"The day has finally come."
Maxime looked thoughtfully at his brand-new watch in his hands. This watch was going to give him the chance to change his destiny. For this opportunity, he had invested all his savings while working as a part-time bartender during his studies.
He attached it delicately to his right wrist.
[Ding!]
A small alarm sounded as he finished fastening it.
[Downloading user profile... ]
Maxime felt a small needle pierce his skin, but it caused him little pain.
[User profile download complete...]
[Congratulations to user Maxime Valdreuve on the acquisition of the iron watch X-30 303 030 303]
[Would user Maxime Valdreuve like to go to the "Eternity" world?]
"Yes!" replied Maxime excitedly.
In response to his answer, his body went into a vegetative state, while his mind was projected into a mysterious place at high speed.
When Maxime opened his eyes again, he found himself in the middle of a completely empty square.
He was dressed in simple cloth garments, with a small sword strapped to his waist.
Surrounding him were various ancient-looking dwellings, all seemingly made of wood.
"Let's see, statistics page, display yourself," Maxime thought impatiently.
Identity: Maxime Valdreuve
Class: Peasant level 1 (+3% to physique)
Unlock new class: 0/10
Physique: 1.15 (+0.0345)
Qi: 0
Skills :
Swordsmanship level 1 (32/100)
Franc language level 2 (21/100)
Talent :
NOX LIMIT level 1 (rank unknown) (0/100 000)
Money available: 10 gold coins.
"Rank unknown? How can this be?" wondered Maxime.
"Show details of the NOX LIMIT talent" ordered Maxime.
[NOX LIMIT: Increases the effectiveness of any training by 500% of all those belonging to the mercenary group member. Increases the talent of all members by one rank. Shouting NOX LIMIT can increase the performance of all mercenaries belonging to the host's group by 50% within a radius of 20 meters for 30 seconds.
Recharge time: one week].
"Incredible," Maxime reacted, his eyes wide.
Normally, talents are listed in ascending order: Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and finally Diamond.
"Each of these characteristics is equivalent to a Diamond-ranked talent!"
While Maxime was still immersed in his stupor, a shout filled with rage was heard.
"Bunch of unscrupulous thieves, get the hell out of this village before this old man rides your asses!
Immediately Maxime raced towards the source of the shout.
"Hahaha old man if you don't want your little village to become a river of blood, just give us 100 gold coins and we'll simply go back where we came from!"
Maxime arrived just in time to see an old man accompanied by a hundred furious-looking villagers carrying a variety of weapons, from pitchforks to cooking pots and knives.
Opposite them were some thirty bandits equipped with long swords. They didn't seem to mind the number of villagers; instead, they looked ready to do battle.
Their leader was seated on a horse, overlooking the crowd of villagers.
"Grandpa, give them the money, we have no choice or they'll slaughter us all. As long as we wait for the Kui City army or a powerful mercenary group to arrive, then we can return to our normal lives and everyone will still be alive," said a rather thin and short young man.
The old man sighed slightly before suddenly straightening up.
"The problem is, we don't have that kind of money! So we'll either starve to death, or die killing those damn thieves. This old man was an elite soldier in the past, so the choice is quickly decided!"
"Go to Hell, maybe Lucifer has 100 gold coins to give to little shits like you!" shouted the old man as he ran towards the bandit leader, laughing all the while.
These words seemed to ignite the fighting spirit of all the villagers as they charged towards the robbers.
The thieves suddenly panicked at seeing so many villagers charging towards them. After all, they were thieves, not soldiers. They liked to fight when they had an absolute advantage, but in this kind of life-threatening situation, they just wanted to run away.
"I'll kill anyone who deserts me myself!" roared the bandit leader from his horse when he had already retreated from the battlefield.
The thieves could only strengthen their resolve and collide with the enraged villagers.
Maxime was briefly surprised by such a violent start to the game, but he knew it was an opportunity to grow stronger, so he also charged with the villagers, drawing his small sword.
Running with them, his breathing quickened and adrenalin coursed through his entire body.
Seconds later, the first exchanges were heard, starting with the old man who was surprisingly quick.
His pitchfork directly skewered a thief, taking his life in just one blow.
"Hahaha, you damned thief, admire this grandfather's skills!"
His fork seemed free of all restraint as he performed moves worthy of a martial arts film.
Unfortunately for the other villagers, the result was quite different.
In just a few seconds, a dozen intrepid villagers traded their lives for the chance to seriously wound 3 thieves.
Indeed, there was a skills gap between those who put their lives on the line every day to survive, and those who occupied a craft, urban or agricultural profession.
Just then, a young man with blond hair passed through the crowd.
With a step to the side, he avoided his adversary's sword by a few centimetres, then pierced his chest.
Maxime's action lifted the spirits of all the villagers, including 2 other young men who rushed to the other two seriously wounded thieves.
Unfortunately for them, they were blocked by other thieves.
But as the thieves accumulated wounds, the villagers became more cautious in their fighting, and began to grasp the rhythm of the battlefield.
This further increased the pressure on the thieves.
The old man and Maxime were all over the battlefield as they reaped the lives of thief after thief.
"Retreat!" ordered the thieves' leader as the situation turned dramatic.
This was followed by cheers from the villagers, who did not pursue the remaining thieves.
Unfortunately, the cheers were short-lived, as the old man and the young man with the blond hair showed no enthusiasm.
"Gather up the bodies of our friends and these scoundrels, and we'll burn them tonight at dusk to prevent disease spreading through the village," ordered the old man sharply.
In response, the villagers finally looked down at the lifeless bodies of their former acquaintances and even their families.
The joy of having survived and the confusion of the battlefield made them forget the sacrifice they had to make to repel the thieves.
As some collapsed to the ground in tears and others began to gather up the bodies, the old man turned to Maxime.
"It seemed so real, it seems as the rumors say, it's not just a game, it's a real living world at this stage. At least I'm glad my physical and sword training have finally yielded results," Maxime thought with a slight smile.
"Are you all right, young man?" the old man asked worriedly.
This woke Maxime from his stupor.
"Haha yes everything's fine!" he replied, despite his heavy breathing and trembling legs and arms.
"First battlefield, it seems," smiled the old man.
"Yes, it was my first time," replied Maxime, a little embarrassed.
"It was an impressive performance for a beginner, it looks like you could make an excellent soldier or mercenary in the future."
"Coming to that fact, I'd like to be able to organize my own mercenary group, and therefore recruit a few youngsters from this village." asked Maxime in a tone neither arrogant nor submissive.
The old man looked seriously at Maxime for a few seconds, thinking.
After a few seconds, he replied:
"So be it, but this will be your reward for helping us. Here, human resources are the most precious thing."
Maxime smiled solemnly and nodded.
The old man thought a little longer before handing Maxime a small linen bag.
Guessing the contents, Maxime suddenly became slightly excited.
Seeing the young man's expression, the old man smiled slightly and said:
"This is 10 gold coins, which should help you out quite a bit. I hope that in return, in the future, you'll rid us of these bandits who threaten the tranquillity of our little village."
Maxime contained his excitement, as he solemnly took the small linen bag then declared:
"I promise on my soul that I will eradicate all thieves in the vicinity of this village."
The old man smiled gently in reply.
In this world, 100 bronze coins are worth 1 silver coin, and 100 silver coins are worth 1 gold coin.
As the income of an ordinary adult was 12 to 15 silver coins, 10 gold coins seemed an enormous fortune.
However, for a group of mercenaries it was the bare minimum in terms of capital, as the salary of a single mercenary started at a minimum of one gold coin.
It was partly for this reason that the game offered 10 gold coins as basic capital.
But Maxime was excited for another reason.
"I can afford to open a new class!"