Chapter 21: Wild Wolf

  When Johnny was once again caught in the cycle of life and death, others in this city also had their own troubles.

  For Astrid, the story of heroes adventuring in the underground city had stalled, a daily update suddenly becoming an abyss of one update per N days. For the Smiths, their son left home to work again after a brief reunion, though they were in the same city, they couldn't meet every day. For Count Darius, the trade route was attacked once more.

  This time, the raid left no survivors, as reported by another merchant caravan. They saw on the highway to Tabriz, smoldering wagons still emitting black smoke, and a row of corpses neatly arranged on the ground. There were also heads neatly arranged next to the bodies.

  The troops who went to the scene for investigation came back and reported that all the goods on the vehicle were burned to ashes, only the money and valuables on the bodies were taken away, it can be confirmed that this crime was not committed by any monster in the forest.

  Murder and beheading, robbery and abandonment of goods - these are indeed not things that monsters can do. Is it possible that there are bandits lurking around Tabriz?

  It's not enough to make the earl worried. After all, governing the territory for decades, such a small matter is strange, but it doesn't hurt the overall situation. The merchant team will come as usual, and the business tax will be collected as usual. As long as the case is solved quickly and the bandits are eliminated, everything will return to its original state.

  Aisatis and several of his quick-witted subordinates were sent to scout out the forest.

  Three days later, the scouting party did not return. But bad news came - the sentry on the castle discovered a distant black smoke rising, and half a day later, a merchant caravan brought news: On the trade route, they saw burned goods and wagons, a row of corpses, and a row of heads next to the bodies.

  The Earl himself led the team on an inspection tour this time. The problem seems more serious than imagined.

  Goods were burned, property was looted, and the merchant group of thirty people had apparently fought back, but they only had fatal injuries, indicating that their opponents were too strong. Several people were stabbed to death from behind with sharp objects, with small wounds all in vital areas, indicating that the enemy included wandering bandits or even professional assassins.

  This is absolutely not the strength that ordinary robbers can have.

  The bodies were collected, and the road was cleared. The Earl returned to his castle with a puzzled expression.

  Two days later, Aisatis returned with a broken arrow on his shoulder and bloodstains all over his body. His face, which always wore a smile, was now covered in frost. After Gandowa treated his wounds, Aisatis immediately went to the earl's study.

  "Black armor, wolf-shaped emblem?" Earl Delras stood up suddenly, looking at Eisatis in surprise.

  "Yes, my lord. Those five individuals are not strong individually, but they work together seamlessly and fearlessly. Their armor is extremely well-made, each equipped with a light crossbow, absolutely impossible to be ordinary mountain bandits. I originally intended to eliminate the five of them to gather some information, but our soldiers' arrows were unable to cause sufficient damage to them after their armor, resulting in being killed one by one when they closed in. I fought and retreated, ultimately getting shot by an arrow, and had no choice but to return and report." Eisatis said with his head bowed.

  "Wolf-shaped mark, wolf-shaped mark......" Earl Dallas muttered to himself, his face looking very unsightly.

  "Who on earth is it? Who hired the Wolf Mercenaries to oppose me?"

  There are two types of mercenary groups. One type is registered with the Mercenary Union and specializes in taking on missions as a collective. The other type operates outside of the Mercenary Union, disdaining adventure tasks and specializing in warfare.

  The wolf is the latter.

  Strictly speaking, the Wild Wolves are not a mercenary group that can be counted among the top on the continent, but they are absolutely a well-known group in the southern part of the empire. The noble lords do not know how the Wild Wolves rose to prominence, but everyone likes to use them. As long as you can afford it, as long as you give them half of the spoils of war, the Wild Wolves will be your loyal fangs and claws, swords and shields.

  Of course, business isn't that easy to do. There was once a lord who wanted to default on his debt after the war, and then...and then nobody ever heard from that family again.

  The wolf is like a real wolf. As long as there's meat, everything goes smoothly. If you don't want to give it meat, then take matters into your own hands and work hard to feed yourself.

  However, it's comforting for various lords that wild wolves will never play the role of bandits. Otherwise, with their combat strength, robbing anyone would be a disaster.

  The pair of green eyes of the wild wolf are now staring at Tabriz City.

  This is the true distress of the earl. They have never been defeated.

  The threat of war is near, but first we must solve the problem at hand. If these raids continue, Tabriz will lose a lot of money and its relations with major trade unions that have been established over the years. By then, there will be no need for enemies to attack, Tabriz itself will collapse.

  The Earl's army was scattered from the city of Tabriz to the southern border of the territory, in groups of twenty, not far apart, and set up outposts. Whether it was a monster or a wild wolf, even if the Temple Knights of the Sun God came, they would have to pay a price even if they could kill the soldiers.

  Fortunately, it's just an earl's territory, and the place is only that big, otherwise it would be even more troublesome.

  The business route has returned to peace. The bandits only take people's money and property, and there is no need to fight so desperately.

  Two months have passed, and the war has yet to come. As if nothing had happened, the city of Tabriz returned to calmness, caravans came and went, leaving behind wealth and goods, bringing prosperity and information - The Southern Elf Dwarf Alliance invaded human territory, and both sides engaged in a tug-of-war on this side of the human border.

  But that has nothing to do with the people of Tabriz, it's just a distant play, adding a touch of decoration to a boring life.

  For Jony, two months of torture were finally going to pay off.

  He is going to take an examination for a qualification.

  The training for offense was just as dull as defense, with countless repetitions of uppercuts, horizontal chops and thrusts every day. The only difference was that Odara would occasionally teach some practical combat skills, such as how to defend against counterattacks, how to strike after being attacked, and how to fight one-on-one versus in a group. Every five days, Odara would accompany Johnny in repeatedly practicing these routine movements, which made Johnny feel a hint of warmth from his teacher.

  As for the muscle tear and this morning's treatment, he didn't take it seriously at all.

  "My god, no wonder warriors in games have high endurance. They must be trained like this!" Johnny sighed bitterly on his bed more than once.

  After two months of training, Joanie has mastered the use of dual-handed greatswords with ease. It's not quite like an extension of her arm, but it's still very much like writing with a pen.

  Offense and defense are both ready, then go verify it.

  "I'm here for the warrior level assessment, cross-level test." Joanie handed her warrior level certificate to the front desk receptionist. Four months hadn't changed him, still that big fellow.

  "Grade Five Warrior Joni Smith? Second room on the right at the second floor." The big man glanced at the certificate and handed it back to Joni.

  Johnny arrived at the place, pushed open the door, and it was a small office. A thin young man sat behind the desk.

  "Are you here for an assessment?" The young man was very polite.

  "Yes, I'm here for the seventh-level warrior exam." Johnny handed over the certificate.

  "Please wait a moment, sit over there and rest for a while." The young man stood up, very politely asked Johnny to sit down, then took the certificate and went out.

  "Light footsteps, slender build, is this a warrior? Oh, maybe it's just an ordinary person hired by the guild, that makes sense, how could a normal warrior stand the boredom of sitting in an office?" Joanie thought to herself.

  Before long, the young man returned: "Sorry for keeping you waiting, please follow me. Your opponent has been arranged."

  Is this a fight? This is his first time fighting one-on-one, well, not with someone who's not level 12. He feels a mix of excitement and nervousness in his heart. But thinking about the four months he's worked hard, he suddenly fills up with confidence. Thinking back to those novels from before, those awesome protagonists, they can cultivate an unparalleled divine skill in just two or three months, so four months of bitter practice should make him a high-level expert, right?

  If O'Dala knew what Jony was thinking, he would have given him a head-butt first and then scolded him. What a joke, four months, which little brat in the north wasn't trained like this since childhood?

  It's a fact that can be quite a blow, fortunately Joni doesn't know about it.

  He followed the young man, just entering the arena of the Warrior's Guild. There, his opponent was waiting for him.