First Mission (3)

Xander was also surprised. He knew that mercenary membership cards differed between mercenaries even if they are of the same rank.

Namely, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, Obsidian, and Adamantium. Each level has their own corresponding benefits.

Bronze is basically the starting tier. The only benefit here is that you get a 5% discount on purchases you do in companies owned by MCGD.

Silver is the next tier. It requires a one-time down-payment of 50,000 Etas as well as at least having a 80% success rate to all your missions on the year before you applied for one. Benefits were 10% discount to purchases, as well as the your cut increases from 60/40 to 65/35.

Gold is the tier after, and it requires a one-time down-payment of 150,000 Etas as well as at least having 85% success rate to all your missions on the year before you applied for one, with a minimum mission count of 10. Benefits were 15% discount to purchases, access to level-1 purchase channels of the MCGD company (at 1.5x the market price, however), as well as your cut increasing to 70/30.

Diamond is the tier most want to get. It requires a one-time down-payment of 300,000 Etas, a well as having 90% success rate to all your mission on the year before you applied for one, with a minimum mission count of 20, with at least 10 of them being the same rank as your mercenary class. Benefits were highly appreciated: 25% discount to all purchases, access to level-1 purchase channels of the MCGD company (at market price) as well as your cut increasing to 75/25.

Obsidian, the tier Xander got, required an annual payment of 750,000 Etas, as well as having 95% success rate to all your missions on the year before you applied for one, minimum of 20 missions, with one of the missions being a mission 1 rank higher than your current mercenary class. Its benefits were highly sought after: A 35% discount to all stores and companies under MCGD corporation, as well as access to level 1-4 purchase channels of the MCGD company, with a 10% discount, as well as increasing your cut to 85/15.

Once you got an Adamantium tier, it requires 1 million Etas annually paid, as well as having 100% success rate to all your missions on the year before and the year you are applying for one, minimum of 10 missions with 5 missions having a rank above your current mercenary class. Its benefits involved having a 50% discount to all stores and companies under the MCGD, as well as access to level 1-7 purchase channels with a 15% discount, and levels 8-10 with 1.5x the market price. Your cut increases to 95/5.

Aria, upon seeing the card, knew that this mercenary in front of him was some bigshot or someone related to the company because she actually saw that the membership status on the Obsidian tier was placed as PERMANENT, meaning he didn't even have to pay the annual dues.

Ok, Aria, calm down and focus. remember your job. Aria immediately activated her Wind magic, slowly controlling the amount of air she was breathing in and out, calming herself down in a matter of seconds. She raised her head and looked at Xander the same way as she did earlier, but with more enthusiasm.

"Sorry for the delay. Here is your obsidian-tier membership card. embedded on it would be your alias as well as your personal information that can only be accessed by technical members of the company, usually done when one is missing or presumed dead and needs identification. Would you like me to explain the benefits and functions of your obsidian-tier membership card?"

Xander shook his head before asking Aria,

"Can I now take a look at the missions available?"

Aria was taken aback, and this time, there was a hint of strangeness in her looks. "Certainly. I see you have a smartwatch; you can go to the application store and download the MCGD: Mercenary Missions list Application. You log in using your alias and your mercenary ID as your password."

Immediately, Xander quietly cursed at himself. He remembered that when he got the message from MCGD, he was asked to download a series of apps; he merely disregarded them and thought of them as an advertisement. He quickly thanked Aria, who just smiled in response and bowed.

She also said, "Once you have selected a mission, you can directly go do the mission without reporting it to me, since it has been digitally recorded. You only need to talk to me again if the mission you got is categorized under MCGD, meaning, it was delegated to the company. If it isn't, you can contact the one who posted the mission.

Looking at the app store, he immediately downloaded the applications related to mercenary work: Forums, Mission List, and Secure chat. After downloading, he logged in the three programs with the information he had.

First and foremost, he made the system hack through these programs, allowing him to gather pertinent posts, replies and missions he would want to take. He wouldn't need to search keywords in the forum concerning the information he was looking for; it would base the shown posts to the selected mission.

Using the filter function, he selected missions issued with the Delta region. Thousands of results came up. He then added a filter for capture/subjugation/pet capture; there were 236 results. He then arranged it from high to low payout, and viewed the top 3 missions.

[I need a kitty cat!]: Get me a cat that I would like, magic beast or not. Money is not an issue, but I want the cat friendly to me!

[I want a boa!]: I want a huuuuge snake. Money is not an issue, but I don't want any injuries on the snake at all, and the snake be friendly to me!

[I want a majestic panther!]: I want a panther, my dad said they were the best animals to have because their fur was soooo soft! Money is not an issue, but I want the panther uninjured and I want it friendly to me!

Weirdly, the three missions were posted by the same person: S. Smythe. When he looked at the time they were posted, it has been 1 month. The app also posted how many have attempted to do the mission. Accordingly, there were a total of 28 people and 4 teams that attempted the 3 missions, but no one succeeded has succeeded yet, and there was even 4 casualties and 1 team completely wiped.

He focused on the 2 casualties; upon checking the comments done by mercenaries that did the mission, Xander found out what the person, S. Smythe, was looking for.

The first mission: It was a 7-eyed Cheshire cat, a magic beast with an age of 70,000 years, equivalent to someone in the Legendary-7 stage. Every additional 10,000 years they would have an extra eye, and upon reaching Mythic class, the 9 eyes would merge into 1, vibrant red eye.

Accordingly, once they reach Demigod class, they would have 2 eyes, with a third one existing in a different dimension. The elements it could control at the legendary level are based on the number of eyes, with each eye containing a different spell at the legendary level. Recommended bringing at least 10 people well versed to different elements, with 2 of them being on the life element series.

The second mission: It was talking about a Violentwind Poison Serpent, a Wind-Poison-Lightning element magic beast, aged at least 30,000 years. It can not only fly but the gust produced by its wings, as well as its blood and spit, can cause severe poisoning to its victims, slowly eroding them from the inside out. Its fangs can rip a 10-story building easily, as well as cause release lightning as its venom, charring its target.

Every additional 10,000 years, a pair of legs grow on its body. Upon reaching Mythic class, it transforms into a Lightning, Wind, or Poison Flood Dragon, with its legs merging into a pair of legs and a pair of arms. It then begins to develop a single horn. Recommended to fight as a group with one healer, and bring antidotes.

The problem with this was that the snake must not be severely injured, and it must be docile when submitting.

The third mission: It was referring to a Darkness Lynx, a 5000-year-old magic beast. The main problem is it lives in packs and they move about in groups of three if they leave the pack for a moment. What is worse is that they never fight alone; the moment a trio discovers a strong enemy, they howl in a weird frequency for pack members to help them. According to scientific tests done, the call can be as far as 1,000 kilometers in radius. Every 1000 years, the darker their fur grows, and the larger they become.

When they reach Legendary class, their body then compresses to the 1/10th of their previous size, with all their attributes quadrupled, and learn a legendary spell. At Master class, they have no spells, only overbearing strength. Recommended finding a skilled trapper to target the lynx. Recommended bringing a one-hit killer as well, to avoid pack lynching.

Xander carefully scanned the comments and warnings made by other mercenaries and began to weigh the pros and cons of this mission.

For its benefits, it was a B+ rank mission, two ranks above his current mercenary class. That means, he would be equivalent to increasing his fame as a mercenary; although he would still need to take the qualifying exam to go up to the next mercenary class, his mission requirements would basically be done if he succeeded.

This mission also entails me to experience fighting, talking or bargaining with a different sentient species than humans. At the same time, the rewards were quite enticing, as it promised a type of rare plant, Dragonvein Lily, as well as 5 grams of a priceless metal, Meteorgold ore, a metal that he didn't have access to, even for just a sample.

For its cons, however, it's a bit complex. One, the identity of the poster seemed dubious; it was probably a representative of a powerful family, rather than the requester him/herself. He wouldn't be able to form a better relationship with real requester, which was one of Xander's goals in becoming a mercenary besides exploring. At the same time, there might be factors outside the given information which may hinder the process. Lastly, he was too eye-catching now; if he exposed himself again, this time with greater momentum concerning his abilities, people may begin to pay attention to him, people with bad intentions.

After a few minutes of thinking, he finally decided not to take these missions today; after all, it is just his 1st day as a mercenary; he still had 6 more days to go. He could maybe complete this mission 2 days before he returned and Homer Simpson disappears.

For now, he selected 2 missions in the B-rank, focused on collecting rare materials.

[4 Stalks of Moonshine Clover]: This plant grows in the marshlands 100 kilometers south of Callows City. Usually the favorite food of Snapback turtles, a magic beast with a strength below legendary level. They only grow 6 times a year, and they expire within 4 weeks. Reward: 10,000 Etas for 4 stalks, an additional 3,000 for every additional stalk; no limit.

The marshlands have been reported to have a high concentration of poison elements diffused in the area, making the collection of the plant hard. The stalks are colored purplish-light blue, with the petals shimmering when hit with light, as if it was the moon. Every part of this plant was usable, with the only problem being it requires to grow in an open area with a harsh environment with increased humidity, that has sufficient exposure to moonlight.

[50 grams of Azrite (90% purity)] This metal is found in the mines of Mount Descras, 150 kilometers west of Verdant City. It is a necessary component to creating magic artifacts, as well as parts of machinery to protect it from magic damage. Considered a rare metal due to its scarcity. Rewards: 10,000 Etas for 50 grams, additional 2,000 per 10 grams more. If purity is above 95%, 100,000 Etas for 50 grams, additional 20,000 per 10 grams more.

The metal itself can be problematic in harvesting, as it requires specialized tools to harvest, and it is not necessarily a high purity as the metal exists in pure and mixed forms in the mines. Even if one scours the deep areas, it is possible to collect mixed or low purity samples.