Focus on other aspects of life

“No, I would rather just enjoy my life here. There’s no real point to train for Elysium.”

Lexi nodded.

“You should still consider hiring guards,” said Remus.

“Why?”

“You will still be in danger. Other countries might try to kidnap or **** you. On top of that, you have to worry about the minor nobility in this city. Most of them don’t want the big 7 to grow even stronger.” Galen said.

Leaning forward, Vulas spoke again.

“That’s why we wanted to talk. We desperately want to get out of the slums. So we would like to act as your guards. We may not look it, but were actually gold-ranked adventurers. With money to buy real gear, we could easily get promoted.”

“Gold-ranked?” You asked Lexi.

“Adventurers are given ranks depending on their abilities by the guildhall or military. It goes bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond.” Explained Lexi. “Gold is actually a little above the average, but nothing too special. Usually, you want platinum guards with a Diamond or two just in case.”

“That’s true, we would be more of an investment,” said Galen, nodding to his companions. “Take a look at our stats.”

The four of them summoned their personal menus and flicked them before you and Lexi.

You didn’t really know what to look for. So you just waited for Lexi’s judgment.

“You would be a very useful guard.” She said to Galen. “He has a might rune, which means he leveled up a strength rune to level 10. When runes hit level ten, they can transform. If he got an earth or shield rune, he would be the perfect guard.” She said to you.

“Vulas, on the other hand, would make a much better assassin than a guard. How badly do you want to leave the slums?” she asked Vulas.

“Desperately. I would do anything, as long as I can stay with these three.”

Lexi nodded. “He could be useful then.”

Turning to Victor, she asked, “How did you get your sword rune?”

He gave a slight smile. “I formed it.”

“In that case, he’s probably the most talented one here. When you form a sword rune, the quality is based on your talent. His is an A-rank rune. That’s very good.”

“As for Remus… He has 7 rune slots. That’s basically unheard of.”

“Rune slots..?” You asked.

“Look at everyone’s stat screen. See the numbers next to their runes? That is how many runes they can have equipped. The average is 3. Seven is very good.” she explained.

“That’s not all,” Vulas said. “Look at his passive.”

Lexi opened up the passive screen, and her face turned into a look of shock.

“Blessed by the Divine? How did you get that?” she asked.

Remus gave a slight smile.

“What is Blessed by the Divine?” You asked.

“Normally, when you reach level 10 on a light rune, it transforms into a Pure-Light rune, then a Sacred-Light rune. With Blessed by the divine, Remus will skip the Pure-Light rune and instantly reach Sacred-Light, which is a massive power jump. Then if he maxes that to 10, he can create a Divine-Light rune, which is an extremely powerful rune ranking in the top 25 of all known runes.” She explained.

“How long would it take before they could act as guards?” You asked.

“It depends on how they intend to level. Your ability would be by far the fastest, but I doubt you or they want to use that. The next thing would be to use monster cores if they are ok with the side effects, but that would be super expensive. The most realistic option for them is to just hunt like normal.” Lexi responded.

“If you buy us new gear, we could head further away from the city to fight stronger monsters. That would help us level a bit faster,” Galen said.

“Would you be willing to level inside a dungeon?” Lexi asked.

“I mean… with the correct equipment, of course, but the only two active dungeons around Marfont, and they’re packed with adventurers,” Vulas responded.

“What if I found you one?”

“How could you?”

“It’s not a well-known fact, but some of us fairies can detect dungeons,” Lexi said.

“Is it possible for there to be an undiscovered dungeon nearby? Maceria isn’t a very large kingdom. How could a dungeon go unnoticed?” Vulas asked.

“Believe it or not, a lot of dungeons go unnoticed. Typically, they’re only discovered when the monsters inside start leaving to hunt. But sometimes they don’t need to, so they just stay inside their dungeons, then over time the entrance gets buried, never to be discovered. I could mark one of those dungeons for you, then you could tunnel down using an earth rune.” Lexi explained.

Victor was getting visibly excited.

“That would be perfect. We could level up extremely fast! We could just set up camp nearby and clear it daily.”

“So what would the deal be exactly? I buy you new runes, gear, and travel supplies?” You asked.

“Pretty much. Then once we return to the city we would need a place to stay. If you added a room to sleep in, we would be fine living right here. Then we would do anything you need us to. Guard duty, or even things you need done discreetly, like assassinations or the like. Whatever you need.”

“Sounds good to me. I don’t mind hiring them. What do you think, Lexi?”

“It’s actually not a bad idea. The only issue is, who will guard you now?” Lexi asked. “You’ll need to ask around. For now, let’s get a contract written up.”

~

A little later, the 4 of them signed a contract that Lexi had you write up, using her words of course.

“Alright, we just need to say.. 500 gold, for the gear and runes, then we’ll buy some supplies and head out as soon as possible.” Said Galen.

“500…?” you asked. “Aren’t good rune’s and magical gear expensive?”

“Who said anything about magical gear? We just need it made from some high-quality materials. We can spend 25 gold per person on gear, 75 gold to buy each of us a C-tier rune. Then have 100 gold left over for transportation, food, camping supplies, and repair stones.”

“If we’re investing in them, shouldn’t we go all out?” You asked Lexi.

“With their talent? Yes. You should. How much gold do you have?”

“Just over 9000, plus I can still sell the water rune. Do you think 5,000 gold would be enough for A-rank runes and quality magical gear? Plus, they should have a really nice campsite.”

Lexi laughed.

“You really don’t understand how much money that is. With the way you’re going to live, you never will either. Sounds good to me though, they should be pretty safe.”

The four of them were shocked.

“That’s way too much gold! It would take all four of us our entire lives to earn that much gold!” Yelled Remus.

“If I’m going to rely on you as guards in the future, do you think I want to be protected by adventurers without good gear? Plus, the better your equipment, the faster and safer you can level. Besides, what else will I do with all that money? I don’t have to pay for anything on this estate. All my gold is just going to be invested in the city so I can build passive income, plus I’ll be making tons off my ability anyway. May as well give you four a chunk, who knows maybe it’ll be worth it.” You explained.

“Oh, and also if you have anything you want to keep from your home, you might want to bring it here since you’ll be gone for a while.”

“We… don’t really have anything of value back home,” Galen said.

“Sounds good. You guys planning on shopping tonight or in the morning?“

“Tonight, if possible, shops should still be open.”

You nodded.

“Alright, I’ll tag along too. That way we can shop here in King’s District.”

“Summon me when you get back, so I can give you more information on your dungeon. For now, though, have fun!” said Lexi, disappearing.

Then the five of you left your estate.