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The Master's Rules for Making Friends Author: Lonely Mountain Fishing Snow

Summary:

No one could have imagined that at the beginning we were just investigating a simple case of missing stray cats.

——Thus said the Lord of All Things

(About this book)

A pure, retro world of swords and magic, with no fighting spirit, no martial arts spirits, and other messy stuff. No technology to beat magic.

Finally, no Cthulhu!

Chapter 1 It all started in a humble tavern

In this world, most adventures begin in an inconspicuous tavern.

The Mage Apprentice King is now walking into such a tavern.

As soon as he entered the door, he smelled the sour odor of leather armor that had been worn for a long time and was soaked with sweat. Even the pungent gas produced by burning low-quality tobacco could not cover up this smell.

Others, like the smell of linseed oil used to maintain weapons, are less impressive.

Compared to the smell, the furnishings in the tavern were rather dull. What looked like goat bones were hung on the wall, and there were pumpkin lanterns that were forgotten to be removed during the last Winter Veil Festival. The old round shield seemed to indicate that the owner of the tavern had once been an active mercenary.

But now, the owner of the tavern was standing behind the counter, supporting the counter with his hands outstretched, carefully looking at the mage apprentice who had just entered the store.

"Wizard," he said, "you'd better not perform your tricks in my tavern. Jugglers are not welcome here."

The king frowned: "I am a mage."

"It makes no difference to us." The boss shrugged.

King: "There is a big difference. Warlocks cast spells with the power in their blood, while we cast spells with knowledge..."

"I said, it makes no difference to us. Are you a disciple of the master who came to visit the Duke today?"

The young apprentice mage frowned, showing a confused expression: "Uh... Master? Which master? My teacher is still hiding in the tower?"

"Grand Mage of the Palace, I don't know this, it seems you are a wild person." The boss took out an oak cup, poured a full cup of honey beer, and gently pushed the cup to slide along the table in front of the young mage apprentice.

Wang picked up the wine glass but didn't drink it: "Is this... for me?"

"Yes, spellcasters are very popular in mercenary teams."

"You just said that jugglers were not welcome."

"That's two different things. There are often some little bastards who have learned a little bit of magic from somewhere and pretend to be spellcasters everywhere, but in fact they can only cast a few flashes."

Wang: "The Flash Spell? That's the lowest level of magic tricks, and it's very easy to learn. Sometimes you don't even need to know magic. As long as you learn how to extract white phosphorus, people who know nothing about magic can perform it."

The boss laughed.

Wang: "But I didn't talk about my spellcasting ability, nor did I cast any spells. How can you be sure that I'm not a 'juggler'?"

The boss was silent for a moment before he spoke: "Because I know that after mages master the sixth ring spell, there will be a fatal difference in temperament. Mages who have not mastered the sixth ring always appear to be cautious. They may look relaxed on the surface, but they cannot fool the eyes of the experienced bar owner.

"As for mages who have mastered the sixth ring, they will definitely prepare a spell as their final trump card, so they will look more calm and composed. You must know this better than me."

Wang: "Trigger spell, a sixth-ring spell. Even a wizard who has just mastered the sixth ring can store a fourth-ring spell through trigger spell. A powerful wizard can store a fifth-ring or sixth-ring spell. Once an accident occurs, the stored spell can be activated immediately to save life."

The boss calmly changed the address: "You really know it very well."

Wang noticed the change in address and looked at his boss in surprise: "Ah? Oh, you misunderstood, I'm not a great wizard, just an apprentice who has just reached the third ring. The reason why I look calm and composed is because of my personality."

"I'll take that as an example." The boss poured another glass of Bee Beer and then calmly changed the subject, "Who are you looking for in my bar?"

Wang fumbled in the pocket of his burqa and pulled out a leaflet.

"I saw this flyer on the notice board at the city gate, mixed in with a bunch of commissions for rat extermination, cargo delivery and sewer repair."

The boss took one look at the flyer and expressed his first impression: "The words are very beautiful."

"Yes, a very beautiful figure. The maker of the leaflet is well educated and may have learned to paint..."

Boss: "But this mission seems a bit nonsensical. Investigating the missing stray cats and dogs in the city. Which noble lady commissioned this? As a third-ring spellcaster, do you really want to take such a job?"

Wang shrugged. "I have been raised in a tower by my teacher since I was born. I have only come into contact with his apprentices. I have not yet found a teammate I can trust my life to. Don't you think this mission is just right?"

Because the boss always addressed him as "you", Wang also used "you".

The boss laughed dumbly: "It's impossible to find reliable teammates for such a mission. At most, you can find some teenagers who have been playing house. They are used to hearing adventurers' stories from bards, and suddenly want to become a part of the story.

"On our street, there were two stupid kids who accepted a commission to exterminate rats in the sewers. But when they went down, they found a goblin's nest in the sewers. And it was the kind of nest that had a big goblin battle wizard."

The king frowned. "That's too bad. I read about the Hobgoblin Battle Mage in the teacher's diary. The teacher was the only one who escaped from the teacher's team.

"According to the teacher's records, the Hobgoblin War Mage cast a spider web spell when he was besieged, entangled the soldiers in the team, and then ignited them with a flaming orb. The soldiers were burned to charcoal while screaming, and the priest girl in the team was so scared that she couldn't even cast a spell."

The boss looked at Wang thoughtfully, and just mechanically agreed: "Yes, that's it."

Wang: “What was the final result?”

The boss suddenly woke up from his thoughts and replied, "The two children didn't come out, and the neighbors who knew where they went entered the sewer to search and soon found the goblin's nest. Before that, we always thought it was a community of homeless people.

"Lord Duke Landon mobilized the city guards and paired them with adventurers to form a powerful mopping-up team, and they quickly wiped out the goblins underground. Speaking of which, the quest you took to find cats and dogs might also be related to goblins. Goblins like to eat wild cats and dogs, and the lady who sent the quest probably didn't know about the goblins being swept away."

Wang: "You actually treated the goblin nest as a homeless community."

"It's not our fault. There are places in Langdon City that even the Shadow Thieves don't know the details of. They are controlled by local gangs. Rat Street and Swan Dam Alley, I wouldn't be surprised if there are Mind Flayer strongholds in these places, let alone goblin nests."

Wang keenly grasped the loophole in his boss's words and said, "These places may have goblin nests, but they have nothing to do with you mistaking the underground goblin nests for homeless communities, right? These are two different things."

The boss asked back: "Do you think those homeless people are really poor homeless people?"

The king was shocked.

At this time, the burly mercenary who had been listening to the conversation came over and stood at arm's length from Wang. At this distance, it was obvious to the mercenary that the other party was on guard against the mages' powerful touch spells.

Even just a touch of coldness is enough to make an adult feel miserable.

Experienced mercenaries know that you should not let a spellcaster easily touch you.

Wang: "What advice do you have?"

The mercenary laughed. "Teach me! I can't even spell that word correctly! You really are a young man from a high tower. I say, aren't you looking for a reliable companion? Finding missing cats and dogs is too easy. Why don't you join us to fight the bandits? Our target is the bandit group that has been robbing along Shield Road recently. They have been causing trouble for half a year and should have accumulated a lot of treasures."

The king studied the mercenary carefully.

The mercenary enthusiastically introduced his teammates: "I, as you can see, am a warrior. The wanderer in the team has now gone to their guild to report. The big fool is a barbarian. And then there is our sharpshooter lady."

Wang: "Don't you have a divine spellcaster? What if he gets hurt?"

"Miss Sharpshooter can heal minor injuries with her medicine, and she can also soothe your pain with her love."

The king turned his head to look at the proud members of the mercenary team, staring at the only female catman among them. The woman gave him a wink.

"Uh," Wang retracted his gaze, "this is a bit too advanced for me. And you see, you have been working together as a team for a long time, it would not be a good idea for me to join rashly. Finally, according to my teacher's teachings, a team should have at least one of a priest or a paladin."

"Oh my god, the teacher's teachings!" The mercenary spread his arms to his team members, and his team members all smiled and shook their heads.

Then the mercenary closed the distance between him and the king and patted him on the shoulder: "This is your own adventure, so start by throwing away your teacher's teachings."

The king looked at the mercenary seriously and said, "No, this is actually not related to teachings. There have been many wars in ancient times throughout Cosania, so the undead are quite common in Cosania. Without priests or paladins, how do you deal with the undead efficiently?"

The mercenary looked at his team members, then spread his hands to the king and said, "Use a mace? In fact, we haven't encountered a large number of undead. Even in the dungeon, there are mainly groups of skeletons."

His friend's voice came from afar: "Unless there is a lich at work, the undead creatures in Cosania will not be a force to be reckoned with."

Wang: “Oh, I’ll think about it.”

The tavern owner said, "I will vouch for these people who often show up at my place. They are trustworthy."

Wang: "I see. But you see, the gathering time mentioned on this notice is almost now, but I am the only one here. I think I should at least see what the client who writes so well looks like, and understand why he wants to find out about the missing cats and dogs."

"I understand," the mercenary who took the initiative to extend the olive branch clapped his hands vigorously, "I know what you are planning! You must have read too many knight novels and dreamed of a beautiful encounter this time!"

The table of mercenary friends erupted in laughter.

The mercenary put his arm around the king's shoulders and said, "Don't think too much. Even if beautiful noble ladies send out commissions, they will meet in luxurious restaurants in the upper city. It is impossible for them to meet in a tavern like this. It is possible that they are noble boys who want to play the mercenary game."

As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the tavern opened, causing the bell on the lintel to ring happily.

Everyone turned their heads to look at the door, just in time to see the man lower his hood, revealing long silver hair as bright as moonlight.

The king pointed at the newcomer and asked the mercenary, "Do your noble men look like this?"

Mercenary: "How lacking in common sense do you have to be to think someone who looks like this is a man? Didn't you see the weight on his chest?"

Wang replied seriously: "It may be a one-piece breastplate. In order to deflect some projectiles, the latest breastplates are designed like this."

The girl who just came in also heard Wang’s words and was stunned, looking over here.

Seeing this, the apprentice wizard began to doubt his own judgment. He asked in a tone of academic discussion, "You... aren't you going to come to this kind of place, so you put on a breastplate? Although I think chain mail might be more suitable."

The girl replied in a similarly serious tone: "I did wear mail."

Wang touched his lips and was silent for a few seconds before he suddenly realized: "I understand, this is your secondary sexual characteristic."

At the table in the distance, the cat-man sharpshooter laughed very loudly.

The mercenary looked confused. "What's the joke? What are secondary sexual characteristics? Can you speak the common language?"

The boss said to the girl, "This little wizard - Master Wizard, has just left the Magic Tower and started his own study tour. He doesn't have much common sense, so please bear with me."

"I see." The girl nodded. "So, who among you is here to apply? I mean, to apply for the mission of investigating missing cats and dogs."

Wang raised his hand, like a student in class.

Girl: "You're such a weirdo. Ah, maybe I should use you."

Wang: "I came here because among all the tasks on the notice board, this one looks the most unusual."

"Why do you think so?" The girl sat down next to the king without keeping any distance.

Wang: "If you just want to find a lost pet, you can just find a prophecy mage and use the location spell. I know dozens of spells that can be used to deal with different situations and achieve your goal. These are not particularly difficult spells.

"You can also look for rangers, whose skills can also locate pets. There are also druids, or even a priest who can talk to animals. You must have discovered something unusual."

The girl nodded. "Very good. You saved me the trouble. What's your name?"

Wang stretched out his hand: "I come from the continent further east of Satalin. Wang is my last name. I don't like my name very much, so just call me Wang."