His first earnings

Loa stood before the enormous mission noticeboard, his head tilted back as his eyes swept rapidly over it.

Mission slips covered the wall, differing in material, color, and handwriting. Those at the very top, written in dark red ink on finely tanned parchment, offered rewards routinely measured in gold coins, or even magical items and special promises. Most involved exploring dangerous places, hunting powerful magical beasts, or escorting important merchant caravans, and the sight made Loa feel a chill of apprehension. Most of those in the middle were ordinary paper or wooden plaques, offering varied tasks with rewards mostly in silver coins. The bottom few rows, however, consisted of visibly coarse, yellowed paper with much sloppier handwriting, and the rewards were almost all in copper coins.

He found the "Gray Iron Rank mission section" the registration clerk had mentioned. The descriptions here were extremely brief:

"Clear the rat infestation in Warehouse Three in the dock district. Must provide at least twenty adult Gnawtooth Rat tails. Reward: 5 silver coins."

"Gather Rushlight outside the rye fields west of the city (ten bundles). Reward: 5 copper coins per bundle."

"Help the Oak Barrel tavern move newly arrived ale (twenty barrels). This afternoon only. Reward: 15 copper coins."

"Clear accumulated debris near the seventh entrance to the southern city sewers to keep the water flowing freely. Bring your own tools. Reward: 25 copper coins."

The pay was low, the work tedious and filthy, and very few jobs involved combat or danger. This was daily life for Gray Iron Rank mercenaries: trading strength, time, and even a little risk for a meager living.

Loa studied them carefully. Moving ale paid relatively well, but it had a time limit and required physical labor. As a Rank 3 Warrior who could casually swing around hundred-jin objects, he was confident moving barrels would be easy, but it would offer him little training, making it poor value for his time. Gathering herbs seemed safe but time-consuming, and the pay was too low. Clearing sewers... He recalled the crude drainage ditches in Wushan Town. Fenlai City's sewer system was surely much more complicated, and the smell and darkness were daunting.

His gaze finally settled on "Clear the rat infestation in Warehouse Three in the dock district." He had heard Wushan Town's old hunters mention Gnawtooth Rats: unranked magical beasts slightly larger than house cats, with teeth that could bite through thin wooden boards. They liked dark, damp places piled with goods and were usually more active at night. The reward of five silver coins was the highest among these missions. Most importantly, it required fighting, which was exactly what he needed.

Without hesitation, he reached out and took down the coarse yellow mission slip. The paper felt poor in his hand, its edges a little ragged.

Following the hall's procedures, he took the mission slip to an unoccupied processing window and handed it in with his mercenary insignia. Behind the window sat a yawning young man. He glanced at the slip and insignia without asking anything, merely made an entry in a thick ledger, and waved Loa away.

Mission accepted. Time to set out and earn his first pot of money.

Loa left the Mercenary Guild, the afternoon sunlight somewhat dazzling. Following the vague directions on the mission slip and asking along the way, he headed toward the dock district. The closer he came, the stronger the air smelled of fish, the river's distinctive rankness, and a complex mixture of rotting cargo and spices. The streets grew crowded with an endless stream of laborers shouldering bundles, sailors shouting, and tax collectors making their rounds. Huge wooden warehouses stood along the riverbank like silent giants.

Warehouse Three was not difficult to find. It was an old-looking warehouse built of wood and stone, its main doors tightly shut. A small side door stood open, with a worried-looking middle-aged man in a dock supervisor's clothes standing beside it.

"Sir, I'm the mercenary who accepted the rat-clearing mission." Loa showed him the mission slip and insignia.

The supervisor looked him over and frowned at the insignia and Loa's far-too-young face, but said little else, merely pointing into the pitch-black side entrance. "Go on in. No idea how magical beasts got inside. What are those guards doing? How can dangerous things with no owners turn up in a human town? Cut off their tails and show me when you come out. Don't mess with anything inside." Loa stood to one side, pretending not to hear his earlier grumbling. He was just a lowly warrior; would he dare ask about something like that?

Still, the appearance of magical beasts really was strange. Few magical beasts left the wilderness to enter human territory.

Never mind that. If they're here, I'll kill them and make some money.

"Understood." Loa nodded, took the cloth-wrapped iron sword from his back, held it in his hand, and slipped sideways into the warehouse.

The warehouse was taller inside than it looked from outside, but dimly lit. Only a few dusty ventilation windows high in the walls admitted shafts of light, illuminating the dust drifting through the air. The air was hot and damp, filled with a pungent mixture of grain, old wood, and a heavy reek of rat droppings. Underfoot was packed earth, littered with indistinct clutter and scraps of burlap sacks. In the silence, faint rustling came from every direction, along with high-pitched squeaks.

Loa let his eyes adjust, then moved cautiously. His footsteps were light, his breathing slowed, and he sharpened his senses to their utmost. The physical abilities of a Rank 3 Warrior gave him sight and hearing far beyond an ordinary person's even in the dimness.

Soon, beside a pile of discarded wooden crates, he spotted his targets-several enormous Gnawtooth Rats with gray-black fur and eyes that gleamed red in the gloom. They were gnawing scattered grain. Detecting Loa's approach, they immediately stopped eating, turned, arched their backs, and bared sharp incisors with threatening hisses.

Loa moved without hesitation. Planting a foot, he surged forward. His speed was not particularly great, but his movements were crisp and efficient. The largest Gnawtooth Rat at the front lunged to bite him, swift as lightning.

But Loa's sword was faster! With a flick of his wrist, the iron sword traced a faint, cold gleam through the dimness. It was not a sweeping slash, but a precise, rapid thrust. A basic application of Gale Thrust-speed and accuracy.

Shhk!

The sword tip pierced the Gnawtooth Rat's open mouth with precision and emerged through the back of its head, killing it instantly. The whole process was silent; it never even let out a dying cry.

Startled, the other Gnawtooth Rats pounced. Loa moved nimbly, maneuvering through the limited space amid the clutter. Rather than wasting strength swinging the heavy sword, he used the blade as an extension of his arm. Every thrust and pinpoint kill was simple and effective, paired with perfectly timed turns and sliding steps to avoid the rats' lunges. He controlled his strength well, ensuring each strike killed without letting the blade lodge in place or make too much noise.

This was the advantage a Rank 3 Warrior had in controlling his body and strength. A Rank 1 Warrior might have needed strenuous slashes to kill them; a Rank 2 Warrior could swing a hundred-jin weapon relatively easily, but might lack sufficient agility. Loa, however, could not only swing hundred-jin objects at will, but also direct that strength precisely into his sword tip, delivering lethal force within the smallest space.

In less than a quarter of an hour, all seven or eight Gnawtooth Rats in that corner lay dead. Loa expertly cut off their tails with a short dagger. The gray-black tails felt slippery and greasy in his hands and carried a rank smell.

He continued deeper into the warehouse. Sure enough, Gnawtooth Rats favored dark corners and gaps between piled goods. Over the following stretch, he encountered several scattered rats and small groups. He gradually mastered the rhythm of the fighting. He discovered that besides lunging and biting, these low-level magical beasts also tried to attack from awkward angles and even spat weak acid, which was barely corrosive but troublesome if it got on clothing.

Once, facing four or five Gnawtooth Rats lunging from different directions at the same time, Loa's gaze sharpened. The warm current within him instinctively circulated faster, pouring into his arm. The iron sword in his hand abruptly gained speed, becoming several cold points of starlight that burst forth almost simultaneously!

Pfft, pfft, pfft...

Several soft sounds almost overlapped, and the Gnawtooth Rats fell together. Breathing slightly harder, Loa looked at his hand. In that instant, driven by his qi, the explosive speed of Gale Thrust had exceeded the limits of his usual practice. Under the pressure of actual combat, he seemed to have gained a new understanding of Weapon Combat Battle-qi.

Two hours later, Loa emerged through the warehouse's side door, a little dust and a few stains on his clothes, but no injuries. In his hand hung a string of rat tails bound with straw rope, more than thirty in all.

The supervisor dozing at the entrance woke with a start. He paused at the sight of Loa and the string of tails in his hand, then took them and counted carefully.

"Thirty-five... All right, kid, you work fast. Finally got them cleared out this time. Damn rats breed so fast. Hopefully this is the last time." A slight smile appeared on the supervisor's face. The warehouse's rat infestation had been giving him headaches for days. Though they were the lowliest unranked magical beasts, at most a little stronger than wild animals, they excelled at being a nuisance. He pulled half a mission slip from inside his clothes, pressed a handprint onto it, and handed it to Loa. "Keep this proof safe. Take it to the guild for your reward."

"Thank you." Loa accepted the mission receipt. The little sheet of paper nevertheless felt as weighty as five silver coins in his hand. This was the first money he had earned through his own strength since arriving in Fenlai City.

With his gains, he returned to the Mercenary Guild.

A different person now staffed the processing window. Loa handed over the mission slip bearing the handprint, his mercenary insignia, and thirty-five rat tails. The staff member counted the tails, checked the slip, then made an entry in the thick ledger before taking five silver coins from beneath the counter and pushing them toward Loa.

"Mission complete. Reward: five silver coins. The guild takes ten percent, leaving forty-five copper coins, or four silver and five copper. Your mercenary experience record has been updated."

Loa picked up the four silver coins.

Holding those four slightly cool silver coins and the few copper coins, feeling the tangible texture and weight of the metal, Loa let out a long, slow breath. The Gray Iron Insignia on his chest seemed to grow faintly warm as well.

At last, he had taken the first step.

Though it had only been clearing rats from a warehouse, and though the pay was meager, these few silver coins held extraordinary significance. They proved that the path he had chosen could at least keep him alive in this enormous city for now.

Carefully putting away the silver coins, Loa looked toward the mission board again. It was still early, and he needed to earn more. His gaze swept across it and settled on a new mission: "Assist the City Guard with perimeter patrols (southern city wall section). Bring your own weapon. Time: the two hours before sunset. Reward: 20 copper coins."

A patrol mission. Though the pay was low, it might be safer, and it would let him familiarize himself with the city's layout and how the City Guard operated.

He reached out and took down another mission slip.