"Nancy, you should learn from this young fellow here. This is the kind of role model you mages should have." Dwarf Sorin turned his head and said to his human female mage companion in the blue robe.
The female mage glanced at the dwarf with her head lowered, her icy blue eyes showing no ripple, only a kind of exasperation as if she were looking at an idiot.
"Learn from him how to tear enemies apart with claws? Sorin, I don’t have that skill in my spellbook... Maybe you should go to the Royal Mage Academy and suggest they offer a crash course on close combat mages, taught by you personally on how to headbutt. What do you think?"
"Oh, and you might need to find an assistant since when you jump up to headbutt, you’ll only reach someone else’s knee."
Aaliyah, who had been quietly watching the show, burst into laughter at these words but quickly covered her mouth.
Dwarf Sorin puffed his whiskers after being retorted but seemed to be used to his teammate’s way of speaking, grumbling in his rough voice, "Ain’t I complimenting him for being strong? Being able to fight and withstand damage makes a good warrior. Unlike you fragile mages, you break at the slightest touch, causing so much worry..."
"Next time your beard gets frozen, I won’t help thaw it."
The two started bickering right in front of him.
Gauss relaxed a little.
Though all were level 5 professionals, they didn’t seem hard to talk to.
Or maybe it’s because his strength was acknowledged by them, so they showed an equal stance.
"Ahem!" After arguing with his mage companion Nancy for a while, Sorin coughed loudly twice to cover up his embarrassment. "In any case, Gauss. You’re pretty good, I appreciate young people like you who have some grit!"
He patted his solid chest armor, making a clanking sound: "So, what do you think? Interested in joining my team?"
Oh. Gauss finally realized.
Turns out they were recruiting him again.
Just like Quik from the Iron Arm Squad back then, but this time, the recruiting team was at a higher level, an elite team with all members at level five, just one step away from advancing to the master level.
The momentum given by the three in front of him also felt very strong.
Sorin’s eyes burned as he stared at Gauss, his gaze pausing for a moment on the level 3 badge in front of Gauss.
How about it? My invitation should be quite tempting, right? For him?
He indeed admired Gauss a lot.
When Gauss led the team from the shanty town, Sorin was in the central camp leading the resistance against the monsters from the shanty town and witnessed his violent combat style.
Sorin’s teammates Nancy and Priest Elton also cast their gaze toward Gauss.
Even though they usually thought Sorin was often unreliable, they had no objection to recruiting Gauss, especially since Sorin had already mentioned this idea to both of them beforehand.
On one hand, the strength was indeed good, despite being a caster, he could also be a close-combat profession, complementing the current team that only had Sorin as a warrior.
On the other hand, from his willingness to actively escort dozens of bottom adventurers and soldiers from the city wall back to the central camp, it could be seen that his character was probably not bad, at least not the sort to be a villain.
"Sorry, thank you for the invitation, Sorin."
"Huh?!" Dwarf Sorin’s eyes widened, not expecting his invitation to be declined.
"I told you, Sorin." Nancy pursed her lips.
Trying to recruit a genius is not easy; geniuses have their pride.
"Is it because of these two teammates of yours? If it’s really not possible..." Dwarf Sorin hesitated for a moment, still trying to salvage the situation.
"Sorry, my current team is already pretty good."
For some reason, Gauss inherently disliked joining teams led by others.
"Uh... alright then." Dwarf Sorin opened his mouth, showing a bit of disappointment.
"Maybe in the future, you could join my team." Gauss joked, perhaps finding Sorin quite interesting.
"Haha, don’t look down on me, boy. I’m a genius warrior from the Ironheart Clan!" Dwarf Sorin was so furious at Gauss’s words that his beard and eyes flicked. "If you don’t want to join now, later after we advance to the master level, even if you want to join... I won’t agree."
He did admire Gauss a lot, but being invited to join a lower adventurer’s team, even in the future, was too insulting.
"Just joking." Gauss waved his hand.
"Then I forgive you, kid. By the way, I have a pretty good gig here, are you interested in teaming up for a big heist?"
Eh?
Gauss thought the conversation was over, but didn’t expect Dwarf Sorin to toss out a new topic.
A big heist? It can’t be a robbery, can it?