Mercenary Wars

Chapter 100 The Hidden Curtain
"Baa." The stag goat's attitude towards Calclo became noticeably more friendly.

Calcro was a little surprised and quickly continued the animal conversation: "Baa baa."

"Meow meow meow?"

"Meow meow meow..."

The man and the sheep chatted like this, coming and going.

Having observed this situation so far, Gaucano's biggest takeaway is that this kind of conversation seems to be very inefficient.

It's not hard to understand. No matter how high the intelligence of a level 3 magical beast is, there is still a significant gap between it and a human. It's roughly equivalent to a young child. It's extremely difficult for an adult to communicate with a young child in another language.

However, despite the low efficiency of communication, some changes have emerged over time.

"Meow meow meow?" Karklo made a tentative sound.

The stag goat was silent for two seconds before bleating.

Calcrown smiled and reached out to pet the goat, just like he would a cat.

Gaucano asked in surprise, "You succeeded?"

“It should be soon; it says I’m a good sheep,” Calcro said. “Gaugano, aren’t you planning to tame a magical beast companion or mount?”

"There are no plans for that at the moment," Gao Jiano said.

He does have a Warcraft owl named Little Cuckoo, but its main purpose is just to guard the house at night. And strictly speaking, Dariss is Little Cuckoo's owner, while he is just a backup owner.

Getting promoted is simple; just get partner runes tattooed on yourself and Little Gu. Anyway, Dariss is too skinny to get runes tattooed.

But Gaucano needs to consider Daryls's feelings.

As a spirit, Dariss has difficulty socializing and is only accompanied by Gaucano and Little Goose—Gaucano can't be with her 24/7, and since she kept owls in life, Little Goose is a very important emotional support for her.

If Gao Jiano were to take Little Gu Niu away directly, Dalis would definitely have a lot of objections.

Although theoretically he could enslave Daris without considering her feelings, enslaving Daris is a terrible choice, both ideologically and in terms of self-interest, and he wouldn't do it.

Besides, an owl, a magical beast that isn't particularly rare, isn't worth sacrificing a magic rune slot for him.

In fact, unless he encounters a very powerful and suitable magical beast, Gaogano has no intention of getting magical runes like animal companions, let alone spending a lot of time raising them from a young age.

While Beckett's assessment of the stag goat was somewhat harsh, Gaucano actually agreed with it.

He could even foresee the lingering smell of mutton on Calcroop years later.

"Are you planning to ride it to the highest mountain?" he asked.

Calcro nodded: "Golden hooves are excellent climbers; they can even walk on vertical mountain walls. With them, no mountain can stop me."

Gaucano: "Will having it around dull your abilities?"

Calcro paused for a moment: "This... I don't think so. Forget-me-not plants won't die because of a magical beast's gaze, and my abilities shouldn't be dulled by a magical beast's gaze either—I've always thought my abilities have similar characteristics to those of forget-me-not plants."

Just as Gao Jiano was about to say something more, he suddenly frowned and looked up to the north.

"What's wrong?" Calcro asked.

Gao Jiano did not answer, but his brows furrowed more and more, and after a moment he turned and left.

He went straight to Mayor Wilson.

"Mayor, that level six troll has made a new move," Gao Jiano said as soon as he saw the mayor. "He's getting close to the outpost?" Mayor Wilson asked.

Gaucanor shook his head: "No, he seems to have crossed Middle Stonetalon and gone to Upper Stonetalon Valley... I think the trolls may be planning to attack Southshore from Upper Stonetalon Valley. After all, we made ample preparations in Lower Stonetalon Valley, and they must know that it would be difficult to succeed in attacking from here."

“That makes sense.” After a brief moment of thought, Mayor Wilson added, “I plan to send a team to ambush them, and I need you as my guide.”

"What kind of team is it?" Gao Jiano couldn't help but ask.

Mayor Wilson smiled and said, "Of course, it's the most elite team. All members are at least level four, and there are at least one hundred of them. And all you need to do is provide the troll's location; you don't need to participate in the battle."

Gaucano wasn't afraid to fight the trolls; he was just a little worried about the team's strength. If the team was strong enough, this would be a great opportunity to gain experience.

Therefore, upon hearing the mayor's words, he immediately agreed.

That same day, he set off with the elite team organized by the town mayor to ambush the trolls in Upper Stonetalon Valley.

Leading this group was Raven, the owner of the Raven Inn and the guild leader of the Thieves Guild.

Crows are elusive creatures, and although Gaucano frequently frequents his territory, this is the first time he has ever seen one in person.

Unfortunately, Raven's appearance was very ordinary. He was a thin, taciturn middle-aged man dressed in dark clothes. There were many people with similar appearances in the Thieves' Guild, which made Gao Jiano wonder if he had seen Raven in person but had not noticed him at the time.

This team, whose average level was above four, consisted mostly of hunters and thieves, so they moved quite quickly and arrived at the designated location on the second night, where they ambushed people on high ground on both sides of a narrow mountain road.

"How much further?" the crow asked.

“About a kilometer.” Gao Jiano sensed the hunter’s mark on the level six troll. “He’s fast; he’ll arrive here in two minutes at most.”

The raven nodded: "It seems these trolls are quite elite as well."

"We're going to take down the elite!" said the green-haired vice president of the Hunter's Guild.

The crow frowned: "Don't make a sound. My magic isn't omnipotent."

The green-haired vice president immediately shut up.

Then the crow began chanting a spell, and a few seconds later an invisible force emanated from him, quickly enveloping the more than one hundred people who had been lying in ambush.

[Status Acquired: Hidden Veil]

[Level: Fourth Ring]

[Effect: Conceals appearance, aura, and voice]

“You can make a sound,” Raven said to Gaugano, “but don’t be too loud. The trolls definitely have hunters who are good at sensing.”

Gao Jianuo nodded.

A little over a minute passed.

"They're coming," Gaucano said in a low voice.

Everyone tensed up, bows and crossbows and throwing knives poised to fire, waiting quietly.

A dozen seconds later, some troll figures appeared in the night. They strode forward, sometimes talking and sometimes shouting, clearly unaware of the humans lurking behind the curtain.

“More than a hundred trolls.” Raven clearly had darkvision and could see the number of trolls clearly. His voice revealed a hint of excitement.

(End of this chapter)