Registering as a Mercenary

Waves of splashing water came from the bathroom. Nataya stood outside voluntarily, waiting for Diya, while Diya was feeling incomparably comfortable. How many days had it been since he had taken such a refreshing bath? His whole body had felt sticky and miserable.

He scrubbed his body hard until his skin was red, and Diya abruptly discovered that his body was a little different from before. He was no longer as scrawny and frail as he had once been. After the transformation and the high-intensity training that followed, Diya's body now looked quite vigorous. When he raised a hand or moved a foot, his muscles shifted with a strong sense of rhythm.

A feeling of being filled with strength spread through his entire body. After scrubbing himself clean, Diya began washing his hair. The shampoo used in this world was extracted from some kind of plant and then formed through simple processing. Its only function was to wash hair clean; it was extremely simple, and its price was very cheap. Diya washed it several times, taking a full half hour before he was finally done.

He changed into dry underwear, then put on his long robe. Refreshed in body and spirit, Diya walked out of the bathroom, a gentle smile on his handsome face, leaving Nataya staring blankly at him. In Diya's other hand, he was holding the Azure Tiger pelt.

"What's wrong, Nataya?"

"No... nothing. Sir looks like a different person after changing clothes," Nataya said in a small voice. Diya smiled, then suddenly saw the shabby clothes on Nataya that no longer fit her. At once, he reached out with his other hand, took Nataya's small hand, and walked toward the shop.

"Customer, you've finished washing," the young man said hurriedly with a smile as soon as he saw Diya.

"Mm. Find her a set of clothes that fits. Put the money together," Diya said. Hearing this, the young man immediately nodded happily. He looked Nataya over, made a comparison, and in less than a minute, found a similarly black, tiny robe that looked quite soft.

"Good, this one," Diya said, nodding in satisfaction. He took the robe, chose some underwear as well, then brought Nataya back to the rear courtyard. "Come on, go in and take a bath, then change into the new clothes."

"Ah." Nataya blinked, a little at a loss.

"Hurry. Once you're done bathing and changed, we still have to go eat dinner. I'm about to starve to death," Diya said with a smile, pushing Nataya into the bathroom.

Only after walking into the shop did Diya remember that he seemed to need a new pair of shoes too. Otherwise, this pair was already exposing his toes. After asking around, he had not expected that this clothing shop also sold shoes, so he bought a pair and prepared another pair for Nataya. When settling the bill, he paid a total of ten silver coins, making Diya sigh that things here really were expensive. However, after selling the Azure Tiger pelt, Diya received five silver coins in return.

The freshly emerged Nataya made Diya feel his eyes and ears had been refreshed. She had an exquisitely doll-like little face, though unfortunately she looked somewhat thin because of malnutrition. Still, he believed that as long as there was sufficient food, after a period of time she would definitely become even prettier.

With Nataya leading the way, they came to a restaurant. After changing into new clothes, no one stopped them when they entered. On the contrary, a waiter even walked over with a smile and asked what they wanted to eat.

"Nataya, I've decided to hire you for a while. Mm, I haven't decided how long this period will be yet, but during this time, food and lodging will be covered, with wages of ten copper coins a day. What do you think?" Diya asked while eating.

"Thank you, sir. I'll work hard," Nataya said happily. This meant that for a period of time, she would not have to go hungry, nor would she have to suffer bullying from other street children. She might even have some savings after a while. Though in her heart, Nataya longed for this period to be extended without end, she also knew that was impossible.

"Mm. After we finish eating, take me to the Mercenary Guild," Diya said.

"All right, sir. Are you going to become a mercenary?" When she spoke of mercenaries, a worshipful light shot from Nataya's eyes. In her experience, a mercenary was a very imposing role, at least in Luo City.

"Mm, eat. We'll talk after we finish," Diya said no more and focused on eating. What he ate were vegetables, milk, bread, and the like, without the slightest bit of meat among them. Because he had eaten meat every day some time ago and was already sick of it, Diya now lost his appetite the moment he saw meat. Nataya's plate, however, did have some roast meat on it.

Gradually, the astonishment in Nataya's eyes grew even stronger. She had already finished eating, and was very full. She had never eaten such delicious food before. Yet Diya had ordered another portion and was still eating. By now, he had already eaten five portions and was currently dealing with the ninth, a pile of plates stacked in front of him. The people sitting at the tables nearby were also looking at Diya with strange gazes.

Ignoring everyone else's stares, Diya polished off another portion, then beckoned to the waiter. "Another serving."

Clatter.

A wine cup someone had just raised immediately slipped from their hand and fell to the floor, frightened by Diya. Diya felt as though his appetite had increased by a great deal, many times greater than before, though he did not know exactly how many.

In total, he ate enough food for eight people. When settling the bill, it cost nine silver coins, making Diya's heart ache terribly. This damned place—spending money here was actually this expensive. It seemed he had to think of a way to make money, or those gold coins would sooner or later be spent clean.

"Sir, you really can eat," Nataya said with a face full of admiration.

"Of course. Only by being able to eat can you become strong," Diya replied with a chuckle. "Now take me to the Mercenary Guild."

"Yes, sir." After spending some time together, and with him buying clothes and treating her to a meal, Nataya was no longer so distant toward Diya. She also looked much more cheerful.

The Mercenary Guild's main doors were extremely wide and very tall, nearly nine meters wide and four meters high. Looking inside at a glance, there was a huge, incomparably spacious hall, just like the kind of super-large warehouse from his previous life. It was brightly lit within, with table after table set out. Almost every table was full of people, and an incomparably noisy clamor came from inside.

On the left side of the doors stood a large counter. Behind the counter stood two young women, both wearing smiles. Diya walked in, and Nataya followed closely behind.

"Hello, may I ask what help you need?" one of the young women said with a smile. Her attitude was extremely good, making Diya sigh inwardly that the headquarters really was different.

"I want to register as a mercenary. What procedures are required?" Diya asked.

"First, you need to show your profession level, then fill out a form and pay ten silver coins. That will be all."

"Mm, I don't have a profession level."

"Are you a cultivator?"

"Yes."

"Then you can first go to the Profession Guild to verify your profession level. The Profession Guild is right beside the Mercenary Guild. You only need to walk out the main doors and then go a few meters farther, and you'll see it."

"All right, thank you."

Diya brought Nataya into the Profession Guild and spent one silver coin. In the end, he received a Soldier Rank Swordsman badge, because Diya was currently still in the second step of Battle Qi cultivation.

He showed the badge to the young woman at the Mercenary Guild, then filled out the form. The form was nothing more than name, profession, and level; everything else could be filled in or left blank.

"May I ask whether you wish to join a mercenary group, or become a free mercenary? Of course, you may also create a mercenary group."

"If I become a free mercenary, can I create a mercenary group later?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll become a free mercenary."

"Please wait a moment." The young woman did something at the counter. Before long, she raised her head again.

"This is your mercenary membership card. It has your simple information on it. Task rewards can be transferred into the card. With this card, you can withdraw coins from Gold Banks in various places. This is your mercenary badge. Because you are a free mercenary, it has no emblem. Only when your mercenary level rises to seven-star mercenary can you have your own mercenary emblem."

Diya nodded, took the badge and card, and took out ten silver coins to hand over. Mercenaries had ten levels in total, divided from one-star mercenary to ten-star mercenary. One to three stars were junior mercenaries, four to nine stars were intermediate mercenaries, seven to nine stars were senior mercenaries, while ten-star mercenaries were mercenary kings.