Mercenary Wars

Chapter 85 Stonetalon Mountain

Down in Stoneclaw Valley, at the hunter's outpost.

The Stone Talon Range consists of three main mountains, which are called "Upper Stone Talon," "Middle Stone Talon," and "Lower Stone Talon" according to their location. The valley between the first two is the Upper Stone Talon Valley, and the valley between the latter two is the Lower Stone Talon Valley.

Lower Stoneclaw Valley is the fixed location for the Level 3 Hunter assessment in Southshore. Therefore, the Hunter's Guild has established a permanent outpost near the entrance of the valley, namely the Hunter's Outpost, to guard against monsters, poachers and forest trolls in the surrounding area.

Normally there are only a few dozen sentries here, but now, with the arrival of the biennial Level 3 Hunter Examination, hundreds of people, including examiners, guild deacons, first aid priests, and examinees, have gathered inside and outside the sentry post.

Gaucano was, of course, among them.

When he arrived at the hunter's post, he saw John, a guard of the Bremen family, in the distance.

An angry voice was also heard: "Why did you send me so many people?!"

The owner of the voice was gesturing wildly, but due to John's massive size, Gaucano could only see the waving arms.

"Young master, this isn't much, is it?"

"Two people aren't enough? Didn't I tell you that just coming in with me was enough?"

"Uh, not two, it's three..."

"Get them all out of here!"

“The master has already agreed, and he even specifically instructed me not to let you drive them away.”

The voice speaking to John paused: "I—"

As Gaucano walked towards them, his brows furrowed more and more, revealing a puzzled expression.

Why does this "young master's" voice sound somewhat familiar?

With this question in mind, he quickened his pace and walked diagonally forward, soon spotting a young man standing opposite John.

The young man was tall and slender with fair skin and long, slightly curly hair. He was probably in his early twenties.

After staring at the other person's face for a while, Gao Jiano suddenly showed an expression of realization and surprise.

The bard Calcro!

Two years ago, Gao Jiano came to Southsea Town from Driftwood Town with Calclo, and they haven't seen each other since.

He had guessed that Calcro came from a well-off family, but he never expected that he was the young master of the Bremen family.

At this moment, Calcrown seemed to recognize him as well, showing a surprised expression: "You, you are that person?"

“Gaucano.” Gaucano reintroduced himself, smiling. “Long time no see, Calcro.”

John looked surprised as well: "You two know each other?"

Calcrown seemed to recall for a few seconds before nodding: "The friend I met when I ran away from home for the fourth time seems to be quite impressive."

John laughed and pointed to the other two people beside him, saying, "Young Master, you see, I was right, these three people I found are all very capable!"

Carlo did not comment.

Gaucano glanced at his two teammates, one tall and one short. The taller one was broad-shouldered and burly, with dark skin, carrying a large bow and a battle axe on his back; the shorter one had a short beard and wielded a longbow and two short swords. After a brief observation, Gaucano roughly guessed what he and these two had in common: they were well-equipped, had storage rings, often traveled alone, were preparing to take the assessments for three hunter specializations simultaneously, and most likely also had other professions.

With the addition of Level 5 warrior John, even if Karklow is a complete weakling, this five-man squad's strength will undoubtedly be far ahead of all other squads.

Moreover, Gaucano clearly remembered that although Calcro's combat ability was not very good, he had the ability to foresee danger, so he could not be considered a weakling in combat.

It was precisely because he had some expectation of the team's strength that he agreed almost without thinking when John approached him seven days ago.

Just then, a voice came: "I am the chief examiner for this assessment."

The sound was somewhat distant, but very clear, obviously produced by a spell such as amplification.

All eyes turned to the sound, and Gao Jiano immediately saw a green-haired man wearing an animal skin coat.

The green-haired man gave a brief self-introduction, and everyone learned that the examiner was the vice president of the Hunter's Guild, a level six hunter.

Then came some polite pleasantries, including the indispensable religious platitudes, such as praising the Lord.

Then comes the practical information.

“I must reiterate the assessment rules because I know that at least one-tenth of you are not quite clear about the rules for field assessments,” the examiner said. “The reason may be that you find the assessment notice too long and tedious, or it may be that you are overconfident in your own abilities.”

"Even if you've already seen the announcement, I suggest you listen to me again, because compared to what I'm about to say, that announcement is really long and tedious."

After a pause, the examiner continued, "In short, hunters, your basic test is to hunt two level two or three magical beasts, or one level four magical beast, within half a month."

"On this basis, survival hunters need to survive in the valley for a month, shooting hunters must hunt monsters with only arrow wounds, and beast hunters must hunt monsters including one alive."

"Meeting the corresponding conditions will grant you the corresponding specialized qualification; meeting multiple conditions will grant you multiple specialized qualifications..."

"There are four 'examiner camps' in the valley. Although it is easier to hunt monsters the deeper you go into the valley, I suggest you do not cross the fourth camp. The assessment is held every two years, but you only have one life."

“You may go to the examiner’s camp once every five days to submit your hunting spoils. If you encounter danger, you can seek help from the examiner’s camp. Each camp has two level 5 hunters, eight level 4 hunters, and two priests, which is enough to deal with most of the dangers in Lower Stonetalon Valley.”

"But asking for help is not without conditions." The examiner's tone rose slightly. "If you encounter trolls, heretics, or the most vicious poachers, you can ask the examiner for help at any time, and it will not affect your score in any way."

"But if the danger you encounter is only magical beasts, whether it's a level two lucky rabbit, a level five spiky goat, or an eighteenth-level red dragon that has suddenly awakened after sleeping for tens of thousands of years, your assessment ends the moment you ask the examiner for help!"

“You can form teams freely, but I must remind you that the larger the team, the harder it is to find enough prey and the more difficult it is to handle loot disputes. Moderate dispersion is beneficial to everyone.”

"Finally, in the name of the Mosa, no Mosa disciple should harm another." The examiner raised his hand. "And also in the name of the Mosa, I wish everyone good luck in obtaining the magnificent Level 3 Hunter Badge!"

"The Level 3 Hunter Wilderness Assessment in Southsea Town has officially begun!"

"Boom-"

As soon as he finished speaking, a bell rang, and the hunters who had been waiting eagerly rushed into the valley.

……

P.S.: I'm asking you to read Monday's chapter in advance.

(End of this chapter)