Chapter 116: First Battle (1)

　　A commotion immediately appeared in the crowd. “God, it’s the princess?!” “The princess of the royal family also came to the event of the Mercenary Union?” The serious, handsome young man glanced over with his black eyes and the voices of discussion that had just risen greatly quieted down again.

　　A slender hand reached out of the carriage and held the arm of the middle-aged man. Then, a slim body stepped out of the carriage with an elegant posture and the demeanour of a noble. When her stunning face was shown in front of the people, the commotion couldn’t be suppressed anymore.

　　The girl whom people called the princess was still a child to be exact. She was around seventeen or eighteen years old, like the handsome young man. However, she was much more mature. Her body figure was well-balanced and curvy. Her black hair hung down her back, looking flowing and elegant.

　　“Ge Yuan is really flourishing.” The girl said softly as she glanced over the noisy crowd around with her beautiful eyes. Seeing their obsession with her beauty in their eyes, she couldn’t help but curl up her red lips.

　　“This event is held every year. Why did you insist on coming this time, Your Highness? It isn’t the holiday of Masang School of Magic yet.” The middle-aged man said with a soft voice. It turned out the princess was a mage and she studied in Masang School of Magic.

　　“Of course I followed someone here. Am I right, Yuntian?” The girl gave a sweet smile. She turned her pretty face to the side and blinked at the serious-looking handsome young man. The young man avoided her gaze slightly, lowering his head. “Thank you for your appreciation, Your Highness.”

　　The handsome young man looked up. There weren’t any feelings for the girl in front of him in his gorgeous black eyes at all. They were as clear as water. This handsome young man was one of the top talented students in the School of the God of War under the Karan Empire, Murong Yuntian!

　　The middle-aged man chuckled and didn’t say anything after hearing this. Everyone in the upper class of the Karan Empire knew that this princess had a crush on Murong Yuntian, but Murong Yuntian had never shown any ardor for her at all. He pretended he didn’t see the love of the beautiful princess. However, the beautiful princess didn’t give up. She followed Murong Yuntian whenever she had spare time and she always took opportunities to express her feelings for him. When she heard that Murong Yuntian would be representing the royal family of the Karan Empire to attend the Mercenary Level Assessment Convention this time, she insisted on coming along, so that she could spend more time with her crush.

　　The three of them went forward and came to the row of mercenaries. The middle-aged man showed them the thing that symbolized his identity and the mercenaries immediately made way for them. The three of them crossed the boundary and entered the world of the Mercenary Union.

　　“Fitch, we meet again this year.” A deep voice came. The handsome young man and the beautiful princess both changed their expressions and couldn’t help looking ahead of them. A middle-aged man was walking towards them with a friendly smile. Clearly, he was the one who spoke just now.

　　“Zheng Ran, would you feel annoyed seeing me every year?” Fitch greeted the man. The person who came to welcome the three of them was the Vice President of the Mercenary Union, Zheng Ran.

　　“You’re the General of the army of the Karan Empire, Fitch. How would I find you annoying?” Zheng Ran looked at Fitch, then moved his gaze behind Fitch and saw two young people. After feeling them out slightly, he knew that these two young people were both talented and smart.

　　“These two kids came to join in the fun?” Zheng Ran chuckled. His laugh lines at the corners of his mouth were very obvious, making him look harmless.

　　“Haha, this is the little princess of the Karan Empire, Kasa.” Fitch said. Kasa then stepped forward and gave the most standard princess curtsy. Zheng Ran then nodded with a smile.

　　“Hi Mr. Zheng Ran, I’m Kasa.”

　　“Princess Kasa is already a level-5 mage at such a young age. That’s really gratifying.” Zheng Ran complemented Kasa with a smile, leaving Kasa looking delighted.

　　“Yuntian, come to greet Zheng Ran!” Fitch called the handsome young man on the side kindly. Murong Yuntian came up and cupped his hand in the other in front of Zheng Ran. “I’m Murong Yuntian. Nice to meet you, Mr. Zheng Ran!”

　　Zheng Ran’s black eyes glittered as he glanced at Murong Yuntian with a deep meaning. The laugh lines at the corners of his mouth became deeper and more obvious. “Murong Yuntian… Hm, older generations like us indeed can’t keep up with the growth of the young people anymore!” Zheng Ran and Fitch both burst into laughter. The two of them walked inside as they chatted softly, while Kasa and Murong Yuntian followed them behind.

　　“Yuntian, look at these mercenaries. They’re all vicious. I feel like they’re people who don’t even blink when they kill someone.” Kasa saw a lot of mercenaries along the way. Those in the upper-class society didn’t have any good impression on mercenaries. After all, mercenaries were people at the bottom of society in their eyes.

　　Murong Yuntian remained silent. He just looked at those mercenaries quietly. Murong Yuntian’s face became colder and colder along the way. Being in the Mercenary Union, he realized that there was such a huge difference between the overall strength of the army of the Karan Empire and the Mercenary Union!

　　There were a lot of level-6 and level-7 masters, and also many level-8 masters, in the Mercenary Union. Apparently, there were level-9 warriors as well… What was more terrifying was that Mr. Zheng Ran in front of Murong Yuntian seemed like a bottomless pit that didn’t have a limit at all…

　　With his level-8 strength, he couldn’t really be regarded as a top warrior here, but he was already one of the best in the army of the Karan Empire… The difference was huge!

　　Murong Yuntian thought about the gap between the Karan Army and the Mercenary Level Assessment Convention along the way and gradually understood why the Karan Empire wanted to monitor every move of the Mercenary Union, sending someone here to attend the Mercenary Level Assessment Convention every year. Calling it by a good name, they were just here to observe and learn, but their real intention was to have an idea of the improvement in the strength of the Mercenary Union every year!

　　The Mercenary Union certainly knew this small intention of the royal family of the Karan Empire, so they also opened up generously, letting them see as much as they wanted.

　　On the other hand, Kasa was thinking about completely irrelevant things along the way. She was disgusted by and despised these dirty mercenaries without listening and she looked down on them from the bottom of her heart. Even though they were truly powerful, they were still a group of people at the bottom in Kasa’s eyes.

　　Zheng Ran led the three of them to a trail. After making a few turns, the few of them came to a high platform. When they arrived at the platform, Kasa and Murong Yuntian were both stunned by the sight in front of their eyes.