Mercenary Wars

Chapter 99 Goat
“Maybe that’s what parents are like…” Gaucano couldn’t understand Beckett at all and could only think that to himself.

"I have a troll hunter's mark on me, could you help me remove it?" He suddenly remembered this before leaving. If it wasn't removed, the mark would last for a long time, which would be a hidden danger and also make him feel uneasy.

For Beckett, this was clearly a piece of cake.

After removing the hunter's mark, Gaucano left the watchtower, found a quiet place, took the mithril necklace out of the box, and held it in his hand.

Although mithril looks similar to silver, its texture is quite different. It is sturdy yet lightweight, and has a magical affinity that even magic apprentices can clearly perceive.

Item: Mithril Necklace

[Level: Level 8]

[Enchantment: Elemental Manipulation]

Looking at the information displayed on the panel, a question flashed through Gao Jiano's mind.

Why is it level eight?

The last mithril artifact he encountered was the magic-piercing arrow that severely injured Rosier's avatar; it was a level seven item. This necklace is a level eight item—is it because the mithril is of higher purity?
Gaucano could not make a judgment.

He didn't know much about mithril, except that he knew it was strong, light, and had a magical affinity, and he also had some knowledge of its mining.

It was Bicester who told him.

According to the dwarf, mithril is actually one of the two metals that are associated with silver.

Every silver mine contains trace amounts of mithril. Due to its lightness, mithril floats on top of the refined and melted silver. Therefore, mithril is sometimes also called "light silver".

In addition, there is "heavy silver".

Heavy silver is more commonly known as "Thorium," and it has a higher magical affinity than mithril, but in other respects, it is almost the complete opposite of mithril.

Mithril is as light as a goose feather, while thorium is several times heavier than gold; mithril is strong enough to cut through iron like mud, while thorium is so soft that it can be deformed by hand.

Heavy and soft, it sounds useless, but in reality, thorium is much rarer and more expensive than mithril.

The reason is simple: while thorium is soft, its "enchanted alloy" is incredibly strong; legendary dragon-slaying weapons were almost all made of enchanted thorium alloy. As for weight, for powerful beings who dare to challenge dragons, that amount of weight is negligible.

The only problem is that there are too few master blacksmiths who can work with thorium. In fact, in people's stereotypes, "making thorium weapons" is almost synonymous with the legacy of the dwarf king, and human craftsmen can at most make thorium ornaments.

Gaucano played with the mithril necklace for a while, then took Raymond's necklace off his neck.

Raymond's necklace consists of two parts: a brass triangle and a straw rope.

He removed the brass triangle from the straw rope, then pried it open slightly and strung it onto the mithril necklace to form a new necklace.

As I put the new necklace around my neck, a subtle coolness arose within me.

After a brief trial, Gaucano discovered that, as Beckett had said, the necklace did indeed improve his spellcasting and mana regeneration efficiency, and quite significantly so, at least for him.

For the next few days, Gaugano stayed at the Hunter's Post, closely monitoring the movements of the level six trolls through the Hunter's Mark, and reporting to the mayor from time to time.

Unfortunately, the sixth-level troll's movements have not changed much. Apart from becoming acquainted with the town mayor, he has done almost nothing.

If I had to say something, the only thing worth mentioning is observing the sheep training – Calcro was busy training that level three stag goat.

The Hunter's Guild said they would offer help, but they didn't actually do much. It was mainly Karklow himself who used the spell "Animal Talk" to communicate with the spiky goat.

"Baa baa baa?" Calcro squatted in front of the stag goat, making sounds similar to those of a goat.

To other humans, it was a completely poor imitation of a goat's bleating.

But the guinea pigs clearly don't think so.

The stag goat often responded to Calcro's bleating, though its temperament was inconsistent. If it weren't chained, it might very well have swung its sharp hooves during one of those unpleasant conversations, giving this foolish human a piece of its mind.

"Baa!" It was another unpleasant animal conversation. The stag goat made a fussy sound, its hooves, bound by chains, pounded the ground, creating a dense network of holes.

Calcro gave a helpless look: "Meow meow meow."

The hooves of the goat suddenly raised their voices: "Baa!"

The meeting between the two sides ended unhappily.

One of the examiners said, "To be honest, I suggest you get a magic tattoo on yourself and this stag goat, even if it's just a 'secondary animal companion' tattoo. It will make your efforts much more effective."

Calcrown, however, said, "I'd rather persuade it than force it."

Examiner: "The animal companion tattoo is not coercion, but a more efficient means of communication. Without a tattoo, unless you raise it from a young age, it is almost impossible for it to obey you."

Calcro: "But I don't have any magic rune slots available right now."

“You can go wash it,” the examiner said again. “If you want to be a beast hunter, how can you do it without animal companions and magic runes?”

Removing magic patterns is very expensive.

Of course, as a second-generation rich kid, Calcrown doesn't lack this money.

However, at the same time, removing magic runes is also painful and time-consuming.

Therefore, Karklo was clearly unwilling to cleanse his magic runes: "Well... I actually prefer to be a ranger, which is why I chose to take the exams for three specializations at the same time."

Gao Jiano, who had been observing from the sidelines, couldn't help but ask, "What does the three specializations have to do with the Ranger class?"

Calcro nodded: "With the three-specialization hunter badge, it's much easier to acquire the ranger specialization. You just need to find a hunter guild that offers the ranger specialization and then pass some very simple tests."

“Once I become a wandering knight, and ride this spiky goat, I will—” His words trailed off.

But Beckett walked by.

Seeing his son squatting on the ground confronting the goat, Beckett's face darkened: "What are you doing?"

Calcrown: "I'm trying to persuade it."

Beckett scoffed, "Have you ever seen a mage ride such a filthy, lowly creature? Do you want to reek of goat?"

“I don’t want to be a mage.” Karklo pouted.

At the same time, the goat seemed to sense Beckett's contempt and let out an angry bleat: "Baa!"

Upon seeing this, Beckett immediately conjured a ball of fire in his staff.

Without a doubt, for a level 7 mage, taking down a level 3 magical beast is just a matter of lifting a finger.

If he wanted, the goat could be sprinkled with spices in the next second.

Calcro immediately stepped in front of the goat.

Beckett's face turned pale and then red, but he ultimately didn't make a move. He just cursed, "You've disgraced the Bremen family! Do whatever you want, but don't say you're my son!"

After saying that, he turned and left.

Calcro watched his departing father, remaining silent for a long time.

Until a voice came from behind: "Baa..."

(End of this chapter)