I Know The Secret To Surpass Level 100

"We're here!" Elliot announced that prompted the three to peek their heads out of the wagon. They took a deep breath of the fresh Alordean air, enjoying the vast grasslands and the mountains just a few miles back.

They were now at the city gate, just entering the city where the people from Alorde did not even bat an eye to them.

In Alorde, every type of wagon would come to the city all the time. The people had gotten used to the wagons parading around the city in a daily basis.

"Cilca is the bomb, but nothing feels like home," Florencia said. "Although my home is literally a few hours away, Alorde is still my second home."

"We're going to introduce the villagers to the guild and we'll set them off," Elliot said.

Although he tried to persuade the Cilcans that he would accompany them, they humbly rejected him. They said they were already a big pain in his back for training them for free, they didn't want to bother them even more.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the guild house. The old house that stood with a single floor, the rotten and mold-filled wood that built it. It was a junk for anyone else but to Elliot, it was home.

"W-What is this place?" Emelda asked, stuttering in apparent nervousness. "This house looks like it's abandoned. Are we really in the right place–"

"Elliot!" The door fell open, slamming to the ground by how hard Connor opened it. "Dude, we missed you!"

"Hey, Connor," Elliot waved his hand and gestured for the villagers to follow him. "The guild is this way. Let's go."

–

"Everyone, I want you all to meet my guild mates," Elliot introduced. "Guys, these are the villagers from Cilca. The village I just went to to finish a quest."

"Welcome!" Luck's voice rang inside the guild, almost shaking it. "Cilcans, feel free to treat this guild your home. We had housed countless of other people in here before, such as Etheorians. This place is free for any person to come and go to."

He was immediately smacked in the back of his head by Frederick. He sighed and shook his head, bowing slightly. "Everyone, pardon my friend for his hostility. He's not used to meeting new people and is only afraid to admit it."

"Like I'd care about new people," Luck scoffed. "Last time, a large number of–"

He was smacked by Frederick a second time. The latter then sighed and pulled Luck's ear, dragging him away.

"Midnight? Please show these people kindness and offer beverages, please," Frederick said and glared at Luck. "I'll just teach this bear a lesson."

"I-It's okay," Dan raised his hands and shook his head. "We want to return as soon as possible, so we'll be taking our leave."

"Dustin, stay with Mr. Elliot for the meantime, okay?" Emelda asked. "We will be back soon."

"Okay, mommy," Dustin said and kissed his parents on the cheek, waving his hands as they walked out of the guild.

"You adopted another kid?" Lance walked over to Elliot with a drink in his hand. "Oh, two kids. Wow."

"Oh, right," Elliot turned and introduced his new friend. "Guys, this is Christina, from the League of Royals and Nobles. She'll be joining the newbie party temporarily."

"Oof," Ed snorted. "I thought you brought home your girlfriend."

"Ed, she's underaged," Elliot deadpanned.

"No, way," Ed gasped. "But she looks old enough. And her mana is immense too."

"She's from the League, that should make sense," Lance said. "Though I wonder. Do they accept very young Adventurers these days?"

"There are lack in Adventures in the League, that is why," Christina said. "The ones who stayed for a year would leave and there's usually no one to replace their head count. Therefore the League Master decided to add younger ones."

"And how young is the youngest member?" Lance quirked his brow up.

"About twelve," Christina replied that made everyone gasped.

"Twelve years old?!" Lance yelled. "How desperate can they be? Just when I thought they couldn't sink any lower, and they did."

Dustin nudged Elliot's sleeve, leaning into his ear and asked, "Mr. Elliot, is there something wrong with being twelve and becoming and Adventurer?"

Elliot smiled at him and pursed his lips, "Well, since Adventurers get to be sent on dangerous missions frequently, younger Adventurers' lives would be in danger, right?"

"Right," Dustin answered. "So, it's bad?"

"Yeah," Elliot nodded and wrapped his arm around Dustin's neck, pulling the young boy close. "Unfortunately, it's bad."

"I better call my dad about this soon," Lance said. "They're going too far. We need to stop that League."

"How though?" Elliot asked. "They're richer and has more connections, what do we do?"

"Four words," Lance smirked and took a piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to Elliot confidently, "Championship of the Greats."

"Woah," Elliot gasped as he read the words written on the paper.

[ Championship of the Greats ]

// Every year, a competition to measure the top guild among all the top guilds is held. Given with tasks with obstacles and challenges, the Championship of the Greats will test which guild will reign supreme for the entire year. The reward for this competition is not only fame, but it also comes with 10,000 gold coins and has the luxury to enjoy the best of the best treatment.

"So, this is how the guild rankings is measured?" Elliot asked.

"Yes," Lance replied, slowly nodding without removing the wide grin on his lips. "It's how guild rankingsal are determined and this year, they decided to cut the ranks into 75."

"We're eliminated?" Elliot gasped. "And how come I never heard of this before?"

"Yeah, Elliot, how come you've never heard of it before?" Ed asked. "Everyone knows about it. Oh, except Hope too."

"We still have our current standings right now but they will cut the rankings next year," Lance said. "So, if we end up in 100 again, then we can't add members easily through the Parade season."

"Our reputation would be lowered too," Ethan butted in and sighed. "Seriously, we have a team of nine every year, yet we keep getting defeated when we reach 100. I wonder why that is?"

"Because Frederick told us," George followed his friend, both sighing. "Wish we have a stronger team this year."

"Lance's party!" Glitch yelled from his counter. "We can have Lance's party to join. They have five members, add Midnight and Sun, then you two, then we have a dream team."

"Yeah," their guild members chorused. "They went on crazy adventures already. This competition will be a piece of cake for them!"

Elliot gulped as he heard the entire guild house shook with the cheers and hollers.

"Oh, no."