Chapter 417 An Adventurer Called Sherlock [Pt 1]
Rey was speechless.
His jaw nearly fell as he looked at the boy in front of him with immense shock. He probably hadn't been this surprised in all his life.
'There's no doubt about it…'
The boy's dark brown hair, his small stature, his cute face, and his barely mature voice; they were all the same as someone he used to know.
'Noah…?!'
Adrien had told Rey that Noah became an Adventurer, and while he had the intention to search for Noah at some point, he didn't think it was a priority.
After all, judging by Noah's personality alone, he wasn't expecting him to be some sort of bigshot.
'Yet he's one of the 6 Star Adventurers in this city…?' Rey cast a glance at the badge.
To say he was shocked would be an understatement.
"My name is Sherlock. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Jet." He stretched out a hand to greet Rey—or rather, Jet—which left the latter even more stupefied.
'He didn't hide his name? Well… I shouldn't be too surprised.'
Noah didn't hide his identity either. He looked like a kid, and he owned that fact.
'This is the biggest surprise I've ever received.' Despite having these thoughts, Rey remained stoic in his demeanor.
He merely gripped he handle of his suitcase harder and stretched out his hand to return the nice and considerate gesture that Noah sent his way.
It would be social suicide to delay or reject accepting a formal greeting given by a well-known Heroic Rank Adventurer—one who also happened to be his senior.
"Thank you." He managed to say, surprised by just how firm Noah's grip was.
In contrast to what his build and face depicted, it seemed like he had a more confident and strong side to himself.
'You've grown, Noah…'
Of course, that wasn't the only thing that made Rey think that to himself.
One peek at his Status Window was all he needed to know for a fact that the Noah that left back then wasn't the same one that stood in front of him.
They were like night and day.
[STATUS WINDOW]
- Name: Noah Sherlock.
- Race: Human (Otherworlder)
- Class: Great Thief (B-Tier)
- Level: 49 (75.13% EXP)
- Life Force: 47 (+10) [+70]
- Mana Level: 50 (+10) [+100]
- Combat Ability: 60 (+15) [+75]
- Stat Points: 0
- Skills (Exclusive): [Phase]. [Projection]. [Shadow Magic].
- Skills (Non-Exclusive): [Martial Control]. [Great Sense].
- Alignment: Neutral Good
[Additional Information]
One of the most revered Adventurers?in the city, but also an Otherworlder with a past relationship with Rey and Ralyks.
He now seeks to carve his own path.
[End Of Information]
'All his Stat Points are over a hundred, if I count his Class privileges and his Item contributions.'
Among the humans, having three-digit Stats made you incredibly powerful, so merely seeing Noah reach such a level proved to Rey that the guy had rightfully earned his position as a Heroic Rank Adventurer.
'He's slightly stronger than Britta…'
If you put Skills into account, then Britta had more destructive power, but ultimately Noah would win due to the problematic nature of his abilities.
'He can phase and use [Shadow Magic]. Not to talk of [Projection], which can be super annoying…'
All in all, these were incredible ability-sets to have.
The only complaint Rey had was about his incredibly low Level. Everyone else who stayed behind had at least twice Noah's Level at this point.
'I'm surprised he was able to Level Up so much, though. Especially considering how he is…'
But, perhaps it wasn't so strange when they were literally in the best Leveling Ground in the entire Alliance—the Adventurers City itself.
'He still has the Midnight Blade that I got for him from the KariBlanc Group, it seems…' Rey smiled.
There was no way a single Item was buffing him to this degree, so Rey assumed Noah had the rest of his Enchanted Items hidden somehow.
'Not bad. So even when you're casually dressed, you're still on guard.' Rey grinned and slowly nodded to himself.
He didn't feel any surge of emotions, unlike what he feared to have. Just by looking at Noah, he had a moment of satisfaction and mild happiness, but that was it.
'It doesn't seem like he recognizes me, though I can't be very sure yet…'
"If you don't mind, Sir Jet, I would like to speak with you and your partner for a moment. I promise, it won't take too long." Noah Sherlock said with a reassuring smile.
There was no malice behind his words, but Rey still found it a little strange hearing him speak.
'It seems like he's a lot more confident than before.'
That was most likely due to being recognized by the natives of H'Trae as someone who was strong.
'Considering how we Otherworlders get strong faster, even with one Level Up, I can see why he got some special treatment.'
He had a B-Tier Class, he had five Skills, two which were most likely B-Tier at this point. He had good gear—at least, the blade he had was of high quality.
Everything about him seemed special to the ordinary people of this world.
Of course, just the humans.
"Hm. What do you desire to speak about?" Rey answered in his standard Jet response, wondering if Noah indeed recognized him and was cryptically trying to pass that message across.
'He only knows my alter ego is Ralyks, and he isn't familiar with any of the Skills I have displayed. He also doesn't know about Esme, so he probably doesn't think I'm Rey.'
Once again, however, Rey couldn't be sure.
"Quite a few things, one of which is to apologize for the wrongdoings of my Party Members."
Rey smiled and shrugged upon seeing Noah bow a little to him.
'He's become a leader too, huh? Who would have expected such an outcome…' Despite not gushing with emotion, Rey felt a warm sensation that filled his chest as he looked at the boy.
"So what do you say? Would you like to join me for a drink?" One more look at Noah's friendly smile told Rey that he couldn't even refuse if he wanted to.
And he didn't want to refuse.
"Sure. Let's go."
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading!