“Yeah! That’s exactly right!” Big Beard laughed heartily. “Kid, how old are you?”

Chapter Three: The Prairie Wolf Warrior Guild

Big Beard’s question left William Carter a bit confused. He really didn’t know how old he was in this world, so he vaguely reported an age, “Seventeen, I guess.”

“Seventeen, not bad! Not bad! Only geniuses can change class this early, you might even become a class-change hero. Hey! Kid, are you interested in joining our Prairie Wolf Warrior Guild?”

Getting invited so quickly? Traveling to another world really is great. Thinking back to the novels he’d read before, the main character usually politely refuses such invitations, showing their lofty ideals of yearning for a free life. But as for William Carter, he was just an ordinary guy, without such noble sentiments.

In his own words, he was a down-to-earth person.

So William Carter chuckled, “Sure, sure, but I wonder about the salary and benefits…”

Big Beard was clearly stumped by this, his big eyes blinking, “What’s a salary?”

It was the long-legged elf who understood, and she chuckled, “Class-changed warriors have high status in the city. The Class-Change Warrior Guild provides stipends, so benefits aren’t a problem, and life is comfortable. The advantage of joining a warrior guild is that you can forge and exchange equipment, and also team up to level up.”

William Carter grinned from ear to ear when he heard this, his eyes gleaming mischievously, and continued, “Actually, I was just asking casually, I never really care about those things. There’s one more question, though—what’s the male-to-female ratio in our guild?”

The long-legged elf giggled, “About three to one. There are already few female warriors, and our guild has more than most. Why, looking for a girlfriend?”

William Carter scratched his head a bit awkwardly, “I just want to put down roots in the guild, haha. Doesn’t matter if there aren’t many, just looking at you, I can tell the guild is full of beauties.”

The long-legged elf kept laughing. No matter what, when a woman is praised for her looks, even subtly, she’ll be in a good mood. “Class-changed warriors are constantly bathed in energy, so their looks naturally become more attractive. But, sis here isn’t that young anymore. If you’re interested, I can introduce you to someone.”

“Haha, then I’ll be counting on you, sis…” As William Carter said this, he inadvertently glanced behind Big Beard, who was carrying a crooked tree branch on his back. Thin at the front, thick at the back, like a slithering snake.

“Ironwood Branch?” If William Carter hadn’t already guessed that this might be the world of Dota, he wouldn’t have been able to name that branch so quickly.

Big Beard was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing, unable to hide his pride. “Wrong! This isn’t just any Ironwood Branch. It’s a two-star Ironwood Branch, upgraded from three Ironwood Branches, adding two each to intelligence, strength, and agility. The vice president of the Enchanters’ Guild made it himself. On the market, it’d fetch nearly two hundred gold coins.”

“Upgrade? How do you upgrade? Synthesize?” William Carter was shocked. The equipment system in this world was clearly different from that in the Dota game. In Dota, three Ironwood Branches can’t be combined—unless you add a magic stick to make a Magic Wand. Also, in the game, synthesized items always have better stats than the original items, never worse.

For example, after combining three Ironwood Branches into a so-called “two-star Ironwood Branch,” the stat increase should be at least three, maybe even four.

But this “two-star Ironwood Branch” of Big Beard’s only had a pitiful increase of two.

Big Beard explained proudly, “Upgrading and synthesizing is a special skill only high-level enchanters have. They use scrolls and secret techniques to fuse several pieces of equipment together, creating stronger gear. Awesome, right? Haha! And that’s just one of their abilities. So, the most respected and wealthiest profession in this world isn’t class-changed warriors or class-change heroes, but enchanters! All class-changed warriors treat them with the utmost respect, because we rely on them for our equipment!”

“Does synthesized equipment always have lower total stats than the original items?” William Carter asked, pretending to be casual.

“Not necessarily. It’s said that level-nine enchanters can synthesize equipment that not only doesn’t lose stats, but actually enhances them. Who knows, though? We’ll never get to meet people like that.”

Level-nine enchanters… just hearing about them, they sounded like an unattainable existence. Looks like even if he got a Sacred Relic and Demon Edge, he might not be able to synthesize a Divine Rapier without such a powerful enchanter… (Divine Rapier: the highest attack item in Dota, synthesized from a Sacred Relic and Demon Edge, +250 attack, drops on death.)

Back to the point, this two-star Ironwood Branch really was a drool-worthy item. In the Dota game, an Ironwood Branch is worth fifty-three gold, adds one to all stats, and is only useful early on—almost useless mid-game. But in this world, William Carter’s base stats were only 1, and this two-star Ironwood Branch doubled that. The difference was terrifying—no wonder Big Beard was so proud.