Upon recognizing the marks of human construction, Du You knew he wasn’t far from his destination. It had been a tedious journey, spending the entire day sitting on Xiaozi’s back.
It was fortunate that Xiaozi had leveled up to level 7. Both its flight capabilities and stamina had reached an astonishing level. Otherwise, carrying Du You such a huge distance would have seemed a fantasy for regular flying species.
After an undisclosed amount of time, from a distance, Du You spotted an enormous city at the mouth of a mountain range. Establishing a city in such a location posed significant challenges for anyone seeking to pass through.
Before Du You had the chance to approach it, he saw a few black dots flying towards him. That’s right, they were flying.
Each person rode a winged horse, a Pegasus. Their flight was not as fast as Xiaozi’s, but it was much more stable and powerful, a fact made apparent by the lances and arrows they carried.
Each of them held a lance over 3 meters long. Its broad head shimmered coldly under the sunlight.
"Halt, or we will attack," shouted the leading man.
Due to their proximity, Du You could finally make out their appearances. Clad in chain mail - seemingly light, but undeniably strong in defense - their job title displayed atop their heads as ’Pegasus Knight’, indicating a job related to their mounts.
However, their levels were surprisingly high. The leader was at level 18. Du You wouldn’t stand a chance if they engaged in battle, so he quickly ordered Xiaozi to hover.
Maybe it was his transparent approach, flying openly without concealment, which made them hold back their attack, otherwise, he probably wouldn’t even have had the chance to communicate.
Having seen the mediocre strength of the army in Qingji City, Du You initially assumed that the nearby White Stone City wouldn’t have a much stronger force. However, their strength surprisingly exceeded his expectations by a considerable margin.
Upon getting nearer, Du You discovered there was a group of over twenty Pegasus Knights. The lowest leveled among them was level 13, instantly smashing any trace of pride Du You might have harbored.
"Don’t misunderstand. This is my recommendation certificate, and I’m here for the defense war," Du You hastily pulled out his certificate. Although the other party didn’t come closer, the vigilance on their faces clearly loosened a bit. " down towards the outskirts of the city without any tricks."
They didn’t sense much threat from Du You, but his flying mount was reasonably fast, so they didn’t dare let down their guard entirely. Du You was a bit upset, as he was accustomed to attacking from the sky, where others couldn’t touch him. This time, he got a real taste of actual air forces.
They were knights and he was just a mage riding on a golden eagle. Even though Xiaozi was stronger than their Pegasus, he still wouldn’t stand a chance if a real fight ensued.
Xiaozi emitted a disgruntled "hoot" as if standing up for itself, so Du You irritably kicked it.
With several Pegasus Knights surrounding him, Du You felt fairly annoyed by their prisoner-like treatment. Yet, as he couldn’t surpass their abilities, he had to tolerate it, feeling a stronger urgency to enhance his power.
What Du You didn’t know, however, was that the others were actually quite taken aback by his remarkable power, considering his tender age.
Indeed, Du You was at level 7, yet his incredible aura could be felt due to his high star rank.
If they were only judging by his aura, they perceived him as a formidable level-2 individual. The most surprising fact was that the aura belonged to a mage.
Being a mage in this world meant possessing a rare and noble profession.
When everyone had touched down, they did not land inside the city but remained on the outskirts. The city defense soldiers who had received early notifications were waiting in the vicinity. "Show us your recommendation certificate."
Handing over his certificate to the defense force, it was taken away for verification.
"Does the certificate hold up?" the captain of the Pegasus Knights asked the city defense officer, who was not of ordinary strength, as his level was as high as 19.
"No issues. It is indeed a recommendation slot, yet it’s from Qingji City," was the reply.
"Qingji City? What’s that place? I’ve never heard of it."
The other party chuckled, "It’s merely a regular small town that had been acting under our empire’s banner and was only recently incorporated into the imperial territory. It’s just a small town located outside the Goblin Forest and not that big."
"Ah, I see. Yet who would have thought such an exceptional youth could be recommended from there?"
A prodigy was not something a small town could cultivate.
"Haha, my friend, you’re not from Qingji City, are you? These small towns often seek outside help to raise their contributions. As long as they can bring those people, they consider it an achievement."
Du You nodded, "I did visit Qingji City before. They employed me using their recommendation slot to deal with the surrounding bandits."
The matter of Qingji City was not on their minds. But after hearing this, they understood.
At the same time, Du You also found out about the status of Qingji City; it had only been recently included, demonstrating that his luck was good.
Registering him swiftly, they didn’t bother with identity verification or ancestries. He wondered whether this world lacked those rules, or they just didn’t care, as they seemed strangely unworried about spies.
The registration process was quick, and Du You soon received his unique number. After memorizing it, he set it aside, deeming it unimportant. This update ıs available on 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝕟𝕖𝕥
"Great, you’re now part of White Stone City. However, you need to decide in what capacity you’ll join - as a mercenary or as a soldier."
Du You was intrigued by these diverging options. He asked directly, "What’s the difference between the two? I’m not very familiar with this."
"Understandable, people from outside our system are usually not. Initially, there weren’t many such categories; they were created for the convenience of certain nobles. It was a good idea, though, as due to the high degree of flexibility, some skilled civilians started gradually joining White Stone City," was the explanation.