He Xi nodded in understanding.
Just make sure the request was to clear out monsters, and it would meet his core needs.
The two left amid the envious, jealous gazes of the surrounding adventurers and headed in another direction.
After walking for a few minutes, they spotted three figures standing beneath the shade of some trees in the distance.
The others noticed them too, and one raised a hand in greeting.
He Xi understood that these must be Hulk's teammates.
From afar, he could see that the one greeting them was a well-built male warrior with a longsword strapped to his back.
Standing beside him were a tall female carrying a longbow and a figure cloaked from head to toe in gray, their face hidden in the shadow of a hood.
"Hey, Hulk, you found someone already?" As the two approached, the warrior with the sword spoke first, his gaze sweeping over He Xi.
The female ranger's eyes moved between He Xi and Bruce. Then, with undisguised doubt and displeasure, she asked, "Level 8?"
He Xi understood. She had evidently used Appraisal Spell to get a rough idea of his level.
Hulk spoke up. "This young man is Galen. He's a mage."
Then he turned to He Xi and introduced them in turn. "These three are my teammates: Belt the warrior, Laila the ranger, and Zoya, our rogue."
At the word "mage," Belt's eyes lit up, and he looked He Xi over curiously.
Even Zoya, who had been silent until now, lifted her head slightly. Her hood shifted, as though she were scrutinizing him.
He Xi took the opportunity to try to get a look at the rogue's face.
A deep hood and a black cloth mask hid nearly all her features, leaving only her eyes visible in the shadows.
They were clear as amethyst and startlingly beautiful, but her gaze was as sharp and indifferent as an ice-tempered blade.
"Purple eyes?"
Those unusual, beautiful eyes made He Xi even more curious about the already mysterious rogue.
When Laila heard he was a mage, the displeasure on her face eased somewhat, but she still eyed him skeptically and fired off a string of questions. "A mage? What spells can you use? You're only level 8? Are you... even an adult?"
In her eyes, an eighth-level spellcaster was far too young and weak.
He Xi didn't bother explaining. He simply raised his right hand.
Pfft!
A sharp Earth Spike burst from the ground in an empty spot nearby, quick and precise.
"Earth Spike Technique?!" Laila was genuinely surprised this time. "What's your Wisdom? That spell is famously difficult to master, even among basic spells!"
Belt nudged Laila lightly with his elbow and reminded her in a low voice, "Look, he didn't use a wand..."
Only then did Laila notice He Xi's empty hands. Her surprise deepened, and she turned to Hulk as if he were a kidnapper who had abducted a child prodigy. "Hulk! Where did you find this monster? An eighth-level mage casting Earth Spike Technique instantly, without a wand?"
Hulk laughed, a hint of pride in his voice. "I got lucky and ran into him right outside the guild. Galen had just registered, so I snatched him up before anyone else could.
"I was surprised myself when I saw how he cast Earth Spike Technique.
"Most importantly, this spell is perfect for our team's tactics.
"Low-level monsters are often quick and nimble. We're not afraid to fight them head-on, but chasing them takes too much energy. With Earth Spike Technique to restrict their movement, we'll be much more efficient."
He Xi wasn't surprised by their reactions.
After all, he hardly looked like a mage.
Still, he was quite satisfied with the team's overall lineup.
They had a solid frontliner like Hulk and a ranged attacker in the ranger. Belt and Zoya also looked like no amateurs; they could provide support and finish off weakened enemies.
If they had a priest as well, they'd have the perfect adventuring party, straight out of a textbook.
But priests were scarce, and for a low-level adventuring party, one was a luxury.
As for treating injuries... Healing Potions were expensive. A single one could cost them half the pay from a job, so they weren't something they could use regularly.
Most of the time, they relied on cheap Hemostatic Bandages and herbs for minor injuries.
They were nowhere near as effective as Healing Potions, which could heal wounds in an instant, but they were affordable.
As a mage protected in the back line, He Xi figured he wouldn't have to join the melee, so the odds of getting hurt were tiny.
And with the incredible staying power granted by Earth Affinity, he wouldn't even need to spend money on mana recovery items.
He did have a few potions set aside, but those were reserved for emergencies. He wouldn't touch them unless he had no other choice.
By that reckoning, he could deal damage at virtually no cost and with no risk. It was the perfect setup for grinding monsters.
With that in mind, He Xi decided he ought to demonstrate his value.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Galen, an Apprentice Mage. This is Bruce, my canine contracted monster. He's still young, so he can't fight yet. But dogs have a keen sense of smell and hearing, so he should be useful for tracking and keeping watch."
He thought it over, then decided to warn his teammates in advance. "Also... he can speak a little human language. I hope you won't think it strange."
Hulk, Belt, Laila, and even Zoya looked at him in confusion, thinking he was joking—
Bruce raised a front paw at just the right moment and waved like a person. Then he spoke:
"Hello, everyone. I'm Bruce. I'm male, and I like females."
Belt, Laila, and Zoya: "???"
Hulk nearly lost his composure too. He looked at the perfectly serious He Xi, then at the dog scratching itself with a hind leg, and after a long pause managed to say, "...Galen, your contracted companion really is extraordinary."
He Xi didn't explain Bruce's breed or how he could talk, and Hulk and his teammates tactfully didn't ask.
In the adventurers' world, who didn't have a few secrets?
Bruce looked like an ordinary herding dog, but the team members had clearly accepted his unusual nature in silence, filing it away as "yet another strange thing about this young mage."
Watching his teammates—especially Laila, whose skepticism had turned to curious scrutiny—Hulk knew that the new teammate he'd brought in on the spot had earned their initial approval.
He cleared his throat and got down to business. "Here's the thing, Galen. The four of us recently registered a new adventuring party called Dragon Fang."
"You've probably seen the guild's notice board. Did you notice any patterns?"
He Xi nodded. "Yeah. There seem to be very few Iron and Bronze-rank extermination requests, and most of them are long-term jobs posted by the authorities, with payment based on the number of monsters killed."
"Exactly," Hulk said with an approving nod. "The guild's notice board only shows some of the requests.
"There's another kind of request that pays better but is usually more troublesome. Those aren't posted publicly.
"Considering the difficulty of the requests, adventurer safety, and the likelihood of success, the guild usually recommends them first to parties with a certain level of skill and a good track record."
Before you continue