29 First Mission 2

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 downpayment 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 downpayment 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 downpayment 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 18 people that attempted the 3 missions, but no one succeeded, and there was even 2 casualties.

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. The elements it could control 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 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. They never fight alone; the moment a trio discovers a strong enemy, they howl for nearby pack members to help them. 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.

[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.

He only needed to submit the items via the Missions building, since these 2 requests were commissioned to the MCGD. Upon selecting the two missions and the program showing that he was currently taking the mission, he headed out of the Missions building. He didn't bother meeting or talking to anyone in the lobby and continued towards his hotel.

Once again, there were several people trailing him, and Xander, after a few twists and turns, as well as a bit of space magic, he quickly lost them, and he entered the hotel he was staying and went straight to his room, cleaning for a bit, and teleported to the marshlands.

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"Damn it, we lost him again!" A grim-faced man shouted at the men in front of him. None of them raised their heads, not daring to face their boss's wrath.

"You are all useless! This city is our domain, how could you even lose such a person?" the grim-faced man continued to berate his subordinates.

"B-but boss, we really didn't know what happened! Whenever he turned, we also turned, but by time we turned he was already at a different junction, turning again!" one of the subordinates said, obviously annoyed that they couldn't even complete a simple trailing mission.

"Y-yeah boss, what Johnson said is right! It was like no matter how fast we walked we just couldn't reach him, and he was moving in the crowd like nothing was hindering him!" Another subordinate shouted, in support of his comrade Johnson.

"Hmph! Excuses! Have you lot at least discovered where he was staying? We checked with the hotels under our influence and no one registered with the name of Homer Simpson." the boss of the group asked, obviously still angry at his subordinates' incompetence.

This time, no one responded, indicating their answer to his question. The leader's face turned ugly, and became quite frightened inside. After all, it was a powerful magician that wanted to learn of their target's location. He, their boss, had received such a fright when the man just appeared inside the base while he was eating his lunch, demanding him to trail the target, Homer Simpson. He was given a day to do it, and if he wasn't able to do it, the mysterious magician bluntly told him that there would be no need for the organization to exist any longer.

He only has until tomorrow noon to find the person.

"Go! Continue searching! Utilize our connections to find out where this person is staying! Ask people in the city if they had seen him, so make sure you have the photo of Homer Simpson!" The boss roared at his subordinates, causing them to frantically leave the office and head out into different parts of the city, asking passerby and owners where Xander was staying.

Pity, for they didn't realize that Xander applied 2 layers of disguise- the first one being his identity as Homer Simpson, and another face whenever he came back to the vicinity of his hotel.

However, in less than an hour of dispersing, news of the largest underground gang of Verdant City looking for Homer Simpson had reached every resident's ears, as well as mercenaries entering and leaving the city.

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The Marshlands, Delta province, Eta

A figure immediately materialized within the thick foliage of leaves and branches, appearing relaxed. The figure was wearing shorts and a simple t-shirt as if he was a tourist. As he was heading deeper into the marshlands, magic beasts of different sizes attempted to attack him, and mosquitoes and several leeches attempted to come close to his body.

But before they even managed to reach feet away from the figure, they all stilled, before disintegrating. Nothing was left, even magic cores. When the figure saw this, he made a clucking sound, obviously proud of his defense but disappointed that the magic cores were destroyed as well.

This was figure was Xander. After he fixed his belongings in the hotel and took a bath, he changed his clothes to something casual and teleported to the forest. Immediately, [Absolute Defense] activated on its own, meaning the environment is a threat to Xander's body.

Xander was a bit perplexed. Could it be some sort of poison in the air? No wonder the number of mercenaries that have taken the mission even if it was posted for more than 2 months was quite low, not even surpassing 10 people.

Using his space elements, he analyzed the air; there were traces of poison, and it was slow-acting one. Once one was exposed to it for a long time it would be too late to do anything.

To protect themselves, they would need at least a High-grade antidote taken in every hour or at least a setup that can filter the air completely of poison elements. What was cool about the poison element is that it can evolve on its own, changing its concentration and effect depending on its interactions with other poison elements and other elements. The good thing is that technology evolved with magic, making it possible to create filtration products that can remove certain elements or decrease them to a very, very low amount. What's another interesting tidbit about these elements is the methods they are formed. It separated into two: natural and artificial methods. Natural means that a combination of certain elements at certain ratios formed poison elements in the area. Another is when physical matter at certain levels concentrate, slowly producing poison elements, having certain characteristics from the physical matter they come from.

The sewage system of cities in Eta, for example, undergoes multiple filtration and cleaning processes, done by machines imbued with specific runic writings for certain elements. But even then, the area before the filtration system is quite deadly to beings that do not have immunity to poison or do not have poison as a primary element. Thus, no one really lives in sewage systems, except for certain magic beast species that were borne out of these wastes, as well as young poison sprites, around 1000-20,000 years old, depending on the age of the cities. After all, the sewage system being used worldwide has been the norm for the past 30,000 years. Even during the war 20,000 years ago, the sewage systems were relatively left alone as well as undamaged from the bombardments of weapons and spells. They say that in Emerita City in the country of Nema holds the oldest known poison sprite within their sewage systems.

Xander thought for a moment before thinking of the possibility that there was a natural poison sprite in this marshlands.