Chapter 68: Leaving Town

Chapter 68: Leaving Town

After grabbing all our supplies, we headed back to the inn for a farewell party, although I found out that the rest of Roderick's team would also be coming to defend the rear caravans, so it wasn't really goodbye yet. There was plenty of drinking, and they convinced me to partake in the fiery beverage. I only relented since I had my partial fire immunity.

After the party, I fooled around with my mimicry. I wasn't going to be able to use it much while on this caravan, unfortunately, as I needed to keep up my disguise for a bit longer. I enjoyed the company, and they were fun to be around helpful, and genuinely kind individuals, but I craved being unrestrained.

For my adventurer disguise, I was happy being basically a pure elf, as it had the most benefits, but there was one trait I wanted from the human profile.

Greatly increase the speed and ease of learning new traits and skills.

This trait has no levels.>

It took a bit of trial and error, and I had to identify myself a few times till I had enough human parts, but my profile still showed my race as an elf. I had high hopes for [Untapped Potential], especially if it worked together with [Prodigy].

<>

Receive extra experience towards improving traits and skills.

This trait has no levels.>

My final adventurer loadout was the following:

Elves are deeply in tune with their body and naturally highly agile and dexterous.

Improves reaction speed, agility, and dexterity scaling with trait level.

Prohibits the traits [Enhanced Vitality] or [Enhanced Strength].

One of the chosen paths, the elven archer is to be feared, and their talent with a bow is unparalleled.

Bows will receive a proficiency bonus to accuracy and damage based on trait level.

This trait can be activated to mark any visible weak points, and ranged attacks against them will inflict bonus damage based on trait level.

As a mystical race with a unique history and enshrouded in mystery non-elves are affected by a minor charm condition when interacting with an elf.

The charm success rate scales with trait level but is always restricted to minor effects, such as making the elf seem more presentable, their words more enticing, and their appearance more attractive.

As the guardians of nature and to represent their heritage, all elves can communicate with plants and non-magical animals.

The level of understanding and the willingness to offer aid is based on trait level.

[Mana Sight LV 6]

[Enhanced Agility LV 6]

[Lowlight Vision]

[Untapped Potential]

I had tried to copy [Mana Well] or [Enhanced Intellect], but both were unavailable. It looks like the fused trait [Soul Mastery] prevented me from doing so. Strangely, I could copy [Enhanced Agility] despite it being somewhat baked into [Elven Reflexes]. I thought I'd keep it for now and see if I noticed any difference.

"Thanks for the help, Tabitha. I'm glad you put up with all my questions."

"Hey, it's the least I can do. I'm going to get a big raise once you reach Silver."

Kurt looked at me and gave a cheesy grin and thumbs up, "I'll catch up and meet you out in the world, Syl! Once I'm Silver, I'm heading out. Try to leave some monsters for me to kill."

I laughed and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder, "I'll tell them to look out for Dualblade Kurt."

"Damn right!"

The group laughed and also said their farewells. It was a three-day trip, and the group would likely stay in Kaerlin for a bit before returning. When I enquired what we were protecting, I could only groan at the response - slime and mana potions.

The merchant was a portly-looking man named Darius. He was well-mannered and seemed excited by having his caravan protected by Roderick and a rare elven adventurer. If I had my chimeric evolution before joining the guild, I could have created an amalgam disguise for myself and avoided a lot of attention.

'Well, I can always do that when interacting outside the guild.'

"Are bandits really going to want to steal slime?" I asked Roderick, who was seated next to me on one of the wagons.

There were four carriages, with ours at the front. Whitney and Dewi occupied the rear carriage. Evan, being a healer, shared one with one of the merchants in the center. Roderick was handling the horse since I had no experience handling animals.

"You'd be surprised, lass. Mana potions can get pricey if they are high quality. More mana means more healing, more spells, more everything. Nobles have their kids chug the things like water so that they can raise their magic skills."

I nodded at the explanation and made sure to keep watch. Perhaps I'd gain some experience with [Perception]?

"Keep your eye out, but I don't think we will see anything till tomorrow. Too close to town. So you can relax a bit." Roderick said.

It was boring, so I had plenty of time to practice [Mana Manipulation] while looking around. The occasional conversation with Roderick was welcome, and I was looking forward to camp tonight when I could discuss some magic with Dewi.

"So why are you out and about, if you don't mind me asking?"

I couldn't be honest here, but Gramps' suggestion did resonate with me, "I want to explore the world and fight a ton of interesting monsters. Learning more about magic seems interesting, so I might visit the guild that Dewi keeps going on about. I also want to go see the Dwarven Empire."

"That's quite the bucket list you've got there. Sounds like being an adventurer is the ticket to all of that. If you do visit the dwarves, a quick way to get into their good books is to offer them a good drink. The stronger, the better."

"Thanks. I appreciate all the advice you and your group have given me."

"I can't speak for the others, but I like raising new adventurers. It's why when I got asked to dial back on the adventuring, I knew raising the next generation would be my new goal."

"Like Kurt and myself?"

"Yeah, Kurt's getting there. Lad's certainly got the determination. I'd have him join our team officially if we weren't disbanding. Feels like a disservice to have him join only for a few months."

"That's a shame. Your group works well together."

"Yeah, but when we got together, we knew we all had greater ambitions than being adventurers in a small town. Dewi wants to join the Mages Guild as if that wasn't obvious. Evan's being recruited by one of the larger temples and wants to spread the healing around. Whitney's plan is private, so you'll have to ask her."

The rest of the day was uneventful, as Roderick had expected. We stopped to make camp. After showing me the supplies Tabitha had purchased for me, Roderick taught me the basics of setting up the small tent. I then had the group explain how they usually did watch rotations during the night to avoid ambushes.

'Well, when I'm solo, I'll just melt a hole to hide in. Much safer than all this.'