a smile, for now money was now his problem, with the reward he earned in the arena he could probably buy a legendary item if he comes across it in a shop.

“Huh! You guys are much, you didn’t tell me you are this much, this would make the journey slower and tire chelthem out, you would need to pay extra” the man spoke.

“Who’s chelthem and why would he get tired out?” Lynx asked.

“Chelthem is a female” the man shouted.

“How much do we have to pay?” Zina asked.

“You’ll have to pay 5,000 coins in total, I know it’s much but…”

“Then let’s move,” Alex said cutting the rider off.

“Since you are going to pay, then get in, I’ll get you to Zenith city before you blink, chelthem get ready” the man shouted and his horse let out a neighing sound.

The group quickly got on the carriage and slowly the horse walked towards the gate of the city, the carriage was an open type meaning it has no cover or protection, two pairs of chairs faced each other and the group sat on it while looking around as they left the city, the carriage was sturdy with four wooden wheels attached to maintain balance.

The carriage reached the guard at the gate and the guard walked up to the rider, both of them exchanged greetings, and from the looks of it the rider knew the guard, without collecting a few the guard allowed them to pass.

As soon as they exited the city the horse picked up the pace and their journey to Zenith city which was supposed to take only a day started.

“So Alex, where were you?” Gabriel asked.

“Something amazing happened, I’ll tell you the details when we are alone, I’m sure you’ll be surprised” Alex whispered in his ears.

“Okay, but I still can’t believe you won the arena, Lynx told me you killed a hundred guys in some minutes, is that true?” Gabriel asked.

“I’m not lying, tell them,” Lynx said and turned towards Alex.

“He’s right, I was watching the battle, he moved at an insane speed killing everyone in his way, though after killing them he passed out” Zina spoke.

“I already knew he was going to win after seeing what he did in the second stage, he’s truly a seasoned warrior, are you in a guild?’ Lena asked Alex.

“No, but am thinking of opening one,” Alex said with a smile, Max and Gabriel still couldn’t believe what they were saying, they knew Alex didn’t have that kind of power and speed.

If he killed them silently then it would sound more believable because Alex was an assassin but killing a hundred players in just minutes was something only a high level player would be able to achieve.

Alex opened his map so he could check their location, they had been on the move for almost ten minutes. Alex zoomed in to see what was ahead.

To get to Zenith city they had to pass through a mountain, though he wasn’t sure if they were beasts there but he knew it would be dangerous, though a path was already created in the mountains for carriages to pass so he wasn’t worried.

They would also pass through a small village before getting to the mountains, the map didn’t detail the whole environment but he knew once they arrived there the map would record it, if they haven’t been to a city, the details of the city like where the shops are wouldn’t be included until they had visited the city.

The carriage was currently on a path through the forest, the forest was quite dense and quiet but from the way the carriage was moving, Alex knew nothing could jump out on them.

“Gabriel, nothing will attack us right?” Rebecca asked.

“You don’t have to be scared, only wolves are in their forest and chelthem can outrun any wolf and besides they are more active at night, during the day you can scare them off if you walk in groups” the rider spoke, “And how did you know my name, I’m sure I didn’t tell you guys?”

“Your name is also Gabriel, I was talking to my friend here,” Rebecca said.

“This is your first time going to Zenith right?” Zina asked them.

“Yes,” Max answered.

“I’ve gone to Zenith more than a hundred times, so you can ask me any questions you have, I would gladly answer them,” the rider said.

“Are they beasts in the mountain region?” Alex asked.

“They are beasts there, even a beast dungeon is located there but it’s far from the path we are going to take, and chelthem is a fast runner so we’re going to pass the mountain in a flash,” the rider said, “I just hope those good for nothing bandits don’t attack us”

“Bandits are one of the major problems of traveling, but they usually target carriage with goods,” Lena said.

“I’ve been attacked by bandits countless times, most of the time we usually outrun them hehehe, but one of the times I was caught, I singlehandedly handled ten of them with nothing but my brain and wits” the rider spoke, from the way he was speaking all of them knew he was lying but none of them spoke a word.

“We shouldn’t have used a carriage, we should have gone on foot, I’m sure we’ll gain lots of XP on the way” Lynx whispered in Alex’s ears.

“I would also prefer that, using a carriage to travel is a waste, it’s not like we are rushing anywhere” Alex whispered back.

“I still haven’t asked you, why are those NPCs traveling with us?” Lynx whispered.

“They asked me to enroll them in a magic academy in the Silver Continent, so I agreed,” Alex said.

“Huh! Wait you’re joking right, you are going to waste your hard earned money to enroll a bunch of NPCs in a magic academy, we are far from the city, let’s kill both of them including the rider, and continue the journey”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep