Chapter 65: goyya 1127-1131
Chapter 1127 Hartagertle City | Goyya's Four Brain Hemispheres on

AN: Thank you for waiting and I apologize for the delay. As I'm just about to finish this batch, I got a fever that wouldn't go away until now. Though I'm doing a lot better than the first onset.
Please enjoy and have a great day~!
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"The Hartagertle City... What a mouthful." Yoruichi muttered to herself as she stood in front of a skyscraper where she could register as a Mercenary. But before she entered she looked around her once again and couldn't help but be in awe. Flying vehicles that zoom over her head nonstop and without clashing despite looking very disorderly around intersections. Almost endless and towering skyscrapers were all around but were far from each other enough that it felt wide and not suffocating. On the ground were the numerous streams of people with incredibly differing appearances walking on park-like roads, enjoying a very clean air that's impossible to have on Earth unless you're in some mountainous area where people don't live.
Hartagertle is named after the planet itself because it's the only city that exists on this place as it takes up more than a third of the surface area of the world despite it being a bit larger than Earth. Before she landed, she saw the city covered with a glass-like structure and from the information she received from her bangle, it served as the final line of defense against outside attacks.
Aside from that, it also serves as climate control for the whole city. As a policy, four seasons still exist within the city, however, there were no severe weathers that would put anyone in danger. As the planet revolved around its parent star three times longer, these seasons were also three times longer so it was important to make each and every change pleasant.
As for the Hartagertle's rotation, it rotated a bit faster than Earth so there were only 21 Earth hours per day. Though thanks to their technology, a sleep aid could help reduce anyone's sleep time down to an hour.
'Those Teleportation Hubs are really convenient.' Yoruichi thought to herself while looking back. While there were autonomous flying cars, they were meant for short-distance travel. If one wants to travel to another part of the city, there are strategically positioned Teleportation Hubs free for everyone's use.
Yoruichi was done with her check and she made sure that she looks like a country-bumpkin for all the eyes that are watching her from the shadows, 'There was no ill-intent and most of them are just curious. Probably because of how rare a Pamatypa is or if it's just part of their security protocol.'
Yoruichi reached the automatic glass door and as soon as she stepped inside, numerous eyes landed on her and the same diverse intentions. But before she could react to them, A tall man with purple skin and a single horn on his head wearing a light and sleek metallic armor that covered almost all of his body, greeted her with a strict expression, "Is this your first time here?"
Yoruichi nodded without saying anything.
"Do you want to register?"
"And a thorough explanation of how things work around here."
The strict man nodded, "Understood. Please present your identification."
Yoruichi raised her right arm where her bangle is.
The man took out what looked like a smartphone and placed it over her bangle before reading her information, "Yoru, is it? To the left is a reception area. To your right is the waiting area. Please proceed to the right and wait for your name to be called on your terminal along with which counter you should go. It should only take a few minutes."
Yoruichi didn't say anything else and walked to her right.
The man didn't take offense to her actions and in fact, was already expecting it. He had been acting as a doorman for the Hartagertle Mercenary Union and had already met several Pamatypa of which their dismissive behavior he's already familiar with.
Yoruichi's ragged appearance stood out among the properly armored and armed people inside the building but no one actually approached her to tell her off. Even though almost all of them hadn't met a Pamatypa in their entire life, their vicious nature was a widespread rumor and nobody wanted any trouble right now.
As the doorman had said, Yoruichi only waited for a few minutes before a notification on her terminal appeared, asking her to come to counter #9.
And when she reached the designated counter, she met eyes with a relatively short woman that looked like a Human except for her slightly pointy ears, "...A Pamatypa?"
The pretty woman had dark red hair with matching red eyes. And although her attire looked a bit strange for Yoruichi, it exudes the needed aura of formality. Despite that, she looked too lethargic while doing her job as if she doesn't care at all. When Yoruichi approached and saw that she was Pamatypa, she immediately leaned forward to check the details on her screen that she glossed over because she was too lazy to read.
"Registration... and thorough explanation of the Hartagertle Mercenary Union? Seriously?" She looked up at Yoruichi and when she saw that she didn't have any particular reaction, her head turned to the doorman and glared at him. Nevertheless, the doorman ignored her and continued doing his job.
"Why send a first-timer to me!?" The woman grumbled under her breath before sighing loudly, "Before you register, I'll send over a manual. Read it while I explain a few things. If you want to work here, the least you can do is do that at the same time."
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In summary, a Mercenary has these rating points across three large categories namely, [Combat], [Diplomacy], and [Exploration]. There are other subcategories but they are for more specific ratings.
One can only become a Mercenary when they've proven themselves to be of a certain proficiency in these categories. And to ascertain these proficiencies, an exam is needed for [Diplomacy], and [Exploration] while a live combat test is needed for [Combat] for obvious reasons.
This is done so that their clients can effectively sort out people if they are looking for someone with specific skill sets or other Mercenaries looking for a party to supplement what they were lacking.
As these ratings go up, so too does the price for that Mercenary's work. And for these ratings to rise, the Mercenary has to take on missions that are rated a bit higher compared to their own ratings. Of course, the amount of work they could choose from also depended on their proficiency, such as escort missions requiring a certain rating for both [Combat] and [Diplomacy] or retrieval of a certain item or material from a dangerous area requires both [Combat] and [Exploration]. And this is why those who are lacking in one category tend to find others to team up with and bring their ratings up to take on a mission they couldn't do alone.
"Registration costs 1,000 Spirit Credits. And since you don't have any records from any other Unions, you don't have any ratings. [Combat], [Diplomacy], and [Exploration] exams are a thousand each, bringing you to a grand total of 4,000 Spirit Credits. You can't register as long as you don't have ratings for all of them and that's enough for you to live on this planet comfortably for a year or two of Hartagertle's time. Think about it carefully."
"I'll take the exams. Prepare it as soon as possible." Without any hesitation, Yoruichi transferred 4,000 Spirit Credits which is only a tiny fraction of the allowance she received from Seraselbes, 'Hurray for being rich~!'
Editors:
28th00: We've transferred over to a weird sci-fi adventurers guild situation now, have we? Horrible ExE names continue.
Goyya: I tried introducing a very large world of ExE and of course, it'll inevitably have a sci-fi theme. Though this part is mostly because I want to try writing an 'adventurer guild' that makes sense if the world is a little bit more advanced instead of just assigning a single letter to denote an individual's aptitude.
Naturally, with my limited imagination, I can only think of the three main categories, namely combat, diplomacy, and exploration.
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Chapter 1128 Hartagertle Mercenary Union | Goyya's Four Brain Hemispheres on Patreon

Yoruichi first took the written exam for the [Diplomacy] and [Exploration] and received a failing grade, "12 and 11 respectively... You're just a bit better than an average person living his or her day-to-day life with nothing to worry about."
"Is that good?"
"Of course not!" The red-haired receptionist snapped at her, "You're applying as a member of the Hartagertle Mercenary Union and we don't need average people! The passing rating is 30 points and you didn't even reach half of that!" The receptionist felt her blood pressure rising and took a deep breath, 'Pamatypians are known for their dense skull where brain cells could hardly grow... But this is the first time I've encountered someone brave enough to take the tests with these kinds of scores...'
She looked at her again and thought, 'No... I can't attribute ignorance with bravery.'
Naturally, Yoruichi isn't stupid. It's just that no matter how much studying she has done in her free time, there's no way for her to truly grasp their culture, their ways, and how they judge everything without experiencing it herself. Even then, she's actually surprised that she got a score that was considered a bit above average, 'It seems like I won't be needing that much time to adjust.'
"Do you still want to take the [Combat] exam? Thanks to your atrocious scores, you'd need a really high score for it to join the Union. I can still refund you."
"I'll take it."
The receptionist sighed, "Listen here. When I say a really high score, I mean it. You'd need a score that's equivalent to a high-tier [Combat] oriented member. And not to boast, But high-tier members of this Union keep receiving invitations from various prestigious organizations, including high-ranking Etoulde clans.
"If you're that confident with your ability to fight, go to one of these organizations or clans and apply as their muscle. You'll receive more benefits there than here because frankly speaking, if you were to pass, though I doubt that, only a few missions will be available to you due to your lack of rating for both [Diplomacy] and [Exploration]. Not to mention, you won't be able to leave the Union for 10 years once you've signed the contract unless there's a very special situation."
"I'll take it."
The receptionist sighed once again. But even after her initial impression of her, she's liking her a bit more now. Only a bit though, "Fine. I'll arrange a good examiner for you. Do your best."
If Yoruichi exceeded the examiner's ability, they won't be able to judge her properly so they'll need to send out a stronger one. However, the examinee will be too tired to perform his or her best and would usually receive a lower score than they are capable of. By arranging a good examiner from the start, Yoruichi would have the best shot to get the highest rating she could get.
Yoruichi, however, didn't really know any of this as she's not really thinking deeply about her 'good examiner' claim.
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"...You're the highest one available?" Asked Yoru's receptionist, "Where are the rest?"
In front of her is a very good-looking tall man with long and straight golden hair, green glistening eyes, and long ears pointing slightly downwards, "I'm not too sure but I heard most of them went to the frontier. I also heard that there's a commission there to look for someone and it pays well." The man then flashed a smile at her and with a proud look, he declared, "Nonetheless, you don't need any of them to do this exam for you. Someone like me who's on the verge of reaching the high tier is more than enough." And he ended it with a wink.
His sickeningly sweet voice almost made the receptionist puke and when he winked at her, she almost gouged his eyes out but stopped when she thought about her lazy days working here. However, the man she was about to attack didn't even notice her movements as it was too fast for him, 'Of all days, it had to be this idiot. This shithead definitely got a clue regarding my identity. If not, he wouldn't suddenly change his attitude around me.'
'But the frontier, huh? I heard that there was an incident where a young master of an insignificant clan tried to assassinate Stralit and was saved by an unknown individual who seems to be the successor of Stralit. There's a commission to find him? I heard that Alicia was also present, so if she can't find him, there's no way these idiots who went there would be able to find him.'
She then glanced at the man with a proud look and sighed, "Fine... Get ready. I'll wait for you in the 3rd Simulation Room."
"I'll prepare immediately!" The man left like the wind and the receptionist could see his excited face, 'This idiot thinks this is the chance to prove himself... How stupid.'
However, she's slightly worried. She promised Yoru that she'd give her a good examiner but ended up falling a bit short. Although it was a mistake not to check who's currently available before promising anything, it's still her mistake regardless. But if she can't fulfill it, she can just do something with the same value, 'If she can prove it, I can use my influence as a Yarwood to give her a high-tier rating.'
She initially wanted to look for someone else to judge the fight to continue lazing around, but it looks like she would have to do it herself, 'I'm such an idiot.'
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Yoruichi was led into a white room 50 feet on all sides and nothing within it. Before she entered, she saw the label on the sturdy automatic door, '3rd Simulation Room... There's no way for us to fight properly within this unless...'
Within the room with her is the receptionist and a guy that gives off an 'annoying prick' demeanor in Yoruichi's eyes, 'So this guy is my opponent.'
The receptionist took out a tablet and tapped at it a few times before the lights turned off for a few seconds and a wave of Magic Power filled the room. A few more seconds later, light returned and they are standing in a jungle where trees grew as high as 500 feet and as wide as 300 feet with branches thrice as thick as a Human dotting all over its trunk, making the whole place dense with plant life that it would be tricky to navigate for an inexperienced fighter.
"The Great Forest of Sector 6? Aren't you giving me too much advantage here, miss Gwenn?"
"Enough talking. You can start any time."
Editors:
28th00: I refuse to believe Yoruichi is this protagonist lucky! She's hit too many tropes in a row at once!
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Chapter 1129 [Combat] Test | Goyya's Four Brain Hemispheres on Patreon

The tall man smirked at Yoruichi for a second before bringing his right arm forward and tapping the bangle he was wearing similar to Yoruichi's. The next moment, the man's whole body except for his head lit up. As soon as that flashy light disappeared, Yoruichi saw that the man was now wearing sleek metal plates that covered his vitals.
In his hands was a short sword that had dangerous light running through its blade and what seemed to be a gun, but Yoruichi was not quite sure.
The man then pointed the tip of his sword at her and arrogantly declared, "Pamatypian, I don't care how good you are in close-quarter combat. It is your unlucky day to face me within this kind of environment."
Seemingly not needing a response from his opponent, the man turned to the receptionist, Gwenn, and said, "It seems that this will be finished earlier than I have expected. Would you mind having dinner with me? I'll treat you to a good place."
Gwenn scowled with disgust, "Shut up. Less talking and more fighting. I don't have the whole day to listen to your nonsense."
Yoruichi, on the other hand, didn't get angry at his actions. In fact, she felt happy. It's exactly this type of person that she doesn't mind beating and etching fear directly into their skull.
But as soon as her mind went into a violent place and got ready to fight, Yoruichi shuddered as she felt a very intruding gaze looking into her. She immediately jumped back, away from the gaze's direction, and saw the receptionist taking care of her looking at her with her now glistening red eyes and a shocked expression.
The next instant, Yoruichi realized that her hand was already on her blade's handle, ready to be pulled out, 'That was close! I almost released the seal on my Reiatsu-Ki!'
Yoruichi immediately checked if she made the irreversible mistake and sighed in relief when she found out that the seal is still completely intact, 'But what was that gaze? She didn't discover my Spiritual Power, did she?' She asked herself while glaring at the shocked receptionist whose eyes already returned to her normally dark red eyes.
The shocked receptionist got hold of herself and returned her expression to a neutral one, slightly angry even, and recalled the scene from earlier.
The moment Yoruichi got into the mood of fighting, the invisible aura and her general demeanor immediately changed which prompted interest from Gwenn. Enough interest that she ended up using her ability to 'see through the world' and what she saw shocked her so that she blanked out for a moment, 'The quality of her Magic Power and Ki are both top-notch... But a very large portion of herself is nothing?' It was then that she recalled some sealing techniques that would limit one's energy levels and thought Yoru had the same.
'But even considering a large portion of her strength sealed, her demeanor that she showed proved that she's a veteran on the battlefield and one that has already claimed many lives before.'
Gwenn's curiosity was further piqued as she realized that she severely underestimated the Pamatypian. She's very confident in how she judged people even without using her unique ability, and in fact, that skill of hers was very well known within high society and very sought after as it was a very good tool to expand one's influence and discover unknown talents. And due to her not being an heir to her clan, so many people have already approached her with so many invitations to their group or marriage proposals that she'd gotten so fed up with all of it that she had to escape from it.
There were only a handful of people who could escape her eyes and those were, regardless of their strength, very dangerous individuals.
Gwenn calmed down and looked at Yoru who jumped back and was ready to attack, 'And she even noticed my gaze too... There's no way that idiot can win.'
She then turned to the proud man and said, "You said you want to treat me to dinner?"
The moment Yoru's opponent heard her words, he calmly nodded, "Of course. I'll bring you to the most amazing place I know that's unknown to most." However, his tone of glee and sickeningly sweet voice betrayed his act of calm.
Gwenn grinned at him, ignoring his act, and said, "Fine. But only if you can defeat her. Not just that, I'd recommend you to receive enough rating to promote you to high-tier in [Combat] category."
The man forgot the expression he was making and asked her, dumbfounded, "Are you serious?"
"You have my word. And I think you know enough to guess the weight of those words."
The man froze for a moment before he started giggling to himself, "Kuhuhuhu... It's really your unlucky day, Pamatypian. My chance has arrived so I won't be holding back anymore."
The clueless man didn't have enough skill nor senses to even detect any abnormality between the two, not to mention, the change in his opponent's demeanor.
Yoruichi didn't even say anything because she wanted to maintain her quiet attitude and just watched this man repeatedly declare himself as the winner. But more than that, she was more curious about the receptionist, 'She was able to gauge my ability instantly? But just how much did she see?'
Nevertheless, Yoruichi became sure of a few things. Even though it was just for a short moment, her eyes glinted with Spiritual Power so she's either a successor or an Etoulde. She was not able to detect her sealed Reiatsu-Ki. If she did, she wouldn't be as calm as she is now. After all, not just from Kisuke, but she also was able to confirm from Seraselbes that the appearance of someone who could effectively control their Spiritual Power and derive an ability from it was a very big deal for both the Etouldes and Evies.
It's also the reason why Seraselbes personally knew Kisuke and Yoruichi's appearances and names. Aside from them and their group, she only knew Issei's name due to her connection to the Etouldes and the rest was only a handful of Gods and Dragons.
Yoruichi immediately stopped entertaining these thoughts when her opponent suddenly moved and stepped backward. And as soon as he took his second step, Magic Power converged around him before his figure was entirely erased from her sight.
"..." Yoruichi wondered what she should do when a ball of highly concentrated Magic Power that contained enough power to easily blast a hole through a high-ranking Devil came rushing towards her at a speed that was undetectable by most people from her left that was aimed at her head.
Sadly for the man, 'Yoru' is not among those 'most people', as she just leaned back to dodge the bullet. The bullet missed and hit the giant tree beside her but it only created a few inches deep holes in it, 'That's some sturdy tree. He said the Great Forest of Sector 6, didn't he? I should go there and collect a few logs.'
The first bullet was just the start as more of them rained down on Yoruichi from all directions. However, Yoruichi just dodged all of them with ease.
"Hooh? Your senses are better than I thought."
Yoruichi heard her opponent's voice to her upper right and instantly made a mad dash toward it. After a few dashes and zigzags through trunks and branches, she threw a punch to a certain spot and hit something invisible.
Taken out of his stealth, the man reappeared with Yoruichi's fist in his stomach. But as soon as he appeared, he also disappeared as fast with a puff of smoke as if he was just a mirage, "But I can't say the same for your smarts." Yoruichi heard the man's condescending voice behind her while a blade was coming for her left shoulder.
The man was grinning wildly since he could finally see himself stepping into the high tier and receiving more lucrative jobs and offers. But more than that, what he wanted the most was the prestige of the high-tier brings, 'Finally... After working so hard for a long time.'
But as soon as his shining sword touched his opponent, it went through without any resistance as she too disappeared like a smoke, 'Huh?'
The next instant, he heard the voice of the Pamatypian for the first time, "Too obvious." Before receiving a massive blow to his flank, sending him crashing and bouncing between the trees.
Editors:
28th00: Gwenn is in a very dangerous position because the few that can sense her using her ability, would almost universally react with absurd hostility to her and be dangerous enough to kill her. She's lucky Yoruichi is on a stealth mission.
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Chapter 1130 [Combat] Test part 2 | Goyya's Four Brain Hemispheres on Patreon

"Illusion technique using Ki, huh? What a weird Pamatypian to be using something that needs to be attuned with nature." Gwenn muttered to herself before checking Yoru's opponent, "And that's one expensive armor for his tier."
Yoruichi landed on one of the trunks and didn't continue pressuring her opponent. And just like what she was expecting, he's already waiting for her pursuit to counterattack when the dust cleared up. Although he was kneeling on the ground, the man was tightly clutching his sword without much damage to his body except for the spot that Yoruichi hit, which was already repairing itself.
"I underestimated you, Pamatypian. I didn't think a musclehead like you would know how to use something like an illusion." The man stood up and it didn't seem like he was hurting anywhere as he dusted the grime off his body, "Looks like those rumors are unfounded."
Still, with his confident smile, he pointed his sword at Yoruichi once again, "This time, this Jemnel won't be making the same mistake." Once again, his figure disappeared from Yoruichi and Gwenn's sight. And unlike the previous instance, his presence has multiplied, implying that he's in multiple directions all at once.
And once again, balls of destructive Magic Power started raining down on Yoruichi once again with much more power and frequency, "Seriously?" Yoruichi loudly muttered.
Within the canopy of trees, Jemnel smirked and continued attacking the Pamatypian with renewed vigor, 'Let's see how you can dodge all of this. At some point, fatigue will set in while trying to find me.'
This was an unfair way to fight? Only idiots would think like that in Jemnel's opinion. If you put your life in this line of work, everything is fair.
Sadly for him, like how he didn't notice the change in his opponent's aura, he also misunderstood Yoru's words as words of frustration from her current situation when in fact they are words of surprise. Surprise that nothing really changed.
'At most, he's at the same level as a High-class Devil and this ability of his is very effective against those who are on the same level as him and lower.', thought Yoruichi. She intended to watch for a while and figure out what he was capable of as he is a precious source of information. However, she was disappointed that there seems to be nothing else he could show, 'There's no point in extending this farce.'
"!?", Gwenn saw another change in Yoru's demeanor and was tempted to 'look' at her again but this time, she managed to control herself and hold back, 'What is this dangerous feeling? I have to focus.'
Yoruichi suddenly stood still and stopped dodging. Jemnel saw that as a chance and focused on his firepower.
Jemnel already saw his victory until his 'devastating' attacks that have always worked were stopped in their tracks when multiple Magic Circles formed a barrier around Yoru, blocking all of his attacks, 'Magic Barrier!? And manual inputs!?'
Jemnel couldn't believe what he was seeing. Although Magic Barriers are the most common form of defense and his armor was fully capable of replicating it, all of it was an automated process once it detected a threat for its user or the user himself willed it. Only top-tier Magicians should be able to pull up something like this.
Jemnel couldn't think about it any further as his opponent suddenly looked at his exact direction, '!? Did my cloak turn off?'
He then saw Yoru pointing upwards with a grin on her face. Curious, he immediately looked up and saw a gigantic Magic Circle containing an enormous amount of Magic Power, "What!?!?!?!"
He wanted to get away but it was too late as a bolt of lightning as wide as the tree itself came crashing down as if the hammer of the God of Thunder went down on it.
While Yoruichi's main strength was sealed, her Magic alone could match that of an Ultimate Class Devil, especially her mastery over lightning.
The tree Jemnel was standing on started burning fiercely and the man himself dropped down from it.
His skin and hair were burnt and his armor was completely dismantled. But aside from that, he was still fine and fully capable of still fighting back.
With his ears still ringing from the thunder, he gritted his teeth and pointed his gun at Yoruichi, but the latter suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of him bearing her fist at him.
Jemnel gathered as much Magic Power as he could and was about to pull the trigger when the dark-red-haired receptionist appeared in front of him and faced his opponent, '...Huh?'
He saw the receptionist catch the Pamatypian's fist with her bare hand and a small shockwave was generated from it, "I can't let anyone die in a simple exam like this. Especially the one I'm overseeing."
Yoruichi was surprised but immediately backed off.
After making sure that Yoruichi had no intention of further attacking, Gwenn turned to the confused Mercenary and said, "We're done here. Although you won't be promoted to high-tier, I thank you for your effort."
Although Jemnel couldn't hear anything she said, he could still perfectly read her lips, "W-what!? What do you mean!? I haven't lost!"
Gwenn didn't explain and just pointed behind him.
Jemnel turned his aching body to see what was going on, "Why did you interfe--- !?"
Behind him was the burning tree, but that's not what shocked him. The tree he had just been standing on has a massive hole in its trunk as wide as him. Not just that, the trees behind it had chunks in their trunks taken as if a monster went and bit through them in a straight line. At this instant, he finally understood that he almost died and the scene from earlier where he wanted to against that fist and it became an image of death.
Shuddering, his legs lost their strength. As he knelt down, he felt extremely cold despite his body burning from pain. All he could think about is that one single moment where he foolishly fought back without knowing what it actually was.
Gwenn saw his state and tapped the tablet in her hand a few times, "Send the medics to the 3rd Simulation Room and take care of Mercenary Jemnel."
With a few more taps, the scenery changed again and returned to its former state, a white room, "It's okay to leave him here. Follow me to another room and I'll prepare your contract and ID."
Editors:
28th00: Man, overreliance on magitech really fucked them up if it takes master magicians just to do manual magic. That's like, entry-level shit in DxD.
Goyya: This is, what I think, the main weakness of a highly advanced society, especially to the majority. Their tech is way too convenient.
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Chapter 1131 Contract | Goyya's Four Brain Hemispheres on Patreon

Chapter 1131 Contract
Yoruichi waited in another room while Gwenn prepared her ID and contract. Using this downtime, Yoruichi thought back and reflected on what happened earlier. There was nothing special with her fight against the Mercenary aside from the fact that his level was mid-tier and had some chance to be promoted to high-tier.
The other thing that caught her attention is his dependency on his equipment, however, Yoruichi can't really use this as a standard since she didn't know if the others were also like him.
Finally, Yoruichi thought back to the moment before they started the exam, 'Those eyes... It's definitely a type of special ability. Nonetheless, I also can't discount her own ability to judge people. It's dangerous to be around her, but if I can deceive those eyes, it'll be one of the safest places around.'
She then remembered how Gwenn caught her fist while she was using a Hakuda technique, 'Those eyes could see the flow of strength and momentum. Using her own body, she was able to disperse and refocus the power behind my attack.'
Gwenn's eyes reminded Yoruichi of Riveria's eyes. While Riveria's eyes could see the [logic], Gwenn's eyes could see the [flow] and [direction], 'And it's unknown if it could do anything else. One thing is for sure, though. As I am now, I have no way of defeating her if we were to fight. I can only release the seal at the right time or when I'm about to die.'
Naturally, Yoruichi also took into account Gwenn and Jemnel's strange interaction, but as she didn't have any supporting information, there's nothing she could get out of that.
A few more minutes later, Gwenn finally arrived and the first thing she said was, "I apologize for the delay. I had to make a report on what happened earlier. It seems you discharged a large enough power within the simulation room that it triggered some safety protocols."
Gwenn then sat down in front of Yoruichi and placed a tablet and a black card in front of her. She tapped the tablet and it lit up to a page full of words, "Please read through this carefully before accepting it. If you want to change something, I apologize but this is what all the mercenaries signed when they became one. So if you don't agree with something, you'd have to find another Union that gives better terms. But since you passed the exams, you'll be able to refund what you spent and we'll even add compensation for anything you consumed or broke during the [Combat] part. Though you didn't really use any gear nor consumables."
Everyone who was trying to become a Mercenary for their Union already knew all of this since they also made the contract public. However, Gwenn has a feeling that Yoruichi had no idea about any of this.
Yoruichi grabbed the tablet and started reading through the contract.
"I also added a file that fully explains a Mercenary's work and how the ratings function. You may read that first to get the full context of what you're trying to sign. If you have a question regarding anything related, ask away. I'll do my best to answer them."
Yoruichi looked at her and said, "But I'll be taking up your time. Don't you hate doing work?"
Gwenn smiled and replied, "It's my apology for startling you earlier."
Yoruichi immediately understood what she was referring to.
"I don't usually do something like that but it seems that I lost control of myself earlier." Gwenn leaned back while sighing, "And even if I do, my targets don't usually notice it... Unless they could clearly feel the movement of Spiritual Power." Her eyes instantly became sharp.
However, Yoruichi was already expecting this and only displayed a confused expression without any delay, "Spiritual Power? Is that Magic?"
Gwenn quietly observed Yoruichi for a brief moment before her expression returned, "It seems that you only know about Magic Power and Ki. Well, that's not a surprise since not many people know about Spiritual Power, and even fewer people could take advantage of it."
"Then why did you ask?"
"I thought maybe you're one of those rare people, but let's set that topic aside for another time. Focus on the tablet's content for now. I'll be by your side while you go through it."
At that point, Yoruichi felt relieved that she was not suspecting anything else, 'Or maybe she's just trying to catch me off guard?'
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Yoruichi quietly went through the related information about Mercenaries before going through the contract, all while asking occasional questions to Gwenn. The contract was short and precise so it only took her more than an hour to get through everything she needed to know.
It's a standard contract that focuses on the Mercenaries themselves and what they could and couldn't do and their respective consequences. As for any binding, aside from only working for the Union for the first ten Hartagertle years, there's nothing really stopping the Mercenaries to do what they want in their free time or where they choose to go. As long one completes a certain number of tasks within a certain period of time, they could indefinitely work for the Union.
As for the Mercenary work, the main focus was on the [Rating System], not to be confused with the Underworld's [Rating System]. It's a system that numerically rated the Mercenary under various categories instead of just assigning one letter, symbol, or number to denote overall rank. It's a comprehensive system to accurately gauge one's ability to do work or where they'll shine.
One example of these is escort missions. One type of escort mission is accompanying the client through the wilderness for various reasons, while the other type is accompanying the client through his business deals. The former requires a high rating for [Combat] and [Exploration] while the latter needs [Combat] and [Diplomacy].
There are many other subcategories that the Mercenary is rated and the clients could also use those to further search for the exact personnel they need. If one is lucky, they could be invited by big organizations or clans to work for them on much better terms. So despite the high cost of entry to become one, many were trying due to its very lucrative prospects.
In other words, Mercenaries are pricey experts the client could temporarily hire if they need a job to be done urgently and couldn't find someone else to do it.
"Why 10 years?" asked Yoruichi.
"For discoverability and experience. A lot of people apply to be a Mercenary to be discovered by bigger and stronger forces, so the Union is basically a training ground for these people who don't have enough ability to directly appeal for themselves. In return, the Union wants 10 years of their dedication for the opportunity it presents to them."
Yoruichi thought that 10 years was too long until she remembered that the average lifespan of these people exceeded 500 Earth years thanks to the technology they have. And the stronger the individual is, the longer they could live which means 10 years is technically a very short time for them.
"And the special situations where these 10 years couldn't be met?"
"It varies a lot but the most common reason is that someone very high up in the Etoulde society wanted that Mercenary."
And without missing a beat, Yoruichi asked another question, "Is this Union owned by someone very high up in Etoulde society?"
Gwenn was instantly startled but immediately smiled in response, "Who knows~? It might be or it might not be. But one thing is certain. Those standing on the top have enough power to destroy this Union if they get enough time and motivation for it."
Yoruichi didn't ask any questions and just signed the contract using her own Magic Power's unique wave signature. And as soon as all formalities are done, Yoruichi immediately asks for jobs she could take. Due to her skewed ratings, she could only take subjugation and bounty types of missions.
Editors:
28th00: Gwenn's clan is the owners. Calling it now.
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