Next morning.

While eating his breakfast, Fionn inquired of the attendant by his side, "Are there any travelling groups leaving for Plesas city today?"

"There is one, but they may not hire strangers." Replied the attendant.

"Why?" Asked Fionn, curiously.

Because it's a group of a noble family, they have their own personal guards, then why would they need help from strangers, however, you might be able to join them after paying a significant amount of crystals. " Replied the attendant, frankly.

"I do not lack crystals, I'll simply pay them and tag along. '' Said Fionn, magnanimously.

"What a show off." thought the attendant with disdain.

Low-rank practitioners in this world prefer to travel in groups when travelling long distances due to the threat of bandits.

Quite a few bandit groups lurk around the roads frequently travelled by practitioners or merchants in order to rob them.

People suspect that the nobles of the kingdom kept these bandits to do their dirty work because, if they truly wanted to eliminate the bandit groups, they could have done so in a day, the strongest bandit group in the vicinity of the Black Stag Kingdom is led by a rank 1 practitioner.

20 minutes later...

As Fionn approached the city gates, he noticed a group gathered around three carriages. The majority of them were heavily armed guards, but there were still quite a few ordinary Practitioners present.

"Something isn't quite right here." Thought Fionn, while approaching the group.

The carriages were lined up in a row, and a young man stood in front of the first carriage, talking with two older men.

The young man has chiselled features, blonde hair, and a well-built body.

"He must be leading this group," Fionn reasoned as he approached the young man.

"Hello, my name is Fionn, could I join your travelling group?" With a smile, Fionn inquired, While initiating a handshake.

"Sure, but you must agree to some conditions; by the way, I am a descendant of the Larson family, and my name is Alexis." The young man responded, shaking Fionn's hand.

Meanwhile, the two men behind Alexis scrutinised Fionn from head to toe.

"What are the conditions?" asked Fionn.

"You must assist when the group is in danger, you must allow us to inspect your belongings before joining our group, and I have the right to dismiss you if you incite conflict among the group members." Stated Alexis, calmly.

" Fair enough, but I have a question." Replied Fionn after thinking for a while.

" Ask." said Alexis.

"You don't have a rank 1 in your group, do you?" Fionn inquired, a smile on his face.

Taken aback, Alexis nodded and replied "We don't, but how did you find out?"

"It's the mercenaries you hire, the guards are relatively calm due to their training, but the mercenaries nervousness is palpable. If I'm not mistaken, these mercenaries are noobs. " Replied Fionn, calmly.

"You are correct. Due to the danger involved, veteran mercenaries were hesitant to join us, we were able to hire only noobs by enticing them with large sums of crystals. " Confirmed Alexis with a sigh, a little impressed.

Any rank 0 Practitioner who ventures outside of the city, wants to be in a group with a rank 1 practitioner, because there is always the possibility of encountering the region's strongest bandit group.

"So, why didn't you bring a rank 1 practitioner with you, your family should have a few?" Asked Fionn, Curiously.

"Personal reasons." Alexis replied, unwilling to say much more.

Suddenly, Fionn's conversation was interrupted by a voice he didn't want to hear.

"Hey! Why are you here? " inquires a petite girl.

Fionn turns his head to the side, only to see the petite girl from the restaurant again.

"We meet again." Fionn responded with a slightly annoyed tone.

" You know each other?" Asked Alexis, curiously.

No, I don't know him, we only met once in a restaurant, he's Cloud's friend. " The petite girl replied, pointing her chin at Fionn.

"Yeah, same here; I don't even know what her name is." Chimed Fionn. On the other hand, he was thinking, "When did I say I am a friend of Cloud?"

" It's good that you two have met, we'll be travelling together, by the way she is my sister Liliana" Alexis introduced her.

" Did you inform him of our situation? Is he still willing to join us?" Asked Liliana.

"Yes, and I don't mind," Fionn replied on Alexis' behalf.