In this world, most adventures begin in an inconspicuous tavern.
The Mage Apprentice King is now walking into such a tavern.
As soon as he entered the door, he smelled the sour smell of leather armor soaked with sweat after wearing it for a long time. Even the pungent gas produced by burning low-quality tobacco could not cover up the smell.
Others, like the smell of linseed oil used to maintain weapons, are less impressive.
Compared to the smell, the furnishings in the tavern are relatively lackluster. What looks like some kind of goat bones are hung on the wall, and are also decorated with jack-o'-lanterns that I forgot to remove during the last Winter Curtain Festival. The old round shield seems to indicate that
The owner of the tavern also used to be active as a mercenary.
But now, the owner of the tavern is standing behind the counter, holding the counter with both hands spread out, and carefully looking at the mage apprentice who just entered the store.
"Magician," he said, "you'd better not do your tricks in my tavern. We don't welcome jugglers here."
Wang frowned: "I am a mage."
"It makes no difference to us." The boss shrugged.
Wang: "The difference is huge. Warlocks use the power in their blood to cast spells, while we use knowledge..."
"I said, it makes no difference to us. Are you a disciple of the master who came to visit the Duke today?"
The young mage apprentice frowned, showing a confused expression: "Uh... master? Which master? My teacher is still hiding in the tower?"
"Palace Archmage, I don't know this, it seems you are a wild man." The boss took out the oak cup, poured a whole cup of honey beer, and gently pushed the cup down the table to the young mage apprentice.
Wang picked up the wine glass but did not drink it: "Is this... for me?"
"Yes, spell casters are very popular in the mercenary team."
"You just said you don't welcome jugglers."
"Those are two different things. There are often some little brats who learned a little bit about it from nowhere, pretending to be spellcasters everywhere, but in fact they only put out a few flashes."
Wang: "The Flash Technique? It's the lowest level even among sleight-of-hand tricks, and it's easy to learn. Sometimes you don't even need to know magic. You just need to learn how to refine white phosphorus, and even people who know nothing about magic can perform it."
The boss laughed.
Wang: "But, I didn't talk about my spell-casting ability, nor did I cast any spells. How can you be sure that I'm not a 'juggler'?"
After a brief silence, the boss said: "Because I know that mages will have fatal differences in temperament after mastering the sixth-level magic. Mages who have not mastered the sixth-level magic always appear to be cautious. He may appear to be
It's very relaxing, but it can't fool the knowledgeable bar owner.
"As for mages who master the sixth ring, they will definitely prepare a spell as their last trump card, so they seem to be more calm and calm. You must know better than me."
Wang: "Trigger, a sixth-level spell. Even a mage who has just mastered the sixth-level spell can store a fourth-level spell through triggering. A powerful mage can store a fifth- or sixth-level spell. In the event of an accident, this can be activated immediately.
Stored spells save lives."
The boss calmly changed the title: "You really know it very well."
Wang noticed the change of title and looked at the boss in surprise: "Ah? Oh, you misunderstood. I am not a great mage, I am just an apprentice who has just reached the third level. The reason why I look calm and composed is because of my personality.
"
"I'll just take it like that." The boss said, pouring another glass of Bee Beer, and then changed the subject calmly, "Who did you come to my bar to see?"
Wang fumbled in the pocket of his burqa and took out a leaflet.
"I saw this flyer on the notice board at the city gate, mixed in with a lot of commissions for rat extermination, goods delivery and sewer repair."
The boss took one look at the flyer and expressed his first impression: "The calligraphy is very beautiful."
"Yes, it's a very beautiful pattern. The maker of the flyer is well-educated and may have learned to draw..."
Boss: "But this mission seems a bit nonsensical. Investigate missing stray cats and dogs in the city. Which noble lady is this commission from? As a three-ring spell caster, do you really want to take on such a job?"
Wang shrugged: "I have been raised in a high tower by my teacher since I was born. The only people I have come into contact with are the teacher's apprentices. I have not yet found a teammate who can entrust my life to me. Don't you think this kind of task is just right?"
Because the boss always addressed him with "you", Wang also used "you".
The boss laughed dumbly: "You can't find reliable teammates for such a mission. At most, you can find some half-grown kids who come to play house. They are used to hearing stories about adventurers from bards, and they suddenly want to become the characters in the story.
One member.
"On our street, there are two silly kids who accepted a commission to go to the sewers to exterminate rats. When they went down, they discovered that there was a goblin's lair in the sewers, and it was the kind of lair that contained a hobgoblin war mage."
Wang frowned: "That's too bad. I read about the Hobgoblin War Mage in the teacher's diary. At that time, only the teacher escaped from the team.
"In the teacher's records, the hobgoblin war mage cast a spider web when he was besieged, entangled the warriors in the team and then ignited them with a flaming orb. The warriors screamed and burned to charcoal, and the priest girl in the team
I was so frightened that I couldn’t even use my magic."
The boss looked at Wang thoughtfully, and just mechanically echoed: "Yes, that's it."
Wang: "What's the final result?"
The boss suddenly woke up from his thoughts and replied: "The two children did not come out. Neighbors who knew their whereabouts went into the sewers to search, and soon found the goblin lair. Before that, we had always thought it was a community of homeless people.
.
"Lord Duke Langdon mobilized city guards and teamed up with adventurers to form a powerful sweep team, which quickly wiped out the goblins underground. Speaking of you... the mission you took to find cats and dogs may also be related to goblins.
Goblins like to eat wild cats and dogs, so the lady who sent the mission probably didn’t know that the goblins were being raided.”
King: "You actually regard the goblin lair as a homeless community."
"It's no wonder we have it. In some places in Langdon City, even the Shadow Thieves don't know the details. They are controlled by local gangs. Mouse Street, Swan Gate Alley, these places, not to mention goblin lairs, even have mind flayer strongholds.
I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Wang keenly caught the loophole in the boss's words: "There may be goblin lairs in these places. Doesn't it have anything to do with you treating the underground goblin lairs as a homeless community? These are two different things."
But the boss asked back: "Do you think those homeless people are really poor homeless people?"
Wang was speechless.
At this moment, the sturdy mercenary who had been listening to the conversation came over and stood at an arm's length away from the king. At this distance, the mercenary was obviously wary of the powerful touch spells of the mages.
Even just one cold touch can make an adult miserable.
Experienced mercenaries know that don't let a spellcaster touch you easily.
Wang: “What advice do you have?”
The mercenary laughed: "Guide! I can't even spell this word correctly! You are really a young man who came out of the tower. I said, don't you want to find a companion you can trust? Looking for missing cats and dogs is too childish. Why don't you come with us to encircle and suppress the bandits? The target is the group of thieves who are robbing along Shield Road recently. They have been causing trouble for half a year and should have accumulated a lot of treasure."
The king looked carefully at the mercenaries.
The mercenary enthusiastically introduced the companions of the team: "I, as you can see, am a warrior. The rogue on the team is now on a business trip to their guild. The silly big guy is a barbarian, and then there is our marksman lady."
King: "Don't you have any magical casters? What should you do if you are injured?"
"Miss Marksman can treat minor injuries, and she can also use love to soothe your pain."
Wang turned to look at the proud members of the mercenary team, staring at the only cat-woman among them. The woman raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well," Wang looked away, "this is a bit too advanced for me. And you see, you are a team that has been working together for a long time, so it wouldn't be good for me to join rashly. In the end, according to my teacher's teachings, a The team should have at least one priest or paladin."
"Oh my god, the teacher's teachings!" The mercenary spread his arms to his team members, and his team members all smiled and shook their heads.
Then the mercenary closed the distance with the king and patted him hard on the shoulder: "This is your own adventure. Just start by throwing away the teacher's teachings."
Wang looked at the mercenaries seriously: "No, this actually has nothing to do with teachings. There have been many wars throughout Kuosania in ancient times, so undead are quite common in Kuosania. Without priests or paladins, how can you be efficient? What about dealing with the undead?”
The mercenary looked at the members of his team, and then spread his hands to the king: "Use a mace? In fact, we have not encountered a large number of undead. Even in the dungeon, they are mainly in groups of small and medium. Skeleton Soldier."
His friend's voice came from a distance: "Unless there is a lich at work, the undead in Cosannia cannot become a climate."
Wang: "That's it. I'll think about it."
The tavern owner said: "I will vouch for these people who often show up here. They are worthy of trust."
Wang: "I understand. But you see, the meeting time mentioned on this notice is almost now, but I am the only one here. I think I should at least see what the client with such good handwriting looks like. So, let’s find out more about why he wants to find out about the missing cats and dogs.”
"I understand," the mercenary who offered him an olive branch clapped his hands vigorously, "I know what you are planning! You have read too many knight novels and dreamed of a beautiful encounter this time!"
The table of mercenary friends burst into laughter.
The mercenary put his arm around the king's shoulders: "Don't think too much about it. Even if a beautiful noble lady is sent a commission, she will make an appointment in a luxurious restaurant in the upper city. If she meets in a tavern like this, she can't be beautiful.
Noble lady, it is possible for the noble brother who wants to play the mercenary game."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the tavern opened, causing the bell on the lintel to make a pleasant sound.
Everyone turned to look at the door, just in time to see the person put down his hood, revealing long silver hair like moonlight.
The king pointed to the visitor and asked the mercenary: "Does your noble male look like this?"
Mercenary: "How devoid of common sense do you have to think that someone who looks like this is a man? Didn't you see the weight on the chest?"
Wang replied solemnly: "That may be a one-piece breastplate. In order to deflect some projectiles, the latest breastplates are designed like this."
The girl who had just entered the door also heard what Wang said, and was stunned and looked here.
Seeing this scene, the mage apprentice also began to doubt his own judgment. He asked in a tone as if he was conducting an academic discussion: "You...don't you want to come to such a place with three religions and nine schools, so you put on a breastplate? Although I think the lock is
A may be more suitable."
The girl also said in an almost serious tone: "I did wear chain mail."
Wang touched his lips and was silent for a few seconds before he suddenly realized: "I understand, these are your secondary sexual characteristics."
At the table far away, the cat-man marksman laughed very loudly.
The mercenary looked confused: "Where's the joke? What are secondary sexual characteristics? Can you speak common language?"
The boss said to the girl next to him: "This mage's younger brother, Mr. Mage, has just left the magic tower and started his own study tour. He has no common sense. Please be patient."
"That's right." The girl nodded, "So, which one of you is here to apply? I mean, to apply for the task of investigating missing cats and dogs."
Wang raised his hands, like a student in class.
Girl: "You're such a weirdo. Ah, maybe I should use you."
Wang: "I came because among the many tasks on the entire notice board, this one looks the most unusual."
"Why do you see me?" The girl sat down next to the king, not keeping a distance at all.
Wang: "If you are just looking for a lost pet, just ask a mage of the prophecy system to use the positioning spell. Among the spells I know, there are dozens of them that can be used to deal with different situations to achieve your purpose. These are not particularly difficult spells.
.
"You can also find rangers. Their skills can also locate pets. There are also druids. You can even find a priest to talk to animals. You must have discovered something unusual."
The girl nodded: "Very good, you saved me some trouble. What do you call me?"
Wang stretched out his hand: "I come from the continent further east of Satalin. Wang is my surname. I don't like my name very much, so just call me Wang."
"My name is Elizabeth Langdon, and I am the third daughter of Duke Langdon. In other words, I am the third heir to this territory." The girl held the king's hand.
Wang suddenly discovered that this hand was softer than he expected, as if it would melt at any time.