Mercenary Wars

Chapter 98 Town Mayor
A few hours later, Gao Jiano woke up from his sleep, ate something, and decided to ask the examiner about the situation.

It mainly concerns the hunter assessment.

After all, he came here to get a Level 3 Hunter badge; the trolls were just an extra hindrance.

If he could, he would like to leave here now with the badge.

He went to the examiner at Camp 3 to ask questions.

"...Your name is Gao Jiano, right?" The examiner quickly flipped through a register in his hand, and nodded after a moment. "You have passed the shooting and beast taming specialization tests. If you wish, we can award you the corresponding Level 3 Hunter Badge now."

Gaucano hesitated and asked, "What about survival specialization?"

The examiner looked up: "The Survival Specialization requires surviving in a valley for a month, and you obviously haven't met that requirement yet... The assessment is currently suspended, but it may be restarted later, at which time you can continue to participate."

What does "possibly" mean?

Examiner: "If this escalates into a prolonged troll conflict or even a war, the assessment will not be restarted. Of course, at that time we will allow candidates to exchange their combat achievements for assessment scores."

Gao Jiano thought for a moment: "If I can provide the troll's whereabouts, could I pass the survival specialization test directly?"

The examiner was taken aback: "Can you provide information about the trolls' whereabouts?"

Gaucano nodded: "I left a hunter's mark on a level six troll, and he hasn't even noticed it yet. His whereabouts should be a good indicator of the trolls' movements."

Hunter's Mark is a very stealthy spell. Unless you have special abilities or actively use magic to detect it, the victim is often unaware of its existence.

Gao Jiano is always able to detect the hunter's mark immediately, entirely thanks to his "cognitive" ability. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare say he could always catch that fleeting, faint anomaly in time.

Normal hunter marks are already quite well concealed, but those countered by Curse of Fairness are even harder to detect. After all, there's no casting animation, and there's almost no delay compared to triggering a mark. The subtle anomalies of being hit can easily be mistaken for fluctuations during casting.

That's why the level 6 troll still bears the hunter's mark from Gaugano's counterattack.

Upon hearing his words, the examiner suddenly became a little excited: "Really?"

Gao Jianuo nodded.

"Come with me!" The examiner immediately beckoned and got up to leave.

Gaucano followed behind him and soon arrived at the hunter's outpost, where he met several important figures.

He had hardly ever seen any of these people before, but the chief examiner of the hunter assessment—who was also the vice president of the Hunter Guild—was among them, sitting on the edge.

Sitting in the middle was a slightly balding middle-aged man. He saw the examiner and Gao Jiano coming in from outside and asked, "Is there something you need?"

The examiner bowed and said, "Mayor, this is one of the candidates for this hunter examination. He left a hunter's mark on a level six troll. I think this is undoubtedly important news."

It turned out that the bald middle-aged man was Wilson, the mayor of Southsea Town.

Mayor Wilson looked surprised and asked Gao Jiano, "How did you leave a hunter's mark on a level six troll? I guess you haven't learned this spell."

“This is related to one of my holy names,” Gaucano said, without going into details.

"Do you have the 'Gaze of Artemis'?" asked another person in the room.

Mayor Wilson waved his hand: "A holy name is everyone's privacy. Since this young man hasn't said it directly, you shouldn't ask... Anyway, whether it's 'Artemis's Gaze' or 'Ullr's Mark,' there's no difference in this matter." The other person frowned slightly but said nothing.

Mayor Wilson looked at Gao Jiano again: "Where is that level six troll located now?"

Gaucano: "I don't know the exact location, but I can sense that he is approaching us and may launch an attack soon."

The mayor nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "Let me know immediately if he makes any new moves."

“Yes,” Gao Jiano replied, then asked cautiously, “Mayor, can I use this to pass the hunter survival specialist exam?”

"Why Survival specialization?" asked an old man with gray hair wearing a mage's robe. "It doesn't seem to be a very popular hunter specialization."

Gao Jiano: "I took the exams for three specializations. I have passed the shooting and beast taming specializations, but I have not yet passed the survival specialization because the exams are suspended."

The monk nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he had thought of something.

Mayor Wilson then said, "If the information you provided is accurate, then of course there's no problem; at least I personally agree."

He looked at the president of the Hunter's Guild.

The Hunter's Guild leader also said, "My opinion is the same as Wilson's."

The group discussed for a while longer before leaving.

Gao Jiano was about to leave, but was stopped by the mage.

"You're the one who saved Karklo, right?" the mage asked.

Looking at the old man who bore a striking resemblance to Calcro, Gao Jiano roughly guessed his identity: "Yes, of course, it's mostly John's doing."

“John is indeed a dutiful protector.” The mage sighed, then introduced himself, “I am Beckett Bremen, thank you for saving Calcro.”

Beckett Bremen, a level seven mage, is the patriarch of the Bremen family and the president of the Southshore Mage Guild.

For ordinary people, these identities easily point to the same adjective: wealthy.

that's the truth.

As one of the two wealthiest people in Southsea Town, Beckett immediately took out a small box and handed it to Gaucano: "Take it, the Bremen family is never stingy."

When Gao Jiano opened the box, he found a thin, gleaming silver chain inside.

Beckett explained, "This mithril necklace has the third-circle enchantment 'Elemental Manipulation,' which allows you to regenerate mana faster and cast spells more efficiently."

Mithril Necklace, three-ring enchantment!
Gaucano readily accepted it: "Thank you for your generosity."

Beckett waved his hand and said in a businesslike tone, "This is what you deserve. After all, Calcro is my son."

Judging from his tone, Gao Jiano hesitated and said, "Young Master Calcro is a trustworthy friend."

“Perhaps,” Beckett snorted, his dissatisfaction with his son evident. “But he is clearly not a trustworthy son, not even as good as his youngest brother. This good-for-nothing, the Bremen family will never be proud of him!”

(End of this chapter)