TKDG 001: A Frigid Town, Part 4

Translated by Star'sWish

Edited by Caz

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Early the next morning, Uncle Li had a surge of mercy, and threw a mantou at Ah Dai. After he ravenously downed the mantou, he was sent out to start another day of fish catching.

The occasional drift of snowflakes down from the heavens gave passerbys a sense of chilliness. Slowly walking along the street, Ah Dai thought, when will another granny appear to take him away! He'll be satisfied so long as he is able to eat mantous till he is full. How is Ya Tou? She left with the old lady, is it true that she has mantous to eat everyday?

While contemplating, Ah Dai suddenly saw someone in odd clothing ahead.  The reason it was odd is because that tall figure was completely shrouded in a large cloak to the point where even his features were not clearly visible. Beneath the cloak, there seemed to be a bulging purse. Ah Dai decided that that man will be his first target of the day. Together with that thought, Ah Dai stealthily followed the man, took out a sharp little razor blade from his belt, and waited for the chance to strike. The reason Ah Dai often succeeded at catching fish had to do with his perseverance, once he decides on a prey, he will follow said target closely until he succeeds.

Following him closely down the street, the man in the cloak walked into a luxurious restaurant that was dazzlingly decorated, even the roof used glazed roof tiles. Ah Dai thought in his heart, to be able to eat here, there much be quite a lot of money in his purse. At that thought, he couldn't help but secretly feel happy, if he can bring more fish back today, Uncle Li might give him enough mantous to be full. He crouched down by a corner of the restaurant's front door, patiently waiting.

"Leave, leave, leave, where did a little beggar come from, move to the side, " the restaurant's doorman kicked Ah Dai, looking at him with revulsion.

Ah Dai had already gotten used to these egotistical doormen, he quickly nodded, bowed, and ran a little further way, finding a dim corner capable of sheltering him from the wind and snow before crouching down again.

Playing with the sharp little razor blade in his hands, Ah Dai patiently waited, not in the least bit anxious, it's just eating, he must come out eventually.

A full hour passed, finally, the cloaked man walked out. Ah Dai was excited because he was walking towards him.

Facing him directly was the best position to strike. He hurriedly stood up, calmed his state of mind, and walked towards that man. The man was very tall, Ah Dai only reached his stomach region. The distance in between them unceasingly shortened, Ah Dai scratched his head of hair with the hand that was holding the blade, right when they were roughly a meter apart, Ah Dai stumbled and bumped into the man.

Ah Dai instantly felt like he had bumped into a metal plate, his whole body in pain. He inadvertently looked up and saw that man's face. He had an old appearance, with uncountable fine wrinkles, he looked around 70 or 80 years old.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it," Ah Dai immediately apologized.

The old man humphed, didn't say anything, and continued walking ahead, seemingly unaware that a slit had been sliced open in his cloak, the purse at his waist now missing.

Seeing that the other party would not bother him, Ah Dai happily ran ahead, in a moment of carelessness, he slipped in a snow pile, and fell down sprawling. The areas viciously hit by Uncle Li yesterday were hurt again, causing him to spasm nonstop. Even then, it was hard to overshadow Ah Dai's excitement in his heart, the moment he got the purse, he discovered that the weight was abnormally heavy, even if it were only filled with bronze coins, it would still be enough to meet today's required quota.

Shakily standing up, he quickly ran to an alley, after turning around to make sure that no one was chasing after him, his sighed and patted himself on the chest, sitting down. However, what Ah Dai doesn't know is that his target held one of the Continent's special professions -- an Alchemist.

The most exalted profession is that of the priesthood, however, apart from the priesthood, each country had a few professions that were placed above typical workers, and these professions formed their own associations to become special existences that wielded their own power.

The Mercenary Guild, had the largest number of members. Being a mercenary was a special vocation where they took on certain easy or difficult missions on behalf of their clients. They are rewarded based on the difficulty of the missions, and the Mercenary Guild branches spread across the land were the best places for them to receive missions. Of course, the Mercenary Guild does not provide its services for free, they collect a set fee based on the difficulty of the mission. A group of mercenaries is called a Mercenary Unit. For extremely difficult missions, employers prefer mercenary units with formidable strength and would not hesitate to pay a high price for them.

Mercenaries and Mercenary Units are both divided into six ranks, the lowest rank is the 4th Level mercenaries and mercenary units, from there in ascending order, is the 3rd Level Mercenary, 2nd Level Mercenary, 1st Level Mercenary, Special Mercenary, and the highest ranking Extraordinary Mercenary. Due to the fact that there is a large number of mercenaries and mercenary units, it is extremely difficult to move up a rank. Different ranking mercenaries will be provided with different badges by the Mercenary Guild. In a mercenary group,  those of higher ranks are very well respected by their colleagues from the lower ranks.

The Sorcerer's Institute, sorcerers are professions second only to the priesthood.  Since the cultivation of magic has very high requirements as to a person's inner qualities, sorcerers are scarce. The sorcerers that cultivate Light Magic have almost all been incorporated into the Holy Church, which further showcases the preciousness of a sorcerer. They are usually lavishly paid to join armies, almost all sorcerers of the intermediate rank and above will have an aristocratic titled bestowed upon them by their respective countries. Thus, the vocation of a sorcerer is one that commoners yearn for the most as it is associated with name and power.

Sorcerers are divided into Junior Sorcerers, Intermediate Sorcerers, High Sorcerers, Grand Sorcerers, Principal Sorcerers, and Sage Sorcerers. As a sorcerer's main source of income is an allowance from the country, they will usually visit the Sorcerer's Institute to obtain a badge that is equivalent to their rankings in order to get the corresponding allowance. Of course, they have to go through assessments set by the Sorcerer's Institute. The Sorcerer's Institute is the only association that doesn't require work to be done on its behalf before paying its members.

The Alchemist Alliance, although they do not have many members, they are very well respected in every country. The Alliance branches in each country are generally given incentive money, because weapons refined by alchemists are much better than those created by blacksmiths, and thus are the best to equip a high-ranking army with. The reason Heaven's Gold Empire is renowned is because they have the largest Alchemist Alliance among the four countries.

Alchemists are actually considered a ancillary branch of sorcerers who mainly specialize in Fire Magic. What they are stronger at compared to sorcerers is their knowledge in the various minerals and medicines. Powerful alchemists are able to forge high-level divine weapons, the prices of these divine weapons are unable to be estimated, they are beloved by every country's imperial families, and even more so by the Holy Church. Alchemists are a group whose vocation is secondary in wealth only to the assassins. Alchemists are divided into Novice, Junior Alchemist, Intermediate Alchemist, High Alchemist, Special Alchemist, and Grand Alchemist. Although alchemists have their own set of badges, the higher level alchemists generally don't bother trying to obtain them.

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 Too much information. Will introduce
the Assassins Guild and the Thieves Guild
in the next chapter.

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Name and power : name stands for both reputation and fame.

Principal Sorcerer : direct translation - Sorcerer Instructor ; in Fairy Tail : Slayer

Sage Sorcerer : direct translation - Sorcerer Professor

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