When Aige settled down to "grind levels," he became calm and efficient. Rather than mechanically going through the motions, he constantly adjusted his patterns of behavior to achieve maximum efficiency. Even other so-called top experts might not have done any better in this respect... As a god-tier Rogue player in his previous life, he had absolute confidence in that.
By the time he was forced out of that state, he had slaughtered every last Kobold in the outer area. He now stood at the entrance to the mine...
The moonlight was dim that night. It was nowhere near the fifteenth of the month, and the moon, like a bashful maiden, half hid its face behind a pipa, leaving the area shrouded in gloom. As a Warcraft Mage, he still had an advantage over ordinary people; at the very least, his eyesight was definitely good. That was the fundamental reason he had been able to stay in grinding mode until now... After all, most combatants who had studied magic had different eyes.
This did not refer to intangible things like killing intent or an overbearing aura. Their pupils alone were much brighter than those of ordinary people. Particularly formidable individuals had an obvious magical radiance in their eyes, beautiful but also a sign of power... Young Master Ai had not reached that level, but he was still a Mage of sorts, so naturally he had similar features.
His grinding over the past few hours had produced excellent results. He had killed quite a few Kobolds caught alone outside, and his haul was substantial: more than a hundred copper coins altogether and plenty of linen cloth. Even better, he had discovered that for every three Kobolds he killed, at least one would drop Arcane Dust. He had now accumulated 140 units of Arcane Dust in total. If he wanted to craft cards, he already had enough for at least seven common cards. An excellent haul!
It was probably a little after eight in the evening by now. If he did not find somewhere to stay soon, he really would have to sleep in the wilderness. Sleeping outside was not a big deal in itself, but doing so on the outskirts of a relatively dangerous mine would definitely be unpleasant. With that in mind, he decided to swallow his pride and ask to spend the night at Hall Farm. Even if he did not receive first-class treatment, it would still be a little safer there, wouldn't it?
Women outnumbered men at Hall Farm. There were plenty of women, or rather **, but not many men. That was hardly worth mentioning in an era ravaged by war, when any reasonably strong man could be pressed into service as cannon fodder on the battlefield!
Hall Farm was much the same. Two generations of farm owners had gone off to war for the same reason and never returned. The previous owner had left behind a wife and child, and the wife was now the one keeping things going. Fortunately, as her beauty faded with age, her child had gradually grown up. But as it happened, he disliked taking responsibility for the farm and refused to grow old and die there, always longing instead for the colorful life outside. This gave the woman, who knew all too well how hard life was, no end of headaches. In her view, only with a man in the house could they avoid being bullied by others...
It was a huge farm. Aige did not know just how large, but in any case, he could not see the end of it. The main crop was wheat, though other grains and crops such as corn, sorghum and beans were also very common. Scarecrows stood conspicuously throughout the vast fields, often draped in rags and fitted with wind chimes that rattled in the breeze to scare off "thieves" such as birds and small animals.
Perhaps for convenience, the farm owner's houses-four or five of them-stood right in the middle of the fields. There were also some large round warehouses clearly used to store grain... That was Aige's destination. If he was lucky enough to meet a hospitable farming family, he might get a hot meal and even a comfortable bed where he could rest and recover. If he was unlucky, that was fine too. People came and went here, so finding a secluded spot to curl up for the night would at least be much safer than staying out in the dangerous wilderness.
With no need to fight, it was inappropriate for the two Wisps and the Goldshire Footman to follow him, so of course they had to remain on standby in Hero Space. The Goldshire Footman, however, would definitely not live to see tomorrow's sunrise. At precisely six in the morning, the power of the laws would make him disappear... That was also why Young Master Ai had suddenly felt inclined to grind levels. He had to squeeze out some of the Footman's remaining value, didn't he?
This house was the tallest and largest in the area, undoubtedly the owner's residence. Aige was an outsider, and even if he only intended to curl up somewhere nearby for the night like a vagrant, he had to greet the owner first, no matter what... Otherwise, even if the owner agreed, the family's dogs would not!
He scratched his head in dismay. Two imposing sheepdogs had stopped him outside the building. He could not simply go "pew" and fire a fireball at them, either. These were fine sheepdogs of superior pedigree, faithfully doing their jobs; he had no reason to kill them on a whim, did he? Besides, he had come looking for a place to stay, not trouble. Hitting the dogs would be easy, but if he offended their owner for no reason, he probably would not even be allowed to sleep here like a vagrant.
Fortunately, the two sheepdogs did not threaten him unduly. They merely kept him a certain distance from the house, and seeing that he was cooperating, they were not overly vicious. They were obviously well-trained guard dogs. Young Master Ai did not have to wait much longer. A door creaked open, and a young man poked his head out. Seeing that Aige was alone and reasonably well dressed, he quickly called off the barking sheepdogs and asked, "Who are you? What brings you to Hall Farm?"
Aige was not particularly bad at dealing with people. On the contrary, having weathered the great melting pot of later times, he was fairly tactful. Otherwise, how could he have survived in that society?
"Hello! Are you the owner of Hall Farm? I'm an apprentice Mage and adventurer passing through. Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to find shelter for the night. As you know, all kinds of wild creatures come out at night, so it's rather dangerous."
"Huh? You're a noble Mage, sir? Please, come in!" The young man gazed at Aige with stars in his eyes, putting a certain young master under immense pressure. Still, finding a place to sleep did not look like it would be difficult.
"My name is Shat Hall. Welcome, Mage Aige. Please allow our farm to offer you its hospitality... Mother, we have an honored guest!" The young man walked inside with Aige, calling loudly as they went.
Before long, two women came out to greet them. One was an elderly grandmother, while the other was somewhat younger and prettier, though the years had still left their marks on her face...
"Child, who's here?"
"Mother, this is Mage Aige. He was passing by our farm on his adventure and would like to stay the night!" Shat introduced him to them.
"Please allow me to correct you. I'm only an apprentice Mage, so please don't call me 'Mage, sir.' I really don't deserve it!" Aige hurriedly explained. It was the truth, after all: he was an apprentice Mage, and addressing him as a full Mage without further thought was rather inappropriate.
On the Azeroth Continent, combatants had clearly defined ranks. Taking magical professions as an example, they could be broadly divided into ten ranks. Although level did not necessarily represent actual fighting strength, it was still a useful reference.
Broadly speaking, those below level ten-that is, levels zero through nine-were called apprentice Mages, or Mage apprentices. Levels ten through nineteen were junior Mages, twenty through twenty-nine intermediate Mages, thirty through thirty-nine senior Mages, forty through forty-nine magisters, fifty through fifty-nine Archmages, sixty through sixty-nine grand Archmages, seventy through seventy-nine Mage Saints, and eighty through eighty-nine Mage Gods. Those at levels ninety through ninety-nine already possessed domains and were collectively known as demigods... As for anything higher, no one in history had ever reached it, so perhaps they became gods?
The corresponding ranks for melee Warriors were roughly similar:
Those below level ten-that is, levels zero through nine-were called swordsman apprentices. Levels ten through nineteen were junior swordsmen, twenty through twenty-nine intermediate swordsmen, thirty through thirty-nine senior swordsmen, forty through forty-nine sword adepts, fifty through fifty-nine sword masters, sixty through sixty-nine grand sword masters, seventy through seventy-nine Sword Saints, and eighty through eighty-nine Gods of War... After that, different paths led to the same destination: those at levels ninety through ninety-nine were likewise called demigods.
One point had to be stressed: level did not represent absolute strength. Generally speaking, magical professions were stronger than melee professions at the same level, and the lower the level, the more obvious this was. For example, many apprentice Mages could even defeat junior swordsmen one-on-one, and taking down several in a group battle was not impossible. The rarity of magical professions and the inherent advantages of their fighting style also made them extremely popular...
This was especially true among ordinary people. They did not understand strength and were nowhere near that level themselves, so they could only make rough guesses based on appearances. Because magical professions were so strong at low levels, they had the mistaken impression that Mages were always formidable.
In reality, once they reached level forty and above-that is, the magister and sword adept stage-this professional advantage was hardly apparent. In a duel, the two sides had an even chance of winning, though Mages still enjoyed a certain advantage in group battles...
From the Archmage rank onward, the gap between the two was very small and no longer obvious. Apart from their fighting styles, the strength they displayed was basically comparable in other respects... But to put it another way, Mages would never be at a disadvantage against melee professions.
This world had a strict hierarchy. Everyone had corresponding rights, and with those came corresponding obligations.
Aige was only level eight, making him an apprentice Mage by that classification. It was highly inappropriate to be treated as a full Mage. If a higher-ranked Mage had been present, Aige might well have been reprimanded, so there was no need to seek such empty prestige...
But Aige's actual fighting strength could not be represented by a mere level eight. He simply did not want to give anyone grounds for criticism. There was no need for that!