Summer Break

Chapter 17

Quick "Note" before I let you all read. Due to an injury I sustained a few weeks ago, I have been home all day everyday, with all the distractions that come with it. This has prevented me from being able to write, leaving this as the only chapter I have left. Because of this there will not be an update next week, as I try to get more chapters written. Thank you for understanding.

The atmosphere inside the tavern was even more upbeat than before now that Pasta Bloom had arrived. He worked the room like a socialite, buying table after table of adventures drinks while he drank a clear alcohol from what looked like a mason jar. Eventually he arrived at Art and his friend's table, pulling up a chair and sitting on it backwards.

"So what do we have here? A bunch of fresh adventurers trying to make it rich in the Beast Glades?" Pasta asked with a slurred happy drunken speech.

"Well you're half right, most of us are new adventurers. However I don't think any of us are trying to get rich out here," Art replied, sounding amused by the man.

"Well good, nice to see you had a firm grip on reality," Pasta said then took another swig of alcohol from his jar. "Very few ever get strong enough to be able to go where they need to go to make it rich out here. So how about you introduce yourselves?" Pasta asked as he gestured to Curtis to start, thinking he was the leader.

"I am Curtis Glayder, solid orange stage, fire augmenter."

"I'm sorry, did you say you're a Glayder?" Pasta asked as he leaned in closer, not sure if his drinking started to affect his hearing.

"That's right," Curtis replied.

"Awww fooook," Pasta said as he fell back into his seat. "Y'all are just a bunch of noble brats."

"What makes you think everyone here is a noble?" Lilia replied with annoyance towards his comment. "For your information I'm a Helstea, and we aren't nobles." It wasn't that Lilia was trying to single herself out, she just didn't like how he was generalizing everyone.

"Pff, Helstea's are loaded, more so than some nobles. Rich business families are just as bad," Pasta replied.

"Listen," Arthur said calmly. "I don't know who you are or what your issue with the nobles is, but you shouldn't generalize everyone based on your past experience with a noble family or two."

"Oh really? Those two are the Glayder brats, I know because they are the spitting image of their parents. And if the now former king and queen acted like a bunch of self serving asses, why would there kids be any different? I mean that lil cub is your leader for crying out loud," Pasta said as he gestured towards Curtis. "And what family are you from"? Pasta asked as he looked to Arthur.

"My name is Arthur Leywin, and actually I'm the leader."

"Hmm," Pasta raised his mason jar and looked at it. "Clearly a better than normal batch. Regardless, Leywin, I know that name. Are you a new noble family?" Pasta asked.

"No. I am a commoner from the small village of Ashber, and you did hear me correctly, I am the leader of this group," Arthur replied.

"Well how in the fook did you end up running around with these brats as their leader? Definitely not age, core level maybe?" Pasta guessed.

"How about experience," Arthur answered. "I have three years experience as an adventurer, and I just reached AA."

"No no, that's impossible. No way a kid your age could make it to AA. B maybe, but never AA," Pasta said in disbelief. Arthur then showed is AA adventurer card and showed it to Pasta. "What the bloody fook," Pasta thought out loud as he examined the card. "Clearly they dropped the standards if a little ladder climber like you reach that level."