Chapter 26: The Companion Prepared for Rige

The next day.

After Rige had finished preparing, he did not leave the Dusk Manor to head for the dungeon immediately. Instead, he waited in the courtyard.

In his hand, he held a piece of parchment, on which a line of text was written in Common, albeit in a wobbly manner.

"I've found you a companion. Although her level is higher than yours, the leaders, including Finn, believe she still needs to improve her combat skills. It's a good opportunity for both of you to form a team and train together."

This was clearly a message from Loki.

This morning, as soon as Rige had come out of his room, the message was already waiting for him on the floor by the door.

"So, Loki really found me a companion to train my team combat skills?"

Rige felt a bit helpless but had no intention of opposing it. He silently came here to wait for his companion to arrive.

Although going down the dungeon with others would certainly not be as free as before, the ability to fight in a team was indeed something that needed to be trained.

Especially when his level would eventually rise, and he would need to go deeper into the dungeon or even on expeditions, he would most likely have to go down with the clan team. Considering this, starting to train his team combat skills now, though a bit early, was not something Rige could not accept.

Of course, Loki's arrangement was probably aimed at having him join the clan's seniors in a team to tackle the dungeon when he needed to prepare for a significant achievement and level up, ensuring he could gain experience steadily.

Rige had no choice but to temporarily follow the God's arrangement and give it a try.

"I wonder who my companion will be."

Would it be one of the first-level adventurers who are clan officers?

"No, definitely not."

If they went down the dungeon with him, it wouldn't be about training team combat skills but rather showing off in front of a newbie, bullying the inexperienced.

Considering the information in Loki's message, the person assigned to him should be a junior member of the clan, not too far from Rige's level, and seemingly having some issues.

"Who could it be?"

Rige searched his memory of the original story.

Before he could come up with an answer, hurried footsteps echoed through the Dusk Manor.

"Sorry! I'm late!"

The hurried footsteps were accompanied by a nervous, timid, and seemingly anxious female voice.

A young elf girl appeared before Rige, dressed conservatively with a touch of natural elegance, holding a staff, and with her chestnut-colored long hair tied back, swaying like a small animal's tail.

From her slightly immature face, it was clear that she was no more than 15 years old, indeed a junior member of the Loki Clan, as Rige had thought.

However, Rige never expected that the person assigned to team up with him would be such a promising star, highly anticipated by the clan's upper echelons.

"Are you Rifie Veridis?"

Rige spoke with surprise.

Yes.

The person who arrived was indeed Rifie Veridis, one of the two elf girls in the Loki Clan who could use more than three types of magic and possessed the special summoning magic known as "Elf Ring."

"Ah?" Rifie was slightly taken aback, asking, "Do you know me?"

"Of course." Rige regained his composure and smiled faintly. "You are the deputy leader's designated disciple and successor, a future clan leader. Even someone like me, who has just joined the clan, has heard of your name."

Not to mention, she was also a significant supporting character in the side story, the legitimate second female lead.

It would be strange if Rige didn't recognize her.

However, Rige's words seemed to make the elf girl even more uneasy and nervous.

"Successor? That's too early for me!"

Rifie looked very stressed.

Clearly, the expectations of the clan's upper echelons had put considerable pressure on her.

Seeing this, Rige naturally wouldn't add more pressure to the girl, who was younger than him, and slightly softened his tone.

"Since you're here, that means you are indeed my companion, right?"

Rige confirmed.

"Yes." Rifie said nervously, "Although I'm not very reliable, I'll do my best to keep up with you. Please guide me!"

As she said this, Rifie bowed deeply to Rige.

Rige took a step back to avoid the bow.

"Don't do that." Rige's expression was somewhat subtle. "Logically, I should be the one saying that. You seem to have the roles mixed up."

After all, Rifie was a second-level adventurer, two levels higher than Rige, who was only a first-level adventurer.

Moreover, Rige was a recent addition to the clan, while Rifie, though a junior, had more seniority than him.

In such a situation, logically, Rifie should have been the one feeling nervous and uneasy, not Rige. Yet, the roles were completely reversed, making Rifie seem like the newbie and Rige the senior.

This didn't make sense.

However, Rige's words did not ease Rifie's tension but rather made her even more nervous.

"I'm still immature and can't take care of juniors like Lady Riria can,"

Rifie looked like she was about to cry.

This elf girl was clearly not the type with a stable mindset.

In her view, she was not mature enough to lead a newbie, especially one who was two years older and seemed very steady, like Rige.

It was definitely impossible!

"Alright." Seeing the girl in such a panic, Rige could only say, "Since we're going to form a team and fight together, let's be more natural with each other. Don't be too formal, and you don't need to use honorifics with me."

"Is that okay?" Rifie asked, slightly relieved but still somewhat uneasy.

"Let's do it this way." Rige, who didn't like to drag things out, saw that Rifie had finally calmed down and said directly, "This arrangement is actually to my advantage, interacting on equal terms with a senior clan member and someone of a higher level. If you don't like it, I'll have to be more formal and use honorifics with you."

"Alright then?" Rifie carefully observed Rige's expression, seeing that he maintained eye contact with her, his eyes clear and free of any unusual emotions, and reluctantly nodded.

Rige smiled, beginning to ponder the intentions of the clan's upper echelons.

There was no doubt that the assignment of Rifie, a future pillar of the clan, as his companion was a deliberate arrangement by the upper echelons.

Even though Rifie had some immature aspects, sending this successor of the deputy leader to team up with a recent addition to the clan to train team combat skills was not a trivial matter.

Thinking about it, who would need to team up and train with someone who might inherit Riria's position and become the clan's deputy leader in the future?

Clearly, it would have to be someone who could also become a pillar of the clan in the future.

Considering this, the implications of the clan's upper echelons assigning Rifie to team up with him were worth pondering.

"Have the upper echelons already decided to cultivate and focus on me, just like they do with Rifie?"

Realizing this, Rige didn't know how to feel.

Should he be happy about the attention?

Or feel pressured by the bright future ahead?

"This Loki has really put me in a position where I don't know whether to be happy or not."

Rige smiled bitterly in his heart.

However, while he thought this, his outward demeanor remained natural and calm.

"Are you ready?"

Rige asked Rifie.

"Yes, I'm ready." Rifie nodded vigorously, saying, "I have twenty ordinary elixirs, ten high-grade elixirs, ten antidotes, twenty magic elixirs, and even two universal elixirs. I'm fully prepared!"

Rige was almost speechless, looking at Rifie with a very strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Rifie immediately became anxious. "Is my preparation not enough?"

"No," Rige sighed. "Your preparation is more than enough, so much so that I feel a bit embarrassed."

Elixirs are restorative items that only pharmacists who have learned the "Alchemy" skill can produce, with effects far surpassing ordinary medicines.

Their effects are almost instantaneous, allowing the user to recover in just a few seconds, far exceeding the speed of ordinary medicines.

When Rige returned from his first dungeon run, a senior clan member, seeing his pitiful state, had taken out a high-grade elixir to help him quickly recover from his injuries.

Now, Rifie had prepared a large amount of these expensive restorative items.

Ordinary elixirs, which can quickly restore stamina.

High-grade elixirs, which can stop bleeding, repair broken bones, and quickly heal most injuries.

Magic elixirs, which can quickly restore mana.

Each of these elixirs is quite valuable, especially high-grade elixirs and magic elixirs, which cost tens of thousands of faris each, making them unaffordable and unwilling to be used by most high-level adventurers without significant savings.

This was not the most expensive part. The truly costly item was the universal elixir.

This is the best high-grade elixir available on the market, effective even for fatal injuries, the highest-grade restorative item.

On the market, a single universal elixir costs 500,000 faris, comparable to some third-grade weapons.

And yet, Rifie had prepared two of them.

In other words, she had spent at least over a million faris to prepare for this team operation.

Is this girl so wealthy?

Rige, who usually only brought weapons, armor, and a bit of food and water when going to the dungeon, was speechless as he looked at the nervous Rifie.

New book just uploaded! Hope everyone can support it!

Please favorite and recommend!

ヾ(@^▽^@)ノ

(End of Chapter)