In the center of Quake City stood a five-story-tall obsidian building. It was the only building that didn't look destroyed, run-down, or on the verge of collapsing. In fact, it looked brand new like it was built yesterday.
The ground around this building wasn't cracked like it was for the rest of the City nor were there any fighting, stealing, gangbangs, or anything of that nature going on around the obsidian building.
This building is also the tallest building in the City so it's impossible to miss. Anybody with half a brain would understand that this building is where the Mercenary Association is located.
Mira was on her way there and noticed quite a few people were entering and exiting the building and knew she must be at the right place.
Not long after, she appeared in front of the entrance of the building and noticed the doors were made of the same obsidian-like stone the rest of the building was made from.
She noticed quite a few people around her giving her complicated looks, but she paid them no mind and went to open the door.
As soon as she entered the building, it was like she entered a completely different place. The walls and ceiling weren't obsidian black like the outside of the building but were instead a marble white color and wood floors.
It looked like a professional building meant for business. At least that's what Mira thought.
As she was looking around the inside of the building, Mira sensed that all of the mercenaries inside were looking at her with their weapons drawn with traces of fear in their eyes and their auras fully released.
She inwardly nodded at how skilled these mercenaries were. It seems like this city isn't full of fools, but battle-hardened veterans just like she hoped it would be.
Her body trembled a bit, but not out of fear.
No, she was excited. Very excited. She's lived in a region where the majority of people are weak and unskilled. Her strongest opponents so far have only been a bunch of beasts. She's tired of fighting unintelligent beasts! She wants to fight humans! Strong humans! Actually, it doesn't have to be humans specifically. Anything that stands on two legs and has a bit of intelligence is more than enough.
Under her mask, Mira released a predatory smile as her eyes glossed over the people in the room.
Everyone tensed up and felt a chill down their spine when their eyes met her demonic-red eyes. Just meeting her eyes gave them the illusion that they were transported into a bloody battlefield littered with corpses and oceans of blood.
The people with stronger wills and sharper senses felt something worse though. The little girl in front of them reeked of death, but that wasn't all. They felt like they were in front of the grim reaper itself who has come to pass judgment upon their souls.
The first-floor occupants were stuck in this face-off with Mira for several minutes. The whole place was so quiet that it was almost creepy. The tension in the air was dense enough to slice through and the pressure released from everyone was causing the floor and walls to vibrate.
Suddenly, Mira reigned in her aura, so now instead of giving off grim reaper vibes, she seemed like a normal 8-year-old girl…
Not!
These mercenaries weren't fools and could detect the malice hidden deep within her eyes and could still smell death exuding from every fiber of her being.
However, this feeling was much different than before. Now, it was more like their instincts were trying to warn them that messing with her would only end in death and that the little girl in front of them was no stranger to slaughter. They had no idea how many people this seemingly innocent-looking girl has killed, but they knew it was many times more than every person in this room combined.
The mercenaries on the first floor eventually reigned in their auras and put away their weapons, but they still looked at the little girl with baggy robes and a black mask with caution.
Mira ignored everything around her and approached the receptionist, who appeared to be a beautiful busty blonde in her mid to late twenties. Mira wasn't too surprised by her appearance because it's only natural for a receptionist to be a hottie in this crime-ridden city. She's probably attracted tons of attention and kept many of the Mercenaries coming back to work for them in hopes of catching her attention. Also, who wouldn't rather have a hot blonde as a receptionist versus a guy. Even Mira would rather the receptionist be a hot chick rather than some savage-looking dude.
Looking at the woman in front of her, Mira felt an incredible amount of danger. It wasn't to the point that she would die instantly if they ever got into a fight, but she would definitely have to use everything she has in order to beat her. Even then, Mira felt it was unlikely she would be able to kill her.
Mira also couldn't tell if the woman in front of her was still in the Core Formation Realm or not. She figured she probably isn't in the Nascent Soul Realm because even for Mira, jumping two Major Realms to fight someone should be impossible.
Still, there was no change in her expression when she noticed this fact and she calmly walked up to the busty blonde.
"I'd like to become a mercenary. What do I need to do?"
The receptionist flinched slightly but was surprised to hear a little girl's voice behind that mask. She quickly regained her composure, but her actions hadn't escaped Mira's eyes.
"H-Hello! My name is Robin and welcome to the Mercenary Association. Here at the Mercenary Association, we accept people from all walks of life and all kinds of backgrounds and we'd be more than happy for you to join us. Weak or strong. Poor or rich. We welcome anyone with open arms! To become a Mercenary, all you need to do is provide us with a one-time fee of 1,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. After doing so, you'll immediately start off as a Bronze-Ranked Mercenary regardless of your strength."
Robin stopped explaining for a moment to let all of that sink in before she started speaking again.
"Once you join, you'll then be able to start accepting missions for the Mercenary Association. These missions could range from anything between hunting, scouting, resource acquisition, herb collecting, or anything in between. These missions will reward you with Contribution Points that can be used to purchase materials, resources, pills, etc. from the Mercenary Association. There are no restrictions to what missions you can take as long as they are within your designated rank. Take caution though because if you pick a mission too difficult for your current strength and die, the Mercenary Association will not come looking for you. We will mark you as dead and issue another mission. Do you understand everything so far?"
Mira nodded her head in understanding, but she did have a few questions.
"How does one advance from a Bronze Rank to a Silver Rank or whatever the next rank is?"
"Great question! To go from a Bronze-Rank Mercenary to a Silver-Rank Mercenary, you would have to complete 100 missions with at least a 90% success rate. Once you've done that, you'll have to take a test given to you by the Head of the Mercenary Association, and you'll have to spend some of your Contribution Points or Spirit Stones will also work in this case, but the rate of conversion will be much higher than it normally is."
Mira stood there silently as she took in the information. Although she thought that the requirements for advancement were steep, she understood why. Since they are allowing anyone to join and these people can come from all walks of life and have any background, the Mercenary Association can't just let certain people join their upper ranks without giving a significant amount of time and resources to the Mercenary Association first.
Mira also figured that the so-called tests were most likely designed to test your loyalty and desire to stay affiliated with the Mercenary Association.
Though, from Mira's experience and understanding of these types of situations, she knew things weren't so simple.
They probably had to run investigations, background checks, check your strength and cultivation, and several other requirements before they'd let some random person join their ranks.
However, none of this had anything to do with her. She's currently not affiliated with any Sect, Clan, Family, or background. She comes from the middle of nowhere and she has no living relatives. Her strength and talent are also exceptional for her cultivation so she should have no problem becoming a Silver-Ranked Mercenary. Not that she has any desire to do so in the first place.
She's only here to get what she needs to break through. If this place doesn't have any of the items she needs, then she'll just leave. If she needs to become a Silver-Ranked Mercenary to get the said item then she'll become a Silver-Ranked Mercenary, get the item, and leave.
With her strength and experience, becoming a Silver-Ranked Mercenary shouldn't take longer than a few months if she can take multiple missions at the same time. That would normally be fine, but she's kind of on a time limit here.
If she has to spend the next few months just to get the chance of obtaining a single item, then it would probably be better if she found an alternative.
Hell, Mira doesn't even know what items she already has for the Core Formation Recipe and what she needs to get.
'I guess that should be my top priority before I do anything else. The Guardian said I had more than half of it already, but that man is a sleazebag who likes to hide the truth until the very last moment. Putting my trust in such a person will only lead to my downfall. Who knows, I might only have 10% of the items needed to break through according to the recipe.'
Mira thought to herself before nodding. She took out 1,000 Spirit Stones from her Storage Space and dropped them on the counter.
"Sign me up."
