Chapter 4, preparation before departure
"By the way, where is Theresa?" Ryan thought of something and asked casually.
"Theresa? You're talking about Ms. Trovik, right? She and you met a mercenary group after they were working together, so they acted together." After the Archbishop answered, he turned off the communication.
"What a stubborn woman." Ryan shook his head.
Spellcasters are very powerful. The spells cast by a spellcaster at the same level are enough to destroy ten melee professions.
But the caster is also very weak, and the time it takes to cast and read the spell is enough for a melee professional of the same level to kill him ten times.
Therefore, spell casters especially need protection.
As for why there would be a mercenary group willing to act with that woman?
The answer is also very simple. In a team, whether there is a spell caster will exponentially improve the team's strength and crisis response capabilities. For example, an elite warrior is compared with an elite spell caster. , just like a brick mover with a monthly salary of 6,000 and a senior engineer with a monthly salary of 6,000. Although the brick mover earns the same money as the senior engineer, they only know how to move bricks. A senior engineer can do more things. With a variety of spells, a rich reserve of potions, as well as knowledgeable experiences and profound wisdom, spellcasters are so popular.
This is the role of spellcasters. They are the darlings of the world, known as "Masters", and are the dream team members of all adventurers. Ryan has been traveling for many years and has a deep understanding of this current situation. For example, he knows Yes, if a mission requires an elite spellcaster to be dispatched once, the expected return must be at least ten gold dinars, otherwise there is no hope of invoking the magician to dispatch.
When Ryan first traveled through time, he also dreamed of becoming a magician, but the result made him very sad. After testing, he did not have enough magic affinity, and he was destined to miss the magician in this life. Reality is not a game. You can choose your own profession when you enter. After all, only a very small number of people can have the talent of being a spell caster. Only 0.1% or even fewer people will have enough talent to embark on the path of arcane magic. Ninety percent of them can only be ordinary apprentices throughout their lives and can only achieve breakthroughs. After entering the ordinary level and entering the elite level, they can be regarded as truly independent spell casters.
But~ Ryan stretched out his hand, his blue eyes were filled with light, and light blue energy threads lingered on the tips of his fingers, and then disappeared without a trace.
Thanks to the mysterious man he met in the passage, he taught Ryan how to use the psychic power of the human brain to cast spells, so Ryan himself is also a hidden spellcaster. On the surface, he is just a warrior, well, a member of Nord. A knight of the Kingdom White Wolf Knights.
Now that enough information has been obtained, there is no need to travel around anymore. Ryan went directly to the blacksmith shop. He had just experienced a fierce battle yesterday and just happened to repair his equipment and maintain his weapons.
Many people are used to playing games and take it for granted that once a weapon is equipped, it can be used forever. This weapon is so sharp from beginning to end and requires no maintenance from beginning to end. The protagonist of the RPG can use it as long as allowed. This weapon is used from the beginning to the end of the game. In the same way, a piece of clothing can accompany the protagonist through countless battles. After experiencing countless knives and axes, countless long guns and short cannons, and even the baptism of magic, it can still be as clean as new. and provide consistent protection.
However, games are games and reality is reality. The fact is that swords will curl and become chipped if used too much. Armors will be damaged and gradually lose their defense if they withstand too many attacks. Weapons and armors often need to be maintained regularly and prepared before battle. Check and replenish various medicines regularly, such as applying sword oil regularly.
The town's blacksmith shop is located close to the center of the town. This old blacksmith has more than 20 years of experience as a blacksmith. Although he must be very skilled in forging technology, according to Ryan's opinion, this old blacksmith Having been a blacksmith in this small town all his life, one can imagine his level...
It's definitely not that good. In Ryan's opinion, this blacksmith shop must be similar to an RPG novice village, selling some blank weapons and equipment.
Entering the blacksmith shop, sure enough, all the old blacksmith could do was help Ryan check the damage to the inner ring of his chain armor, and help him maintain the weapons. As for the equipment hanging in the blacksmith shop, he It can be said that he didn't like anything. He picked up a standard fine iron long sword and danced a few sword flowers. The cold sword edge flashed in the room. It can be seen from just these few movements that Ryan has extremely high attainments in swordsmanship. The long sword seems to have spirituality and a strange rhythm in his hand. The sword body reflects the cold light and sways around the room.
The old blacksmith was oiling Ryan's war hammer. When he saw the guest trying out the sword, he glanced worriedly at the little face exposed outside the door and shook his head slightly, but the little face was full of reluctance and just continued to look. Dance the sword with the Lord Knight.
"Hmm~ This is a good sword." Ryan put down the standard long sword and said to the door: "Stop looking and come in!"
A boy of about fifteen or sixteen years old walked in timidly. He was wrapped in a thick cotton coat made of linen and a robe made of animal skin. His face was red from the cold: "Hello, Lord Knight. !”
After saying that, the boy made a polite gesture, which was not very standard. He touched his left chest with his right hand, stretched his left hand toward the left, and pointed his palm upward.
"Hello!" Ryan nodded. The old blacksmith breathed a sigh of relief when he saw this: "Master Knight, this child is called Nim. He is thirteen years old this year. He awakened his professional talent at the age of eight. He is now a warrior. Seeing the knight Sir, you may want to learn something about the sword dance, please forgive me."
"Awakening your professional talent at the age of eight?!" Ryan became interested now.
The awakening time of a professional's talent is mostly when he is seven or eight years old. If a person's talent is good enough, he will automatically awaken his professional talent when he is seven or eight years old, and decide on his future development direction and change professions.
Most civilians who have not awakened their professional talents will go to the church to check their professional talents when they are nine to thirteen years old. The church will also assist them in awakening their professional talents - of course it is not free. If you are unable to pay the fee, you can ask the church first. By the way, most of the remaining people will spend their entire lives as civilians, learning a craft or simply farming. A small number of them will still have the opportunity to awaken their talents before the age of thirty. Once they pass the age of thirty, the period when the human body begins to age. , then the probability becomes very small.
After awakening, human beings began to be called ordinary professionals or ordinary adventurers. People of this level were the basic strength and popular level of the national army and adventurers. In Ryan's eyes, these people were just a bunch of miscellaneous people.
Only a small number of soldiers and adventurers will continue to train and advance to the elite level. These people are the backbone of mankind, such as the regular knights of the Knights, the elite swordsmen of the royal family, those experienced adventurers and veteran mercenaries. It's this level.
Further up, there is the legendary level. A strong person at this level has the power to shock one side. Whether an army is led by a legendary level strong person will show a combat effectiveness that is completely different in the world. How many legendary levels a country has? It can directly explain the level of national strength.
As for going further up... Ryan thought that the King of Nord was the Saint Realm level. How could a Saint Realm powerhouse appear in such a small town?
Awakening the professional talent at the age of seven or eight, this child's talent must be very good.
"Lord Knight, can you teach me how to use a sword?" The boy looked fifteen or sixteen years old, but he was actually only thirteen. He looked at the long sword hanging on the wall, his face full of longing.
"Why do you want to learn swordsmanship?"
"Because I want to protect my family! My father is a hunter. A few days ago, I saw him coming home covered in blood but not hunting anything. If I learn the sword, I can go hunting with my father!" From the boy's clothes Judging from the looks of it, this family's family background should be pretty good. Ryan became interested and asked: "Apart from hunting? Is learning the sword just for hunting?"
"That's definitely not the case. My goal is to learn swordsmanship well, and then strive to become a knight's retinue, such as becoming the knight's retinue of the lord, and following the lord to eliminate evil." The boy clenched his fists, with sparks of hatred in his eyes. Like all humans, boys have been taught to hate monsters and monsters that kill humans since childhood.
"In the end, I will definitely become a glorious knight like you, Lord Knight, using a hammer and sword and fighting on the battlefield!" After the boy finished talking about his ambition, he received the approving eyes of the knights of the kingdom.
The nobles of the old empire used to be very stingy and domineering. However, after the second Chaos invasion war 150 years ago, the old nobles either took refuge in Chaos or passively avoided the war, abandoned their territory and fled. Running wildly and desperately south, only a few nobles chose to follow the savior Ludwig and fight to the death.
In the end, the coalition of order won, so the fate of those nobles who surrendered to Chaos and abandoned their territories can be imagined. In addition to some being directly beheaded in public, their homes were confiscated, their titles were changed, and their titles were deprived. Most of the old nobles died at the end of the war. They lost everything in the subsequent Great Purge. These people who lost their former glory and status were the most despised by the people on the entire continent, both civilians and nobles looked down upon them.
Most of the new aristocrats are military aristocrats. They have obtained their own territory by relying on their military exploits in wars. Compared with the old aristocrats, they will be more people-friendly and tolerant, although the extent is limited. It is just that the new laws and systems have made These new nobles realized that their income and security could only be guaranteed if the population in their territory increased and became more prosperous, and that blindly expropriating and expropriating people would actually lead to their own destruction.
It is not surprising that young people aspire to become knights' retinues. In addition to commissions and bragging rights in the future, an important way for civilians to rise to the aristocratic class is to become a knight's knight's apprentice.
Knight apprentices will learn from knights and take care of their daily life. After a few years, outstanding knight apprentices will be promoted to knight retinues. The retinues will begin to have a certain status and can follow the knights on the battlefield and make military exploits. Among them, the outstanding ones will The knight's retinue will have the opportunity to become a trainee knight, fight on horseback and wait for the nobility with a title to be canonized, become a formal knight, and start to enter the aristocratic class.
However, at this time, the official knights are still not kingdom knights like Ryan. These knights are generally called knights errant. The biggest difference between them and the kingdom knights is that there is no fiefdom. Any kingdom knight will have at least one small village and several The land is their own fiefdom, but there are also kingdom knights like Ryan who refuse the fiefdom and only receive regular salary. The biggest difference between knights errant and knights of the kingdom is here. Kingdom knights have stable income, but knights errant do not.
If someone like Ryan is officially canonized by the kingdom with a document and becomes a knight of the kingdom, he has completely become a member of the aristocratic class.
No matter how much the general peasant class is promoted, it has already reached its peak at this level. Unless there are special exceptions, most nobles cannot allow non-noble peasants to enter the noble pyramid with titles.
Out of interest, Ryan also gave the child some tips. Seeing that it was getting late, and in the middle of winter, there were only six hours of daylight in Nord, so he had to prepare to leave quickly.
"Thank you, Lord Knight! Can I ask your name?" Ryan taught the boy a set of the most basic swordsmanship of the Nord Kingdom's army - the cross swordsmanship, and then left.
"Ryan."
"Ryan?"
"Well, my name is Ryan."
"Ah, is it you!?"
"hehe!"
After returning to the hotel, the hotel had become much busier. Ryan went back to his room to sort out his things. He was ready to go.
"Mr. Knight? Hello!" A middle-aged man who was sitting at his seat enjoying lunch saw Ryan coming down from upstairs and saw the knight's badge on his chest, and he took the initiative to chat.
"Good afternoon." Ryan realized that this was not the businessman from the empire who had a party with the locals in the hotel last night?
"My name is Oliver. I come from the Empire. May I have the honor to know your name? Mr. Knight?" The businessman reached out his hand proactively. Ryan frowned without leaving any trace. He has experienced a lot of interactions with businessmen. It has a strong purpose, and a businessman who takes the initiative to please must be asking for something from others.
"Ryan, my name is Ryan."
This businessman looks to be in his forties, has long hair, wears a round monocle, and is dressed quite luxuriously. He also has many gold rings and gemstone rings on his hands, but Ryan can tell at a glance that he is not very high-end. However, the silver thumb on his left thumb looked out of place, but Ryan could feel the magic fluctuations in it. If he expected it to be correct, this should be a magic item.
interesting!
Just as he was about to have a good meal before setting off, Ryan also had some time to chat with the imperial businessman. From his mouth, he learned that the businessman originally traveled with the caravan, and because the lord of Ulan Town owed money The final payment was not settled, so I came here specifically to collect the payment. Ryan noticed that the merchant's security equipment was very good, with uniform standard scale armor and standard long sword, and two of them had crossbows attached to their backs.
The merchant's wealth can be seen from his guards and his dress. The wild roads in this world are very dangerous, and all kinds of monsters and robbers are wandering in the wild. However, if it is a matter within human beings, most nobles and merchants are Being locked up and waiting for ransom instead of being killed.
"Mr. Knight, may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"
"My name is Ryan."
"Black hair and blue eyes, less than twenty-five years old. When I saw you yesterday, I knew that you were the hero of the Nord Kingdom as they said." Oliver said, "I know your little secret." He snickered, with a bit of a fawning look on his face.
"I never thought about hiding my identity." Ryan scooped up a spoonful of broth and complained.
"Mr. Lane really doesn't look like a Nord, like us Imperial people. The Aachen people among us Imperial people have black hair and blue eyes like Mr. Lane. This kind of blood is the most popular target in our Empire. , In addition, Brunswickers like me with black hair and blue eyes, and Mrs. Altdorf with brown hair are also very popular." The businessman seemed not to go straight to the topic, but talked about blood.
"Blonde Brittanians must also have good treatment in the empire, while those with red hair, yellow skin and black skin are not so popular, right?" Ryan chuckled, seeing the businessman He didn't intend to get straight to the point, and he didn't say anything. He just speeded up his eating.
Charlemagne was of Aachen descent with black hair and blue eyes, and the first twelve Carolingian knights who followed him also included Brunswick and Altdorf bloodlines. These three bloodlines were the most popular in the empire. What a surprise.
Sure enough, Ryan was not in a hurry, but Oliver became anxious.
"Mr. Lane, it seems that the wilderness in Ulan Town is not very safe. It is said that people from the Church of Justice are hunting for a certain evil power, so..." The businessman obviously wanted something. After briefly explaining the situation, he said Tactfully express whether we can go together? He paid for the journey.
"Sorry, I have an appointment with someone." Ryan shook his head, looking very regretful.
"Got an appointment?" The businessman looked disappointed.
"Yes, we can't keep others waiting any longer." Ryan put on all the equipment, picked up the war hammer, and walked out of the hotel despite the snowflakes in the sky.
"May the goddess of luck bless you in your future, Lord Knight." The innkeeper looked at Ryan's background and muttered silently.
"There's no other way, Fuck, Mather, let's set off." Businessman Oliver sighed. He had stayed in this town long enough and had to set off.
"Let's go!"
I feel so tired, but fortunately I’m going home soon.