Mercenary Guild

Uri boiled with rage. She clenched her fists and cursed Sol under her breath since that was all she could do.

She looked at her children, who were tearing up slightly. Her heart felt like it broke. "I swear... I'll kill him, even if it's the last thing I do." She said under her breath, gritting her teeth.

***

A playful whistle danced in the ears of the street people. Sol walked through the bustling streets of Hllscani with his hands behind his head and his strides long. 

The sides of the streets were filled with vendors and shops varying in size. 

Some were small stalls that sold fruits and trinkets, while others were larger establishments such as weapon stores and taverns.

'I need a place to stay. I also want to get some money and get stronger too.' A perfect place came into his head with these goals. 

Sol stopped walking and stared at a large building to the right side of the street. 

On top of the entrance, there was a sign with the emblem of Ether Energy and a sword clashing against each other. 

In the middle were letters that read; "Mercenary Guild."

"This is perfect. Mercenaries are the beings in this society who go outside of the Sanctuaries to hunt beasts and keep the Sanctuaries protected. Becoming one would ensure me a place to stay for free, as all Mercenaries are granted free access to housing in the guild inn."

Sol muttered under his breath and walked in through the front door.

As soon as he made his way inside, he was greeted with a wide and spacious place filled with many chairs and tables where mercenaries already seemed to be sitting. 

No one paid attention to him in the large space. 

They were busy chatting and eating the meals provided to them by the daytime restaurant that was on the side of the room.

Walking about 30 feet in front of this area, Sol noticed several counters with different booths of people behind them. 

There were about 10 in total. Many people were already lined up behind each booth. 

To the right of these booths was a giant board with hundreds of posters stretching from the top of the ceiling to the bottom of the floor. 

These were all quest posters, and looking at them were dozens of mercenaries of various power levels.

As Sol got into one of the lines at the booths, he thought to himself, 'Of course... these people aren't real Mercenaries. The real ones are only stationed outside of the Sanctuaries. The ones inside, no matter how strong, are merely practitioners. Still, within these gated communities, they are highly revered if they prove to be strong enough.'

Thankfully, Sol's line was short, and he got to the front counter in a jiffy.

As he got there, a young lady in her early twenties greeted him with a delighted smile. 

She wore a tight-fitting shirt and tie, and her blonde hair flowed past her shoulders.

"Hi! How can I help you today?" She exclaimed with a giddy tone.

"I want to become a Mercenary," Sol said, as a few eyes from the other lines temporarily darted toward him.

'A kid like that wanting to become a Mercenary? Pfft... what a joke.' A guy in his late twenties with dark brown hair said to himself while scoffing. 

He had a profoundly large nose and was slightly balding at the scalp. He was in the line beside Sol's line.

"Oh? Is that so..." The lady behind the counter closed her eyes and awkwardly chuckled. 

"Unfortunately, you will have to pass a test before being allowed to join the guild. Are you alright with that?" The lady said as if Sol didn't know about this already.

"Throw any test you want at me. I'll crush them all with ease." Sol proclaimed in a confident tone.

But, the young lady still didn't seem to buy it.

The man in the other line even burst out into a laugh.

"Pahaha! What did you say? You will pass it with ease!? You are one hilarious brat! What makes you think that this test will be easy to pass?" He mocked with a red face full of laughter.

Sol gazed at him with an unimpressed eyebrow raised.

"You look like a low-tier noble. Probably grew up all your light-sheltered and coddled. You don't know the real struggles of life." The man said, as though he was bragging.

Several heads were now turned toward Sol's direction, as he was getting made fun of by this loudmouth.

"The only thing you struggled with in your life is your looks, you fool. I can't even stare at that face for more than a few seconds before feeling sick to my stomach." Sol said out of nowhere with a disgusted tone.

A few seconds of silence sounded from the crowd, and suddenly, a teen who couldn't hold in his laughter any longer burst out into a loud laugh.

"Kahahaha! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard!" He said, clutching his stomach.

The man who initially teased Sol looked back with a slightly angry and flustered expression.

"What the--!?" He exclaimed before being cut off by the laughing teen's friend.

"It's true as well, he's uglier than a mother fucker!"

Sol smirked at that moment, "I hate ugly people. They irritate me." Sol said as the ugly man turned to face him.

The young lady behind the counter tried to contain her laugh as well by placing her hand over her face, making the ugly man turn red from humiliation.

"You brat! I don't care how old you are, let's take this outside! I'll show you what it means to look ugly when I beat your face in!" He angrily exclaimed.

"Is that what your mom said to you when you were born? Ugly bastard..." Sol said, turning toward the lady behind the counter and ignoring the foul-looking guy.

This angered the man even more, as it caused all of the attention to be drawn to him. Even more, people began to laugh at his poor situation. After a few more seconds of embarrassment, he decided he couldn't take it any longer.

He jumped across the red stanchion rope between the two lines, throwing a punch at Sol with full force.