Chapter 276: A Simple Promise

Seeing that George was staying silent, he decided not to give the other man too much time to think: “And based on your experience, you must have been recruited by other Lords before! Although most Lords might prefer knowledgeable traditional Mages whose bodies are relatively fragile, no one would easily let a talented person go, right? Since you have been able to adventure with your team until now, you must have rejected quite a few recruitment offers. So why are you so enthusiastic about my proposal this time! I don’t think I have enough charm to make you agree so quickly…”

After a brief silence, the blonde man in front of him gave a helpless smile: “So you are suspecting my motives, right?”

Although George did not answer directly, his ambiguous attitude clearly implied agreement.

“You’re right! I understand that my current actions are indeed unreasonable and might cause you doubt. But I have no other choice because I cannot afford the materials needed for Resurrect the Dead!” The weak man in front of him said, his clasped hands tightening continuously as he spoke.

“Resurrect the Dead?” George suddenly felt his brain stop working. When this term came out of the other man’s mouth, George was shocked.

“Yes! Fairbanks is the only one among the five who is married; he has a wife and a son to take care of. We cannot just bring back his corpse. Otherwise, I don’t know how to face his family. After all, when we left last time, I promised that little guy Emmanuel that I would bring his father back safely.” The man said while leaning on the table beside him. That was one of the few pieces of furniture in the room, and given the current situation, the strength of these pine wood furniture pieces seemed to exceed that of the house walls.

George, who had been silent for a long time, looked up at the ceiling that still looked like fresh wood. Then he sighed and said: “Let’s not talk about the difficulty of this task. Your action alone far exceeds my general impression of Mercenaries and Adventurers. Such sacrifice is no longer just ordinary camaraderie.”

George used the term “camaraderie” here, which clearly meant he did not view the other person as an ordinary Adventurer or Mercenary. Because most Adventurers are seen by others as nothing more than a sword available for rent.

The only standard for evaluating their value is how many Gold Coins they can earn. Although they always strive to be first, they still recognize the value of their companions—especially since few of them have friends in the world, so standing on their side is a smart choice.

However, the way these Adventurers treat their friends is often an alternative transaction model where they use them more than they feel emotion. They fight together and adventure together, relying on each other to survive in dangerous situations, but after receiving a rich reward, they often fall apart. This is the usual meaning of “sharing hardships but not sharing prosperity.” If their companions die, those who can send compensation to multiple families are considered honest people.

As for revenge, these guys are rarely angered by enemies because everything is just business to them: Are Ogres rampaging in this region? They will deal with them for the commission. Did a Demon murder Perro’s Priest? The Adventurers will aim their arrows to snipe them. Because they often need concrete evidence of success to claim cash rewards, they usually wait until the tragedy happens before taking action.

So others often think Adventurers are cold-blooded and heartless, but they themselves believe avoiding emotional entanglement is wise. They usually cannot stand people hiding their true motives behind vague reasons, and they hate all those who break contracts. When negotiating with potential customers, they look the other person in the eye and start bargaining tirelessly.

In fact, take this battle against the Dark Elves as an example! Don’t be fooled by the happy atmosphere between the wounded Adventurers and their teammates here. This is just a small part of the huge Adventurer group.

Based on the information George received, most Adventurer groups abandoned their companions during this battle. After a teammate was injured, instead of helping them up, they abandoned them as a tool to delay the enemy. There are countless such examples.

Even among the wounded who returned to Broken Halberd Fortress, there were cases where they had to wait alone to die while their original teammates ignored them. Of course, this belongs to the true minority. After all, people always have some compassion. Abandoning someone during a war might be said to be the instinct of survival, but ignoring the wounded after the war is too much of a challenge to human psychological limits.

So facing such a group, George found it hard to imagine they would pay such a high price for the dead. Because the simple restriction of needing the dead body alone was enough to eliminate the thoughts of most people on the battlefield.

If the winning side, there was a possibility of bringing back their comrade’s corpse for a proper burial. But according to the other man’s description just now, they faced the elite forces of the Dark Elves and suffered a crushing defeat. While being chased by others to save their lives, they still remembered to bring their comrade’s body. You know, with equipment, the corpse could weigh over 200 pounds!

Carrying such a heavy person while running with legs that seemed to want to grow longer was not an easy task. Plus, there were those Dark Elves like wolves and tigers chasing them from behind. Just making the decision was not easy.

And not only did they do this, but they also successfully escaped from the pursuit of those agile Dark Elves. This was not just about loyalty and courage; their own strength and luck were also very important.

‘It seems the value of the few people in front of me has increased again! But if I recruit a group like this, they might easily become an independent faction. If the bond is too deep and the relationship is too good, even after being absorbed, they will easily form a small clique internally. It’s a case of “success due to Xiao He, failure due to Xiao He”!’ George became hesitant again.

If they cannot be managed well, the sharper the knife, the easier it is to cut oneself. Although George did not think that just these few people in front of him could cause any trouble in the Bolerum Territory. After all, the current strength of Bolerum Territory could ignore most conspiracies. But internal friction was something George did not want to see, because it would seriously damage the strength of the Territory—boiling a frog in warm water is the most dangerous.

As if sensing George’s doubt, Jinluoke lowered his head and sighed: “Because we are all outcasts of our birthplace…”

‘Vampire Spawn are easily despised, and Dragonborn make people afraid. As for the remaining few in the middle that he did not mention earlier, I will arrange for someone to investigate later! But I really cannot see any big difference between this one in front of me and an ordinary person. But he must have some sad past!’ George looked at the person in front of him with suspicion.

The bloodline of Dragonborn creatures is inherited from one of their Dragon ancestors, even if that ancestor might be many generations away. They usually have small details that show their bloodline, such as light-colored slit pupils or skin covered with fine scales. These strong Dragon-like features indicate their powerful strength and extraordinary fate.

However, some primitive Dragonborn look like humanoid dragons, with scaled skin and a long, powerful tail. They are tall and strong, usually close to six and a half feet tall and weighing over three hundred pounds. Their hands and feet are very strong; their hands have three claw-like fingers and a thumb. The head features of Dragonborn include blunt snouts, thick eyebrows, and strange wrinkles on their cheeks and ears. Behind their eyebrows, the horn-like scales on their heads of various lengths look like hair made of thin strings, and their eyes are bright red or gold.

Typical Dragonborn scales are bright red, golden yellow, or silver. Some rare individuals have scales like Chromatic Dragons or Metallic Dragons, but the color of the scales is consistent with their Dragon Breath type. Most Dragonborn bodies are covered with fine scales, giving their skin a leather-like texture, while larger scales are found on their forearms, shins, feet, shoulders, and thighs.

And these Dragonborn who look more like dragons than humans are also called Dragonborn. It is not hard to imagine that they, who already have a scary appearance and great strength, are rejected by ordinary people.

However, George would not do such a thing of digging up someone’s scars unless it was necessary. Instead, he asked a question: “So have you found a Priest who can cast this spell? Although I don’t know what faith that Dragonfire Sorcerer has, I’m afraid it won’t be a common faith!”

“He worships the Platinum Dragon Lord. As for the Priest, there is already a Priest who can use this Divine Arts in Broken Halberd Fortress. Earlier, he agreed that as long as we can bring the materials for casting, he will perform that ritual for us for free.” Jinluoke showed a rare smile since George entered the room. “So in this regard, we are quite lucky. And even more luckily, I once learned the niche spell of Mummify, and I didn’t expect it to be useful right now.”

Mummify is a spell that preserves the remains of a dead creature so that they do not continue to rot. From a certain perspective, this treatment can effectively extend the time limit for Resurrect the Dead. The days passed under the influence of this spell do not count toward that time limit.

In addition, this spell makes it more comfortable to transport fallen comrades. The treated corpse will not rot and release the smell of death as if it just died. Even the spell can be used on severed body parts or other similar things.

However, because Divine Arts like Resurrect the Dead are so rarely used, this supporting spell has become niche. In fact, the spell is not without other uses, but using a 3rd-level spell for Mages to preserve meat is not just described as luxurious. Animal corpses are also corpses, right?

“A Priest of Lord Bahamut? A Priest who can use the Divine Arts of Resurrect the Dead is basically at the Black Lead Rank. They suddenly appeared here, why didn’t they greet the Duchy first!” George’s tone immediately rose a few degrees, while he thought to himself, ‘Could it be because of those few Dragons in the Underground before? But if it is a Shadow Dragon, it should not belong to the category of Metallic Dragons! Why would it attract the attention of Lord Bahamut? If it was just an evil Dragon attack, they should have come when our Bolerum was attacked before! Perhaps they are trying to win over the non-central Chromatic Dragons? But such a secret action might bring some changes to the current situation!’

Just one sentence made George feel heavy-hearted. However, Jinluoke helped to clear up part of George’s confusion: “What the other party’s purpose for coming here is, I, a person like me, cannot find out. But that Priest once said that he would stay in Broken Halberd Fortress until the Dark Elves are driven back underground and the road to the Underdark is opened!”

‘It seems there is indeed a connection with the Shadow Dragon that appeared before! But there is still risk here. I should report this matter later!’ Thinking of this, George decided it was better to solve the problem in front of him as soon as possible: “At least 5000 Gold Coins worth of Diamond is not easy to get. Based on your previous mission experience, how long do you think you need to get such a large sum of money or equivalent items?”

After these words were spoken, the other party fell silent again. George took the opportunity to observe the items in the room. Because just now outside, George clearly heard the voices of three people, but after coming in, subtracting the lady who had already left, there was only Jinluoke in the room.

Excluding the obviously boring choice of the other person using a fake voice, combined with his identity as an Arcane user, it must have been his own Familiar helping him speak just now. So George was now ready to see what kind of little guy this Familiar was. Although it was not very accurate, the Familiar itself could also reflect the caster’s personality from a certain aspect.

However, Jinluoke had no time to deal with George’s actions. His facial expression changed many times. Not only did his face twist, but his complexion also changed from pale to flushed and finally to purple-blue. This was truly enough to be called a face-changing drama in Sichuan Opera.

“My Lord, I need to correct your previous statement. In fact, except for wealthy Great Nobles like you, the vast majority of small and medium Nobles prioritize recruiting not those knowledgeable traditional Mages with relatively fragile bodies, but rather Sorcerers like me, or some users with other supernatural abilities.” He absolutely did not feel good about this act of exposing his own shortcomings.

“Is it because the cost is lower?” George’s expression also became a bit strange.

“Yes! Although those Spellcasters can use fewer spells, and many cannot control what new spells they can obtain. But at the same time, their cost is much less than ours. Most Lords do not want to spend such a large amount of money to support us Mages who use spellbooks.” Jinluoke’s words revealed a hint of helplessness. “And some people say that when dealing with sudden situations, those relying on talent are more effective.”

Sorcerers can obtain very limited spells. At the beginning, when they awaken, they can often only get a few cantrips and one 1st-level spell. Next, every time their power increases, they will be able to obtain new spells. These new spells come entirely from their bloodline commonalities, and the Sorcerer themselves often cannot guide or choose them.

Of course, some Sorcerers learn rare spells through research, but this practice is actually walking the path of a Mage. However, even so, the bloodline within their own body will reject spells that conflict with it. For example, a Sorcerer with Fire Element bloodline will find it difficult to learn spells with “Water” or “Cold” as key attributes.

However, there is a trick: If a Sorcerer holds a Scroll or spellbook detailing a rare spell to read and study, they can obtain this spell as a new spell when they level up. But this method only allows a Sorcerer to occasionally learn the spells they want, not that they can succeed every time.

Because Sorcerer spells are rooted in the bloodline, they cannot learn spells that their ancestors could not learn. Even for spells possessed by ancestors, the chance of success with this method is not high.

The other party could barely utter the last words: “So I can give up the research subsidies that other Mages deserve to exchange for the chance of my comrade’s rebirth.”

“Is this your choice? Alright! If you can convince the others in your team, I will sign a spell agreement with you in three days.” George said, paused slightly, and asked with some confusion, “Why didn’t you bring your Familiar?”

“No! I don’t have a Familiar, I only have him.” Saying this, Jinluoke drew his Longsword from his waist.

Immediately, such a sound came from the blade of the Longsword: “You say that, I am happy, buddy!”

George curiously looked at the weapon in front of him: “Sentient Weapon?”

“Although we look very similar, we are not.” The Longsword in front of them began to act tsundere.

Jinluoke nodded and said, “This is a special result of our spell inheritance…”

There is a group of chosen Magus Warriors who give up their Familiars to carry the weapon named the Sword of Enlightenment. These weapons are silent, possessing wisdom and unknown purposes. For Magus Warriors, these weapons are both very valuable tools and companions—because, swords and swordsmen both crave the power of the Arcane. However, when the Blade of Enlightenment becomes more intelligent, its true purpose will become clear, and it may even use its growing self to influence the destiny of its holder.