Chapter 225: Is This Damnably a Mage?

“I’m a friend of your captain. I came to see him about something…”

The two gatekeeping adventurers exchanged a glance, their expressions a little strange.

“How many times has this happened this month?”

“No idea… from what we were saying earlier, probably around fifteen or sixteen times…”

“You know the captain, right? You’re a friend of the captain, aren’t you?”

One of the adventurers asked helplessly.

“Is there a problem?”

“We met the captain at a banquet before?”

“Uh… actually, yes.”

“The captain said he’d look out for you afterward?”

"…"

“Alright, alright, we both know what you’re going to say. Can’t you nobles’ lapdogs come up with something else? It’s the same line every time—I’m getting sick of it.”

“Seriously… just go. If you need something, post it at the Association. The Lion Adventuring Company isn’t going to be anyone’s lackey.”

Lin Mo’s mouth twitched. It seemed many people tried this line on these guards.

No doubt they’d been fooled once or twice at first, and then stopped believing it.

But honestly, he really was the captain’s friend…

From that angle, those who used that excuse weren’t inventing nonsense;

they clearly knew the Lion captain well enough to craft that story.

“But brother, could this batch not be sent by nobles? Who brings five young ladies along? Our captain wouldn’t buy that.”

“How wouldn’t they? Look at that priest in church robes—clearly noble—and she’s got a maid. This is probably the young master or young miss of some noble family, trying to get some deeds to impress their folks…”

The two guards continued whispering. Lin Mo listened to their “loud plotting,” and his mouth twitched again.

To be fair, they were partly right.

Finnie really was noble, and her status was quite significant;

Sherfilia, always in maid attire, was also conspicuous.

As Lin Mo considered how to explain, more people arrived from behind. “What’s going on… did something happen?”

Lin Mo turned to see a group of adventurers, dusty and tired-looking—apparently just back from a mission.

“You’re back, brother?”

The guards greeted them immediately. “Nothing much, just another noble trying to pretend to be the captain’s friend to get in.”

“Again? Those nobles really never stop…”

The speaker turned and looked at Lin Mo, his words trailing off.

Up close, Lin Mo also felt the man looked familiar—like someone he’d seen before.

“It’s you, kid.”

The man scratched his head awkwardly. “Sorry, those nobles are so annoying. Our guards have been pestered so many times that—”

The two guards froze, then realized this time it was real and hurriedly apologized. “Sorry, brother—and the young ladies.”

“No problem, no problem.”

What else could Lin Mo say? He couldn’t genuinely be angry. He waved it off and smiled.

“Brother, you came to see the captain, right? Come with me. He’s probably at the training ground.”

The adventurer spoke, then turned to his companions to tell them to go rest before leading Lin Mo into the Lion Adventuring Company’s headquarters.

The company’s interior wasn’t luxurious—very simple and unpretentious, fitting for adventurers.

On the way, the adventurer introduced a few things about the Lion Company.

“My name’s Dirk. You are—”

Dirk scratched his head sheepishly. “At that banquet it was chaotic and I was drunk. I didn’t catch your name.”

“I’m Lin Mo.”

They bumped fists. Lin Mo felt the man’s strength—modest, roughly equivalent to a level-2 warrior—just a simple test.

Lin Mo smiled and tightened his fist a little.

“Dirk, about those nobles who came before?”

That was Lin Mo’s curiosity: why would nobles go to such lengths to sneak into the Lion Company to see its captain?

“Well, it’s simple. Our company has made a name for itself in Fargard City, so nobles naturally want to cooperate.”

“At first it was just customized missions. They paid well, so the captain didn’t refuse. But then some nobles started scheming—they wanted to absorb our company.”

Lin Mo immediately understood.

It was like the Bloodsea Gang under Lord Lawrence in Lania City: nobles wanted to use the Lion Company’s size and manpower for things they couldn’t do publicly.

But a proper adventuring company wasn’t like a fragmented gang;

they ignored those noble schemes.

“Wouldn’t those nobles cause trouble for you by doing that?”

“Of course they do. Constantly. When we’re out on missions, they’ll have small adventuring teams they’ve absorbed harass us, or they’ll plant people to deliberately steal our contracts. Some members even left because of it. But we won’t bow down. We’re free adventurers—we do the missions we choose, not anyone’s lapdogs!”

Lin Mo nodded. “Right. If an adventurer can’t even decide what they want to do, what kind of adventurer is that?”

“There it is.”

Dirk stopped and pointed to the gate ahead. “This is our training ground. The captain should be inside—he probably just finished breakfast and is practicing skills.”

He pushed the door open.

Lin Mo immediately saw the sun-baked, shirtless blond man sweating heavily.

He had a hulking build and held a heavy greatsword. Each swing released weighty sword energy that carved a deep groove in the steel training dummy.

The Lion Company captain was clearly a strength-focused warrior—solid, direct strikes, not a lot of fancy technique—steady and dependable.

The captain turned at the door noise and froze when he saw Lin Mo, then set down the greatsword and jogged over. “Is that really you? I thought you wouldn’t come for a while yet.”

He extended his hand as he spoke.

They bumped fists, and Lin Mo noticed the force—a deliberate, modest test.

Lin Mo smiled and increased his force.

30, 50, 60, 70, 80…

Leonard’s expression turned surprised. “I always thought something was off about you. Even in that robe, your movements didn’t fit the mage I’ve seen before… dual class?”

“Sort of.”

Lin Mo nodded with an ambiguous answer.

“You’ve gotten a lot stronger lately.”

Although Leonard had never seen Lin Mo fight, an experienced adventurer like him could read a lot from gesture and aura.

“Bored—wanna spar with me?”

Curiosity and competitive fire showed in Leonard’s eyes.

“Captain, this… isn’t appropriate, is it?”

Dirk looked stunned. The guest had just arrived and hadn’t even been welcomed when the captain asked to fight?

And their captain was no weakling. The kid might be excellent, but he was young—what if something happened…

“Relax.”

Leonard patted Dirk’s shoulder. “This kid’s strong. He’s not far off from you.”

Dirk turned to Lin Mo with disbelief.

Dirk was an elite-level warrior, quite renowned in the company. The kid didn’t even look twenty—was he really that good?

Convinced, he stepped back to watch.

“This isn’t proper, is it?”

Lin Mo said that, but he also seemed eager.

“Don’t worry. I’ll go weaponless—just with this training iron sword.”

Leonard thumped his chest.

“Oh? That’s your plan…”

Lin Mo’s smile brightened. He pulled the Frost Dragon Scale Sword from his Spatial Ring. The ice-blue blade glittered in the sunlight.

Leonard froze, eyes wide, breath stopping for a moment before he managed to say, “An epic-level weapon?”

Lin Mo nodded.

Leonard glanced over at Finnie and Sherfilia and seemed to suddenly understand.

Damn kid—so enviable!

Even he, captain of the Lion Company, had scraped through the years with only a top-tier Exceptional-Grade weapon.

This kid was young and already carrying an epic weapon from—what, some handout?

His fists clenched.

Leonard never hid his feelings. Gruffly, he said, “Honestly, you make me kinda want to hit you.”

“Haha, then try me… but go easy.”

Lin Mo knew he couldn’t win a straight-up fight with this captain, even with the Frost Dragon Scale Sword—at best he could narrow the gap.

Leonard was a true elite warrior—likely level 13 or higher. Even without a weapon, his strength attribute probably exceeded 200, maybe 210.

From strength alone, even with the sword’s bonuses, Lin Mo was at a major disadvantage.

“Don’t worry—I won’t let you get hurt.”

Leonard’s tone still carried irritation. He wasn’t going to maim Lin Mo, but he planned to vent some frustration about being shown up.

They stepped onto a training platform.

The company invested heavily in training space. This area alone took up nearly half their headquarters. The platform they used was the largest, well over a hundred meters across—ample for sparring.

Lin Mo stood to one side and watched.

Leonard loosened up, cracking his knuckles, eager to go.

“Be careful, Lin Mo.”

With that, Leonard charged.

His movements were simple and unflashy, but solid—clearly honed by long practice. This first strike was not a skill and not heavily powered—likely just a test.

Lin Mo didn’t dodge. He swung the Frost Dragon Scale Sword to meet him.

Clang!

A dull impact echoed. Leonard’s face changed and he quickly put more force behind it.

From their initial knuckle bump he’d gauged Lin Mo’s strength to be around 100, so he’d assumed Lin Mo wouldn’t be far off Dirk.

Now it seemed more complicated—maybe the epic weapon added much to Lin Mo’s power.

Leonard pushed harder. Lin Mo felt the pressure and shifted, twisting his blade to deflect and then thrusting toward Leonard’s chest.

Leonard’s abundant combat experience meant he wouldn’t be easily caught. As Lin Mo adjusted, Leonard anticipated the move and dodged easily.

Next, the heavy greatsword arced from below. Lin Mo blocked, but the enormous momentum hit and forced him to one knee, scrabbling back several steps.

Leonard laughed heartily and pressed the attack.

This time Lin Mo wouldn’t trade blows head-on.

As a classic strength warrior, Leonard had raw power but not exceptional speed.

Lin Mo’s agility sat at an incredible 133, and with Swiftness buffed, he could utterly dominate Leonard’s speed.

Predictably, Lin Mo easily dodged that swing.

Leonard, irritated, pressed on, but Lin Mo moved like a dancer, each seeming near-miss perfectly angled to avoid harm.

Soon Leonard looked toyed with.

Dirk was stunned. The captain hadn’t lied—this kid Lin Mo was truly strong!

In strength, with the epic sword’s help, the gap was smaller.

But in speed…

Watching the cat-and-mouse scene, Dirk felt sorry for their captain. And this was the kid’s secondary class—his primary was a mage with tricks still unused.

After a while Leonard came to his senses and lowered his weapon. “Stop, stop… I can’t even touch you.”

Though he hadn’t used skills, the huge agility gap meant even with skills he would struggle.

Not just practice—real combat would be worse. He couldn’t handle Lin Mo.

Win? No. Even holding ground would be hard.

Lin Mo was a mage with ranged options. He could keep distance and bombard with spells—just the thought was scary.

Bottom line: strength and speed—are you telling me this is a mage?

Is this damnedly a mage?

He actually is…

“Impressive!”

Dirk thumped his thumb up. He hadn’t expected this outcome.

Leonard grabbed a towel to wipe his sweat. Lin Mo raised a hand and cast Cleansing Flow.

This skill was far from leveling up—no worries about breaking thresholds. Cleansing Flow cleanses and removes debuffs, and it left Leonard’s arm damp and pleasantly refreshed.

Leonard touched his water-soaked arm in surprise. “Whoa—instant refresh. Mages are something else…”

Lin Mo then used fire elemental energy to steam the moisture off him.

Compared to simply drying with heat, this method demanded finer elemental control. Lin Mo hadn’t been able to do this when he’d just learned magic.

Now it was easy.

“Convenient!”

Leonard muttered. Then he changed into dry clothes. “Come on, let’s go to my study.”

They soon arrived at Leonard’s study, though Dirk didn’t follow;

he needed rest after a mission.

“If you have any questions about Fargard City, come ask me or anyone in the company.”

Leonard poured tea. Despite his burly appearance, he had a light touch.

“But lately those nobles have been targeting the Lion Company. I don’t recommend your team joining us—you’d get dragged into trouble.”

Lin Mo nodded. He had no interest in causing problems.

“But if necessary, we can cooperate in the future.”

“Of course.”

Leonard smiled and topped Lin Mo’s cup.

“You can also go to Grim if you need help—don’t be polite to that kid.”

Grim was the captain of the Falcon Adventuring Company, the other team which had been hired alongside the Lion Company by Lady Behira to support Silverstream City.

“What about the Falcon Company?”

“They’re in a similar situation.”

Leonard shook his head. Scumbag nobles were everywhere.

“Don’t worry—we’re not easy to bully. Let them play their tricks—we’ll be ready.”

Leonard seemed upbeat.

“By the way, have you settled lodgings in the city? If not, staying at the company might be inconvenient, but I can arrange something.”

“Thanks, but we rented a place at Clear Breeze Cottage.”

“Ah, that’s nice. What’s your plan—rest first or go on a mission in the next couple days?”

Lin Mo had already decided. “Tomorrow.”

Today would be for walking the city and acclimating. Tomorrow they’d take a mission—neither rushed nor wasting time.

“Alright. I’ll have someone put together a suitable mission list for you.”

“Thanks.”

“No need to be so formal—we’re friends. Lady Behira’s invitation helped our company and fixed some finances too.”

So that was it.

No wonder the captains had shown such enthusiasm—maybe Lady Behira had intentionally invited them to Fargard City, knowing it was the best place for newcomers to grow.

After thinking it over, Lin Mo suspected Lady Behira had planned everything carefully… including matchmaking these two companies to support their future development.