Mercenary License

After Seth had bought himself a sword short, he went to buy food. He only had 40 copper coins left. It was very easy to find a stall selling food. There was one every few stalls. The one he arrived at sold various kinds of bread, a lot of berries and their juices.

It was 10 coppers for bread, 2 coppers for a handful of berries, and 3 coppers for juice. As he had to carry everything in only a small sack given to him at the start, he only bought one loaf of bread, one handful of berries, and 5 juices.

After buying food, he was unsure of what he was supposed to do. "If you've decided you want to train in the short sword, you should go accept a quest at the Mercenary Hall. They are one of the major quest-givers. The other two are the Guild Hall and the Merchants Federation."

Seth asked the merchant for directions and went on his way. This time it was further away. He first needed to get to the other side of the plaza. On his way, he saw a lot of people. Many of them were staring at his sword and food. He didn't pay attention to any of them but one forced him.

While he was just minding his business, a person came rushing at him. Without being able to react, the person grabbed his sack of food out of his hand.

"Haha, bet this is your first time playing VR games! If you keep items outside of your inventory they can easily be stolen. System add this to inventory!" The man held up the sack of food proudly. He stood still for a moment, waiting for it to be taken. Unfortunately for him, that never happened.

Seth hadn't stood still, of course. Because the stall owner hadn't given him a sheath with the sword, he didn't even need to unsheath his short sword.

Without wasting time questioning the man, Seth stormed towards him. With an upward slash, Seth managed to hit the man. It wasn't critical, though. He only cut into the man's hand, causing the sack to drop.

The man quickly jumped backward, shook by the pain and blood. "You fought in the public square, aren't there any guards or rules against this!" he shouted.

Seth calmly picked up his sack. A few drops of blood had landed on it but those could be ignored. He continued walking towards the other side of the plaza. Out of the people initially eyeing his stuff, almost none remained.

Character damage wasn't easily reversed and there was no such thing as revival. You had to make an entirely new character after dying. This also meant that getting the nerves in your hand cut partially was extremely detrimental.

Since no else wanted to receive that fate, they kept still and started paying attention to other things instead.

Seth was also slightly distracted. On his character sheet, the Mastery 'short sword' had appeared. It was currently LV. 0, 22%. 'Amazing, that one slash gave me so much Mastery.'

Sabina responded to his thoughts. "It appears you have quite a bit of talent in the short sword. That slash had a pretty form. The system probably recognized that, so it gave you a high rating. Just find a place you can train and you will get to level 1 in no time at all."

Besides the man at the plaza, no incidents happened on his way to the Mercenaries Hall. When they arrived, Seth saw a lot of players looking in awe at the building.

'It's much larger than other buildings I guess.'

Seth didn't pay any more attention to the greatness of the building and walked up to one of the front desk assistants. Coincidentally, it had the most beautiful one. "I'd like to register as a mercenary," Seth stated calmly.

The beautiful assistant smiled. Even if there were assistants doing nothing, there would always be a small queue for her. The others were always jealous of her commissions she got from new sign-ups.

"Alright. There are two types of Mercenary Licenses. The local one will let you accept up to D level missions. It will only be accepted locally, though. This one only costs 5 coppers." She paused, making sure Seth understood.

"The universal one works much like an ID and will let you accept any missions at any level as long as you are strong enough. Also, doing this gives you preferential treatment for missions and makes you a full member of the Mercenary Hall. This one is a little bit more expensive though, as it will cost you 5 silvers."

The assistant kept her smile the entire time. She knew men would generally be willing to spend more and hope to make an impression on her. She was confident Seth would also go for the second one.

Seth was amazed by the difference in the price. The second one costs 100 times as much as the first one!

"Please give me the Local License," Seth calmly stated. Even if he wanted to get the universal one, he didn't have enough money!

Her smile didn't waver at all at such an answer. "We also offer small loans. You can buy a Universal License with them. The best thing is that there is no additional rate or a deposit! The only thing is, if you don't pay back within 2 months, there are a few punishments. This includes your license being revoked. Here is a flyer with more information." The assistant tried to hand him the flyer.

Seth didn't accept, though. "Just give me the Local License, please."

This time, the assistant's smile fell apart. It was only for a moment but Seth saw it clearly. She opened a drawer and took out a document and showed it to Seth.

"Just put your name here and sign here." Seth did as she told him.

He paid the 5 coppers, leaving him with only 8 coins. He received a small pass with his information. It also had his rank, unranked.

Seth made his way to the Quest Board, without paying attention to the annoyed assistant. There were more than enough people behind him to compensate for one failed sale.

Little did he know, that one failed sale was the only one that month.