Mercenaries.

-Ten years later-

In the forest near Azmar City, you could see a girl fighting multiple Rank-5 Beasts! The girl had short black hair tied in a ponytail. In her hands were two pitch-black blades as she slashed towards the incoming Lightning Wolf.

This girl, of course, was Raven. It was just recently when she advanced to Rank-5 Mage and Rank-5 Fighter.

In these short ten years, her prowess had skyrocketed. She had Ozul to enlighten her about the Darkness Element and resources obtained after completing the missions from Count Oliver.

Moreover, she noticed that as time passed by, cultivating both her Body and Mana Core together had benefits.

With a sturdy body, she had an easier time circulating Mana in her body, which helped in reducing the time and effort to advance as a Mage.

While with a better Mana Core, fusing the refined Mana with her body became effortless.

Both methods complemented each other, and together with the comprehension from Ozul, her talent stunned everyone who saw her growth.

Count Oliver, in these ten years, had come to know that Raven was anything but a simple village girl. When he saw her talent, he tried many times to recruit her but was declined every time.

A bit far from her laid a young man with a jet black pointed hat on his face. His arms were folded under his head as he slept soundlessly, not paying attention to the massacre of Rank-5 Beasts.

Ozul had grown into a young man from that ten years old kid. The only thing that changed was that he was getting a bit worried about his 'parts' now.

It had been 20 years already, his severed arms can survive that, but the people are obviously experimenting on them. So, he could not rest easy.

Thankfully, Raven was growing without a hitch. But he has not found anyone else besides her, Which was also worrying.

He could not increase the density of the Ball of Purity, but his proficiency had skyrocketed. He could use fine needles even as far as a 5-meter radius from him!

Alongside this, Ozul and Raven's fame had been increasing over time. Many upper echelons of the kingdom received the wind of this.

Whatever Count Oliver threw at them, they would complete it. Since most of the tasks would have people killed, some sayings started to float around like;

"When you see your dark surroundings get darker; Don't resist,

Perhaps, you will be devoured without pain by the Ravenshadow,

By the Feral."

No one actually knew Raven's name, but people had given Ozul nicknames such as the Ravenshadow and the Feral.

Count Oliver would always try to tease Ozul with such nicknames, but Raven would come to his rescue. Although Raven also liked the sound of the Ravenshadow.

Raven had also grown into a beauty. Alas, Ozul would only come for her when he needed the lap pillows. She did not complain though. She was happy as long as Ozul needed her.

Talking about their relation, the two had obviously grown closer to each other. But not in the way that anyone might think. Although Raven wanted so much more to happen, she did not have the courage to make any advancement.

On the other hand, Ozul tried his best to ignore things. He did not understand the reason, but he just could not bring himself to get into a relationship. There was just something inside that reminded him to never even think in this direction.

When Raven finished slaughtering the Beasts, she looked as though nothing even happened. She had improved the Mana and Stamina steal of the daggers over time. She also named the blades 'Lifebenders'.

Whenever Ozul went to the mission, Raven would also join from time to time. Now, she wouldn't even bat an eye before killing someone.

Ten years with Ozul, she had experienced people who looked innocent, but back-stabbed just the next moment.

Raven had seen the fickle nature of humans. These experiences turned her gentle beauty into the cold beauty that she is today.

Nevertheless, all that coldness and indifference vanishes whenever Ozul came into her view.

She went towards Ozul and woke him up. They had to leave now, even though Raven had only advanced yesterday, she was already better than most of the Rank-5 Mages!

When Ozul woke up, he saw the smiling face of Raven, looking at him with anticipation. He could even see the imaginary tail wagging behind her.

Ozul stood up and patted her head, which caused the wagging to intensify. He was not sure, but Ozul may have even heard the purr as he saw the blissful expression on her face.

"There there, you did well."- Ozul said in a normal tone. He had also started to show some care towards her.

They put together their things and went back home after that.

. . .

Sitting on the couch in the living room, Ozul spoke up;

"Let's become mercenaries."-

"Okay~"- Raven did not question why Ozul wanted to suddenly become mercenaries after so many years of just working with the Count.

Ozul wanted to travel as all these years he couldn't find anyone. Mercenaries have their guilds set in most of the cities around the continent. They are considered as a neutral faction.

If united, Mercenaries can also be considered as a significant Power on the Mainland. But the Mercenaries only work for profits, so they are regarded as a neutral faction.

Later that day, Ozul and Raven arrived at Count Oliver's Manor.

Count Oliver was in the garden as he sat there enjoying the beautiful day while the gardeners watered the plants. After ten years, Count Oliver had no change whatsoever in appearance.

It was because he was a Rank-6 Mage. The life span of Mages increases tremendously after Rank-5 as they start to break the shackles of mortals.

Each Rank advancement after Rank-6 would add centuries to your life span!

Anyways, Count Oliver had established a good relation with Ozul and Raven. Even though both parties sought their own interests, they had no qualms with each other.

Count Oliver put the cup of tea down the table as he smiled towards Ozul and Raven before saying;

"Hoho, look 'The Feral' is here."-

Hearing the words tho, Ozul halted his steps and began to retreat!

"Hey! Hey! Stop, I won't say it again. I promise!"- Count Oliver began to shout when he saw that Ozul was actually about to leave!

Only when he promised that he wouldn't repeat it did Ozul turn back.

They sat on the chairs near Count Oliver as the Butler Alfred offered some tea and biscuits to Raven. Alfred was used to Ozul not having anything, so he didn't offer to him.

Ozul got straight to the point;

"We will be joining the Mercenaries guild. So, in the future, I might not be able to work with you."-

"Sigh... I knew this day would be coming."- Count Oliver had no visible reaction to the sudden announcement.

"Here take this. If you ever visit the Capital, show this to Marquis Orbthorn. He will know you're trustworthy."- Count Oliver gave a small badge to Raven. The badge had an eye engraved on it and looked like some pendant.

"If it is necessary."- Ozul already had some wealth and resources stored, so he didn't need anything for now.

"But I do have one last request if you will?"- Count Oliver asked. It was not such an important task, but he had his hands busy at the moment.

"What is it about?"- This time Raven asked.

Raven was only timid in front of Ozul. Otherwise, she had gained a cold personality and was also straight forward like Ozul.

She showed no emotions in front of others, as well. Ozul had told her never to show weakness to others, but she had turned cold towards everyone else.

Even though Ozul tried to do something about it once or twice, he didn't care about it anymore. It's not like he was any different. He just thought that it was his fault that Raven turned out as such.

But he was wrong; she turned indifferent toward everyone else because she had seen the cruelty of the world. She had come to realize how wicked even the pitiable can be.

Only Ozul was left in her world; it was fortunate that she didn't lose herself and would show her childish nature again in front of him.

"Oh, it's nothing. No bloodshed this time around. Just check out a particular village for me..."