Around ten minutes before Noah reached the end of the cave, a party of three was standing outside the cave, looking around. They were young but clearly well seasoned in battle. Two of them wore similar leather armor that appeared to favor mobility, having a few metal segments and chainmail here and there. One of them had brown hair, but the other was blond. They bared medium-length daggers and had numerous pouches and utilities strapped across their armor. The other one slightly differed. He wore even lighter armor with a faded blue robe cast over it. He appeared to be a mage as his dagger was a little smaller and even more so with his wizardish leather hat. He mainly carried a staff. He was also shorter and bolstered less muscle than his peers.

The shortest of the three was kneeling by one of the corpses, examining it. His colleagues were hovering over him, waiting for his insight into what happened. He jerked the goblin's head around, observing the wound.

"Clean entry and exit..." He murmured. "No traces of projectiles..." He got up and glanced at the other goblins and pondered before giving the rest of his team his assessment.

"Well," his brown-haired teammate asked. "What do you make of this?"

"This is at least Gold level work," he replied. "It appears to be a solo party based on all the similar wounds we've found."

A louder explosion from Noah's grenade reverberated through the cave, attracting the party's attention. They all glanced at the entrance, listening in on the battle inside. More subtle explosions from Noah's gun and the cries of Goblins reached the ears of the three.

"Seems to be he's still busy," the blond remarked. "Shall we wait here? Perhaps we can join his party. We may be able to break through Iron tier."

The other two nodded in agreement and sat there waiting. The shorter of the three rested his head on a boulder with his arms acting as a pillow.

"Why is someone of such reputation wasting time here?" He pondered. It was odd for someone of such power to be in such a peaceful region. His talents are better used elsewhere. He didn't think too much about it and conserved his energy like the rest of the team. After around 16 minutes, the explosions died down, and the team got back up, expecting company soon. Six minutes later, they heard footsteps, so they peered into the entrance expectantly. Slowly, Noah's figure revealed itself to the light. Being blinded by the sun's bright rays, Noah put his glasses back on while shielding his eyes with his other hand.

"Huh," gasped Noah, seeing three figures. He did not immediately shoot. Recognizing them as humans, he unholstered his gun and hid it behind his back. Now completely out of the cave, Noah stared at the party, and they stared back in awe of his appearance. His masked attire and glasses revealed only a sliver of skin, hiding his emotions. Having never met a Gold tier or higher, the three were too stunned to speak. They instinctively stepped back and hovered their hands over their weapons. 

Finally, the shortest worked up the courage to say something. "H-Hey..," he asked weakly. "Are you the one going around killing the goblins?"

"Yes," Noah replied coldly. "Is there a problem?"

Noah's passive-aggressive response further tensed the atmosphere causing the party of three to sweat bullets. To the three, Noah spoke fluently, but the way he talked was unmistakeably foreign.

"No, no, no, of course not!" The shortest responded, grinning awkwardly, trying to be friendly. "W-We were only wondering if you would be so kind to allow us to accompany you. You're an adventurer or mercenary, are you not?"

"Adventurer," Noah questioned, visibly confused. "I guess you could say I'm a mercenary, but by adventurer, do you mean someone who seeks adventure? I don't understand."

"Uh, not quite. However, we'd be happy to tell you if you let us accompany you."

"Why do you want to follow me anyway," said Noah, crossing his arms, gun in hand.

"R-Right, I forgot you weren't familiar with adventurers," the shortest said, slightly nervous because of the strange object in Noah's hand. "To put it short, adventurers are similar to mercenaries, but they take on a wider variety of tasks with a wider variety of difficulties. We want your assistance in completing some of our contracts. We'll let you take most of the spoils; we only desire a promotion."

"I see..." Noah said. "You have my attention, but can we go somewhere better to talk? It smells like shit here."

Seeing a more cooperative Noah, the three eased up and became more comfortable.

"Yes, of course." Said the shortest, now bearing a bright genuine smile.

The four then began to make their way elsewhere through the foliage. Along the way, the group avoided talking to each other, creating an awkward atmosphere.

Breaking the silence, Noah asked, "Where are we headed?"

"Uh, a main road, then back to our camp," replied the shortest. "It shouldn't be too far."

"I see..."

The other two avoided interacting with Noah, side-eyeing him. Being the perceptive fox he is, Noah noticed this but did not care.

The one with brown hair leaned into the shortest and whispered, "Valkin, I'm not sure if we should be associated with this guy. Look at him! He's a foreigner, and he's not even an adventurer. What were to happen if he decides to kill us?"

"Relax yourself," replied Valkin. "If he wanted to kill us, I have no doubt that he could do so in an instant. Also, nothing is certain yet, we're going to discuss later."

"I guess you're right..."

Noah also noticed this, yet, it made him feel better knowing that they probably won't be trying anything on him anytime soon. After several minutes, they finally made it to a road and began walking on it.

Now in easily traversable terrain, Noah said, "I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is Noah Kojima Browning. I'm a merchant of sorts and somewhat of a merc."

"Ah, strange name, a surname too," Valkin exclaimed. "My name is Valkin, the team's mage. Do you happen to be of nobility by any chance?"

"I would say I was quite wealthy back home," Noah replied.

"I see..."

"Muln," said the man with brown hair, pointing his thumb at himself. "This party's leader and swordsman." He then pointed toward the blond member and said, "And that one is Velpa, another swordsman."

In response, Velpa slightly smiled and raised his hand.

"I see..." Noah said. "Valkin, tell me more about adventurers."

"Very well then," Valkin replied. "As I said previously, adventurers are similar to mercenaries. However, we take on tasks submitted by locals and or royalty. There are many ranks to adventurers and threats we encounter. In order, it goes like Copper, Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Mithril, Orichalcum, and Adamantite. Copper is bottom of the barrel, they're usually almost ordinary people with some magical talent. Adamantite is extremely rare and carries world-changing abilities. It is usually the stuff of legends, though. We are Iron tier."

"I see..." Noah said while nodding. "What tier do you think I am?"

"Uhh, at least gold. Gold's can usually take on hundreds of normal people. I have a book with a bunch of information if you want. It's somewhere else, though."

"I'd appreciate it."

"What about you? You're obviously a foreigner. Why are you here? Where are you from? Are you a mage?"

"Me," Noah asked, letting out an elderly chuckle. "Man. I'm here for business reasons. Merchant, remember? And I guess I'm a mage."

"Oh, that's right."

"Where am I from? The United States of America, I guess." Before continuing, Noah looked at the sky, contemplating his past experiences. "I don't even know where I am. I kinda' just went. Where am I anyway? I recognize the language."

"The Kingdom of Alkar."

"Tell us about this America you speak of," asked Muln with great interest.

"It was the superpower of the region, and it's a not-so-democratic democracy," Noah replied.

"A democracy," questioned Muln, never hearing the term before.

"It's a form of government where the people of a nation elect government officials. We don't have a king. Our leadership isn't inherited, but I said not-so-democratic; there's always someone behind the scenes pulling strings."

"I see..."

Eventually, the group entered another clearing in the forest off to the side of the road. Smiling, Velpa turned toward Noah and said, "We're here!"

-End of Chapter