Mercenary Wars

Chapter 220 Secondary Enlightenment Solution
Enlightening compound.

Among the same grade of compound medicines, Qidi Compound is among the most expensive.

This is certainly because the Enlightenment Elixir requires four types of Forget-Me-Not plants as ingredients, but more importantly, the Enlightenment Elixir is also very powerful.

It has a chance to grant one a holy name.

Or rather, it has a chance to level up.

Gaucano had always harbored doubts about this.

After all, apart from Enlightenment Mixture, it seems that very few medicines have effects that are presented in a probabilistic form.

However, regardless of the price, a bottle of Lesser Enlightenment Elixir usually costs more than 500 gold coins, and sometimes even reaches 1,000 gold coins, and it is very easy to circulate and convert into cash.

As he spoke, Aidan had already taken the Lesser Enlightenment Elixir from his storage ring and placed it on the table.

The color of the Enlightenment Mixture is pure white, and it looks like milk.

Looking at the Lesser Enlightenment Elixir on the table, Gao Jiano said, "The price range for Lesser Enlightenment Elixir is quite large. Some sell for five hundred gold coins, while others sell for one thousand gold coins. And even at one thousand gold coins, the money is still not enough."

Aidan: "This bottle of Lesser Enlightenment Potion has been identified as Grade 9. In Ax, it sells for around 1,000 gold coins, and sometimes even 1,100 gold coins. I'll use it as a discount to pay you 1,000 gold coins, and I'll also pay you 500 gold coins in cash, for a total of 1,500 gold coins."

He paused briefly, then continued, "As for the remaining five hundred gold coins... to be honest, I can only give you an IOU."

Gao Jiano hesitated for a moment.

He had learned his lesson in his past life and didn't trust IOUs. The IOU stated five hundred gold coins, and even if it went to court, he might not actually get that amount.

So he thought for a moment and said, "Are you planning to go back to Ax City next? If so, we can go together. I'm also planning to go to Ax City."

Aidan: "I do live in Ax, but I'm not going back anytime soon. And even if I did go back to Ax with you, without an IOU, aren't you afraid I'll deny it?"

Gao Jiano thought about it and agreed.

It seems Aidan is indeed out of money, and he doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would easily break his promise.

An IOU is fine, then.

At worst, we can just consider it as selling for 1,500 gold coins.

Buying something for 100 gold coins and selling it for 1,500 gold coins is already a huge profit.

Therefore, after a brief consideration, Gao Jiano finally nodded in agreement: "Okay, the remaining five hundred gold coins can be written on an IOU."

Aidan immediately took out five hundred gold coins and pushed them, along with the Lesser Enlightenment Elixir, in front of Gaucanor. Then he took out paper and pen, wrote an IOU, and handed it to Gaucanor as well.

Gao Jiano accepted the cash and the secondary enlightenment mixture, then took the IOU and looked at it, his face immediately showing some surprise.

The IOU was fairly standard, stipulating that 500 gold coins would be repaid within one year.

But surprisingly, a string of names was written at the end.

“Aidan John Gregory Nicholas…is that your full name?” Gaugano couldn’t help but ask. When the name was pronounced, he could confirm it was indeed correct, but he still couldn’t quite believe it was complete.

Aidan nodded matter-of-factly: "Of course, it's the full name, the common name for the first section, and the middle name for the sixth section."

Middle name.

This statement gave Gaucano a thought.

The middle name is actually the sacred name.

However, although "sacred name" and "middle name" are two ways of saying the same thing, and either one is acceptable, they contain some subtle cultural differences.

For example, commoners are more accustomed to using the "sacred name," while nobles are more likely to use the "middle name."

The reason is simple: nobles all had both a given name and a surname. The sacred name was always expressed between the "common name" at the beginning and the "surname" at the end, so it was called the "middle name".

Commoners only have given names, not surnames, so there is no such thing as a "middle name".

Is Aidan a nobleman?
Aidan was clearly quite wealthy, and being a scholar was a profession that only upper-class people had the opportunity to pursue, so it was not surprising that he came from a noble family.

But if they were nobles, why not include their surname as well? They've already written their full name, so including their surname wouldn't make a difference.

Or perhaps Aidan wasn't a nobleman, but simply got used to using his "middle name" because he had a lot of contact with nobles.
Gao Jiano had a flurry of guesses in his mind, but on the surface he only said, "To be honest, I didn't expect you to write your full name on it. After all, usually, writing a section of a saint's name on an IOU is enough."

Aidan pointed to the names on the IOU, his tone filled with obvious piety and pride: "All my signatures are my full names. Look at these middle names, John, Gregory, Nicholas... These are the names of saints, holy and glorious. What reason do I have to hide them?"

He then asked with a hint of skepticism, "Are you used to hiding your middle names?"

Both Gao Jiano and Dalis laughed awkwardly and did not answer.

Aidan was not surprised by this: "It is understandable for ordinary people to take some detours in their faith, perhaps just because they heard some inappropriate legends when they were young... But as long as we find our way back, we can still be devout Mosaics."

His voice carried tolerance and understanding, but also implied a certain condescending sense of superiority.

“Yes, yes.” Gao Jiano couldn’t very well refute it, so he simply agreed.

Aidan continued, “In fact, I used to have a gray middle name, but fortunately I received advice and help from my friends, and eventually got rid of the middle name and became a pure Mossian again.”

Daryls, curious, couldn't help but ask, "What's the middle name for this section?"

Aidan paused for a second: "Odinson."

Odinson!
Upon hearing this answer, both Gaucano and Darlis were stunned.

Gao Jiano felt his mind was filled with question marks and exclamation marks.

Odin is the supreme god of the Aesir pantheon, and his holy name has always been rare and powerful.

How could such a sacred name be so easily banished?
In Gaucano's understanding, only the exorcism of the demon's true name is comprehensible.

After all, removing a holy name is not only troublesome and painful, but also extremely costly. The money paid to the name-removing master starts at thousands of gold coins, and the lost blessings are even more immeasurable in monetary terms.

It is under such harsh conditions that most people will only consider exorcising demons when faced with their true names or other dark holy names—and the result of such consideration is usually not to exorcise them.

Aidan actually banished "Odinson"!
Absolutely outrageous!

Aidan added, "If you need, I can introduce you to the best exorcist in Ax, whose exorcism ritual is the least painful."

"No, no, thank you for your kindness." Gao Jiano and Dalis naturally declined. "Although we also wish we were more innocent, we are poor and simply cannot afford the cost of removing our names."

Aidan said nothing more, his gaze shifting to the ancient gold coins, a hint of fervor gradually returning to his face.

After a while, he suddenly placed the gold coin on his chest, closed his eyes, and gestured a Mosa triangle.

As he gestured, he showed a moved expression, his eyes even slightly moist, looking as if he were filled with the Holy Spirit.

"Mr. Aidan, we're going back to our rooms now!" Daryls said with a somewhat stiff expression.

Aidan ignored her, pressing the gold coin tightly to his chest, lost in his own emotions.

Darlis tugged at Gaucano's clothes, and the two went straight back to their hotel room.

"Bang!" As soon as she entered the room, Daryls slammed the door shut behind her. The loud slam seemed to announce that she had finally escaped that unsettling atmosphere.

Then she cast a soundproofing spell, and then couldn't help but complain: "This is terrifying! Isn't Ax supposed to be a place with a relaxed atmosphere? How can there be such fanatics!"

Gao Jiano was also taken aback by Aidan's piety: "Maybe it's because there are all kinds of birds in a big forest."

“I hope the rest of Axe aren’t like that,” Darius said. With that, she put on the dwarf transformation mask, transforming into a dwarf girl, and sat down to eat—she now ate whenever she had a spare moment.

Gaucano: "Now that you have the shapeshifting mask, you don't need to be afraid even if you encounter people or churches like that."

Despite saying that, after witnessing Aidan's excessive piety, he couldn't help but feel a desire to keep his distance.

After all, he had so many secrets about him and didn't believe in Mosa at all. Getting too close to such fanatics might lead to something unexpected.

Especially when it comes to faith, it's hard to hide one's true beliefs after a long period of interaction; every gesture and action reveals them.

Those around him all knew that Gaucano was a false believer.

The only thing Gao Gano could guarantee was that he would only befriend shallow believers and false believers, and when he encountered deep believers and fanatics, he would just dangle the necklace around his neck and say as little as possible about anything else.

While considering it, he even started to not want Aidan's IOU anymore.

He could choose to sell the IOU.

An IOU with the full holy name written on it is almost impossible to default on, and Aidan is a native of Arx. Once he arrives in Arx, he can definitely sell the IOU for 450 gold coins.

This way, Gaucano wouldn't have to wait long to get the cash, and he wouldn't have to have much interaction with Aidan, which seemed like a good option.

Gao Jiano stared at the IOU for a while.

Until I remembered the secondary inspirational compound.

He put away the IOU and then took the medicine in front of him to examine it carefully.

He swayed slightly.

The secondary Enlightenment mixture, a milky liquid, rippled gently in the glass bottle, exhibiting a thick and silky texture.

Looking at the secondary enlightenment elixir in front of him, Gao Jiano pondered for a moment.

What are the chances of obtaining a holy name?
He suddenly realized that the effect of the Enlightenment Mixture should be to gain experience.

After all, other people don't have a dashboard, so they can't quantify the process of accumulating experience.

In addition, the ways to gain experience are complex and diverse. The same method may yield different amounts of experience for different people or even for the same person at different levels. Some holy names, such as "Abhostar", can even change the rules of experience gain. Therefore, almost no one has a concept of "experience" or anything similar that can be quantified.

The same bottle of Enlightenment Elixir can have different effects on different people. Some people who were already close to leveling up can level up immediately after drinking it, while others who are still far from leveling up can not level up even after drinking it.

Based on this, it is not surprising that people use probability to describe the effects of Qidi compound.

Gao Gano opened the bottle and carefully poured a small amount of the secondary enlightenment solution onto his fingertip.

[Item: Lesser Enlightenment Potion]

【Level: 9】

[Effect: Taking it will grant experience points]

……

As expected, I gained experience.

This relieved Gaucano.

After all, if the effect of the Enlightenment Elixir is really "a certain chance of obtaining a holy name", what if he gets a worthless holy name or a demonic true name after drinking it?
Since it's about gaining experience, there's nothing to worry about.

Gao Jiano immediately tilted his head back and drank a bottle of secondary enlightenment solution.

The milky white liquid has no taste and melts in your mouth.

Immediately, a line of information flashed through his mind.

[Experience +900]

Nine hundred experience points!

This surprised Gaucano.

To gain 900 experience points by killing enemies, you would need to kill three level 6 intelligent creatures.

I've already gained 900 experience points just by drinking this one bottle of potion.

He first glanced at his experience bar.

[Experience: 7354/9600]

Then he started to make some plans in his mind.

According to Aidan, a bottle of Lesser Enlightenment Potion costs about a thousand gold coins in Ax.

You will gain 900 experience points after drinking it.

In other words, the cost of one point of experience is roughly equivalent to one gold coin.

Gao Jiano was confident in his earning power. Moreover, he possessed plant perception; if he mastered the method of making the Enlightenment Elixir, the actual cost of gaining experience could be reduced by at least half.

From this perspective, drug use can be seen as a convenient way to improve one's stats.

Gao Jiano ate something and then began preparing for the entrance exam—the entrance exam for the Ax Magic Academy was no easy feat.

But just then, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

He opened the door and saw a middle-aged man with a scar on his face and a thick beard.

Old scars.

Although he had never seen Old Scar before, Gao Jiano guessed his identity the moment he saw the scar on the man's face.

Old Scar's expression was somewhat displeased for some reason: "I heard you're Hicks' friend, so you came all this way to see me?"

"Um...yes." Gao Jiano pondered how to say it. He had originally considered telling part of the truth, but seeing the other party's unfriendly expression, he hesitated.

Unexpectedly, Old Scar didn't say a word, but simply tossed him a money bag: "You can count it."

Gao Jiano was taken aback.

Old Scar added, "A full one hundred gold coins. After paying back this money, I will no longer owe Hicks anything."

Gao Jiano realized what was happening.

It turns out that Hicks mentioned Sentry Rock before he died because he had a debt there!

This relieved him.

He then counted the coins: "It is indeed one hundred gold coins."

Old Scar seemed to remember something: "Oh right, where's the bear? They told me you brought Hicks' black bear with you before?"

“Little Black wasn’t used to the climate here, so I sent it out of the desert,” Gao Jiano said. “Would you like to go see it?”

"Forget it, I don't want to serve a customer who eats a hundred times more than me," Old Scar said before leaving.

After Old Scar left, Gao Jiano looked at the money bag in his hand, fell silent for a moment, then shook his head helplessly, closed the door, and went back to studying for the exam.

(End of this chapter)