Level Up Family - Chapter 80

The evening sun had fallen, and the curtain of night had once more graced the world; Ivanov, like everywhere else, was now as lively as it could be, its streets lit by its night lanterns as travelers and locals mingled about in the afterhours.

The Seeker's Union was especially lively, its entrance crowded with lone Seeker's, and even famous parties that had just returned from their quests. 

Right now, a crowd of seekers gathered as they stared at the group that had just left the mission area. They were chatting while pointing at them with fervor in their eyes.

"Did they really pull that off? Such a difficult mission isn't something an uprising party can accomplish," One person said.

"What are you saying? The proof is over there. Look, that's the head of a Mystic Ice Sparrow from the Frigid Ice Lands. These Buster Bladers have truly done it this time; with this, their ranking as D Class Seekers is set, they might even move on to the Imperial Capital to take missions from our main branch," Another person added from the side.

"Really? That's just insane; these guys were only a pinnacle E Class Party a year ago; they sure advance quickly." The former person said with surprise on their face.

A few persons also thought the same, but a scoffing voice soon spoke from the side, "Hmph! There' quick, but not good enough, even in the capital, there are quite a lot of D Class Seeker Parties, each filled to the brim with rising talents who've left the Royal Academy. Regarding our branch, either Flare Mage Kella or the Gold Bowman Hoffman could outdo these Buster Bladers in terms of progress. I hear that both quite accomplished now as D Class Seekers, and they've even gotten attention from Imperial Knight Palace. Hehe, I'd say by the time these rookies even reach the capital, they'd have become Lesser Knights." A relatively experienced man said from the side as he chugged down a cup of liquor.

"Ah, yes, he's right, those two are freaks after all," Someone said a bit awkwardly, the scene here slowly dying out as everyone agreed with the man's words.

As for the party in question, the leader was a forthright-looking man with brown hair and a well-shaved beard. He donned a suit of light armor with a short sword at his waist.

This man frowned as he heard the words from the onlookers; even his party members had resentment in their eyes, even more so for a freckled face woman with long black hair that wore a leather battle dress with two knives.

"Tsk, they don't know what's good for them, do they think just anyone could defeat a Thunder Sparrow," The female scowled.

"Marga, let it be, we won't be in this useless city for much longer anyway, or the road is much farther from here..." The leader said in a calm tone.

Marga shook her head and replied, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The others of the party nodded; amongst them was a familiar rat-like face; he looked around while thinking, 'Heh, these idiots didn't know that our party had grown a level from this fight. We'll likely be able to compete against a competent D Class party. Huhu... I truly made a good choice joining them early.'

Rat Wringman thought to himself with a smirk on his face.

A few persons saw him and made sick looks, he was already unpleasing to look at normally, but when he smiled like that, it only made them feel like they wanted to vomit.

'Those bastards... I'll get them someday,' Rat angrily thought as he was sensitive to such looks; he gripped his fists tightly, not saying anything as his eyes flashed coldly. However, soon, his expressions turned to surprise and excitement as he saw another party coming their way.

Naturally, the group that appeared was Marius and the others; they moved through the fairly crowded path, catching a few person's attention, most recalling them from the trials earlier.

'It's that guy; I can finally get to recruit him!' Rat Wringman thought to himself as his manner became one of joy.

The party leader glanced at him curiously and spoke, "Rat, what's wrong? You've got an interest in that newbie party?"

Rat looked at him and replied, "Respected Felix, these are the ones I mentioned before; they are prominent talents from today's Drilling Trials, the one at the lead is even more incredible, defeating an Elite Berserk Ape. I fear that his strength would be comparable to yours from before your advancement."

"Oh, the strongest possible monster for an assessment, truly amazing. For such a talented guy to appear at this time, it might just be a blessing. Hmm, okay, I'll permit you to recruit him and his friends. I'll be headed off to our base; we need to pack up for our trip to the capital,"  Felix said while walking off.

"Yes, sir," Rat replied with a salute.

"Hehe, don't mess up now, Rat..." Marga said as she ran off with Felix; the others gave Rat a knowing look as they all went off towards a different location.

'Heh, I certainly won't...' Rat thought to himself. He started to make his way over to Marius's party.

Marius had noticed that the crowd here had gathered for some commotion, but he didn't pay them any mind, even the few who talked and whispered about him were ignored.

He was about to enter the mission quarters, but he soon heard Leya's voice, "Uncle, we have a guest."

Marius frowned as he turned in the direction Leya hinted and saw a rat-faced man walking over. He looked at the man deeply before turning away, prepared to walk, but as if flustered, the man hurried over and babbled.

"Mr. Edgewick, please, a moment of your time."

Marius, who wanted to ignore his sighed as he turned to face the person, asked impatiently, "What? Do you need something?"

Rat frowned as he heard Marius's tone, but he didn't put it on his mind; he made a warm look as he placed his hand together and spoke.

"Ah, sorry, I won't take up too much of your time. My name is Rat Wringman; I'm a part of an uprising party known as the Buster Bladers, my party leader has been looking for a few talented recruits to join in on our expected, and I believe that you are a good fit."

When Marius heard those words, he rolled his eyes as he thought to himself, 'Yet another one appears; they just don't get it, do they?'

Marius was about to leave without saying anything, but Rat, who saw this, showed an anxious look as he hurriedly spoke again. "Wait, Sir Edgewick, I believe that we can discuss..."

Marius seemed to have grown tired of Rat's words; he glanced at him icily and spoke, "Listen here, pal, I am not interested in joining a party, now get lost!"

Leya also added fuel to the flames, pointing at him and as she spoke, "That's right, the uncle is already our party leader, so move on rat-face!"

Quon chuckled at this, but Illiak said nothing; their party once more continued onward, ignoring everything else.

Rat's face turned worse at those words; he never thought he would be humiliated like this; he gritted his teeth as he stared at their backs while mumbling word for word in a voice-only her could hear.

"You'll regret this... mark-my-words..."

The air around him turning icy as he soon left, leaving behind a usually lively scene and the onlooking crowds of Seekers.