Having all met up in the trading city of Mariken and taken care of some... business with unsavory individuals, along with resting up for a day, the adventurers all set off, towards the capital of the territory, Kaneth. 

Of the adventurers going there, beyond the S-Ranked adventurers, there were many other lower rank adventurers, all tagging along to participate in the larger scale quests that’d be open to everyone. 

However, one adventurer in particular stood out among the S-Ranked and above adventurers. Holding his stomach, hunched over while using his spear as a walking stick, was Fergus. 

“He doesn’t... doesn’t look too good.” Rachel muttered, leaning over to whisper in Kaitlyn’s ear, “How hard did you even kick him...?”

“I thought I kicked him quite lightly,” Kaitlyn shrugged, looking over towards Fergus without a hint of remorse in her eyes, “It’s his fault, he talked himself up too much.” 

Making a few hand motions, Rachel paused, unsure how to respond, before sighing, “Well, yeah... he definitely talked himself up too much. How would you rate him against us? I mean also... how would you rate us in general?”

Stroking her chin like an old man while putting on a sagely and wise expression, Kaitlyn asked, “I’d say because I practice with you the most, can I just use you as the bar guideline?” 

Rachel nodding to give her the go-ahead, Kaitlyn began, “Well Fergus is definitely below you. He’s probably below all of you. Not too far behind because he certainly has been going through a lot of dangerous situations if he wasn’t lying earlier.” 

“However,” Kaitlyn explained, taking another look at the hunched over Fergus, “He didn’t really have anyone to guide him on how to improve... so I don’t know... just a little lower than you all I’d say.” 

“On the other hand,” Kaitlyn murmured, tapping her chin while looking at Josephine, Damien, and Oliver, “The four of you are quite close skill-wise I’d say. Sometimes close enough where it’d depend on the day for who’d win. Currently, I’d say because of Oliver’s guiding voice thing he told us about, he’d probably win against all of you. Damien isn’t suited to a classic one on one, so he’d probably lose against any of you, and you and Josephine are equally matched I’d say.”

Having drawn a little invisible map on the palm of her hand while explaining her ratings, Kaitlyn finished, “Well, all in all, you guys are all... quite close. Like... really close in skill. So just continue practicing hard because all of your skills are also increasing at a fast rate too.” 

A proud smile on her face and a happy laugh escaping her lips, Rachel puffed out her chest with salute, “Yes ma’am, I’ll make sure to practice really hard!” 

Speechless at Rachel’s little act, Kaitlyn turned away letting out a little chuckle before continuing the conversation, deciding to ask about Rachel’s dreams from the night before. 

-----------

As the group traveled, the sun rose high into the sky, showing no signs of the rainstorm from the day prior. However, with snow still layered above everything and the weather befitting the name the frozen north, the group’s progress was slow. 

Traveling, the adventurers all split off into their own friend groups, yet still stayed close to each other so that people could communicate between groups with as much ease as Kaitlyn’s victory over Fergus. 

Meandering along the well-worn path lined with forest between the two major cities in the north, the group traveled until the sun dipped low in the sky, stopping at the large camping site that had been gouged out of the forest. 

With tents being set up, fires being lit, lamps being turned on, the sizable campsite came alive with the fifty-ish adventurers staying there for the night. 

Sat around one campfire, its warmth radiating off of it in waves of orange heat, were the original 8 adventurers who had set off from the capital of the Rexan Kingdom: Jayce, Sasha, Dexter, Kaitlyn, Rachel, Damien, Oliver, Josephine. 

A pot of food hung over the fire itself, Dexter used a ladle to portion out some food to each person, the bowls looking undersized and malnourished within his hands. However, once everyone had sat down and begun eating, conversation sparked, coming alive with laughs and passion. 

“NO!” Jayce shouted, a wide smile on his face as he stood up pointing at Dexter, “You DUMBASS, you can’t just beat a rock behemoth with just a punch! You’re gonna break your hand into twenty pieces!” 

With the rest of the group doubled over laughing, making sure not to spill their food, Dexter swore, “I can do it! I swear I’ve done it before, it’s nothing it’s...”

Motioning a light punch in the air, Dexter continued, “Easy.” 

“Easy my ASS, Dexter!” Jayce shouted before sitting down with a sigh and a facepalm, “I literally watched you try and punch a rock behemoth in the past and you almost broke your hand!” 

“But...” Dexter countered, with a confident grin, “I’ve improved, I can punch clean through those rock behemoths now!” 

Not noticing the other nearby campfires listening in on the conversation, each person being shocked yet amused by the new unseen side of a King and Guildmaster, Jayce shoveled some food into his mouth, resigned, “You do that then... when we’re on the battlefield I’ll just go let you punch your rocks. Don't come to me crying since I'll be busy using my SPEAR to actually hit their flesh between the rocks!” 

“I won’t, I won’t,” Dexter reassured, amused at Jayce’s full-mouth and bulging cheeks, “I’ll be too busy PULVERIZING them!” 

Watching Dexter flex his muscles while emphasizing pulverizing to an uncomfortable degree, Kaitlyn leaned over towards Sasha asking, “Why are they fighting rock behemoths anyway? Aren’t they like... peaceful unless attacked first...”

“I’m not sure either,” Sasha laughed, standing up to get some more food from the pot in the middle of the campfire, “I’m pretty sure they’re speaking in hypotheticals, but they are bringing up past examples so... really not sure.”

“Yeah...”

Esiyx

Thanks for readinggg~!! Please leave a commentttt

so i have this totally hypothetical story that for sure didn't happen...
the story starts with this one girl i know... she's really stupid lemme tell you
but one night, she got reallyyy into another book for the second day in a row and accidentally read until 4 am...

on a totally unrelated note though, it's like 4:15 am right now...
... Orz i'm tired arghhhh...

Thanks for reading you alllll
Take care of yourselves! <3