First Mission (2)

Although he wasn't hiding it, he thinks he liked both girls and guys. This world was quite different from his previous one; in that world, countless wars were launched because a group of people couldn't handle what other people's preference was in the bedroom, or in their relationship for that matter.

In Eteria, no issues exist; there wasn't even a need to label them. Hell, for all they care, you fall in love with a sprite and call it a union ordained by heaven. They, however, draw the line on non-human transforming beasts. Absolutely no bestiality allowed on this planet, no good sir.

Anyhow, Xander's smartwatch began vibrating, showing multiple notifications from representatives of groups, companies, and families who wanted to invite him for lunch, dinner, visit their compound/office/island, etc. Immediately, Xander rolled his eyes at all these and removed all messages, before setting his number as non-contactable unless he initiated the contact first.

However, he did remember the numbers of notable groups and listed them in a note in the smartwatch. After fiddling for a while, he resumed finishing his dessert, before paying calling the waiter to pay for the bill. He noticed that there wasn't any service charge, so he gave his own tip of 150 Etas, which is considerably large since his meal was roughly around 800 Etas.

He headed outside and realized through his perception that there were a few inconspicuous people trailing him. At this, Xander thought of an idea and began moving out and about in the city, going to the dark alleyways and places where there were a lot of people. After a few minutes of twists and turns, he arrived at the MCGD headquarters and headed to the Mission Building. He couldn't sense anyone else following him.

Upon entering, however, Xander was surprised; there were a lot of mercenaries in the lobby of the building and quite a few stopped their conversation and looked at him. Xander kept his stoic face as he moved to the next floor, specifically, the floor for C missions issued.

When he left the lobby, the mercenaries were in a frenzy.

"Wait, wasn't that the new mercenary? The one upgraded to C+ class?" A man in brown attire asked.

"Yeah, I think his name was Homer Simpson? He just registered to be mercenary two hours ago, and his documents were quickly processed!" A rookie wearing a green shirt said, his face confused and a bit jealous.

"Ha, rookie! Don't you know who he is?" Another mercenary approached the guy in a green shirt.

"Um, no. I work in a car cleaning service. Should I know who he is?" the guy in green retorted, causing the mercenary that called him rookie to be speechless.

"You... never mind then, you wouldn't understand his greatness then, and the favor he just gave to magicians at Legendary class and above." That same mercenary just shrugged and walked away, leaving the two.

"Eh? Now I'm curious. I am a Master-8, close to becoming a Legendary magician. What did he do?" The green guy turned to look at the man in brown.

"Joseph, this man wrote 2 revolutionary magic research papers and posted them last night, and it sent every business and government all over the world for the past half a day into a frenzy.

His 2 papers had so many implications on future pharmaceutical, military, and economic benefits! At the same time, it caused a stir even in the scientific field, as his papers actually gave concrete observational data and replicable methods for others to study! Not only that, but his first paper can also be considered a 3-in-1 paper: he proved that elements, in fact, exist in multiple dimensions! At the same time, he also proved the theory of Elemental propagation as a universal law! And lastly, the theory of elemental conversion into the physical matter was a universal law as well!

But wait, that's just the first paper. Only scientists in the field of chemistry, mathematics, and physics would be interested in it. It was the second paper, supposedly made to supplement the first paper, that caused an uproar." At this point, the man in brown broke out in excitement. After all, he was a refined scholar who just applied to be a mercenary to earn some pocket money.

"So what's with the second paper then? Come on Bron, don't leave me hanging." Joseph asked, his interest piqued. Although he wasn't that smart on the research aspect, he knew the theories mentioned since they were taught in his elective classes such as Elemental Research IV in college.

"He frickin' managed to prove that immaterial elements can be, in fact, converted into material elements, while still retaining their functions!" Bron said excitedly, his small beard quivering slightly.

"Huh? So how does that help legendary magicians and higher?" Joseph was confused.

"You dolt! Don't you know about Life and Death elements? If they could materialize it and began to sell it in different products, such as weapons, healing salves, creams, and pills, wouldn't you buy it?? It's like a disposable weapon and a life-saving item! And according to what was written in the paper, only legendary magicians and above can do the process of materializing immaterial elements!" Bron almost snapped at Joseph's idiocy but decided to explain it still to him nonetheless.

"Oh... Oh my god, the numerous applications for it... I can see why there's the hype." Upon hearing it, Joseph broke into a cold sweat; after all, such a prestigious person would seem to come from no simple background!

"That's why everyone was surprised to see him join the mercenary group under MCGD. I mean, why bother in the first place? He would have better deals and benefits from other powerful groups sending invitations to him."

Joseph pondered for a moment and then shook his head, confused as well. He wanted to suggest that maybe he joined the company because he was bored of research? Or could it be a form of vacation for him? But he feared if he voiced this out, other fellow mercenaries would beat the crap out of him.

Of course, Xander didn't have any idea about the uproar he had caused in the lobby. Even if he did, he wouldn't care.

After a minute, he reached the 9th floor. The area was as large as the lobby, but it was less crowded than the other floors he saw on the way up. The elevators here actually used Gravity Element, which was actually a derivative of earth/metal element.

Gravity element, in actuality, was formed from combining concepts of space to that of earth/metal and falls under the Physics Series of elements. This includes repulsion (air and space), cohesion (water, earth/metal, space), attraction (gravity, and air), friction (Water/Air/Fire/Earth & Metal/Wood, and Space) as well as other physical aspects, such as magnetic force, electric force, electromagnetic force, radiation, weak force, strong force, etc.

Pity though, those that had talent in these elements never passed the Master class and stayed there for the rest of their lives, and dedicated themselves in other fields of research and development such as computers, physics, mathematics, and chemistry. One reason is that they couldn't seem to harness the power of space; their thoughts as researchers and magicians should be boundless and willing to explore different possibilities, but upon learning that their element was one of those in the Physics series, majority of them, often or not, stopped their magic cultivation and began scientific research. Only a few of the physics series of elements were not requiring space element mastery.

Upon stepping outside the elevator, he was greeted with opulent decor, with a clear view of the outside due to full-pane glass, numerous couches and tables to sit and relax, as well as discuss with fellow mercenaries.

In the middle of the floor, a round counter was present and there were 4 attendants dutifully doing their job entertaining the mercenaries' questions and requests, as well as mission submissions. In the middle of the counter, a 1.5-meter diameter transparent tube was present, with 4 doors placed.

Xander had read about this in the information the System got: This was the central chute that transported the evidence the mission usually required to the designated facility for checking and confirming. The process usually takes no more than an hour, and the fast being 10 minutes.

Of course, this is usually for missions such as delivering items, gathering rare materials or hunting magic beasts, or even normal animals. If the mission involved a specific client requesting like, let's say, "Find me a magic beast child" or "Create this specific artifact/item" or "Help me with XX problem, direct payment", these types of missions were fully paid by the client, and MCGD only takes a fee from the poster of the request, usually 3 times the price of that of the same ranked request.

He approached one of the empty counters and the attendant behind immediately greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, welcome to the Missions building. My name is Aria. This seems to be the first time you came here, meaning you probably just registered. May I ask for your Mercenary ID to verify your membership as well as direct you if you are in the proper floor?" Aria eloquently spoke, her voice steady and calm.

Xander nodded in reply and spoke,

"Yes, I'm newly registered. My Mercenary ID is 093-XCV3-556K-299Z-QS0W-08A. I received a notification that my application was completed, and proceed to the C+ class floor of the Missions building." Xander then showed the letter that he received from MCGD, upon which, Aria was quite stunned.

She immediately inputted the mercenary ID in the terminal and immediately released a 'validated' sound. Aria smoothened her expression before saying,

"Alright, everything seems to be in order. In the mercenary group, you have an option to be referred with an alias. Would you like to choose an alias? Please note, every time you would receive a mission, you will be called by your alias from then on, even the employers of the mission would only know you by this alias."

Xander thought for a moment, before speaking, "Lonely Maker. This is my selected alias." Aria inputted it in the form that appeared on her console and nodded when it was accepted.

"Alright, with your code name done, you can now accept missions. You only need to present this proof of mercenary to the employer if its a direct-hire, or come here and submit the mission items." Aria immediately printed out the membership card of Xander, but after it printed and materialized, she froze.

"A...an obsidian mercenary card..!"