Having regained his human form, Todd walked the streets of Froststone City.
Due to the dispersed residential areas and the undulating terrain, Froststone City covers a much larger area than Twilight City. In fact, the former is about twice the size of the latter.
Without the appearance of a tyrant, the people who brushed past Todd could not connect this ordinary-looking young man with the supreme son of the gods.
Todd himself enjoyed this feeling of being part of the community, but Evie, who was with him, didn't think so.
"My duty is to fight on the battlefield, not to wander around with you..."
Carrying a sword and shield and looking dissatisfied, Ivy looked at the bustling crowd in front of her and listened to the various noises around her, and said with a headache.
Todd stopped in front of a fruit stand, looking at the freshly picked fruit, and said with a smile, "Life shouldn't be all about fighting and killing; learning to relax is more important."
Evie sidestepped the pedestrians and shook her head, saying, "When an enemy's weapon is aimed at your head, I don't think relaxing will help you dodge faster."
As if he hadn't heard Evie's words, Todd argued with the fruit vendor about the price for a while, and finally paid for a few wild melons.
Looking at the fruit Todd offered, Evie's eyes widened: "Do you know? If you give the order, the believers are willing to give you anything."
"I know."
"Then why are you wasting your breath over a few copper coins?"
"This is what I mean by relaxation."
Todd smiled as he broke open the wild melon, ate the sweet flesh inside, and nodded approvingly at the fruit vendor.
Seeing that the customer was enjoying the food, the latter was in a great mood and gave the customer a string of pearl peaches from his own stall.
And so, Todd, full of enthusiasm, and Ivy, with a sour face, carrying loads of fruit and snacks, strolled along and gradually arrived at a huge square.
The place was packed with people, bustling with activity. At a glance, there were at least several thousand people gathered. But Todd looked around and saw neither vendors nor shops.
Finding a relatively secluded, high spot, Todd ate a chestnut while asking Ivy, "Where is this place? Why are there so many people here?"
Evie casually remarked, "A gathering of war merits."
"A war merit gathering?" Todd was about to ask again when the sound of a heated argument coming from the square caught his attention.
Upon closer inspection, Todd was surprised to find that Ackerman was among the arguing people.
This man, dressed in magnificent armor and sporting a small mustache, stood with his hands on his hips and shouted at a chapter commander from Holy Guard City opposite him: "The Red Branch Chapter was the first to storm Ozd! We lost dozens of brothers while attacking the city gates... Oh, and two catapults too! We should be first in the spoils!"
The Holy Guard on the other side refused to back down: "The Windhammer Legion withstood the charge of the enemy's heavy cavalry. Without us, you would have been rotting in the ground long ago!"
At this moment, Fried, the barbarian veteran representing the Falcon Legion, also chimed in: "If it weren't for my fearless men using human explosives to blast open the walls during the attack on Ozd's inner city, would you still be standing here talking now?!"
Following that, representatives from dozens of other groups, large and small, joined the verbal battle.
At the height of the excitement, some people rolled up their sleeves, took off their coats, and prepared to fight at any moment.
Seeing the worry on Todd's face, Evie curled her lip and said disdainfully, "Don't worry, there won't be a fight. They're all waiting for the 'score calculation'."
Hearing a new term, Todd turned around in surprise: "What...what does it mean?"
Evie, too lazy to say anything more, simply pointed ahead, indicating to Todd to see for himself.
Before long, five shamans emerged with a group of devotees. The previously tense square immediately calmed down.
Everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on the book in the shaman's hands.
The shaman Todd, who was in charge, knew her all too well; it was Minnie, one of the earliest people to follow him in managing Froststone Camp.
Leaning on her cane, she walked onto the stone platform in the square, sat on the wooden chair brought by the believers, and nodded to her companions beside her.
The shaman beside Minnie then opened the book in his hand and read aloud: "The first to breach the walls of Ozd... was the Redbush Chapter, 7 points! The Windhammer Chapter defeated the Night Watch Cavalry, 4 points! The Barracuda Chapter killed the highest commander of the garrison, 4 points! The Falcon Chapter was the first to breach the inner city of Ozd, 5 points..."
Todd gaped in astonishment: "What's going on?"
With a blade of grass dangling from her mouth, Ivy simply sat down and said listlessly, "Just watch."
The shaman loudly proclaimed the merit objectives, the name of the battle group, and the score obtained on the stage.
Meanwhile, the battle commanders below the stage were nervously calculating their scores.
Each battle group consisted of burly men, their backsides sticking out, squatting on the ground in circles, frantically calculating their respective battle group's final score using paper and pens they had prepared beforehand.
In Todd's eyes, the scene looked exactly like a group of elementary school students who had just finished their exams and were gathered together to calculate their scores.
"This...this is really..." Todd stared at the scene before him, hesitating for a long time, unsure how to evaluate this system of merit-based rewards. In the end, he could only smile wryly and say, "Who came up with this method?"
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