The Discarded Son's Skill Market

Zaid could tell from his gestures that his actions would have nothing to do with his words. He’ll probably give Shoaff a hard time.

"Though I don’t really care." Zaid shrugged; if those idiotic, arrogant guys had a rough time, what did it matter to him?

The exchange between Khan and Commander Carl wasn’t over yet. "Mr. Khan, there are currently 12 of us in the group, and we’re waiting for a low-flying plane to pass. If it’s not too much trouble, could you help us later?"

"A low-flying plane?" Khan was surprised.

He understood what he meant. It was a plane carrying a massive load somewhere. They’re so heavy that they don’t usually fly very high, often for fear of encountering dragons resting above the clouds.

"What’s a heavy plane doing in this region?" he asked, puzzled.

Commander Carl sighed and shook his head. "We’ll talk about that later. Go sit wherever you like. I’ll take care of showing these gentlemen to a nice spot." After saying goodbye, Carl led Mr. Shoaff, his son, and his Chief of Guards—along with the rest of the group—away.

"Let’s go, too."

Khan led them to an open-air spot that was still sheltered.

"There’s no such thing as a good adventure unless you camp outdoors. Right? So we’ll camp as if we were out in the real great outdoors." Khan laughed.

They opened the tents and set them up. They built a campfire, and the mercenaries sat around it on wooden chairs that Khan himself had brought. He was always prepared for anything.

The meat they cooked this time didn’t come from the beasts they’d hunted; that was the only thing missing to make it a complete adventure. However, they still set up a barbecue and a grill, where they cooked whatever they wanted.

During the event, hysterical screams and a variety of insults could be heard coming from a recognizable voice, but there weren’t any beasts here, were there? So it wasn’t anything bad. Maybe those guys were just a little constipated and couldn’t go to the bathroom easily, which put them in a bad mood...

It didn’t matter.

The mercenaries ate meat until they were full; they drank wine until they were satisfied... and then they began to talk. They discussed many boring topics and some interesting ones. Each one talked with the person closest to them or with the whole group.

Among the Platinum-Rank mercenaries, only Martin and Finn had any kind of relationship with Khan.

Meanwhile, none of the Rank F members dared to say anything to Khan, even though they wanted to befriend him.

The only one who occasionally joined the conversation was Zaid—though not of his own volition. Martin arbitrarily decided it was a good idea to bring him into the conversation, and no one objected.

Of everyone present, the quietest (she didn’t say a word) was Alice. She remained silent, simply watching and listening.

The hours passed. A while later, the F-Ranks, Finn, and all the Platinum-Ranks—with the exception of Martin—went to sleep, leaving Alice, Zaid, Martin, and Khan to stand guard... though it wasn’t really a guard duty since there was no danger. They just stayed up talking.

"That kid has potential, doesn’t he?" Khan asked, watching Finn walk into his shop. He was talking to Martin.

"He’s 18, and his power is already almost on par with mine. If that isn’t potential, I don’t know what is." Martin laughed.

"Eighteen, huh. When I was eighteen, I was still fighting in Rank E and was about to reach Rank D; you guys were already fighting in the ranks of Rank C." Khan sighed. That was a lack of talent.

However, Khan suddenly saw Alice and Zaid—both Rank F and 18 years old—and felt a little guilty.

If he lacked talent, what were they? Same age, yet more than 10 levels apart. He felt the urge to apologize, but he didn’t. That was just the way the world was. In its injustice, it was fair, after all.

"My case isn’t that extraordinary, you know? People like me pop up every now and then."

Khan suddenly burst out laughing. "I mean, man, are you messing with me?" he asked. However, the serious expression on Martin’s face told him he wasn’t.

"Tsk, you really underestimate yourself. Look at my age, kid," Khan said. "I’m 12 years older than you, and I’m in Rank B. Everyone respects and admires me; I’m held in high regard in the guilds, and even the armed forces take me seriously."

"Still, how long will it take me to reach Rank A? I’m only 5 levels away from it... but they’re so difficult that I think I’ll reach it when I’m over 60—and that’s assuming I can still hunt after the curse of old age strikes me. Who knows? I might even die before then, because of the high concentrations of cursed energy inside me." He shrugged.

"And despite all that, look at what I’ve accomplished. As for you, how far will you get in 12 years? By the time you’re my age, at your current pace, you’ll probably be at Rank A.

It’ll be hard to reach Rank S—after all, Holiness Points are a challenge for anyone who wants to break free from their humanity—but your starting point is already better than Old Khan’s, one of the most powerful mercenaries in the kingdom."

Martin still shrugged. "And there’s a guy seven years younger than me who’s only three levels below me. What do you make of that? That’s why I say it’s not an extraordinary case."

"Well, his case is even better. He’s definitely a future Rank S. But don’t think you’re doing badly." Khan felt like smacking him on the forehead just for saying that right in front of these pathetic kids.

And, as usual, Martin didn’t notice Khan’s concerns. Instead, he turned to Zaid.

"Hey Gio, how much longer until you reach level 11? You should be more concerned about that. Trying to take on these kinds of missions—even though they pay well—doesn’t help you grow," Martin said.

Zaid sighed. "To tell you the truth, I don’t want to be here either. I just came to drop off a message. I’m still a little ways off from Level 11, but the level is already starting to glow."

"If you need help, just let me know. I’ve had quite a bit of free time lately," said Martin, patting his chest with a confident laugh.

Zaid nodded. "I’ll keep that in mind, Sir Martin."

"Oh, come on... you don’t need to call me ’sir.’" Martin scratched the back of his head. "I’m only seven years older than you—how am I a ’sir’? Just call me Martin—that way, we can be good friends in the future, too."

Zaid laughed but nodded. "All right, Martin."

"By the way, is she your girlfriend? You haven’t answered that question yet."

Zaid looked at Alice. Alice looked at Zaid. Martin looked at both of them, and Khan simply took a sip of orange juice he’d pulled out of who knows where.

"She’s... hm, she’s a classmate at the academy, and we’ve been seeing each other since we met." Zaid chose his words carefully... He didn’t want to say that someone so beautiful was just his friend—that would place her below where he wanted to put her. But he couldn’t say she was his girlfriend either, could he? Well, she wasn’t.

So he thought: They were just dating—that was enough.

"Oh." Martin nodded. "I remember seeing her before. Even though she wears a mask, it’s hard to hide her energy."

Martin looked her straight in the eye. "Thanks for helping us that time. You’re the Sorceress, right? Those spells were amazing!"

Alice lowered her gaze, slightly embarrassed. She’d worn the mask to conceal her identity, but it seemed it hadn’t worked. "T-thank you," she stammered, as she always did when talking to men.

Zaid laughed. "I hope you don’t go around spilling that information out there. It’s dangerous."

"Spill? My mouth is as tight as a coffin when it comes to important matters, Gio!" Martin exclaimed.

’Good thing you specify that it’s only when it comes to important matters,’ Zaid joked to himself, though he didn’t say anything.

"Is she a real sorceress or a system sorceress?" Khan asked after swallowing his juice.

"She’s a real sorceress," Martin replied, almost completely forgetting that he’d just said his mouth was a grave... "Even though she’s weak, she performs very well. She seems like a completely different person when she uses her magic," he exclaimed.

’Well, she practically is a completely different person,’ Zaid thought.

"Wow... Real mages are getting so rare these days. It’s an honor to meet one. I’ve already met an Alchemist and a Mage—now I just need to meet a Tamer." Khan laughed and handed Alice a well-seasoned piece of meat.

He was the only one who hadn’t stopped eating the whole time.

Alice thanked him as well, stuttering again... but suddenly, several footsteps silenced them, and Khan snapped back to normal.

Commander Carl, along with 11 other powerful Awakened, approached them from inside.

"Mr. Khan, I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long."

"If you have time, you can sit down and eat," Khan said, showing them a sack full of fresh meat. "There’s plenty."

Carl laughed. "I’ll save it for later. That thing is about to pass through here, and the nocturnal flying beasts will have already spotted it from a distance. We have to act."

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