The Knight's Journey to the Empire

“Captain John Muldoon, how big is the Blazing Mercenary Group? How strong is it?” On the way, Soran was still chatting with Captain John Muldoon as they walked.

Because the trouble with the Wolf-Head Bandits had been resolved, Soran was somewhat relaxed.

There is no such organization as the Mercenary Guild in this world.

Therefore, there is a direct employment relationship between each mercenary group and its employer.

This employment relationship is based on a contract signed by both parties, which stipulates the rights and obligations of both parties, and the contract is protected by the laws of the Kingdom.

Because the earliest mercenary groups belonged to the official ones.

Some nobles with deep background and strong power will transform their armed forces into mercenary groups, allowing them to accept jobs, take on missions, and earn commissions.

This approach can not only increase revenue and reduce military expenditure, but also train soldiers to increase combat experience, promote the aristocracy, and expand influence.

It really is a win-win situation!

"The Blazing Fire Mercenary Group is a large mercenary group in the southern part of the kingdom. They have more than 300 formal members alone, and there are also many peripheral members."

"In addition, their leader is Grace, who holds the professional rank of Upper Grand Knight. Below her are thirteen deputy leaders or team leaders who have reached the professional rank of Valiant Knight. As for the backbones who have reached the professional rank of Introductory Knight, there are also forty to fifty of them."

"Therefore, the overall strength of the Blazing Mercenary Group is very strong. Its comprehensive armed strength is even stronger than that of some old-fashioned earls and nobles."

When saying these words, Captain John Muldoon's tone was full of exclamation.

"This is really an eye-opener!" Soran's face was full of shock.

A mercenary group that is more powerful than the old earls and nobles.

Sauron knew that it was definitely worth it to get this tiger skin.

But soon, Soran discovered his blind spot in knowledge, so he quickly asked for advice humbly, "Excuse me, Captain, how do you divide the official members and peripheral members of this mercenary group?"

"Most mercenary groups are usually divided into regular members and peripheral members."

"These official members are the members with whom the mercenary group has formally signed employment contracts. They are the foundation of a mercenary group and are generally people the mercenary group can trust."

"Official members enjoy a fixed salary and other benefits from the mercenary group. They also get a share of the profits after completing missions. Even if they unfortunately die in battle, they will receive a pension."

"The peripheral members are mostly wandering mercenaries or mercenary teams. They are of complex composition and are mostly recruited temporarily by some mercenary groups before carrying out missions."

"The strength of the peripheral members varies, and there is only one bargaining price given by the mercenary group."

"If a peripheral member unfortunately dies in the middle of a mission, if they encounter a mercenary group that is more merciful, they may be able to give them some compensation; if they encounter a stingy mercenary group, they can only blame themselves for their bad luck."

"Of course, since there is no employment contract, the mercenary group has no right to interfere with the freedom of peripheral members, so many peripheral members may work for multiple different mercenary groups."

"In addition, many peripheral members will be recruited into a mercenary group after they have carried out several missions with a mercenary group and have successfully passed the mercenary group's inspection. After signing a contract, they will become official members and enjoy the salary and benefits of official members."

"This is actually one of the important channels for the mercenary group to grow."

Captain John Muldoon explained to Soran patiently like an elder.

"So that's it!" Soran suddenly realized.

Looking at the many members of the Blazing Fire Mercenary Group, he thought that this mercenary group was very wealthy!

They can actually afford to support so many unproductive members.

But the knowledge he had learned and his life experience also told him that the mercenary group's ability to make money could never be so strong.

Now, after hearing the explanation from Captain John Muldoon, he immediately understood.

This approach can indeed save a lot of money.

“Then Captain, tell me, how many people in the Blazing Mercenaries’ mission to encircle and suppress the Wolf-Head Bandits are peripheral members?” Soran’s eyes flashed with cunning.

Captain John Muldoon thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "Missions like the one to suppress the Wolf Head Bandit Group generally require a high level of confidentiality, so I think the ratio of his official members to peripheral members is about five to one."

"Yeah, that's what I guessed!" Soran responded with a smile, then he turned his head to look at the team behind him, raised the corner of his mouth, and asked jokingly: "Then how many members of your team this time are peripheral members?"

"Cough, cough, cough, cough!" Captain John Muldoon coughed: "Sorry, Baron, this is an industry secret, I can't tell you!"

"Hahaha! No problem, this is my fault, Meng Lang!" Sauron smiled and let the matter go.

This is indeed an industry secret, so it doesn't matter if people don't want to talk about it.

“Captain, I know the professional level of the Upper Knight, which is one of the realms of knight training. But what realm is this Upper Great Knight? Why haven’t I heard of it?” Soran seized the opportunity to ask the elder questions about his blind spots in knowledge.

He doesn't want to miss any opportunity to broaden his horizons and gain knowledge.

"Baron Soran, do you know what fighting skills are?" Captain John Muldoon asked Soran.

"I don't know?" Soran answered directly.

The knowledge taught in the Donbass Knight Academy is mainly aimed at the three professional levels of apprentice knight, entry-level knight, and brave knight.

Among them, the knowledge is mainly based on the two professional levels of knights: apprentice knight and entry-level knight.

As for the knowledge of professional levels above the Brave Knight, there is basically no coverage.

"What about the release of fighting spirit? What about fighting spirit slash?" Captain John Muldoon continued to ask.

"I know this, but I'm not very clear about it!" Soran nodded in affirmation.

"The important sign for a knight to advance from the entry-level knight profession to the brave knight profession is the release of fighting spirit."

"But the fighting spirit at this stage is still relatively weak. Its characteristic is that it can only show its form, but cannot be used directly to hurt people from a distance."

"However, the Dou Qi at this stage can be refined and purified to a certain extent through the condensation characteristics of the enchanted weapon, and then released to form a Dou Qi Slash, thereby delivering a blow far beyond one's own strength."

“For example, when I attacked the leader of the Wolf Head Bandits for the first time just now, I used the Fighting Spirit Slash.” Captain John Muldoon patiently explained to Soran.

This time, Soran hired the Silas Mercenary Group, paid a generous commission, and was also very respectful to him.

Unlike the nobles who had employed him before, who were too arrogant and always bossed him around.

Therefore, Captain John Moulton had a very good impression of Soran.

Soran nodded vigorously and answered yes like a curious baby, with a face full of desire for knowledge.

Even though Soran had studied at the Donbass Knight Academy, the strongest teacher in this academy was only the Brave Knight.

What we usually teach are the most basic knowledge of cultivation.

Regarding the information about the professional level of the upper knight, Soran didn't even know it, let alone understand it!

This time I finally have an opportunity and an elder is here to educate me, so of course I want to get to the bottom of it and broaden my horizons.

"After a knight's training advances to the upper knight, his body has been cleansed and nourished by fighting spirit for a long time, and his overall physical quality and life level have reached a very high level."

"At this point, my physical fitness can already withstand the impact of absorbing the natural energy between heaven and earth without causing any physical collapse."

"So, the sign of advancing from a Valiant Knight to a Superior Knight is that the Knight can directly absorb the free natural energy between heaven and earth and transform it into fighting spirit."

"The upper knights can directly absorb the natural energy between heaven and earth and convert it into fighting spirit. Their absorption efficiency is definitely higher than that from food."

"This also means an increase in the total amount of knights' fighting spirit, plus the improvement in the quality of fighting spirit brought about by advancing to a higher-level knight."

"So, the fighting spirit of the upper knight class level is much higher in both quality and total amount than that of the brave knight class level."

"Fighting skills refer to the knight's techniques of applying the characteristics of fighting spirit to combat."

"The quality of the upper knight's fighting spirit is already able to cause direct harm to people, such as the burning of fire-attributed fighting spirit, the freezing of ice-attributed fighting spirit, the recovery of wood-attributed fighting spirit, and so on!"

"At this time, these attributes of Dou Qi are circulated through special meridians, and then released through certain characteristics of the enchanted weapon, and some different Dou Qi release enhancement effects will be obtained."

"And these enhanced fighting spirits released by the special meridian operation method are fighting skills!"