“This is a story I’ve heard in the Pridel Empire of the dwarves. In case you didn’t know, that’s the empire neighboring this Cloudia Kingdom of men.” The bard sat a little taller. 

“I don’t get to choose the story?” Jeff interrupted. 

“An improv request?” The bard flicked his brows. The bard appeared to be excited by this challenge. “Sure thing. If I know about it, I’ll tell you all I know about it, in an entertaining fashion of course. If I don’t know, I can make up something on the spot. It’ll be up to you to figure out if I’m telling the truth or not Fuu-ahaha!!”

“How about something close. How about the dungeon area we are heading to.”

“Oh. Just that?” The bard did not look impressed. “There’s plenty of folklores about the underground world.”

“But if you want, ok then.” The bard shrugged. “Here is a brief background if you didn’t know.”

“Well.” The bard checked out Jeff’s outfit again. “Clearly, you are just starting out in this trade. Let me guess, you don’t want to invest too much right away. Just give adventuring a try for now. So you probably won’t know. Erhm.”

“So. ‘Dungeons’, as citizens enjoying peaceful life like to call it, is not accurate. Since recorded history, intelligent races like humans.” The bard pointed at Jeff. 

“Dwarves. Gnomes. Kobolds. And various other lesser species had already been mining for ore. Night and day, the denizens of this world dug into the earth.” 

“Small tunnels grew into larger tunnels. Resting stations grew into miners’ towns. Rich ore spots became cavities. Gradually, tunnels connected into the same underground caverns. A series of 3-dimensional underground networks was created unintentionally.”

“Over the tens of thousands of years of development, believe it or not, there’s a vast world right beneath our feet now.”

“Loads of ores had been brought to the surface, sustaining our flourishing lifestyle.”

“Yet, without realizing it, we’ve caused devastation to the original caverns down there. Invasive species spread like wildfire down there. The original biodiversity had been lost. The beauty and the wonders of the old underground world could only survive in tales now.” The bard sighed. 

“Now. With that background out of the way, we can start the story. This is the grandeur epic of the Lord of Elementals, the story of a grassroots boy climbing to saint-tier.”

“Erhm. Saint-tier is the tier after sage-tier. These great beings only exist in legends nowadays.”

“So. This story takes place 800 years ago. On this autumn day, at the royal capital city of the Cloudia Kingdom, the main road was congested with people. Shoulder pressed against shoulders. Feet accidentally stepped onto other feet. People stretched their necks to have a better view.”

“Wait.” Jeff blinked a few times. “Aren’t you going to speak in poetry and play your banjo?” 

“Pleeease.” The bard rolled his eyes. “That would be like, overtime for me. You want to listen to the story or not.”

“My bad. My bad.” Jeff apologetically nodded. “Please continue.”

“Erhm…” The bard cleared his throat. Raising his hand, changing his expressions, the bard acted like one of the pedestrians in the story. 

And so the storytelling continued. 

…

…

Before knowing it, an hour had quickly passed. 

A series of loud footsteps interrupted the storytelling. 

Looking in that direction…

It’s a group of about twenty people. 

Leading the group was a teenager. He’s about 15 years old. He still got pimples on his face. His hair was a mess like a bird’s nest. 

The chest area of this guy’s silk dress shirt remained unbuttoned. Silver dress pants. Holding a cup of slushy in his hand. The kid swayed around as he walked around. Holding his chin up, leaning back a little, it’s like this kid owned this city or something. 

Half a step behind this kid, there was a young man in his mid-20s. Wearing a butler outfit. Putting on a polite smile. Well groomed. This guy emitted a confident and calming aura. 

Behind these two was a group of adventurers. Healers. Warriors. Archers. Mages. All of them had a red horse logo on their outfits. 

In a quick moment, all of these guys had boarded this ship. 

After climbing up the platform, seeing that Jeff and the bard were still sitting, the young fella knitted his brows. 

“You two. Are you deaf?” The kid pointed his nostrils at Jeff’s direction. 

Wearing a displeased face, the bard squinted. 

“Oh?” Jeff looked at the kid with a playful smile. 

“Don’t you recognize this logo?” The brat pulled on his shirt, stretching out the logo on there. 

“Be glad, you poor wretches!” The brat proudly smiled. “Feel lucky that you have the chance to meet me, Alonsico De Liano! The fifth son of the boss of the Precious Horse Company!”

Looking at this brat’s dramatic performance with a raised brow, Jeff casually put a calamari (fried squid) ring into his mouth. 

The bard followed suit. 

“If I’m pleased by your service today, I may even consider tipping you two with things I don’t need any more. But of course, it may be trash to me, but it’ll still be greatly useful to you.” The kid rubbed his ring. 

“Now that you know who I am, why are you two still sitting there? Do you think you are in position to sit with me?”

“You. The poor wretch in mage’s robe. Hand me over your drink. You, bard, stand in a corner where you belong, and play me some music.” The brat commanded with a waving hand. 

“Do you know this Precious Horse Company?” Jeff asked the bard.

“No idea.” The bard shrugged and picked up another piece of calamari. 

“Probably just another medium-sized adventurer-related company at best.” The bard dipped the calamari in the sauce. “Say. I’ve always been curious. Do you know how kids become supercilious like this?”

“Probably only grew up with simps around him. So he got spoiled.” Jeff shrugged. 

Jeff couldn’t be sure either. He studied general science, not education. 

“Simps?” The bard raised a brow.