The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary - Chapter 2: Accepted the Invite

Lu Xiao had followed his master for eighteen years, excelling in both medicine and martial arts.After five years of military service, he returned to the city to search for his origins.Faced with flashes of knives and shadows of swords, he was decisive in killing, dominating everyone.When it came to the matters of the heart, he said, “Still… the Young Miss is the best.”

In an alternate modern world, where people could summon their own beastly companions, His journey was anything but ordinary.As the college entrance exams loomed, He found himself the subject of ridicule for his choice of a companion – a small, seemingly inconsequential snowball known as an ornamental pet.“”Little Snowball? Merely a decorative trifle, utterly useless.””“”Why bother with a pet that lacks the capability to evolve?””“”Its potential is pitifully inadequate. It’s destined to remain stagnant for its entire life.””“”Dreaming of the Familiar Academy? Utterly impossible.””He was bombarded with questions, scorn, and derision.But what they didn’t know was his unique ability – he could unlock the maximum potential of any Beast Evolution!With a calm demeanor, he gazed at the pet panel, visible only to him.“”Hidden evolution route!””“”Queen’s Path: a route of boundless potential. It can ascend to the regal King class.””From Little Snowball to Ice Crystal Soul, from Snow Girl to Ice Blue Girl, and ultimately, the formidable Extreme Ice Queen… the transformation was breathtaking.Now, armed with the power to unleash the fullest potential of any beast, he faced his doubters with a bold challenge.“”Who dares to call my Snowball useless now?””The stage was set for an extraordinary journey, where potential defied expectations and a small snowball could ascend to royal heights. Who would have the last laugh in this tale of evolution and triumph?

Book I: Lost ThingsTristan Abrascal is a thief, one of many making their living under the perpetual twilight of the greatest city in all of Vesper. Quick wit and a contract with a capricious goddess have always kept him one step ahead, until one night he crosses a line by accident that burns all the bridges he had left. But not all is lost, as his mentor offers a way out of peril that turns out to be more than a simple escape.It is also an opportunity to get even with the infanzones, the nobles he’s lived under all his life, and it so happens that Tristan has a full ledger’s worth of scores to settle with them.Lady Angharad Tredegar has fled halfway across the world, leaving behind a ruin of a life: her family butchered by a ruthless enemy, their estate torched and their nobility revoked. Yet no matter how far she flees the blades of assassins follow, and she finds herself growing desperate for any protection. She has one relative left to call on, her estranged uncle, but she finds that the safety he offers comes at a cost.Angharad has sworn revenge, however, and her honour will allow for no compromise. She will do what she must to survive so that one day bloody vengeance can be visited upon her enemies.The paths of the two take them to the doorstep of the Watch, but for desperate souls like them enrolment is a lost cause. They will have to do it the hard way instead, by surviving the trials on the isle known as the Dominion of Lost Things.Where every year many go, and few return.Book II: Good TreasonsThe trials of the Dominion are over.The four survivors have become students of Scholomance, enrolling together as a cabal, yet even on those infamous grounds they soon learn none are beyond the reach of their pasts.Angharad Tredegar is returned to a semblance of the world she left behind, but finds her honor sorely tested by bargains offered - every bit as tempting as in the stories and even deadlier.Tristan Abrascal needs answers. Mysterious enemies keep trying to abduct him, his classroom does not exist and he’s now had several conversations with dead people. Worst of all, his carrots keep dying.Maryam Khaimov is going mad, which would worry her less if it were happening on schedule. More frightening yet is the possibility that she is not, and there truly is someone else going around wearing her face.Song Ren must forge the others into a functional unit, all the while fending off enemies on all sides: rival cabals, vengeful countrymen and the deluge of implacable foes her companions simply cannot seem to stop attracting.Failure is not an option, for Song must bring back honor to her family’s name whatever the cost: it is the only way to keep their disgrace from literally eating them all alive.And as the four chase shadows in Scholomance, in the distance looms the greater test awaiting them in the Asphodel Rectorate. Asphodel is a faded power, the rotten carcass of what it once was, but under that rot looms darker things - of which monsters might just be the least dangerous.Besides, is treason really such an evil when you have the best of reasons for it?

They love gold, and they love silver. Even more so, they love gems that dazzle, like stars across the skies.
Firearms, jewelleries, and precious metals; A collector’s world will not be complete without antiques.
Storage auctions, old goods trade, re-estate sales and gold-digging. But the truth is, if one wants to make money, then the supreme way is through searching for the legendary treasures.
Holding the fort, there’s an ocelot, a wolf, and an Andes condor. At the side, there’s a loyal hound, an irascible ape, and an African honey badger. Who said that you can only rely on humans when treasure hunting?!