"When the morning breeze lifts the first wisps of dust,

The sun shines on the weary traveler.

Our hero left his homeland,

Step into an unknown distance full of thorns. ”

- Prologue to Epic Heroes: A New Era

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Sauvis City, White Thorns Mercenary Tavern.

Taverns that only cater to travelers and mercenaries are called mercenary taverns, and they are given the power to issue quests by the mercenary guild if they have a contract with the mercenary union. With the exception of the Mercenaries and Mercenary Group Upgrades, the Tavern provides all Mercenary-related services - each Tavern will have a union agent who is the real core of the Mercenary Tavern. Of course, most of them are also tavern owners.

The White Thorns, named after the legendary mercenary group from the ancient epic, are small and inconspicuous in the medium-sized city of Sauvis, but the tavern is surprisingly good for business.

Or rather, in Sovis, all the mercenary taverns do good business.

Now, though, it's approaching midnight, and there's no one in the tavern.

Summers McCann, the boss of White Thorns, is a retired silver-tier mercenary who was once the leader of a small mercenary group. As a human being, even if he is a silver-level mercenary, he feels tired of wandering the continent for decades. After making up his mind to retire last year, he bought this tavern with the wealth he had accumulated and lived a leisurely retirement. However, looking at the young mercenaries coming and going, old Summers occasionally sighed a little.

"If it was ...... me back then"

But that's all there is to it.

Let's leave the past to the past. Now he's a businessman.

"Boss!

The parchment roll and a rag bag representing the oak-class commission certificate were tossed onto the counter, and Summers expertly opened the package, checking that the certificate was consistent with the mission item, before nodding and saying, "If you confirm the completion, if you are paid...... Huh?"

He was suddenly stunned and looked up.

The blue-purple mage robes, the wooden staff embedded with an unknown magic crystal, and the mage insignia hanging from his chest - the mage's standard equipment did not surprise him.

Even the few magicians were not all high-minded, he was used to seeing magicians who became mercenaries for various reasons, and some of his mercenary groups had hired wandering mages back then - what really surprised him was the age of the man in front of him.

"It's you, young mercenary," Samos remembered the boy, the novice mercenary who had come to his mercenary tavern three days earlier, "I thought you'd be back a few days later." ”

"You're underestimating me again because of my age, boss. The young magician seemed a little upset, "I want my payment." ”

"Well, well, proud little one. Summers nodded, crouching under the counter and rummaging through it, "Oak 22 commissioned...... It's this. ”

He opened the drawer with marker paper and took out a heavy bag: "Five silver coins, guaranteed by the union." According to the Mercenary Pact, I will charge 1% of the intermediary fee for Bronze and below missions. ”

Most of the remuneration entrusted by mercenaries below the gold level is provided by the client to the mercenary union in advance, and the union then issues the local mercenary tavern, and the mercenary union confirms that the remuneration represents the validity of the union guarantee entrustment, and the mercenary does not face the employer, but hands over with the union, which can effectively avoid disputes between the mercenary and the employer. But this is not a panacea after all, especially when it comes to some gray and black transactions (there are many mercenaries in this line of work), the goal and reward are not easy to say, and then there will be the so-called "negotiable". However, this kind of entrusting union will not give guarantees, and even mercenaries who are found to have participated in such tasks will be directly punished by expulsion. Under normal circumstances, it would undoubtedly be a win-win situation for the union to act as an intermediary. And the mercenary tavern, which also acts as an intermediary, charges a 1% intermediary fee (this money is shared between the tavern and the union in a certain percentage), which is also reasonable.

In addition, the new mission/mercenary hierarchy (Oak, Black Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Master, Hero) introduced from the human empire was well received and quickly replaced the old cluttered quest system, which was attempted by both the Orc Kingdom of Kurot and the Racial Federation, and made good progress.

Let's take our gaze back to the tavern.

The magician opened the purse, shook it twice, confirmed that the reward was correct, and counted out five copper coins from the wallet he was carrying and handed them to Summers, "Thank you, boss." Is there another Black Iron mission?"

"Black Iron?" the boss frowned, "The last Black Iron mission was picked up in the afternoon, and there is no news of success or failure yet." There are a few more oak-class commissions. Do you want to see an oak-class commission?"

“...... No, thank you. ”

The magician bowed to Samos, turned and walked out the door.

"Well, young mercenary, I hope it's not a child who has been tricked by the minstrels' tales......" Old Summers muttered, tossing his mission credentials into a drawer.

————————————

"Assas, I can't take it anymore. The young magician looked at his fellow knights and said impatiently, "I don't want to be laughed at for my age every time I go to a tavern. ”

"Don't be agitated, Del Kora," Assas looked at him and shook his head, his tone still calm, "you shouldn't be lazy and avoid training, and you shouldn't sneak out. Fourteen-year-old mercenaries are destined to be conspicuous, and this is the punishment that the creator god will give you. ”

"The punishment of the creator?"

"The most diligent will succeed, and laziness will be punished—this is the law, and no one can escape the attention of the law. ”

The boy named Assas was a knight, which was easily recognizable by his standard knightly heavy armor - in fact, mercenaries rarely used the standard Imperial knight's heavy armor as their equipment, and for mercenaries who were on the road most of the time, the heavy and redundant configuration completely negated the advantages of high defense. While a mage unit may unleash light spells on a group march of an army, the few mages in the mercenary team will never do so, often making knightly mercenaries who specialize in guarding but lack good mounts less popular.

Mercenaries would rather expose themselves to danger than slow down their work - speed is gold, an iron law in the mercenary industry.

However, Assas looked a little better, his armor was supposed to be custom-made to fit his fourteen-year-old body perfectly, and the shackles of heavy armor did not seem to be visible in his occasional movements.

It should be heavily armor enchanted, or the strength is excessive.

"Hey, Assas, stop promoting your teachings of Nicholas, my faith in the God of Creation does not need to be proven by the Holy See. Delcora yawned, "And why would an elegant magician go for strength and agility training?" I don't know what my father was thinking......

“...... Never mind. Assas shook his head, not bothering to contradict him. He took the money bag from Del Cora and pointed to a simply decorated inn not far away, "Well, rest tonight, and prepare to leave the city tomorrow." ”

"Tomorrow? Oh, Creator God, why do I keep running instead of fighting? I hate the climate!" Delkora grumbled, shaking his staff vigorously.

"This is the life of a mercenary, for mercenaries, especially low-level mercenaries, it is very difficult to get a suitable combat mission, and before the level is improved and the strength is up to the standard, most people can only do some errands and miscellaneous work." Assas said calmly, "Mercenaries, like soldiers, are high-risk professions that work with death, and without the corresponding strength, receiving impossible tasks will only cost them their lives." No one is going to joke with their lives. ”

"Perhaps, but I don't think I'll be one of the dead. Delkora shrugged, "Let's rest first, I hope there's still a room available." ”

###

Sauvis was once famous solely because of its location.

The long, steep Silversnake Mountains act as a barrier that blocks all routes to the west of the Wind Forest, and its near-vertical rock walls deter all travelers and beasts. But in the middle of the Silversnake Mountains, there is only one gap, known locally as the Sovis Pass, which is the most convenient access to the Windy Forest in the eastern part of the empire (thousands of kilometers more to get around the Silversnake Mountains), and the history of the city of Sovis is even older than the empire to which it belongs, "Yadu".

Transportation is a necessary condition for economic development, and occupying the main transportation arteries is undoubtedly to occupy the opportunity for development. The Carol Water City in Port Carroll and the Blade City in the Pass of the War Knife Mountain Range are all famous giant cities on the mainland, and with the abundance of the products of the Wind Forest, Sovis has every reason to become another giant city. But nature has ruthlessly limited its development. The beast tide that arrives on time every winter has become the biggest threat to Sovis, and the steel walls mixed with Elova Mithril can barely stop the hungry and crazy beasts, and the city defense force of nearly 50,000 people is not even a fraction of the beast tide. The beast tide that could be called a natural disaster anywhere, but here it is a regular visitor, which makes Sovis's expansion a luxury - the Imperial Treasury will not be able to reimburse Sovis for all the repair costs, and the annual spring bill will be a headache for every city lord. No one will allow the expansion of the city.

But the creator god was fair, and while he gave Sovis the calamity, he also gave him wealth that could not be found anywhere else—animal skins and magic crystals, which were necessities and sought-after goods anywhere on the continent, were piled up under the walls of Sovis every spring until they rotted and stinked. The children's toy beads here may all be the crystal nuclei of third-order magical beasts (the core configuration of a magician's weapon, but not all magicians can get it, and in the rest of the empire, this is a rare item). The huge profits attracted the merchants, but also countless adventurers and mercenaries. Naturally, Sauvis embraced the Mercenary Guild and quickly grew into one of the largest mercenary hubs in Adu. Today, Sauvis is famous in Yadu for its leather making and forging industries, and the weapons and leather armor produced here are truly fine in the outside world.

However, the city has not been expanded.

"Obviously there is a large plain to the east of the Wind Forest, but the beast tide only attacks the city of Sovis to the west, and the trade route that crosses the Wind Forest cannot be maintained in the winter at all, and half of the maintenance cost every spring is spent on the repair of the watchtower. Hundreds of thousands of gold coins a year......" Del Cola stood outside the city gates, looking back at the towering but scarred city walls, pinching his chin and sighing.

"But every spring, the hides and crystal nuclei accumulated here will bring the same or even higher profits. It's nothing, there are losses and gains. "The Winter Forest of the Wind is short of food, so the monsters that have lost the competition for survival will come to attack the city of Sauvis in the hope of breaking the city to reach the western part of the mountain range - and the food in the Great Plains to the east is even scarcer than the Forest of Wind, and the monsters in the forest will not adapt to the environment of the grasslands." It's the nature of Warcraft. ”

"It seems that you didn't sleep in Mr. Erwin's geography class. ”

"I don't like to be lazy as much as you do. ”

"Oh...... It's embarrassing. Del Kora shrugged, "Beyond the Forest of the Wind and the Great Plains is the land of the Racial Federation...... Are you going to talk to those elves with ears about etiquette and magic?"

"I don't think it's a good idea...... "Assas shook his head, "How about going to Randmon?"

"Hey, boys, I heard anyone say they're going to Randmond?" The sudden loud voice startled the two of them, "Praise the mountains and the stones, boys, do you want to join our caravan?"