Pale Emblem

Chapter 174 Golden Claws
There are only three famous families in Luoye City, the Golden Oak, the Golden Sunflower and the Golden Claw.

They are the founders of Luoye City and the actual rulers of the Disa Alliance. Their family history can be traced back to 1,500 years ago, and their ancestors were disciples who followed the great sage.

The famous families all have a long history and profound heritage, but in Fallen Leaf City, it is generally recognized that the overall strength of the Golden Claw is higher than that of the Golden Sunflower and Golden Oak.

This is because the Golden Claws is a family of beast tamers dominated by women. The longer they have accumulated experience, the more mature the war beasts they breed. They have even bypassed the restrictions of the dragon veins and developed a unique lineage of war beasts.

The Owl-faced Bear is the most representative war beast of the Golden Claw.

Adventurers in Fallen Leaf City say that a violent owl-faced bear can tear a strong giant soldier into pieces, and their fighting power far exceeds that of ordinary dragon beasts.

Rumors are just rumors. Golden Claw has always been low-key, and few adventurers have ever seen a living owl-faced bear.

Victor had heard rumors about the owl-faced bear in the Adventurer's House, and he once thought that those were all exaggerations by the drunkards. Because from his awakened knowledge of monsters, the giant brute soldiers, also known as the ogre brute soldiers, were peak level 1400 monsters, nearly three meters tall, weighing an average of pounds, with talents such as ferocity, wild combat, and skin skills, and possessed extraordinary strength, extraordinary physical fitness, extraordinary self-healing, extraordinary toughness (physical defense), and extraordinary resistance (elemental defense).

Sabertooths can kill ogre brutes, but they are fourth-level ferocious beasts, larger and heavier than ogres. Even so, sabertooths have to go all out when hunting ogre brutes, otherwise they risk being killed in return.

If Owlbears can also tear apart Ogre Barbarians, then wouldn't they be ferocious beasts of the same level as Sabertooths?
Victor found it hard to believe that someone could raise a group of fourth-level ferocious animals, but now it seems that even if the owl-faced bears are not fourth-level, they are not much different from the ogre soldiers. At least their physiques are similar, and the owl-faced bears' front claws are extremely sharp, like giant eagle claws.

A bored owl-faced bear was sharpening its claws on a rock. Its grip was so strong that it could easily crush the rock and turn it into powder.

When the gladiator Kent saw this scene, the expression on his face suddenly tightened. It was just a simple task for the owl-faced bear to destroy the boulder with all his strength.

This is the result of the size difference.

An owlbear of comparable size to an ogre will at least not be crushed by the other in terms of strength, thus having the possibility of killing an ogre soldier.

If the rumors are true, the team of noble private soldiers with four owlbears is undoubtedly a powerful armed force.

In fact, there are two private soldiers here, the Golden Sunflower and the Golden Claw. The family emblems on their coats indicate this.
Victor's spiritual attribute reached 19 points, and his insight and memory far exceeded the average level of ordinary half-elves. He only took a glance and counted the total number of elite cavalrymen on the other side, with half each from the Golden Sunflower and Golden Claw. Most of them were dragoons, while there were relatively few pure-blooded half-elf professionals, but these professionals were obviously the core members of the team.

The elite private soldiers of the noble families were well-trained. Although they did not set up camp to rest, they formed a defensive formation. Dozens of dragon vein shield guards, each with their beast mounts, stood scattered on the periphery, forming a circle like a wooden stake fence. Behind this defensive circle were dragon vein swordsmen holding long-handled heavy weapons, as well as dragon vein archers equipped with strong bows, javelins, and short swords.

Young Master Gaius of the Golden Sunflower family and some high-level professionals are in the center of the defense circle.

Even in the wild, it seems that it is not easy to get close to an heir of a pillar family.

The dark hunter who led Victor and his group turned around and told them to wait outside, then abandoned his mount and walked straight into the defense circle to report the situation to his master.

After a while, the Dark Hunter came out with a team of half-elf professionals, led by a bow warrior with a level six mark on his suit.

The great venerable seemed to be in his thirties, quite handsome, with a carefully trimmed mustache, looking mature and confident. When he saw Hermann, he looked him up and down, and couldn't help showing a surprised expression, then smiled and greeted:
"Tofoven didn't tell me that there was a bow warrior master among the adventure team he invited... Hello, I'm Frank, Master Gaius's servant."

"Your Excellency, I am Hermann, a level 5 archer from Eagle's Nest City, and I am the leader of the Thunderstorm Adventure Group." The Alchemist acted flattered and responded respectfully.

As he spoke, he took out two documents from his bag, presented them to the other party with both hands, and said, "This is the certification document of our Thunderstorm Adventure Group, and the reconnaissance mission briefing issued by the vice president."

Frank took the document and flipped through it, asking casually, "Why are there only five people in your adventure group? Did you encounter barbarian raiders along the way?"

The enemy's Dust Falcon could find them in the gravel wilderness, and naturally could also find the Ranger sisters who were out on reconnaissance.

Facing the verbal temptation from the noble servant, Hermann responded very skillfully:
"Our other companions went their separate ways to scout and explore the way, and they didn't join us. Of course, we didn't encounter any barbarian looters. It's just that our Thunderstorm Adventure Group recently fought against orc bone collectors in the mountains and forests far outside of the Eagle's Nest, and suffered heavy losses, resulting in our group being short of manpower at the moment."

"What a misfortune." Frank returned the certificate to Herman and said with a smile: "There are only a dozen people in your adventure group now. According to the rules of the Adventurer's Guild, you will be demoted."

Herman explained with a wry smile, "That's right... So, we didn't go back to Eagle's Nest to complete the mission. I just happened to hear that the Adventurer's Guild in Fallen Leaf City had issued a war mission, so I wanted to bring my brothers here to try their luck, make some money, and then recruit more people. Who knew... Alas."

If an adventure group loses one-third or more of its members during a mission, the guild that issued the mission has the right to lower the level of the adventure group. This will make the adventure group's situation more difficult. However, war missions are an exception. All adventure groups that respond to the call and participate in war missions are exempt from downgrades regardless of the losses. Moreover, war is a good time for adventure groups to merge with each other and replenish members.

The Thunderstorm Adventure Group wanted to get out of their predicament through the war mission in Fallen Leaf City. To be more specific, they must have set their sights on the half-bloods trained in Braun Town. However, Clark, that bastard, did not give any adventure group the opportunity to absorb half-bloods.

Frank didn't care about what happened to a mere adventure group. He had roughly confirmed the other party's identity information, so he got straight to the point: "Well... have you seen any flying dragons passing by in the sky these two days?"

"Flying dragon?" Herman frowned and asked, "Are you asking about the wyvern and the chimera?"

The sixth-level archer's eyes suddenly lit up and he nodded, "Yes, yes, yes... Did you see it?"

Herman nodded and said, "I saw it... Yesterday at noon, we saw a Chimera with two Wyverns falling from the sky to hunt."

"Falling down to hunt?!" Frank's face was full of surprise, but he immediately closed his lips, paused, suppressed his excitement, and slowly said, "Captain Hermann, my master wants to talk to you in person about the information about Chimera and Wyvern... Don't worry, as long as you answer the questions truthfully, I promise to give you a handsome reward."

"It is our honor to meet Master Gaius of the Golden Sunflower Family and serve him..." Before Herman finished speaking, Frank immediately interrupted him and corrected him:

"Only you go to see Master Gaius... the rest of you stay outside." Frank waved his hand, and the dragoons behind him walked over and surrounded Victor and the others.

"Please hand over your weapons to your companions for safekeeping."

After pondering for a moment, Hermann began to disarm himself, and then tried to comfort his "angry companions", asking them to stay where they were and not cause trouble.

It can be said that the performance of Herman and others was no different from that of ordinary adventurers. Frank brought the most dangerous alchemist in without any suspicion.

Herman's poison ability can have a variety of negative effects, and his shadow poison can be released remotely and ignores elemental resistance, which means that bloodline talent and antidote are ineffective. Victor couldn't imagine how the young master of the Golden Sunflower family could withstand Herman's poison attack.

Of course, Victor didn't want to come into conflict with the elite private soldiers of the Zhu Mingmen unless it was absolutely necessary.

At present, the other party’s attitude is still friendly, and the purpose of their trip seems to be to track down Chimera and Wyvern, which does not directly conflict with Victor’s rescue plan.

So, a few people stayed where they were and waited patiently. Even though they were being followed by a dozen Dragon Vein Swordsmen, they seemed very relaxed. Harvey and the others each found a stone to sit down and rest, while Victor was very interested in the ferocious beast mount left behind by the scout captain.

After being released by its owner, this mount, which looked like a giant dog, began to look for vines, berries and mosses on the ground to eat.

Victor watched the giant dogs eat these plants and couldn't help but wonder if they were predatory beasts.

At the same time, a girl from a noble family walked out of the defensive circle of private soldiers with a guard. They came straight to Victor, and the girl raised her voice and said, "My adventurer brother, are you a mixed-blood?"

Her voice is clear and pleasant, as moving as the gurgling of a spring stream; her tone is very soft, which makes people feel good about her.

Victor looked up and found that the noble girl who called him brother was about thirteen or fourteen years old, with an oval face with a little baby fat, her golden hair tied into a lively single ponytail, and her pure gray-green eyes showed curiosity and innocence.

The girl has delicate features, fair and delicate skin, and is wearing a fitted professional suit. She has a slender figure and a well-proportioned body.

When she smiles, dimples appear on her cheeks, making her look very sweet and cute.

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Victor looked around, raised his finger and pointed at the tip of his nose, meaning to ask her: "Are you talking to me?"

The girl nodded repeatedly, walked and skipped to Victor, stretched out a white little hand to him, and introduced herself: "Hello, my name is Muse, from Golden Claw, I am 13 years old... What's your name, big brother?"

Victor frowned as he looked at the slender hands of the noble girl. He always felt that he should bend down, hold up her small hands, and kiss her fingers.

However, there was a chance that the guards beside the girl might draw their swords and attack.

The guard was 2 meters tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He was strong and muscular, and was wrapped in a moth silk armor from head to toe, with his face hidden. He carried two huge swords of astonishing size, but his movements were very agile, and the noise he made when he walked was even lighter than that of a girl from a noble family.

Gladiator Kent kept his eyes fixed on him without blinking, which showed that the guard of the noble girl was no ordinary character.

The noble girl seemed to notice Victor's embarrassment. She stuck out her tongue and took the initiative to put her hand down, appearing playful and polite.

"My name is Victor, and I'm a mixed-race awakener." Victor replied.

"Victor...then we know each other. Hehehe...Brother Victor, nice to meet you." The girl said in a sweet voice.

"Nice to meet you too... uh, honorable Miss... Golden Claw." Victor acted like a country bumpkin who was not good at dealing with nobles.

Muse puffed her cheeks and corrected, "My name is Muse... not Golden Claw."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Muse."

"It's okay, I have forgiven you... because your eyes are so beautiful, like the purest sapphires. I have never seen such beautiful eyes." Muse said softly.

The golden-level alchemical snake touch changed Victor's body shape and appearance. He is now a tall and strong half-elf youth. The only thing that cannot be changed is his deep and pure ice-blue eyes. Currently, only the eyes of the Tower Cave Clan can compare with Victor's.

Most people would think of a hybrid of a rock elf and a half-elf when they saw Victor's eyes.

This refers to the offspring born from the union of a male Rock Elf and a female Half-Elf. Compared to the half-blood children born from female Hemer warriors and adventurers, their numbers are extremely rare, but their talents are relatively more outstanding.

Since mixed-race people of the Taku tribe are very rare, Muse, who was born in the Golden Claws, took the initiative to approach Victor.

This seems to be explained by the little girl's curiosity.

Just as Victor was thinking this, Muse asked again, "Brother Victor, which direction did you come from?"

"...I heard that you saw a wyvern and a chimera on the road?"

"Can you tell me when and where you met?"

"Also, which direction are the Chimera and the Wyvern going?"

Although the defense circle formed by the private soldiers of the noble families was noisy and the mounts that looked like giant dogs made donkey-like noises, Victor was currently in the most powerful wind element affinity state and possessed an extraordinary perception talent.

Inside the defense circle, Young Master Gaius of the Golden Sunflower questioned Hermann. Even though someone deliberately covered it up with noise, it could not escape Victor's ears.

The questions that Gaius was concerned about were almost identical to those asked by the Muses.

The spirit of 19 points gives Victor keen insight. He immediately thought that Muse and Gaius questioned people separately in order to distinguish the truth from the false and prevent being deceived.

Seeing the girl trying hard to get close to him, Victor guessed that she might have volunteered to come out to get information. Unfortunately, her last question was too direct and there were obvious signs of interrogation, so she messed up the performance.

Of course, Victor did not feel disgusted. Instead, he thought this silly girl was quite cute.

(End of this chapter)