121 Mercenary's Examination

As the door was opened, many attentions were drawn toward the people that came in. But their attention was not directed to the people, but toward a little and white phony.

No, it was Xiao Wu.

The mercenaries were all surprised. It was a weird scene for an animal to come inside the Mercenary Guild's building.

Not only that, but there was also someone riding it. No, it was not only a little girl, but also an unconscious boy behind the little girl.

No one could comprehend what happened, no one understood.

But, no one cared.

As many mercenaries were startled, Mingyue and company didn't care about their curious stare and went straight to the receptionist counter.

Different from the Mercenary Guild at Grey Brick Town, this Mercenary Guild was much bigger and wider, along with many mercenaries inside. Some were taking or reporting mission, some were discussing something, each of them was busy with their own business.

This wide and big hall could be divided into two sides, outer hall and inner hall.

Outer hall was the place where mercenaries gathered, and of course, they were busy with their own thing.

The inner place was mainly used for an official work, like the receptionist. There was more than one receptionist, and they had their own counter rather than only using a desk.

Overall, this place was much more organized rather than the one at Green River City, even though both were the same Grade 1 Mercenary City.

Mingyue and her companion moved straight toward the inner hall, to the receptionist counter. The receptionist counter was divided into three parts, commissioning mission for Mercenary Guild, accepting and reporting mission, and the last was information counter.

If the Mercenary Guild was small and empty like the one at Grey Brick Town, there would be only one receptionist counter and everyone would come there.

But in this Mercenary Guild, it was normal for a receptionist counter to be divided. But, Mingyue and her companion didn't know about it, thus they just went to the empty receptionist counter.

Arriving in front of a beautiful lady, Fu Tao opened his mouth, "I am sorry to disturb your work."

The lady had long and silky hair, also her feature was delicate. She had crimson lips and exquisite eyelashes. She wore a white shirt with Mercenary Guild's symbol on the left chest. When Fu Tao called for her, each of her movement was akin to a poem, beyond beautiful.

It was not intentional. Not only Fu Tao, but also Liao Yun was mesmerized by the lady's enchanting smile.

"What can I do?"

Seeing that, Fu Tao and Liao Yun were frozen on the spot and Mingyue tugged their shirt to wake them up. "You sleepy and smelly tofu, you can sleep later."

Realizing that he was daydreaming in front of someone, Fu Tao blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, I'm sorry. We want to register."

But Mingyue didn't stop tugging Fu Tao's shirt. "Procedure, procedure, you blockhead. Don't sleep."

"Ah? Oh. The procedure. I mean, what is the procedure to register?" Fu Tao had a wry smile pasted on his face, but he didn't dare to stare at the lady's face.

The lady giggled while she answered, "Ah, registering as a mercenary member? Based on the proper procedure, it will be a two-stage exam. Also, there is a fee for the exam and it is not quite cheap. One broken silver each person."

Even though the lady saw Xiao Wu that was mounted by Mingyue, she didn't say anything.

"So expensive?" Fu Tao was startled since he began to learn the value of coins. In his mind, coins were a convenient item that would make someone's life easier. To sum it up, the world revolved around coins.

But fortunately, they had sold their wagon, donkeys, horses, and the unused supplies. Of course, all of that because they didn't have any coins inside their coin pouch. Rather than bringing some burden, Fu Tao would rather sell the unused things in exchange for coins.

Hence, paying one broken silver for each person was still their pouch's capacity.

"Yes, it is expensive in order to not any random people registering. But if you fail the exam, the fee will be returned and you will be banned for a month before you can try again. And if you passed the exam, the fee will not be returned, of course." The lady was patient enough to explain.

Nodding his head, Fu Tao took out the coin pouch. Ever since the event with the Red Skeleton gang, Fu Tao didn't dare to show his coin pouch in the public's eyes, in case of another trick or robbery. Even though he was not scared, he was not as aggressive as Liao Yun. He would rather to keep it down as much as possible.

Seeing three broken silvers on the desk, the lady was surprised. Her pair of thin eyebrows were lowered as she recounted the number of broken silver. And it was still three.

"Eh? Are you not counting it right?"

Of course, the lady wouldn't consider Mingyue to take the mercenary's examination. Only by seeing Mingyue's appearance was enough to see how young Mingyue was.

Only a little girl!

But there was nothing she could do if the person in front of her stood firm in his decision.

"Yeah. No need to worry as this girl is a healer." Fu Tao understood the turmoil inside the lady, thus he could only have a wry smile.

That was what Mingyue told Fu Tao and Liao Yun. Rather than showing her capability similar to a Spirit User or Spell User, she would rather have an identity as a healer.

And also, Mingyue didn't know anything about Spirit User and Spell User, hence a healer's identity would be a good choice.

The lady smiled as pulled out three papers and put it on the desk. "Then, please the form. If there is something you don't understand, please ask me."

But Fu Tao was frozen on the spot as he was staring at the paper.

"Err. . . Miss receptionist?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"This thing. . . What is it?"

"Registration form for mercenary's examination. They required personal information like name, birthplace, age, speciality, weapon, and also strength. At least, you can fill the form with name and strength. In this way, our staff will be able to gauge your capability." The lady explained with an alluring smile, but Fu Tao didn't have the chance to realize it as his attention was nailed on the registration form.

"Err. . ."

"Give it to me." Mingyue tugged the hem of Fu Tao's shirt. "You are stupid, so you cannot read. Unlike me."

Mingyue had an innocent appearance along with cute expression. Adding the sparkling eyes, no one would be able to resist her cuteness. If Fu Tao didn't hear what Mingyue just said, of course.

Seeing Fu Tao was frozen, Mingyue tugged the hem of Fu Tao's shirt a few times while whining, "Give me! Give me! Give it to me! Stupid people cannot read!"

And unknown to Mingyue, many mercenaries were wounded by her casual whining.

The lady receptionist chuckled as she saw the three people in front of her.

"You guys are so close, aren't you? Brother and sister?"

Mingyue was busy with the registration form, thus he didn't turn her head as she replied, "No, smelly tofu is smelly tofu." When Mingyue finished the registration form, she handed it back to the lady receptionist while saying, "Big sis, you are so pretty."

"Fufu, thank you very much." It was clear that the lady receptionist was flattered by a little girl's praise. But she was a little puzzled as she read the registration form.

"Er, mister Tofu, is it?"

". . . No, it is Fu Tao." Fu Tao couldn't let his name became Tofu by another people.

Receiving Fu Tao's response, the lady receptionist was in an awkward situation. She just added some scribbling on the registration form.

The lady receptionist returned to her smile and continued as if nothing had happened. "Ehem. The examination will begin in three days. Make sure to not forget about it and come early in the morning. The content of the exam will be explained later, but the second exam is usually combat examination." It was really professional receptionist.

"Fight!"

The bored Liao Yun became spirited out of nowhere, and it surprised the lady receptionist.

"Later, little Yun. Later." Mingyue called for Liao Yun. "Or you can beat smelly tofu if you can't hold it in anymore."

Sweeping her glance toward Fu Tao, Liao Yun scoffed, "Humph, I am bored with him."

The lady receptionist only had a wry smile pasted on her face.

"The examination is split into two parts. The first part is the official examination, and the examination was varied from time to time. If you pass this examination, you will be acknowledged as a mercenary."

"Then, what is the second examination?" Fu Tao was puzzled by the explanation as his knowledge about mercenary was limited to Hao Bo's story.

"Anyone that only passed the first examination is not called a proper mercenary. For any other mercenaries, they will be regarded as a 0-star mercenary. Of course, it is an unofficial title, but it is not wrong."

"For these 0-star mercenaries, they are only allowed to receive a miscellaneous job like herb-picking, hunting animals, or even a menial job like a worker. Their job's scope was wide, but most mercenaries will never pick that kind of mission."

"As you know, a job as a mercenary was dangerous one with death rate almost 40%. Accepting new blood is fine for Mercenary Guild, but we cannot afford to let any youngling to throw their life outside, hence this regulation is created. They are allowed to become a mercenary, but their mission will be limited while they will spend some of their time to hone their skill in the Mercenary Guild. As long as they are capable to pass another examination, they will be acknowledged as the 1-star mercenary, a proper and new blood for Mercenary Guild."

The lady receptionist smiled as she explained this part. "And this examination is the same examination as your second examination. If you clear the first part of mercenary's examination, you will be grouped along with the 0-star mercenary."

"Is it the same with the healer?" Mingyue tilted her head a little as she pouted a little.

"The first part is the same as another participant. But the second part is kind of different. Your job is to heal every wounded participant, nothing else." The lady receptionist smiled as she continued, "Even though a healer is able to gain 1-star mercenary qualification much easier, he or she is unable to reach 2-star mercenary qualification unless they have other capabilities."

Fearing that information would dampen Mingyue's mood, the lady receptionist added, "Even so, a healer is a well-sought existence in Mercenary Guild. Even though you don't have any combat ability, they are willing to protect you. So, don't worry." The lady receptionist patted Mingyue's head.

"Is there any other question?"

"Beautiful big sister, beautiful big sister, what is your name?" Mingyue enjoyed the lady receptionist's pat.

"Fufu, call me big sis Chen."

…