"Elot, I can call you that."
After finishing his observation of Rhodes, the mayor slowly spoke.
Rhodes said nothing, just looked at the mayor and nodded, waiting for his next words.
"As you saw before, I am fighting the enemy. Speaking of which, I also want to thank you for cutting off the enemy's retreat for me, which caused the enemy's undead creatures to lose a lot here."
As if explaining the previous situation, the mayor said, but there was no expression on his face. He just said these words, and there was no sense of gratitude contained in the words.
At this time, Rhodes also spoke and slowly asked the mayor: "If the mayor really thanks me, why did he let his skeleton warriors test me again?"
Even after the battle ended, the dark clouds surrounding the mansion still did not dissipate. After listening to Rhodes' question, the mayor at the door of the mansion replied:
"You also understand that this is a test. I just want to use this method to understand your strength. The test led by me is of course much more reliable than simple observation."
At this point, the mayor paused and continued: "Although it's a bit offensive, the one who actually suffered losses should be me, right? Even if I resisted those ghosts, I didn't lose a few skeleton warriors, but In order to test you, my skeleton warriors suffered a lot of losses."
The mayor's voice turned cold, and Rhodes could hear the anger in his words.
If it was just for testing, then Rhodes' use of magic to quickly kill these skeleton warriors undoubtedly made the mayor very angry.
However, Rhodes didn't say anything. Since the mayor planned to test, he must be prepared to suffer losses. Compared with the loss of the skeleton warrior, the strength information obtained by the mayor was more valuable.
Rhodes asked the mayor:
"The issue of loss should be very clear to you, so there is no need to mention it any more. You haven't answered me yet. What is the purpose of the test? Are you just trying to understand my strength? Or are you preparing something? ?”
After listening to Rhodes' words, the mayor realized that the person in front of him could not be easily fooled, so he said:
"Aren't you curious why undead creatures came to the town to attack my mansion? If you hadn't appeared here in time, maybe they would have breached my mansion."
After hearing this, Rhodes knew that the mayor planned to tell him some information and explain the reason why the mansion was attacked. Including the previous temptation, it may be because of these words.
"Then let's ask the mayor to tell us."
Rhodes did not directly attack the skeleton warriors in front of him. According to the anomalies that Rhodes noticed inside the mansion, even if these skeleton warriors could be killed, there were still more powerful undead creatures in the mansion.
Therefore, Rhodes followed the mayor's words and planned to listen to the mayor's explanation.
"The necromancer who attacked this town before was a senior apprentice in the Necromancy Academy. This senior apprentice should have come to perform a trial mission."
"I studied in the Necromancy Academy. It wasn't until I got older that I chose to pay some gold coins to the academy, came to this town, and became the mayor here."
"Other than the need to turn in gold coins every year, I don't have much effect on the academy, and the number of these gold coins is not valued by the academy at all. If I have any other role, it is to help the academy train apprentices."
"After the apprentice took over the mission from the academy, he came to destroy this town, and I was responsible for dealing with it. The undead creatures you saw earlier that came to attack were controlled by such an apprentice. "
"I have dealt with such apprentices many times before. After accepting the trial mission, these apprentices all wanted to destroy this town. Their strength is not much different from mine."
"But for some unknown reason, the necromancer apprentice who came now is far stronger than me. If you hadn't taken action in time to help me repel these undead creatures, my skeleton warriors alone might not have been able to survive for long. .”
No different than before, the mayor took on a heavy tone when speaking these words, perhaps because he wanted Rhodes to believe him, or perhaps he was just speaking.
After listening to the mayor's words, Rhodes fell silent.
Through the mayor's narration and previous guesses, Rhodes has realized something.
"You have also seen that the undead creatures controlled by the necromancer before, coupled with these black clouds in the sky, must be more powerful than the skeleton warriors like me. I can't do anything with the skeleton warriors alone. response."
"Because of this, I didn't let you leave at the beginning. Instead, I wanted to use your help to deal with this necromancer and protect this town."
"I may have misunderstood you because I didn't say it clearly before, but I definitely didn't have any bad intentions."
"The reason why I test your strength is also because I want to understand your strength so as to determine the next countermeasures."
"Through the previous battle, I have a partial understanding of your strength. I am convinced that if you are willing to help me, I can definitely deal with the necromancer, and the town will not be destroyed by him."
"Of course, since this kind of thing is inherently risky, I won't let you risk it in vain. After killing this necromancer, I will give you a treasure as a reward."
"So, Eliot, what do you mean? Are you willing to help me deal with this necromancer?"
After saying these words, the mayor looked at Rhodes and did not say anything more, but waited for Rhodes' answer.
At this time, the mayor finally explained the cause and effect to Rhodes, including why the map was not given to Rhodes before, the reason why the necromancer came to attack, and most importantly, he wanted Rhodes to help him deal with this A necromancer.
Rhodes had no idea about the mayor saying that he would use treasures as reward. This was just a temporary promise from the mayor. After Rhodes killed the necromancer, the mayor could not admit it at all, or Find a way to kill Rhodes.
If Rhodes really believed what the mayor said, he wouldn't be able to blame anyone else for being deceived in the end.
After thinking for a while, in order to confirm his previous thoughts, Rhodes asked the mayor:
"You can leave on your own. According to your current strength, even if you join the war, you can get a lot of benefits. Why do you have to stay in the town and wait for others to deal with you?"
After listening to Rhodes' words, the mayor replied:
"Leave? No, no. If I were the same age as you, I would leave here immediately without you reminding me. But I don't want to leave now, and I have taken a dim view of things like rights. I just want to Stay here and study some spells in peace."
Regarding what the mayor said, Rhodes obviously couldn't believe that ambition would not fade over time. On the contrary, it would become stronger. After the mayor's strength has been improved, correspondingly, he will also think about bigger things. right.
Therefore, the reason why he is unwilling to leave here, apart from the old age mentioned by the mayor, can only be that there is something here that makes him not want to leave, and it has greater benefits than leaving.
Realizing this, Rhodes asked the mayor:
"How many years have passed since you left the Necromancy Academy until now? What do you think of the Necromancy Academy?"
Since the mayor asked Rhodes for help, Rhodes was not afraid that he would not answer his questions, even if it was a simple and meaningless answer. Therefore, Rhodes asked the mayor about his views on the School of Necromancy because he actually wanted to know more about it. The mayor.
The mayor replied: "The days of living in the college are like yesterday. I can recall all the scenes at that time."
"Due to my poor talent, I had to choose a way to leave the academy and come here. I can't tell you exactly how many years have passed, but I am sure that it was a long time."
"As for what you think about the academy? I like the environment of the Academy of Necromancy very much. Compared with the orthodox spell academy, the environment inside the Academy of Necromancy is more cruel. If you are not careful, you will be eliminated. But I survived Come down."
"The orthodox mage academy was originally prepared for those nobles. For people like me who have no background and lack of talent, even if they want to become stronger through the accumulation of time, the academy will not allow it."
"Although there are some special reasons, the only place where everyone, regardless of qualifications, is qualified to learn spells is the Necromancy Academy."
After listening to the mayor's words, Rhodes understood something.
The mayor's words were full of admiration for the Necromancy Academy. Even though he had left the academy for a long time, he still missed his previous academy life.
Rhodes realized that if his own talent was not insufficient and needed to be made up for through the accumulation of time, the mayor could grow into a very powerful necromancer in the academy. Because of this, Rhodes had a deep feeling. of vigilance.
These apprentices who admire the Necromancer Academy also believe in the system of the weak and the strong in the academy, and this admiration is reflected in their attitude towards ordinary people.
Rhodes asked the mayor how long he had been staying here because he wanted to use this question to judge the extent of the mayor's strength accumulation.
Rhodes did not believe that the mayor, who had accumulated strength here for so long, could only control these skeleton warriors. The aura that Rhodes felt in the mayor's mansion was probably another powerful one. An undead creature, but Rhodes couldn't determine its type.
In addition, Rhodes still has some unanswered questions in his mind, including how the mayor knew that the necromancers in the academy had received trial tasks, and how the mayor had dealt with such monsters that came to destroy the village several times before. Necromancer.
The answer to this question determines how powerful the mayor is, but Rhodes understands that if he asks the mayor directly, the mayor will definitely not answer him, and he will have to make his own judgment through other methods.
Rhodes said: "I remember you said that a business group is coming to this town recently."
"Yes, a friend of mine serves as the leader of a small business group in the Freelance Chamber of Commerce. Not long ago, he was going to the City of Lament. I asked him to transport some supplies to me."
"It stands to reason that the business group will come to the town in the next few days. With the help of the business group, I can deal with the necromancer. But for the sake of safety, if the business group does not come, I still need to ask You help me deal with the necromancer in front of me."
"To put your mind at ease, I can give you the map you need first."
With that said, the mayor took out a scroll from his pocket and handed it to the Skeleton Warrior on the side. The Skeleton Warrior was about to step forward and hand the scroll to Rhodes.
On the side, the vampire immediately stepped forward, took the scroll from the skeleton warrior's hand, then came to Rhodes and handed the scroll to Rhodes.
Rhodes opened the scroll in his hand. Due to the dim light around him, even if there were a lot of firelight on the ground around him, it could only illuminate the nearby ground, completely unable to allow Rhodes to see the map in his hand clearly.
Rhodes put the map in his pocket and did not continue talking.
Regardless of whether he agrees to the mayor's request or not, Rhodes will never return this map. Although he doesn't know the authenticity of the records on the map, he only needs to confirm it a little.
Rhodes asked the mayor: "So, how does the mayor plan to deal with this undead mage? In this attack, he has lost most of his undead creatures. Maybe he has chosen to leave now." .”
The mayor replied: "No, this time he only came to test. He did not bring all the undead creatures with him. He also sent some undead creatures to search for the townspeople and retreated immediately after sensing danger."
"If he sends out all the undead creatures, I can't resist it with these skeleton warriors alone. Therefore, I need your help so that I can kill him."
After listening to the mayor's words, Rhodes asked: "Then, after successfully killing the necromancer, how should the valuable items on his body and his body be distributed?"
Just listening to Rhodes' words made people think that Rhodes really agreed to the mayor's request.
"I only want his magic book. In addition, the rest of the items on his body, including the treasure that can create black clouds, belong to you. What do you think?"
Rhodes nodded.
Neither Rhodes nor the mayor, after testing each other's strengths, had no doubts about whether they could successfully kill the Necromancer Apprentice, and directly decided on the distribution method of the spoils.
"Tonight, the Necromancer will obviously not attack again. But his next attack will not take too long. After all, the trial mission does not leave him long time, and he also needs it before the war begins. Go back before…”
"He is already on guard against you. When he attacks next, you don't need to take action for the time being. I will let all the skeleton warriors hold him back. When the battle situation becomes stalemate, you can take the opportunity to kill him..."
Hearing this, Rhodes directly interrupted the mayor and said: "No, if you want to do this, it is better for me to resist the undead creatures together with you."
The mayor's words may sound like the most correct approach, let the skeleton warriors rely on the battle formation to resist the group of undead creatures, and then Rhodes will find a way to kill the undead mage, but this method is actually extremely difficult for Rhodes. unfavorable.
In the previous battle, the necromancer only released two spells. Rhodes did not know his true spell-casting ability.
Since he didn't know the necromancer's spellcasting ability, and Rhodes couldn't take advantage of the terrain, the success rate of doing so was extremely low.
Even if Rhodes successfully kills the necromancer, the mayor in the mansion can take the opportunity to control the surrounding undead creatures and deal with Rhodes in turn. Therefore, Rhodes would not choose to do this.
The mayor also understood what Rhodes meant, so he didn't say anything more, but gestured to Rhodes to express his thoughts.
(End of chapter)