The Era of Gods

This time awakening, Lin Xiao, of ordinary origins, became a mercenary and joined a mercenary team.

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

Fortunately, his aptitude was relatively good this time, his practice Speed much faster than before. With the Breathing Method strengthened by Creation Energy, his strength ranked among the top within the team, becoming a cornerstone of the group.

This time they received a mission, a task from a minor noble to escort a few mercenary groups of varying sizes across a wilderness spanning thousands of kilometers, to another country on the other side of the wasteland.

The wilderness was home to many tribes of Other Races and Fierce Beasts. This Half-beast Tribe with a population of over a thousand was one of the strongest tribes of Other Races on the wilderness, almost entirely emerging to besiege them, resulting in a fiercely brutal battle.

A wave of javelin rain descended, and Lin Xiao forcefully pulled the short javelins from his shield, crouching and moving to the left where three Green-skinned Half-beasts were engaged in a ferocious battle with four mercenaries.

In this kind of battle, there was no such thing as a fair duel. He crept up behind them, picking up a short javelin from the ground along the way and hurling it with force. At a distance of less than five meters—right in the range of the javelin’s deadliest effect—it pierced into the back of a Half-beast.

The Half-beast roared, its body tilting sideways; the warrior opposite took immediate advantage of the opening, cleaving down with his sword, and a vicious head flew off.

“Nicely done!”

The warrior gave Lin Xiao a thumbs-up in praise, and they laughed heartily together, moving on to take down the remaining two Half-beasts.

As the three of them surrounded their prey, the second Half-beast was swiftly killed. Just as they were about to take down the last one, Lin Xiao suddenly became alert and bellowed,

“Find cover!”

He threw himself to the ground, grabbing the stiff corpse of a Half-beast to shield himself; the next second, a series of piercing sounds rent the air, followed by a chorus of agonized screams.

When he pushed the body, now impaled with several javelins, off himself, he saw that all the people and Half-beasts around him had been killed by a barrage of javelins.

“Damn it!”

Such was the cruelty of the battlefield, where comrades who joked and drank together might be completely wiped out after a single fight.

No time for sorrow, he quickly picked up a Large Wooden Shield dropped by a comrade and ran. As he removed the javelins stuck in the shield and made his way to the rear of a wagon, he quickly surveyed the surrounding battlefield, realizing that they were falling into a disadvantage.

After all, a tribe with more than a thousand Half-beasts, even if only half were mobilized, would still number five to six hundred fighters, while their combined forces of mercenaries and the noble’s private soldiers barely amounted to two to three hundred—not to mention that the Half-beasts were physically stronger on average.

The Humans could only rely on their fighting skills and defensive advantage for so long; in the end, they couldn’t hold back the onslaught.

It was at that moment that Lin Xiao heard a familiar whistle and, looking back, saw it was the mercenary captain who was blowing it. It was the call to gather, and he quickly crouched and moved over.

Soon, a group of about twenty had assembled near the captain. Seeing that no more were coming, the captain spoke up directly,

“The situation looks grim. I think we can’t hold on any longer; I’m planning to retreat.”

“What about our mission?”

“What mission? Those Noble Lords took off early with their trusted aides; those still fighting are left to die.”

Lin Xiao looked around and indeed, he couldn’t see the carriages where the Noble Lords had been.

“Then why the hell are we still fighting? Let’s pull out!”

The group quickly reached a consensus and didn’t bother with the others as they swiftly retreated.

Once they left, other mercenary teams nearby also began to withdraw one after another, and the battle situation immediately collapsed, leaving behind a field littered with corpses and wagons, while the remaining Half-beasts joyfully dragged the bodies and plunder back to their territory.

After escaping the battlefield, the team regrouped behind a large expanse of weeds, but after resting, they found themselves caught in a dispute.

The captain wanted to catch up with the noble’s party to see if anything could be done, but a considerable portion led by the deputy captain didn’t want to risk it and preferred to head straight back, resulting in a split at this juncture.

Lin Xiao understood what the captain had in mind—coveting the noble’s wealth. If the noble’s guards were insufficient, it would be the perfect excuse for treachery, something not unfamiliar to their prior actions.

Naturally, the group split in two; some followed the captain, while the others followed the deputy captain.

Lin Xiao followed the deputy captain—he had no interest in raiding a noble party. Such an endeavor was too risky, and it wouldn’t bring him any benefits.

The noble’s valuable Breathing Methods were of no use to him, nor did he need Gold or silver coins—why bother risking his life?

Of course, the real reason for his determination was that the deputy captain planned to lead them across the wilderness to the Great Empire on the other side. It was said that the royal family of that Great Empire descended from an Extraordinary Totem Master. Not only did the royals have Totem Master advisors, but there was also a Totem Master Tower in the Imperial City, rumored to hold the secrets to becoming a Totem Master.

Lin Xiao was quite interested in this—this was one of the few places on the continent where he could come into contact with Totem Masters.

Indeed, thanks to the mercenary connections and the collective memories from countless past reincarnations, he had surmised that the continent he was on was merely a world populated by mortals. Though vast, compared to the entire world, it was just a drop in the ocean. In the vast depth of the sea lay immense continents—homes to Totem Masters and Totem Knights.

Compared to the true continent, this land, with an area comparable to Eurasia, was really just an inconspicuous island in the vast, boundless sea—an island filled with a myriad of mortals that existed all over this world.

From this, one could deduce that the size of this world would be unexpectedly enormous.

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Without an escort mission, the pace of the mercenary troop was very fast. It took them only half a month to cross the dangerous wasteland and reach a small border town on the edge of the wasteland.

This little town belonged to the Osa Empire and was renowned for its hardy citizens, due to the constant attacks by fierce beasts and Other Races. A garrison of soldiers was stationed there year-round, tasked specifically with defending against the threats from the wasteland and protecting merchant caravans.

The diminished mercenary squad of only eight people followed a gravel path to the town gate. Such a group was a common sight here—their ragged appearance clearly showing they had encountered defeat in the wasteland. The guards even joked with them and after collecting a few copper coins, they let them enter the town without inspection.

Upon entering the town, the team headed straight to the Mercenary Guild. Located in the southern part of the town, the guild covered a vast area. Lin Xiao followed the deputy leader to the front of the guild, preparing to enter when he suddenly paused.

Hanging at the entrance were many small signs with various strange symbols, commonly used to pass secret codes that were not meant for general knowledge. Those who knew the codes could understand the messages upon seeing the signs.

Among the dozen or so signs, one in particular caught his attention. Glancing around him, he stepped forward, removed the sign, and found an address written in small print on the back.

“Mercenary Guild Number Seven Courtyard?”

His gaze flickered and after a moment, he entered the guild, found the deputy leader, requested leave, then asked a staff member for directions and left.

This so-called Mercenary Guild Number Seven Courtyard was a property belonging to the Mercenary Guild, rented out to various local small to medium-sized mercenary troops as a base. He arrived at the courtyard number seven and instantly recognized a familiar emblem at the entrance, confirming he was at the right place.

He knocked softly on the door, and it was promptly opened to reveal a young man, who looked at Lin Xiao with a puzzled expression.

Without saying much, Lin Xiao simply handed over the sign and said,

“Gaia!”

The young man’s demeanor immediately relaxed into a smile:

“A newcomer, huh? Come on in.”

His attitude grew quite warm, a stark contrast to moments before.

As they walked inside, the young man said:

“It’s rare for us to have newcomers. You can call me Mor; I’ve been awakened for eight years.”

“Rore, awakened for three years!”

“Clever.”

Mor said approvingly:

“I was about to remind you not to use your real name. Here, everyone operates under aliases.”

They continued talking as they walked into the courtyard. Mor went on:

“This place is just one of our outposts, serving as a stopover for brothers from other places. Currently, including me, there are only three of us who are active here regularly. With you, that makes four. According to the agreement, any awakened companion who comes here can receive assistance and some information about Totem Masters at no cost.”

“You can choose whether to accept it or not. If you do, you will need to stay on duty at this outpost for one to three years, with a minimum of one year. If a new person arrives, you may leave earlier.”

Lin Xiao asked curiously:

“What does the assistance and information include?”

Mor replied readily:

“The assistance is a complete set of high-quality weapons and equipment that you specify, including controlled weapons such as crossbow arrows, as well as a thousand gold coins. The information includes some basic data about Totem Masters and how to become a Totem Master Apprentice, including several methods to do so.”

“Hmm!”

That was quite tempting, exactly what he was missing.

Lin Xiao hesitated only for a moment before saying:

“I agree.”

Mor raised his thumb, laughing heartily:

“A wise choice. In time, you’ll realize that this choice is exceedingly valuable. Since that’s settled, I’ll spend the next few days getting you acquainted with the situation here before the handover.”

Mor seemed eager to get started.

Over the next few days, he took Lin Xiao around the town, explaining the organization’s status in the area and the assets it possessed.

As an ancient public organization established long ago by his predecessors, it had developed over hundreds or thousands of years to possess a massive underground force in this world, even within this small town.

Leaving aside the entities involved at higher levels, within the town alone, the organization owned half a street, dozens of shops, and just the rental income each month was a significant sum. Furthermore, there was an underground gang and a large mercenary group serving them, not to mention even higher-level support.

However, both the underground gang and mercenary group had been founded by predecessors who had passed on, and now the relationships with them were merely collaborative; any services required payment.

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