Above the mage

Chapter 325 is well-written.

Half a month later, Gaode once again visited the Haiyuan White Pagoda.

This time, however, he was no longer limited to entering through the side door as he had been before; he could now walk through the main entrance with dignity.

Before entering the White Pagoda of the Abyss, Gao De unconsciously straightened his collar.

Whether in his past life or this one, he has always been a student, and being a "sea sentinel" is his first proper job in both of his lives.

It's still a job within the "system," a government job.

Wow, not bad. Indeed, the end of the universe is the organization.

Some inappropriate and wicked thoughts popped into Gao De's mind again, and then he walked towards the door.

Before they even got close, a tall, slender woman with a heroic air, dressed in a sea sentry uniform, walked out of the gate.

"Gaode, we meet again. Did I tell you something?" the other person said with a smile.

It was Melia who stopped Gao De after the initial test and took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

Gao De immediately put on a polite smile and said, "Thank you for your kind words."

"I heard you came to report for duty today, so I took the initiative to guide you. Today I will take you to register and introduce you to the situation of the Sea Sentinels and your work."

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Mage Melia," Gao De said gratefully.

"We're colleagues, I only joined a year earlier than you, no need to be so polite," Melia said with a smile. "Besides, I've heard that you performed exceptionally well in the second round of interviews and have already been recognized as a promising newcomer, and have been included in the fast track for promotion."

"In a few years, you should be able to surpass me and have a higher rank than me." Her tone carried just the right amount of envy.

"Seed newcomer." Gao De had already automatically equated this to "selected graduate" in his mind.

After exchanging pleasantries, Melia quickly got to the point and introduced the Sea Sentinels to God:

"We, the sea sentinels, are in charge of all matters in the waters."

"This area, including the coastal area of ​​Dornport and all the inland waterways in County Barrow, is under our jurisdiction."

Melia walked briskly, leading Gao De as they talked:

"You are not a native of our Plantagenet Dynasty, so you may not be very familiar with the situation of the Dynasty."

"Within the dynasty's territory, apart from the three mountain ranges, there are no other ley lines on the land."

"There isn't a single ley line?" This was indeed beyond Gao De's expectations.

As he traveled from Holder to Dorne, he noticed that the Plantagenet Empire consisted of vast, flat plains dotted with fields and villages, with not a single barren land in sight, let alone any ley lines.

But Gao De never expected that the entire Golden Flower Dynasty would be in this situation.

"Yes," Melia said, pleased to see God's surprise. She raised an eyebrow and continued, "Therefore, all the ley line creatures within the dynasty's territory come from two places."

She held up one finger. "The first is the Erwinray Mountains, the Green Tooth Mountains, and the Sword Mountains. These three mountain ranges are the source of all leyline creatures in the dynasty."

Then, Melia extended her middle finger, "The second is the water."

"There are many ley lines in the ocean, and because the ocean area is vast, much larger than the land area, the number of ley lines in the ocean is several times or even dozens of times that of the land."

"This situation results in the number of marine ley line creatures being dozens of times greater than that on land. These marine ley line creatures are generally called sea monsters or aquatic beasts. They can also follow the seawater and dive into inland river systems."

"What's even more troublesome is that many sea monsters are oviparous. Adult sea monsters are relatively large and can be defended against to some extent, but these eggs can enter inland rivers with the current, which is impossible to prevent."

"As you know, the danger and destructive power of ley line creatures are extremely high. They are inherently ferocious and enjoy slaughtering humans."

"Our duty as sea sentinels is to patrol the waters of Barrow County to ensure that there are no sea monsters causing trouble within our jurisdiction. This is mainly divided into two parts: one is the daily patrol of the waters near Dorne Harbor."

"Dorn Harbor is the economic lifeline of Dorne City, and most of Dorne's income comes from here. Therefore, we patrol the coastal area every day. If we find any sea monsters, we must take immediate action to eliminate them and ensure that the merchant ships passing by are not attacked by sea monsters."

"Of course, even with daily patrols, it's inevitable that some will slip through the net, which is understandable. But once a merchant ship is attacked by a sea monster and sends out a distress signal, our sea sentries must rush to its rescue in time."

"If they fail to arrive in time, or if the number of casualties exceeds a certain number, they will be subject to investigation by the Sentry Court to determine whether there was any dereliction of duty."

"Once you're found guilty of dereliction of duty, the consequences can be very serious," Melia's tone became much more serious as she said this. "Ruining your future is the least of your worries; in serious cases, you could lose your head."

Seeing Gao De's slightly tense expression, she switched back to a relaxed tone and continued, "However, you don't need to worry too much. Our Sentinel Court's investigation procedures are quite reasonable. We will take into account the strength of the sea monsters, the number of casualties, and other factors to decide whether there has been dereliction of duty."

"And the other one, is it responsible for the inland waterway system?" Gao De asked proactively.

"Yes," Melia nodded, "but the water area of ​​the inland waterways in Byron County is simply too large to be patrolled daily, and that would be unreasonable."

"Therefore, the sea sentinel mages in charge of this area do not have daily tasks; they mainly take on specific tasks."

"The so-called specific mission is that once the people below discover the water beast, they will report the news to us sea sentinels. Then someone will integrate the information and issue it as an extermination mission. The sea sentinel mages in charge of this can freely accept the mission according to their own strength and schedule."

"Won't there be some old hands who just coast along and do nothing?" Gaode discovered the blind spot.

Since the tasks are open to anyone, if you don't accept any, wouldn't you be able to keep working and still get paid for nothing?

"Haha, of course there won't be any loopholes for you to exploit," Melia laughed.

"Our sea sentries have an assessment mechanism. Whether it's routinely patrolling the sea to eliminate sea monsters or taking on missions to eliminate aquatic monsters, they will receive corresponding military merits."

"Military merit is the most important thing for us sea sentinel mages."

"Firstly, military merit is a very important indicator for our military rank promotion. Only when you have enough military merit can you start the promotion process."

"Secondly, our military merits can be exchanged for many good things."

"Including extraordinary materials, spell recipes, potions, and everything else you can and can't even imagine."

"Finally, at the end of each year, the higher authorities would conduct an assessment and evaluation of us based on the military merits we had earned that year."

"The mages who are ranked last half are considered unqualified. If they are unqualified for three consecutive years, or for five out of ten years, they will be removed from the Sea Sentinels."

Goodness, it's a bottom-5 elimination system. The last half-finisher is the bottom 5%.

"Therefore, under the performance evaluation mechanism, no one dares to neglect their duties or slack off."

"Moreover, with military merits that can be exchanged for rewards, any mage with a bit of ambition will be incredibly eager to take on missions; they'll practically have to fight for them," Melia joked.

"I see," Gao De nodded. This mechanism was indeed quite reasonable. He thought for a moment and then asked, "So, which area will I be responsible for in the future?"

"The sea monsters in the area are extremely ferocious, beyond the capabilities of newcomers. Therefore, all newcomers start from the second piece without exception."

"You'll have to go to at least the Third Ring Road before you can switch to patrolling the sea," Melia said.

That's wonderful. Gaode was extremely satisfied.

He was initially worried that if he joined the Sea Sentinels and his daily missions became too busy, it would be very inconvenient for him to teleport back to the North via the Astral Plane.

But this mechanism now perfectly meets Gaode's needs—it's equivalent to "flexible working hours."

As long as you maintain a ranking in the top 95% of military merits each year, the specific timing of your performance will not be restricted.

This is simply a dream job!

Melia seemed to see through Gao De's thoughts, shook her head, and continued, "Don't think that patrolling the sea is a tough job. There are plenty of people vying for it. Even if you get to the Third Ring Road, you might not be able to switch to patrolling the sea."

"Why is that?" Gao De asked humbly.

Patrolling the sea is clearly not a free job; according to human nature, why would anyone fight for such a task?

"It's still because of his military achievements."

Military merits are divided into three grades: first, second, and third.

"Third-class merits can usually be exchanged for potions and common spell recipes."

"The things you can exchange for a second-class merit are much better, including extraordinary equipment, rare spell recipes, and even some valuable knowledge."

"The First-Class Merit Award goes without saying, but the specific list is not made public, so you can't know what good things are there before you receive the First-Class Merit Award."

"But I heard that you can even exchange for specially customized rune constructs!" After saying that, Melia looked at God again, waiting for his reaction.

After a second of hesitation, Gao De still cooperated by making an incredulous expression, "Ah, a runic construct?!"

"Yes," Melia said with satisfaction, before continuing, "and the first, second, and third-class merits are not interchangeable. That is to say, even if you accumulate a hundred third-class merits, you cannot exchange them for anything on the second-class merit reward list, let alone the first-class merit list."

"In addition, there are also military merit requirements when promoting military ranks. For example, if a sergeant-level mage wants to be promoted to a warrant officer-level mage, he/she is required to have at least one second-class merit."

"The sea monsters in inland waterways are far less dangerous than those in the sea. Therefore, the military merits we can earn from missions are mostly third-class merits. Second-class merits are rare, and first-class merits are something we might not see even once every few decades."

"Only at sea are there the most unexpected situations, and only then are there more opportunities to receive a first-class merit."

"Now you know why so many people want to patrol the seas."

Gao De nodded, and at the same time, he understood the specific meaning of the retest.

It's actually a simulation of the daily work of a sea sentry.

Why are mages allowed to cast buff spells in advance according to the rules?

Sea Sentinel Mages patrol the rivers and seas, and when they discover sea monsters, they choose to enter the water to eliminate them.

Although the water is the domain of sea monsters, the Sea Sentinel Mage can still apply buffs before entering the water.

This is why swimming ability is included in the scoring criteria for sea sentry assessment.

In a typical encounter, the sea monster would simply flee if it saw the situation was unfavorable.

However, the duty of the sea sentinels is to kill these sea monsters to prevent them from continuing their rampage.

In this situation, it is necessary to enter the water to pursue the enemy; how can one do it without being able to swim?

"Okay, you can go through the registration process first." Melia led Gao De to a four-story building and pushed open the door to a room on the left side of the first floor.

Gao De went inside.

The room is not very big, probably only thirty or forty square meters.

A staff member was sitting at the table in the middle. He greeted Melia and Gao De immediately.

"This is a new member, please help him with the formalities," Melia said.

"clear."

Gao De stepped forward, sat down in a chair, and the staff member handed him several forms.

The first form is a personal information form, including name, age, etc. However, the information has already been filled in, and all Gaode needs to do is sign to confirm.

After glancing at it and confirming that the information was correct, Gaode signed his name.

The second table is the salary table.

Upon seeing the meter, Gao De immediately straightened up and began to examine it carefully.

"Gao De, Second-Class Apprentice Mage, Monthly Salary: 2 Golden Bird Coins"

He looked up in surprise.

No, a monthly salary of 2 gold coins is cheaper than the internship "college student" in my previous life!

A dignified sea sentinel, so stingy?

"Don't think it's too little," Melia saw what God was thinking and patiently explained to him, "We sea sentinels are rewarded with military merits for completing missions, and the things that can be exchanged for military merits are all valuable items."

"This is actually our real salary, while the salary for these two funds should be called a subsidy."

"Because even if you do nothing and stay at home for a month, you will still receive this money without fail."

Indeed, after Melia said that, Gao De could understand.

Moreover, he glanced at the payroll and saw that the ranks of the Sea Sentinels were divided into six major levels, from lowest to highest: Apprentice Mage, Sergeant-level Mage, Warrant Officer-level Mage, Lieutenant-level Mage, Colonel-level Mage, and General-level Mage.

Apprentice monks are divided into first-class and second-class. As a newcomer, he is naturally the lowest-ranking second-class apprentice monk.

The monthly salary of a first-class apprentice monk has increased from 2 gold to 2 gold and 5 silver, which is equivalent to an annual salary of 30 gold.

The annual salary for a higher-ranking sergeant mage jumps directly to 100 gold.

Great! That's really something to look forward to.

Once you become a sergeant-level mage, you can earn 100 gold coins a year without doing anything!

No wonder people say that government jobs are a secure job, and people enjoy them.

This smells amazing!

After signing the salary sheet, Gaode signed many other documents, including service documents, confidentiality agreements, and so on. After all of this was completed, Gaode received a personal identification tag.

His name, rank, and other information are engraved on it, serving as his identification as a sea sentry.

Then, the staff member took out two sets of sea sentry uniforms from a box under the table and handed them to Gaode along with a key.

"The key is the housing key assigned to you. It's a large three-bedroom apartment. Of course, it's just for you to live in, it doesn't belong to you. You can choose to live there or not, there are no requirements."

There are dormitories too, what a great place. Gao De silently took the key; hotels in Dorne City aren't cheap.

"Let's go, we still have a lot to learn," Melia urged.

"Anything else?" Gao De asked as he stood up.

"First, there's the spell recipe and potion for [Touch of the Ocean]. Our daily work involves underwater combat and chasing sea monsters, so [Touch of the Ocean] is a must-learn spell."

"Therefore, the Sea Sentinels will provide each new recruit with a free copy of the [Touch of the Ocean] spell recipe and a spell potion, which is essentially a new recruit perk."

"In addition, I need to go to Biboting to get you a pet beast."

(End of this chapter)