Chapter 61 - Exploration Team

On the next day, Cyril was contacted by Britta from Zero Trust Trading.

She was quite excited as she immediately contacted him after getting out of the Ascension City or the Black Market's Secret Arcane World.

"You can meet the Old Crafter now. I already mentioned you to him."

"Really?! That's great! Thank you, Britta."

"No problem… I'll send you his location. Please be kind to him, I can't lose his trust. Okay?"

Cyril smiled after noticing how worried she was.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that my request will benefit him as well." He answered mysteriously.

They ended the conversation after chatting for a while as Cyril recalled browsing the marketplace again…

Since Britta mentioned the Old Crafter, he remembered the thing that he was looking for in the Red Goblin's Arcane World, the Fairy Crusher, or the hammer that can help him fix the musket that he bought.

"Hmm… Nothing, huh… Is it still not discovered until now? Or there's a low supply and it's being monopolized?"

Cyril pondered. The magical hammer may not be extremely rare but since the Magical Artifact Engineering hasn't been highly developed yet, things that can help the researchers to study the magical items are highly sought after.

Perhaps, only once they discovered that the hammer only has an extremely limited purpose would they decide to hand it over to the public.

If he could obtain the Fairy Crusher, fixing the terrible items of the Goblins would become easier. The bombs, guns, traps, and some life-saving devices like jetpacks or barriers will be reliable once they were fixed.

Right now, only desperate Awakened would use these items or only those with Lucky Charms would probably dare.

Cyril isn't one of them. He needs to have that musket fixed first before he plans on bringing one to a low-class Arcane World.

'Hmm… I wonder where this guy is living.' Cyril pondered as checked his phone. Britta just sent that address of the Old Crafter.

"Kaiser City? He's actually just near?" Cyril actually thought that he would have to visit another country to meet the legendary crafter.

He had never expected for him to be near.

'Alright… This is good as well.'

He then decided to travel to that city to meet the old man. He brought his Goblin Musket with him and a paper containing the method on how it can be fixed by the Old Crafter. It's better if he could make a good impression on him right now.

However, as he boarded the train, Valerie contacted him on the phone.

'Is it about the license and the contract?' Cyril thought before answering.

"Mr. Cyril, as I've mentioned to you before, there will be an Arcane World Exploration—"

"Is it an SRE?"

Cyril interrupted before she finished speaking. He finally recalled that he was invited by this woman for an Arcane Exploration.

He can't refuse a Special Request Exploration but the normal explorations arranged by the Association can be rejected.

"Ugh… It's not an SRE but this is important… This Arcane World is filled with opportunities. I'm sure that you will benefit from it. We have already arranged the Artifacts and License Card… You can claim it here already."

Valerie replied.

One of the benefits of his one-year contract with them was to obtain a set of C-Rank Artifacts and a single B-Rank Artifact to help him survive in the Exploration.

The C-Rank is a set arranged by the Association but for the B-Rank Artifact, Cyril would have to choose from their collection.

"Since it's not an SRE, I may not participate…"

"Sigh~ I know that you might be scared since this is your first exploration. However, you don't have to be afraid. We have a Rank-A that will lead the team. You need to experience exploring… It's for your own sake."

Valerie replied. She seemed to be genuinely concerned.

Well, it's not surprising considering Cyril's talent. He appeared as B-Rank Awakened and the Association is obviously interested in nurturing him to become a part of the vanguard Awakened Teams or the explorers of the new Arcane Worlds.

This is actually what Cyril is afraid of. One of the reasons why he didn't reveal his S-Rank Awakened was to avoid future troubles like this and make him work to his death.

If people learned his real rank, he would certainly be used as a laborer by the powerful guilds or the association. He would have endless troubles and many people would rely on him!

He can't allow that!

What he wants is longevity!

'Wait…'

Cyril suddenly recalled something important.

'Is this the Controlled Exploration for newbies? Right! Then this is actually important."

Since it has been a long time, Cyril had forgotten about this.

"Alright, I'll clarify some things later, Miss Valerie… I will visit the Association now to get my license and check the Artifacts."

Cyril replied helplessly. Aside from that, he also understands Valerie's concern since, in her perspective, he had just Awakened and was still inexperienced.

She just wanted to help him…

Anyway, he would first try to see what they have prepared.

"Alright, I'll wait for you here." Valerie's tone visibly changed. She seemed to be quite glad that he's listening to her and didn't rashly decline again.

Cyril arrived at the City Branch of the Awakened Association and this time, he was brought to a different office.

A gentle-looking man is waiting for him.

"Are you Cyril Vermont?" He asked.

"Yes. I was told to come here."

The man then smiled as he stood up from his seat and gestured for him to take a sit in front of him.

"Yes… I heard of you from Valerie! You are our new B-Rank Awakened! I'm Captain Arvid Edgren. I've led more than 27 successful Arcane Explorations already…"

Arvid boasted. He appears to be in his thirties. He's also lean and muscular aside from being a cheerful person.

'Twenty-seven Explorations… Is that impressive?' Cyril pondered.

Well, after thinking about it, it was indeed quite good since he mentioned that he led that exploration instead of just participating… Cyril just decided not to ask how many failed explorations he had.

"Amazing… May I ask what Rank are you, Captain Arvid? To be able to lead an Exploration, you must be very powerful."

'But I also couldn't recall your name. You either died early or you have mediocre talent that was not worth mentioning in any newspapers.' Cyril added in his thoughts.

"Hehe… I'm also a B-Rank Awakened. However, I have mastered my Sword Art and I cleared a low-class Arcane World alone just a week ago… If you want to learn from me and ensure your safety inside the Arcane World, you have to choose my Team."

Arvid said with a mysterious smile.