Chapter 49: The Task Named 'Cerberus'

Due to Aunt Shu's enthusiastic hospitality and taking a day off, Bing Zhiye and his group did not return to the dormitory to sleep. Instead, they bought black beer at Aunt Shu's house and partied until the early hours of the morning, eventually falling asleep on the floor.

The next day, Dafinke met Sophina in front of the office building and was stopped by her.

"Is everything settled?"

"No, they didn't move yesterday." Seeing that Sophina still looked angry, Dafinke felt a bit uneasy: "Captain, don't be angry about what happened yesterday. It was just my mouth, I couldn't speak well. I apologize, don't be mad at me."

"Hmph." Sophina glanced at him and went into the building.

Dafinke shivered and sighed, "I was just telling the truth!"

"It's just that you told the truth at the wrong time." Hab pushed him: "Come on, it's time to get to work."

In the morning, Bing Zhiye attended a class on illusions, a cooking class, a spatial magic class, and a practical combat class. There is an ancient saying, "broad and profound," which Bing Zhiye firmly believed. He thought that being well-versed made one more knowledgeable, and being proficient made one more profound. All great masters were well-versed. Therefore, although he specialized in ice magic, he also learned other areas, even hobbies like painting and fishing. He knew that to go further in any field, one needed a different way of thinking. However, he noticed that there were very few people in class today.

After class, they naturally prepared to return to the dormitory and then go to eat, but Luo and Wayne stopped them, saying not to eat yet and to go to the mercenary guild first. It turned out that the location for the practical exam a few days later had been announced. They had spent the whole morning in the library researching the place and were eager to quickly go to the mercenary guild to take on the corresponding tasks before others got them.

Of course, the college also had a branch of the mercenary guild, my0037 being the code for this branch. The mercenary guild was not far from the World Bank, the Magic Guild, and the college's trading center, all in the same area. This place was one of the places students often visited, where they would take on simple repair tasks or manufacturing tasks. The people working in these guilds were mostly teachers from the college.

When Bing Zhiye, Carol, Luo, Wayne, and their agreed-upon companions, Conelia and Irina, arrived, the place was already crowded, and the mercenary guild was packed. These people were all there to snatch tasks or buy better equipment and items. In short, every place was full of people.

Conelia, seeing the overwhelming crowd, was a bit intimidated: "Luo, let's come back later. There are too many people now."

"No, it's already late enough," Luo and Wayne said simultaneously: "If we wait any longer, there won't be any good tasks left, or even any tasks at all."

Irina said anxiously, "But how can we get in? The door of the mercenary guild is almost bursting."

Carol said, "Let's go to the mercenary guild outside the college."

Luo slapped his head, "How stupid of me, let's go, let's go."

The group quickly went to the teleportation array outside the college, but even after searching several mercenary guilds, they were all crowded. Fortunately, the capital, Thebes, was large, and there were many mercenary guilds. They finally found one that wasn't very crowded in a distant district from the college.

The guild was large, but there weren't many people taking or submitting tasks, only a few dozen. However, the staff was numerous and busy. The mercenary guild's tasks were divided into regional, national, and global types. Regional tasks were further divided into provincial, city, and guild-specific tasks. These tasks were recorded on memory stones powered by magic and connected to each other, constantly updating. Therefore, the guilds usually had more than five memory stone boards to record various types of tasks.

Because the nature of the tasks was different, the fees for posting tasks also varied. For example, a global single task had to be connected to the memory stones of all mercenary guilds worldwide, requiring powerful magic to post and receive information. This required high-level magic crystals, usually level three or above, which could last for a long time.

The memory stones, supported by spatial magic arrays, emitted special magical energy that recorded information on other memory stones supported by the same spatial magic array, but not on other memory stones. These spatial magic arrays also had different configurations, allowing the addition of secret phrases, similar to making marks. Only memory stones with the same marks would record corresponding magical energy, preventing the mixing of global, national, and regional tasks on the same board.

Due to this special property, many urgent military orders could be transmitted during battles. However, a few hundred years ago, there was no such convenient spatial magic technology, and mercenary guild tasks could only be conveyed through ordinary paper. Military orders during battles often could not be delivered on time. The person who pioneered this groundbreaking spatial magic was the first spatial mage, Kmiel Sen Dalenpei, whose name was even more revered than some great mages.

The group looked at the information flashing on the stone boards on both walls. These memory stone boards had a large memory capacity, easily recording information for tens of thousands of tasks. They flipped every minute, displaying the task lists in sequence. Only the global and national boards flashed less frequently, often repeating the same tasks.

"A-level, C-level, B-level, E-level..." Luo and Irina diligently searched the city boards for tasks suitable for their destination, while Wayne and Conelia looked at the guild-specific tasks. Carol glanced at the provincial tasks and then went to ask the guild staff if there were any suitable tasks for them.

The level of tasks was not determined by the region's hierarchy. Regional tasks could be high-level, and national tasks could be relatively low-level. However, no one would be foolish enough to spend a fortune to post a B-level task. Therefore, the higher the level of the task, the more likely it would be on the national or global boards.

In large city mercenary guilds, there was a special board listing all S-level and above tasks, recorded on a separate memory stone. Bing Zhiye glanced over and saw that there were only 46 S-level and above tasks, three of which were SSS-level tasks, special national war tasks with no limit on the number of people or attempts. The other 43 S and SS-level tasks, though, were ignored by the guild's mercenaries.

"Heh, kids, these tasks aren't for you." A middle-aged man with a large axe walked up to Bing Zhiye and said, "These tasks are strictly evaluated, and only S-level or higher mercenaries or mercenary groups can take them. Taking them would mean certain death! Hehehe..."

The middle-aged man's laugh was terrifying, but he was telling the truth. S-level tasks, while not necessarily indicating individual strength, required significant power to accumulate enough guild points to take on higher-level tasks. This meant they had to continuously take on tasks suitable for their mercenary level to gain higher points.

The higher the mercenary level, the more exponentially the points required increased. Mercenaries who reached B or A levels had undoubtedly experienced countless dangers and completed countless difficult tasks to achieve their current mercenary levels. These people were experienced, trained, and powerful, and could not be weak.

From the entry-level F to D-level mercenaries, the advancement was relatively easier. For example, Irina, who started doing mercenary tasks at eight or nine years old, spent five years accumulating 8,000 points to upgrade to D-level. To advance from D to C-level, one needed 94,000 points. If one only did relatively easy E-level tasks, which only gave a few dozen to a hundred points, it would be nearly impossible to reach C-level. D-level tasks generally gave several hundred to a thousand points, making it easier to advance, but these tasks were very difficult and required significant strength. Therefore, no one without strength could reach S-level.

The middle-aged man's voice drew the attention of Conelia, Luo, and the others, who were focused on the stone boards: "Hey, Bing Zhiye, don't waste time looking at those mirages. Let's find some tasks suitable for us."

Irina also looked at the top-level task board and exclaimed, "Ah! Look at this task, it was posted 130 years ago and hasn't been canceled yet?"

Luo was also surprised, "Yeah, 130 years. Is the person who posted the task still alive?"

The middle-aged man chuckled, "You students know nothing. High-difficulty tasks can drag on for decades or even centuries. If the previous generation dies, the next generation can continue."

"Uh... the next generation!" The group was amazed.

"SS-level," Wayne read the task's details: "Find a fifty-headed Cerberus and bring it back alive."

"F-f-f-fifty-headed Cerberus!" Luo was shocked.

Even the reserved Conelia exclaimed, "A fifty-headed Cerberus, does it exist?"

The middle-aged man smiled, "Who knows? The person who posted the task is willing to pay so much, so the guild won't miss out on the money."

Wayne, seeing their shocked faces, was puzzled, "What is a Cerberus? It sounds like some kind of magical beast."

Irina sighed, "A truly hopeless and incurable guy."

"The Cerberus is the legendary three-headed dog that guards the gates of hell!" the middle-aged man said.

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