"Thank you, then I'll trouble you to take me to the secret room."
The young girl led Li Xi to the back of the shop. There were three secret rooms here. She pushed open a stone door, and the room inside was only the size of one room, with mysterious patterns carved on the floor.
"Sir, the room is equipped with a magic array to ensure your safety. All you need to do is tear open the scroll when you use it."
"Thank you," Li Xi thanked again.
"Then I won't disturb you, sir."
After closing the door, the young girl did not return to the front shop but went directly to the second room. The furnishings inside were the same as Li Xi's room, but there was an old mage meditating.
The young girl stood respectfully.
"Master, another one has arrived. He is currently receiving knowledge inheritance in the next room."
The old mage took out a crystal ball from a ring on his finger and tapped it lightly. The crystal ball seemed to have cleared away the mist, revealing an image. The image showed Li Xi, who was receiving knowledge inheritance in the next room.
From the crystal ball, it could be seen that Li Xi had torn open the scroll, and a golden light shot out from it. Li Xi, unable to dodge in time, was hit directly between the eyebrows. Li Xi, who could previously act autonomously, instantly seemed to lose his mind and fell into a coma.
At the same time, the patterns on the floor of Li Xi's room lit up with a faint glow, as if protecting Li Xi during his inheritance.
The young girl, who did not know when, took out an hourglass and, when Li Xi fell into a coma, turned it upside down. The sand in the hourglass slowly flowed down.
In the blink of an eye, one-third of the sand had flowed down. The young girl looked at Li Xi, who was still in a coma in the crystal ball, and said to the old mage, "Master, we've already looked at hundreds of people. We've tried everyone whose name is known in Kado City. If there's no suitable candidate, what should we do?"
The old mage stared intently at the crystal ball, his expression unchanged. "If there isn't, keep looking. The person we need is rare, but not non-existent."
The hourglass continued to flow. When it reached the halfway point, Li Xi in the crystal ball opened his eyes and was happily looking around.
The old mage and his disciple, who were monitoring him, had the same expression.
The old mage's expression was no longer calm. He burst into laughter, looking at Li Xi as if he were a rare treasure. "I finally found him, I finally found him."
After laughing for a moment, he quickly stopped and anxiously said to the young girl, "Lisa, go and probe him. See what he means."
The young girl, Lisa, happily walked out of the stone door, quickly put away the expression on her face, and resumed her professional smile, waiting for Li Xi to open the door.
A few seconds later, Li Xi opened the door and saw the young girl waiting outside. "I'm sorry, I don't know how long it took. Thank you for your trouble."
Lisa waved her hand. "This is what we should do. Besides, sir didn't take much time. Previous guests who received inheritances didn't take as long as you. Your strength must be very high."
Li Xi quickly shook his head. "I'm just an F-class rookie mercenary, not worth mentioning."
"Since the inheritance is over, I'll be going. Thank you again for your help."
Hearing that Li Xi was leaving, the young girl Lisa became a little anxious. Her mind raced, and she quickly came up with an idea. "Since sir is a mercenary, you must need good equipment. Our shop happens to have some good leather armor and cloth armor. I'll get them out for you to see."
Lisa's enthusiasm made Li Xi feel like he was being strong-armed into buying things under the guise of freebies, as he had experienced on the streets in his past life. He couldn't guarantee that there wouldn't be any scams in this other world.
"No, no, I can't afford it. Even the money for this knowledge inheritance scroll took me a long time to save up. I even sold my house to scrape it together."
Fearing that Li Xi would run away, Lisa stepped forward and grabbed Li Xi's arm, placing it on her chest. Amidst the softness, Li Xi half-heartedly went to the counter where the equipment was displayed.
Lisa took out a set of red leather armor painted with magic patterns in white paint. "This set of leather armor is made from the hide of a level two magical beast and is personally enchanted by Master Monke, with an added defensive magic array, making its defense comparable to heavy armor of the same level, while weighing only one-tenth of heavy armor."
After introducing it, Lisa looked at Li Xi. "How is it, is it good?"
Li Xi nodded awkwardly. The leather armor was good, but the price was probably even better.
"I really don't have money. I can't afford such good equipment. I think I shouldn't waste your time. I'll be leaving now."
Seeing Li Xi about to leave again, Lisa quickly grabbed Li Xi's hand again. The soft touch made Li Xi's heart flutter, and he stopped again.
"I haven't even told you the price yet, why are you in such a hurry? Besides, we don't necessarily have to pay in full. To reward our old customers, installment payments are also possible."
Li Xi looked at the salesgirl in disbelief, wanting to ask her if she was so desperate for a commission at the end of the month. A mere F-class mercenary like himself, and she dared to sell him such good equipment on installments. Wasn't she afraid of being sold to a brothel by her boss to settle the debt if he ran off?
"Then the price..."
"The price is negotiable. Originally, this set of equipment was to be sold for 20 gold coins. If sir really wants it, you can pay a little upfront, and we can allow you to pay slowly later."
Li Xi still shook his head awkwardly. "I really don't have money. I only have two silver coins on me, and that's my meal money for the next few days."
Lisa held Li Xi's hand and looked at him pitifully. Li Xi looked back with a sincere gaze, indicating that he truly had no money. The two of them competed, and finally, Lisa gave in.
"I can let you pay one silver coin first, and then you have to bring the money every week."
"Well... it'll be 5 silver coins a week."
Li Xi's expression was one of joyous tears upon hearing that he could buy it for one silver coin. He grabbed Lisa's hands as if she were his savior, and seized the opportunity to caress them excessively.
"Thank you so much. I promise to bring the money on time every week."
Saying that, he took out a silver coin from his pocket and placed it on the counter, then picked up the equipment and was about to run.
But Lisa stopped Li Xi again and took out a piece of paper. "Sir, you need to leave your information and write an IOU, so if you run away, I'll know where to find you. I also need to register the information of your mercenary badge. If I can't find you at home, I'll go directly to the Mercenary Guild."
"Haha, I was negligent."
Li Xi wrote down his name, address, and the IOU, and also asked Lisa to keep a copy of his mercenary badge before leaving with the equipment.
Lisa carefully read the information Li Xi had registered. The old mage appeared behind her and glanced at Li Xi's information.
"Lisa, you did well. Once he takes our equipment, we won't have to worry about him not falling for the trap."
Lisa once again became respectful, a stark contrast to her coquettish and flirtatious demeanor in front of Li Xi. "Then, Master, when do you plan to make your move?"
The old mage looked in the direction Li Xi had left, his gaze drifting somewhere. "No rush. Let him enjoy himself for a few more days."
After leaving 'Monke's Magic Hut', Li Xi naturally knew that something was amiss, but who could resist such a tempting bait? Equipment worth 20 gold coins, and enchanted at that, for the price of one silver coin. Normally, one silver coin wouldn't even be enough to buy a small button on the leather armor.
Such a good deal, he had to take it even if it was poisoned. Besides, paying five silver coins a week in installments was not unaffordable.
The joy of obtaining this equipment instantly surpassed the happiness of receiving the knowledge inheritance.
Although the knowledge inherited was common and held no secrets, it was sufficient for Li Xi at the moment.
This knowledge allowed Li Xi to understand the current professional level divisions on the continent.
Taking mages as an example, from the lowest-level magic apprentice, low-level mage, mid-level mage, high-level mage, magus, archmage, great archmage, and then further up to saint, demigod. Mortals at this level had basically reached their limit, because beyond that was the realm of gods, and no new gods had been born on the continent for tens of thousands of years.
Other professions were basically divided into 9 levels, similar to mages, with different names.
As for Li Xi's current level, he himself couldn't say. He could be considered low-level or mid-level, and he could hold his own against high-level for a few rounds.
But if divided by ninja levels, Li Xi was currently a genin.
As for the continental power structure, human forces were the largest. Among them, the kingdom was not the strongest, but the Holy Church of Light had the greatest influence, much like in Europe on Earth. In this other world, the concept of divine right of kings prevailed. The succession of a king required the approval of the bishop of Light to be considered legitimate. The influence of other deities was weaker than that of the Holy Church of Light.
On the continent, besides humans, there were also elves and orcs, which were large races in the second tier.
Dwarves, berserkers, barbarians, ogres, goblins, gnolls, and so on were in the third tier and below.
As for powerful and rare dragon clans and other magical beast families, they could only be considered individual powerhouses, as they did not establish political entities and thus could not be classified as forces.
As for other planes, the main plane was like the sun in the solar system, and the other planes were like planets revolving around the sun, countless in number, large and small.
There were many known planes. Some were transformed into divine realms by gods, some were taken in by major forces as their backyards, and some were occupied by powerhouses. There were even more unknown and undisclosed ones.
In short, might makes right.
As for the Abyss, it did not revolve around the main plane but was its opposite.
The Abyss was composed of countless planes, with the saying "bottomless abyss." There were seven to eight hundred layers that had been explored, and the rulers of each layer were different. If you had a strong fist, you called the shots.
The invasion of the main world by the Abyss during the current chaotic era was only initiated by the first hundred layers of the Abyss. The strength of these first hundred layers might not even account for one-tenth of the Abyss's total strength, yet they almost collapsed the main plane, which showed the formidable power of the Abyss.
Having roughly understood the information about this other world, Li Xi had also arrived home.
Upon returning home, he eagerly put on his new equipment. The set of fiery red armor accentuated Li Xi's tall stature, and even his slightly dark face appeared spirited.
Thus, his equipment had been updated, and his strength had increased. "It's time to take on new missions."
Li Xi had already chosen a mission. He packed some dried meat from a restaurant and a bamboo tube of water, and quickly headed to the mercenary hall.
He first greeted Ais, who was registering new mercenaries, and then walked towards the E-rank mission room.
Before he reached it, he heard other mercenaries discussing.
"I heard that the mission for the great merchant Belos was completed by an F-class mercenary. It involved that thing, and more than twenty mercenaries died, most of them being good E-class fighters."
"I heard it was more than 20, rumors say over 40. In the end, that thing completely degenerated, and Ais had to rush over to purify it."
"I think that F-class mercenary is probably from some family on a training expedition. Just watch, his mercenary level will soon reach B-rank, and he'll leave our Kado City."
"There's no use envying this kind of thing. It's just that they have good luck and were born into a big family. We still need to be careful. If we encounter that thing one day, we won't even know how we died."