The sky broke into dawn.
Gray Rock Town awoke from the night.
The thin mist had not yet fully dissipated, cloaking the gray stone buildings and streets like light gauze. The air was cool, carrying a hint of cooking smoke.
Shadows flitted across the street, marking the start of a new busy day.
Packhorses snorted, pulling carts over the cobblestone roads with a rumbling sound.
Some adventurers in leather armor, yawning, with buns in hand, walked toward the hall or town exit in twos and threes.
This was the most ordinary morning in Gray Rock Town.
Gauss and his two companions led their chocobos to the guild entrance to join the supply convoy heading to Forest Crown Town.
Their equipment and supplies had been thoroughly checked. Unlike the town’s civilians and bottom adventurers, their target this time was to reach a more distant place—a strange forest town full of unknown and hidden threats.
Arriving at the guild entrance, the convoy was quite large, composed of wagons pulled by over a dozen strong oxen, stacked with various food, basic medicine, arrows, and reinforced building materials.
The guards included not only Gauss’s adventurer team but also several cavalrymen and other staff.
The cavalry captain was a middle-aged man named Bard, with an unkempt stubbled chin.
Seeing Gauss and his team arrive, after completing the document exchange, his eyes glanced at the rank badges on their chests, revealing a satisfied look.
The number of hexagrams was 3 stars, 3 stars, and 2 stars respectively.
Gauss, having passed the strength certification, had been promoted from 2 stars to 3 stars, making the badge pattern on his chest look less plain.
In fact, he was still a bit short on the number of tasks, but Shirley made the decision to use her authority to promote him.
After all, he hadn’t completed no tasks, and by the time they reached Forest Crown Town and set off for Outpost No. 11, there would be more assignments, basically "overdrawing" in advance.
Gauss stepped forward and shook Captain Bard’s hand.
After nodding to each other, the entire convoy slowly exited the not-so-grand gates of Gray Rock Town under the curious gaze of the townspeople.
Shortly after leaving the town, the road beneath turned from stone to compacted dirt. The sunlight fell upon the surface marked by wheel and hoof prints. The chocobos trotted with a light and steady pace, while the oxen’s speed was akin to a leisurely stroll for them.
"Captain Gauss, you’re really young and promising," Cavalry Captain Bard said while riding a brown horse beside Gauss, engaging in sporadic conversation at the front of the group.
"You flatter me," Gauss replied calmly.
Bard laughed heartily, using his coarse, calloused hand to scratch his chin.
He genuinely believed Gauss’s achievements were extraordinary.
Not only was Gauss himself a level 3 professional while still young, but his team members were equally talented, exuding a kind of vigorous spirit that was starkly different from those old, idle adventurers jaded by time.
"My son is even older than you, yet he’s still idling away his time in Falrim," Bard continued, glancing enviously at Gauss’s calm face.
If only his son were half as outstanding, Bard thought, he could retire peacefully and enjoy a quiet life.
Regrettably, he still had to shoulder the family burden, even striving to establish a family estate ample enough for his son to squander.
The property Bard had accumulated—several shops in Falrim, the center of the province—was not enough to set his mind at ease.
Gauss had no comment to offer on this.
In truth, adventurers at the elite professional level faced an awkward situation, unable to progress upward but not wanting to fall back, stuck in limbo.
For a bachelor, they could undoubtedly live well, but for those intent on establishing a family estate or aiming to build a legacy, it was far from sufficient.
Such families, with small estates, could ensure a comfortable life free from worry for their kin, but their descendants might lose the drive for advancement.
They were unlike bottom adventurers or young people from poor families, who knew they were starting from nothing, with no future to hope for unless they fought.
At the same time, they were not like true high-tier adventurers who could leave substantial assets, wealth, and valuable cultivation resources, enabling even mediocre offspring to reach a decent level.
Families of elite professionals, when the family pillar collapses without foresight, could see their assets squandered within a few generations, descending into peasant life.
"Captain Bard, are you from Falrim?"
Falrim is the center of the Cold Jade Province and its largest city.
Even the Forest Capital Barry, which Gauss had visited before, could not compare. Barry could at best be considered the sub-center of Cold Jade Province.
Though the sub-center status wasn’t officially documented, it was a notion passed among the people, with several other "sub-centers" in the province.
In terms of population, Falrim didn’t surpass Barry, but it had a much stronger presence of high-tier professionals and a richer magic atmosphere.
After all, Falrim had always been the political, military, economic, and cultural center of the entire Cold Jade Province.
Hearing Gauss’s inquiry, Bard’s face brightened considerably.
Mentioning the prosperous Falrim, even the lowest workers in Ortega District couldn’t help but puff out their chests.