The Era of Gods

Chapter 386: Lighting Up the Totem Talent

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In this world, their luck would be unendingly reduced. Any Descenders in this world were born unlucky, and if they didn’t pay attention, even trivial matters could cost them their lives.

This time upon awakening, the ordinary Lin Xiao became a mercenary and joined a mercenary team.

For safety’s sake, Lin Xiao stayed with the mercenary team and his teammates until his Breathing Method reached the highest level of awakening talent.

Luckily, his talent was rather decent this time. His training speed was much faster than before. With the Breathing Method enhanced by Creation Energy, his strength was one of the top in the team, making him a core member.

This time, they received a mission where a minor aristocrat hired several mercenary teams of various sizes to traverse a thousand-kilometer wasteland and go to another country on the other side of it.

Living on the wasteland were many tribes of Other Races and Fierce Beasts. The tribe with over a thousand Half-beast people was one of the strongest on the wasteland. They almost came out in full force to besiege and fight, and the battle was exceedingly fierce.

A rain of javelins came down, and Lin Xiao forcefully pulled off the short javelin from the shield, crouched, and moved to the left where three Green-skinned Half-beasts were fighting fiercely with four mercenaries.

There was no fairness or one-on-one duels in such battles. He quietly approached from behind, picking up a short javelin stuck in the ground, and threw it powerfully. Less than five meters away, in the javelin’s most lethal range, he stabbed one Half-beast in the back.

The Half-beast bellowed as its body listed to one side. The warrior opposite seized the opportunity to bring down his sword, and a ghastly head flew off.

“Well done!”

The warrior gave Lin Xiao a thumbs up, and he laughed heartily. Together, they charged toward the remaining two Half-beasts.

Surrounded by three, the second Half-beast was killed on the spot. Just as they were about to take down the last one, Lin Xiao suddenly felt a sense of danger and roared:

“Find cover!”

He himself dove to the ground, shielding his body with the rigid corpse of a Half-beast. The next second, a series of whooshing sounds were heard, followed by sporadic screams.

When he pushed the corpse, which now had several javelins sticking out of it, off his body, he saw that the few people and Half-beasts around him had all been killed by a volley of javelins.

“Shit!”

The battlefield is so cruel—people who laughed and drank together could all die in one battle.

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Without time to lament, he swiftly picked up a Large Wooden Shield dropped by a comrade and ran. While running, he removed the javelins from the shield and quickly took cover behind a wagon to scope out the battlefield, noticing they were at a disadvantage.

After all, a tribe with over a thousand Half-beasts, even if only half were mobilized, would number five to six hundred, while combined, the several mercenary units and the aristocrat’s private soldiers only amounted to two or three hundred. Not to mention that the average physical ability of the Half-beasts was stronger than theirs.

The human side could only resist for a while with their combat skills and defensive advantages, but in the end, it couldn’t hold.

Just then, Lin Xiao heard a familiar whistle. Turning his head, he saw the mercenary captain was the one signaling, a call to assemble. He quickly ducked and made his way over.

Soon about twenty people gathered around the captain. Seeing that no others would come, the captain said:

“The situation is dire. I think we can’t hold them off, so I’m planning to retreat.”

“What about our mission?”

“What mission? Those Noble Lords ran off with their confidants a long time ago, and what’s defending now is just expendable.”

Lin Xiao looked around and, indeed, did not see the carriages where the Noble Lords were.

“Then screw this. Let’s retreat!”

The group quickly reached an agreement and retreated rapidly without caring about the others.

As they left, other mercenary squads nearby also started to withdraw one after another, causing the battle situation to instantly collapse, leaving only corpses and wagons behind, as the remaining Half-beasts jubilantly dragged off the spoils.

The squad regrouped behind a large patch of weeds after escaping the battlefield, but after a break, a dispute arose.

The captain wanted to catch up with the aristocratic group to see if something could be done, but a significant part of the team, led by the deputy captain, didn’t want to risk and preferred to head straight back. The two sides split at this point.

Lin Xiao knew what the captain wanted—it was simply coveting the aristocrat’s money. If the aristocrat’s remaining guards were insufficient, it could be a matter of moments to turn tables and backstab in greed, a deed not unheard of in the past.

As expected, the result was a split. The team divided into two, with some following the captain and others following the deputy captain.

Lin Xiao followed the deputy captain. He had no interest in robbing an aristocratic group. Such actions were too risky and held no benefit for him.

He didn’t need the most valuable Breathing Methods of the aristocrats, nor did he need Gold or silver coins. Why bother risking his life?

Of course, what truly made up his mind was that the deputy captain planned to lead them across the wastelands to the Great Empire on the other side. It was said that the Royal Family of the Great Empire were descendants of Extraordinary Totem Masters, not only did they have Totem Master consultants within the Royal Family, but in the Imperial City, there was also a Totem Master Tower. It was rumored one could acquire the secrets of becoming a Totem Master there.

That was of considerable interest to Lin Xiao. It was also one of the few places on this continent where one could come into contact with Totem Masters.

Indeed, thanks to the mercenary channels and the cumulation of memories from countless cycles of reincarnation and awakening, he had guessed that the continent he was currently living on was just a world crowded with mortals. Though vast, compared to the whole world, it was just a drop in the ocean. In the profound depths of the vast sea, there were immeasurably large continents where Totem Masters and Totem Knights congregated.

Compared to the real continents, his current landmass—comparable in size to Eurasia—was just an insignificant island in the endless sea. Such islands, inhabited by a great number of mortals, were common in this world.

From this, one could deduce that the world’s size would be unexpectedly immense.

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Without an escort mission, the pace of the mercenary group was incredibly fast. It took only half a month to cross the dangerous wasteland and arrive at a border town located at the edge of the wasteland.

The town belonged to the Osa Empire. Its people were valiant due to the constant attacks from Ferocious Beast Races and Other Races. A military force was stationed there year-round, specifically tasked with defending against the Other Races from the wasteland and protecting trade caravans.

The small mercenary squad, now reduced to eight people, approached the city gates along a gravel path. Such groups were common here; their woebegone appearance indicated they had faced defeat in the wasteland. The guards joked about it, took a few copper coins as an entrance fee, and let them in without any inspection.

The squad went straight to the Mercenary Guild upon entering the town. Located in the southern part of the town and sprawling over a vast area, Lin Xiao followed the deputy leader to the entrance of the Mercenary Guild and was about to enter when he suddenly paused.

Many small plaques with various strange symbols hung at the entrance—commonly used to convey secret messages that weren’t meant for just anyone to see. To those in the know, the plaques could reveal quite a bit.

Among these dozen or so plaques, one caught his attention. After glancing around, he stepped forward, took down the plaque, and found a line of address written in small letters on the back.

“Mercenary Guild, Courtyard Seven?”

His gaze flickered, and after a moment, he entered the guild, found the deputy leader to ask for leave, and went out after getting directions from the staff.

This so-called “Mercenary Guild, Courtyard Seven” was a property owned by the Mercenary Guild, rented out to mid and small-sized mercenary groups as a base. When he arrived at Courtyard Seven, he saw a familiar emblem by the entrance and knew he was at the right place.

He knocked softly on the door, which was soon opened by a young man who looked at Lin Xiao with a puzzled expression.

Without saying much, Lin Xiao took out the plaque and handed it over, saying:

“Gaia!”

The young man’s eyes immediately softened, and he smiled:

“A newcomer, eh? Come on in.”

His attitude was very warm, in stark contrast to a moment before.

As he welcomed Lin Xiao inside, the young man said:

“It’s rare to have new people here. You can call me Mor, and I’ve been awakened for eight years.”

“Rore, awakened for three years!”

“Clever.”

Mor commented with approval:

“I was just about to remind you not to use your real name; everyone here uses an alias.”

As they talked, they proceeded into the courtyard. Mor continued:

“This place is just one of our strongholds, a foothold for our brothers from other areas. Usually, including me, only three members are active here. With you, that makes four. According to our arrangement, any awakened comrade who comes here can receive a subsidy and some Totem Master information without any cost.”

“You can choose to accept or decline. If you accept, from here on out, you’ll need to serve on duty at this stronghold for one to three years—minimum one year—and you can leave earlier if new recruits arrive.”

Lin Xiao asked curiously:

“What exactly are the subsidy and materials included?”

Mor replied quickly and straightforwardly:

“The subsidy is a complete set of excellent weaponry and equipment chosen by you, including regulated arms like crossbow arrows, and also one thousand gold coins. The materials include some basic information about Totem Masters and how to become an Apprentice Totem Master, along with several methods for becoming an apprentice.”

“Hmm!”

This was indeed tempting; it was precisely what he lacked.

Lin Xiao hesitated for only a moment before saying:

“I agree.”

Mor put up his thumb, laughed heartily, and said:

“Wise choice; you’ll find that this decision is more than worthwhile. Since that’s settled, I’ll take the next few days to get you well-acquainted with the place, and then we’ll proceed with the handover.”

Mor seemed eager to get started.

In the following days, he took Lin Xiao around the town, explaining the situation of their organization there and the assets they possessed.

As an organization founded by predecessors long ago, after hundreds or even thousands of years of development, it had already amassed an immense underground influence in this world, and this small town was no exception.

Not to mention the involvement with higher-level forces, the organization within the town itself owned half a street, dozens of shops, and the mere collection of rent every month amounted to a significant sum. Apart from that, an underground gang and a large mercenary group served them, and let’s not even start on the higher echelons of support.

However, the gang and the mercenary group were established by predecessors, and since the predecessors had long passed away, now there was only a cooperative relationship. To get things done required paying for their services.

As part of this