Capítulo 2: Sad reality
"Open the statistics page!"
Identity: Maxime Valdreuve
Class: Peasant level 1 (+3% physical
physique) (0/10)
Unlocked a new class: 0/10
Physique: 1.15 (+0.0345)
Qi: 0
Skills :
Swordsmanship level 1 (32/100)
Franc language level 2
(21/100)
Talent : NOX LIMIT level 1 (rank
rank) (0/1000)
Money available: 20 gold coins.
"Unlocked a new class!"
Maxime exclaimed mentally.
[Are you sure you want to spend 10 gold coins to unlock a new class?]
"Yes!"
Ding!
[Depending on your skills, talents, physique and qi, you can choose from these classes: Swordsman, Commander].
"How fortunate to have the Commander class appear right from the start, it's probably due to my talent."
"It's a class that doesn't bring anything to the physical, but it does bring passive traits that increase the morale and combat power of the mercenary group."
"But this is a world where only the strong are respected, plus I have to increase my survivability or I'll lose 3 years of life expectancy if I die in this world, plus I'll have to rebuild everything."
"System, I
choose the swordsman class!"
Ding!
[Swordsman class added to stats page!]
[+0.2 points added to physique!]
[10 skill points added in sword mastery!]
[Passive trait added: +5% physique when wielding a sword!]
[Passive trait added: +10% efficiency in sword training].
Simultaneously, a current of warmth ran through his body, while a wave of fresh air passed through his mind.
These lasted only a few seconds, and then disappeared.
But Maxime knew he had become much stronger than before.
"Andrew, Alessandro, Joe, Ronny...Come over here!"
Several seconds later, 8 young men of all shapes and sizes arrived beside Maxime and the old man.
"This young man wishes to form his own mercenary group, 4 of you will have the opportunity to join him."
The eyes of all the young men suddenly brightened as shivers ran through their bodies.
Throughout their youth, they had been lulled by the stories of famous mercenary groups. Their greatest dream was to become renowned mercenaries and enjoy a thrilling life.
Indeed, in this world as in reality, mercenaries had an extremely lucrative career, but the risks were also much higher than those of ordinary soldiers.
Unlike soldiers, who would only go to the battlefield a few times in their lives, mercenaries went out into the field at least once a month.
This also meant that mercenaries were far more powerful and elitist than regular army soldiers.
And this was reflected in the legends handed down in these small villages.
However, they were generally far less equipped in Eternity, as maintenance was far too expensive, logistics were costly and the group's speed of movement was affected by the heavy armor.
So one-on-one, the mercenaries didn't have much of an advantage. Where the mercenaries had the upper hand was in their flexibility and ability to react in any situation.
"Hello everyone, my name is Maxime. If you'd like to join my mercenary group, you can, only the first month will be a trial period. At the end of it, if you can't meet my requirements then I'll kick you out myself."
Seeing the anticipation in the young villagers' eyes, Maxime nodded with satisfaction.
"Meet me tomorrow at sunrise outside the village gate. Oh, and bring some wood chopping supplies and sturdy ropes too."
Most nodded in response, but one stepped forward and looked intensely at Maxime with a trace of hostility.
The latter had hair as red as fire, and a physique already worthy of a mercenary.
"Do you have a question?" asked Maxime with a smile, pretending to ignore the other party's provocation.
"I've also always wanted to start my own mercenary group, unfortunately I've never had the money for it."
"So what?"
"At the end of this training, and if I'm able to defeat you in a duel, would you let me take the place of leader as is customary?"
"Of course," replied Maxime with an even more intense smile.
"My name is Andrew.
"Pleased to meet you Andrew, my name's Maxime, but you'll call me chief until the training's over."
"I wouldn't call you by that name for long, Chief," Andrew said defiantly, extending his handshake to Maxime.
"I look forward to the day then Andrew." replied Maxime still smiling as he took his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.
The two looked at each other intensely for a few seconds as if they were going to fight in the next second, making the other 7 apprentices break out into a cold sweat.
But finally they parted as if nothing had happened.
Andrew quickly left, followed by the other 7 apprentices as they helped the other villagers carry away the corpses and clean up the village entrance.
"I really did the right thing by taking the swordsmanship class, otherwise I really could have lost this duel of physical strength, not to mention the one to come," Maxime thought silently.
Indeed, their first confrontation had begun as soon as they shook hands, and Maxime had a slight advantage for the moment.
"Ohohoh, how exciting youth is!" exclaimed the old man still standing there.
Maxime shook his head wryly and set off to help the other villagers too. He had no choice, after all, there was no hotel here, so he could only curry favor with the villagers, and hope to sleep in one of their homes tonight.
Time passed quickly, and the sun gave way to the moon.
In the center of the village, all the corpses were gathered into a single pile.
All around were the villagers, men, women and children. Most had a torch in hand, lighting up scowling faces.
The mood was at its lowest, as Maxime stood among them.
"The situation is catastrophic. Of the 103 men who took part in the battle, 32 were killed instantly, 21 were seriously wounded. Life and death are still unknown," Maxime thought, frowning.
"Obviously what led to this result was the difference in mentality between the thieves and the villagers, but mostly thanks to the thieves' teamwork as well as the overwhelming difference in equipment. What were these people even thinking with just a saucepan in their hand?" sighed Maxime discreetly.
But no one imagined that it would really end in a bloodbath - after all, the thieves had been coming for years to claim their "protection tax".
Soon the old man arrived at the corpses with a torch in his hand.
He wasn't a priest or a good mayor, he was simply a retired soldier.
So he said nothing, just let his torch ignite the first corpse.
Soon an hour passed, and the whole small mountain was ablaze.
In his boredom, Maxime watched everyone's expressions.
To his surprise, he could see Andrew with his fists clenched but his head still upright. Other of his future mercenary apprentices also had their fists clenched, others had their heads bowed, while little drops of water could be seen from time to time falling to the ground, others had their heads straight with eyes filled with hatred.
The latter raised Maxime's eyebrows. As much as these hate-filled people didn't lack courage and motivation, they were uncontrollable factors.
According to his own research, these were things to be extremely careful about.
He could have known exactly how to deal with them if he'd had extra lessons on Eternity from experts, but unfortunately he didn't have the money to take these courses, which were outside the school curriculum.
Another hour passed quickly, and with the corpses almost completely cremated, the square was gradually deserted, causing Maxime to panic slightly.
He wanted to approach some villagers to ask them to put him up temporarily, but the gloomy atmosphere blocked him mentally.
But his savior soon arrived.
"Maxime, is it? Don't you have anywhere to sleep?" the old man asked kindly.
"Well, that's the current situation," Maxime replied, slightly embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it, this old man's house has been stained by loneliness for far too long, a little human warmth won't do him any harm" declared the old man with a little chagrin.
"I'll depend on you then," Maxime thanked with a smile.
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