n

n

n

"Are we also going to find a tree to rest under?

" Eldrian asked after he saw that Vivian wasn't daydreaming anymore.

n

"I actually want to go ask my dad something. Do you want to come with me?

" Vivian replied.

n

"Why not,

" Eldrian said as he started following her, going into the center of the resting soldiers. Her dad and the other old guy were together busy talking. As they passed the resting soldiers some looked up at them curiously. Some had simple curiosity in their gazes while Eldrian felt that others had a surprise in theirs which confused him.

n'Why would they be surprised?' He asked himself before he quickly realized that he was the only player who seemed to be with an NPC.

n'Is it really so strange for them?' He then asked himself. While they were heading to Vivian's dad Eldrian asked her,

"What do you want to ask your dad?

"

n

"Where we will meet the pack for battle.

" She replied.

n

"Would your dad know that?

" Eldrian asked in surprise.

n

"He should. He had sent a few scouting parties out, much earlier than the expedition army had set out. I believe they would have reported to my dad.

"

nTo this Eldrian felt it was actually quite obvious and he had no idea why he had missed it. 'Of course, they had sent people out to track the package. How else would we ever find it.' He talked to himself, feeling dumb to not have connected everything earlier.

n

"Wait, how would they contact your dad. I haven't seen any people joining us as we marched.

"

n

"I think William is managing that.

"

n

"Who is William?

" Eldrian asked as he grew more curious. To his question, Vivian simply pointed at the other old guy who was with Old Sword.

n

"How would he managed to communicate with the scouts?

" Eldrian asked next as he wondered how they accomplished it.

n

"I believe he used a communication spell,

" Vivian replied.

n

"Is he a mage?

" Eldrian asked.

n

"Well yes, he is actually a greatmage.

"

n

"What does that mean?

" Eldrian asked as he again realized he knew next to nothing about this game's setting and naming system. He realized this since he felt there would be a specific reason for Vivian to lay claim on William being a greatmage and not just a mage.

n

"Um, how should I put this. You know how people are classed by their Tier, right?

" Vivian asked.

n

"I know a bit about it, but no one has yet to explain it to me in detail,

" Eldrian replied.

n

"Okay then let me give you a brief overview. Each Tier in a profession has a name, since it is weird to say someone is Tier this or that every time. For example with the magic class and profession. Before Tier 5 you would be an apprentice and at Tier 5 you will finally be called a mage.

" Eldrian was surprised by this since he felt Tier 5 was a long way up, yet it was only at this point where people would see you as a real mage.

n'That must be with what Dave had meant. Before Tier 5 you are still just learning the basics.' Eldrian thought just as he saw Vivian was going to continue.

n

"Tier 6 would be called a greatmage, followed by grandmage and then archmage. Then the last two would be a magus and then a grandmagus.

"

n

"I see, so then what does this mean, other than that William is a Tier 6 magic caster?

" Eldrian asked as he still felt the name does not really mean much.

nTo his question, Vivian sighed before saying,

"In military terms, a Tier 5 soldier would be able to apply for a captain position. While Tier 6 would be a unit leader, 7 a commander. Any rank under this would be a normal soldier.

"

n

"This means a greatmage would lead a unit of mages, which would be comprised out of different squads, led by mages who would act as the squad captain. Normally an army would have a single commander and then 3 units. A magic unit, melee unit, and archer unit.

"

n

"But since we are just an expedition army we don't have a complete structure. In fact this is deemed as a training expedition so we don't even have a captain for every squad.

"

n

"Does this answer your question?

" Vivian asked

nTo which Eldrian nodded and said,

"So a person's Tier can determine their standing in a similar way to nobility, but based on their actual skill instead of just birth.

" To which Vivian nodded to show that Eldrian was starting to get it.

nNaturally, there was a lot more to it. It also got more messy and complicated in reality, but what he said was the basic concept.

nThey then walked in silence again. But when they were around 50 meters from Old Sword, a few nobles had stood up and blocked their path.

n

"Oh, would you look at this? Our Valkyrie is with a man, and a Chosen at that.

" One of the nobles said. The group of nobles consisted out of six, two of whom were girls. Eldrian was very surprised seeing such a large ratio of females, as he felt it was quite strange for them to want to join a battle.

nVivian tried to just ignore the noble, turning around to try to find another path they could follow. Which caused the nobles to become irritated.

n

"Don't think you can ignore us. You know your best chance for surviving the coming fight would be to ditch this loser and join us.

" A different noble said. He seemed to be the leader as he had stood out in front.

nEldrian was naturally not happy with being called a loser. But seeing the guy's ridiculous armor, Eldrian managed to easily ignore the remark.

nThe noble was wearing very shiny, bright red scale armor. The armor seemed more like a red fish's scales than it looked like armor. The armor also had engravings in the form of a dragon on its front and even more engravings and patterns on its sides.

nEldrian had no idea why the guy would choose such armor. It made him stand out like a sore thumb. But then again the entire group had such outrageous armors.

nOne lady had shining silver plate armor, looking more like delicate artwork than armor. Another guy had a strange orange and yellow armor, with a darker orange lion seemingly carved onto his chest plate. It was such an eye-grabber that it would be impossible to miss the guy. Well unless he was part of this group since everyone had such strange armor.

n'They look like ceremonial armors, instead of battle armor.' Eldrian thought and felt this was a good deduction. 'That might be why they all have such weird armor. They had probably always seen soldiers' armor as plain and low class. And the armor they saw their family and friends use at events would be ceremonial. I believe the blacksmith would also not try and correct their thought pattern. A blacksmith would probably take advantage of it and ask them a crazy amount of gold for making a special order.'

nThe only person's armor who looked relatively normal was the other lady in the group. While her armor also had decorations and all, it was to a far lesser degree. Making it seem more realistic. Her armor was a mix of plate and mail, with the mail looking like mithril and her plate seemed to be made out of a blueish metal. Giving it a soft shine, yet not making it 'shiny'.

n

"Are you listening! If you want to live then join us.

" The guy shouted after having been ignored again. Vivian sighed as she heard him scream at her.

n

"Keith can you just leave me alone?

" Vivian asked.

n

"Why do you insist on associating with low-born people instead of us?

" Keith asked. He could not for the life of him understand why Vivian insists on making friends with common soldiers and now even a Chosen.

nKeith felt that due to her standing she should aim to be more like them. Like true nobles.

n

"Because I am not like you!

" Vivian retorted.

nEldrian by now was completely confused with what was happening. Still, he felt this would drag on for even longer if he just stood and watched so he stepped forwards to talk.

nBut before he could the Keith guy glared at him and said,

"You think you are special, don't you?

"

n

"Uh...

" Eldrian stumbled on his words, not able to make any sense of what was going on.

n

"Whatever, Vivian when you realize your errors you can come to me,

" Keith said and started leaving, seemingly feeling good about himself.

nEldrian and Vivian stood in silence for a while both a bit confused by what had just happened. After a few seconds of bewilderment, Eldrian asked,

"What the hell was that about?

"

n

"Just ignore it.

" Vivian said, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

n

"Uh, okay. Wait not okay. What was up with that guy?

"

n

"He has been trying to court me, okay,

" Vivian said exasperatedly.

"He just doesn't get that I am not into him.

"

n

"Wait, does that mean you are also a noble?

" Eldrian asked after he connected a few dots. His question completely flabbergasted Vivian though. She had expected that Eldrian would ask more about Keith or something. Not this 180 turn in questioning.

nEldrian felt a bit confused that Old Sword was a baron. From what he had seen, it certainly didn't seem like they were nobles. They lived such normal lives, well for the time and setting.

n

"Why does that matter?

" Vivian asked angrily, feeling offended that Eldrian focused on this rather than the irritating Keith.

n

"It doesn't really, but you have never told me that you are a noble. Are you ashamed of it?

"

n

"I am not ashamed, I just felt that I never really needed to be bring it up.

"

n

"Why not?

"

n

"Because how do you bring that up? By the way, I am a noble, just thought you should know... It does not, matter.

" Vivian said as she became tired of this line of questioning. Luckily Eldrian got that from her tone so he changed the subject.

n

"So how high ranked are you, when compared to the other nobles?

" He asked.

n

"Actually not high at all. In fact, our family is the lowest grade of noble. Well, the lowest rank of permanent nobility.

"

n

"Uh?

" Eldrian asked, showing confusion on his face.

n

"My dad earned the rank of a baron a few years ago. Baron is the lowest rank for which nobility is transferred to the rest of the family. Below it is the rank lord and below lord is a knight, both of which are only given to a single person.

" Vivian explained when she saw the confusion in Eldrian's face.

n

"Ah, then what rank was that guy?

" Eldrian asked. He started wondering if the noble system was universal in the game or if it changed from kingdom to kingdom, or empire to empire.

n

"He is the son of a marquis and thus he will become a marquis when he inherits his father's position. Or when he proves himself worthy of the title... Which is actually why he came on this expedition.

" Vivian added the last part after a bit of a break.

n

"And how much higher is marquis than a baron? And what does it mean if you are higher ranked?

" Eldrian asked as he gained more questions as he knew more.

n

"Well, there are two ranks between a baron and a marquis. As for what it means, that is a hard question to answer. I guess the basic difference is that a marquis can own land and even a small city, if they had accomplished something great. While a baron can only gain some small benefits in regards to tax. Well, a baron can also field a private army, which only nobles are allowed to do. The size of the army a noble can field is dependent on their rank.

"

n'Interesting, so it seems the nobles can't command each other based on rank. Or maybe it is possible but not in certain cases. But I wonder if players can become nobles. And then will we be able to field an army?' Eldrian talked to himself as they started heading to Old Sword again.

n