The Thenor Empire demanded several things from its vassal kingdoms, including the construction of the Imperial Mercenary Guild in their territories. The existence of the guild was the simplest way to outsource the security of the empire's population at a low cost, as well as assimilate the military might of vassal kingdoms in a roundabout way.

Anyone could go to the guild and offer a reward to make any request of them, as long as it was legal. Likewise, anyone could become an imperial mercenary by paying a monthly fee. The mercenaries could then browse the available requests, which were officially called commissions, and complete them for the reward. Of course, the guild took a cut from it.

To ensure that people would use the guild, it had a monopoly on three services, collecting resources of Mystic level or higher, recovering Mystic items or better, and subduing beasts. Usually, the more dangerous a task, the better it paid, which ensured that the mercenaries had an incentive to grow stronger. That, in turn, made people also look for the guild for jobs that required strength, like protection duty or exploring the wilds.

To attract new mercenaries and keep the strong ones in the guild, they received special benefits. They were exempt from paying taxes to any kingdom, were given discounts and privileges on registered merchants, and could gain imperial citizenship if they reached gold rank, the fifth rank in the guild. Imperial citizens weren't a big deal in actual imperial cities, but no one dared touch them in smaller kingdoms like Illyria.

Of course, becoming an imperial mercenary came with strings attached. They were forbidden from joining any vassal kingdom's organization, couldn't take any requests without going through the guild, and had to come if the guild ever organized a military campaign.

In practice, these things meant the guild's cut from the rewards became extra imperial tax, while mercenaries became reserve forces for the empire. Better still, they were reserve forces paid with other people's money and spread across the various kingdoms under imperial control, which greatly pressured the kings.

Aaron had heard this pragmatic view from a nobleman in the Royal Market. Common people, however, considered imperial mercenaries the protectors of humanity, those who explored beyond the borders of humankind and subjugated dangerous beasts, the noble peacekeepers who wanted the best for everyone and only charged for their services because they also needed to eat to survive. Some imperial mercenaries he had spied on in the market also seemed to believe this idealized vision.

Aaron believed in both versions, that mercenaries were both pawns of the empire and defenders of humanity. Both were probably partially correct and incomplete because large organizations usually had many people with different agendas in charge.

"Hello? Aaron?" Tia said with concern in her voice. The Rogue had been looking at the guildhall with a frown for a few seconds. If he gave up now, she could bid farewell to her chances of completing the commission.

Aaron woke up from his musings, shook his head, and started walking again. "Let's go."

They entered the building and found a reception worthy of a five-star hotel back on Earth. The hall was luxurious, and the counter had six attendants, highly attractive young men and women dressed in black and golden uniforms, all standing perfectly straight.

Tia guided Aaron to a young female attendant with brown eyes and black hair, who smiled as they approached. "Tia! Did you find the companion you needed?" She examined Aaron and ended up with a disinterested look on her face.

"I did," replied Tia, putting her hand inside her cloak and taking out a small bag of coins from there.

Aaron felt a slight energy fluctuation when she did that. She had removed the bag from her spatial ring, not from her cloak, but was concealing the fact.

She took ten silver coins from her purse and put them on the counter. "He wants to register."

The attendant's features went from disinterest in Aaron to concern for Tia. "Are you sure?" Her tone of voice made it clear what she thought about Tia paying to register a stranger.

Tia nodded, and the receptionist turned to Aaron, the concern replaced by a professional look and a smile as if she had not just suspected him. "Good evening!"

"Evening," he replied. "How do we do this?"

"I just need your full name and your aura signature in this contract," she said while placing a paper with an embedded small dark blue crystal on the counter.

Aaron read the document quickly. It was short and basically said that he agreed with the rules of the Imperial Mercenary Guild, which he could consult at any branch of the guild and were subject to change without notice.

"My name is Aaron Ironblood," he said while touching the stone. It shone and released a small amount of Arcane Energy at the same time an internal magic formation recorded his aura. "And there it is."

Every living being released a unique aura, a kind of ethereal externalization of their souls. With the right tools or heightened sensitivity, it was possible to detect these auras and use them to identify people.

Techniques capable of modifying one's aura were extremely rare and complicated, which made recording auras much safer to guarantee the legitimacy of contracts than written signatures. Such recordings also had the advantage of not requiring the signee to be literate. If the absence of educational institutions was as common in the empire as it had been back in the Middle Ages on Earth, most commoners should be illiterate.

Aaron, of course, could change his aura at will. The aura that the guild was recording now wouldn't be able to identify or be used to locate him unless he allowed it.

The clerk picked up the contract, opened a drawer, and took out a kind of wooden coin the size of a fist from it. Her hand shone with silver light, and a small amount of Arcane Energy passed from her to the coin. Finally, she smiled and handed the coin to Aaron.

"Welcome to the Imperial Mercenary Guild!" she said. "This is your badge, used to identify you and your rank."

Aaron accepted the object and felt his aura being engraved on it too. From that moment on, special tools could check the aura engraved on the emblem against his, a simple anti-theft and anti-counterfeiting mechanism.

He looked at the object. The lowest rank of the guild was wood, and the emblem was made of the same material. After wood came iron, bronze, silver, and, finally, the so desired gold. His emblem contained three lines of text in relief.

"Imperial Mercenary Guild

Fire Wolves

Aaron Ironblood"

"Fire Wolves?" he asked.

"This is my unit's name," Tia informed with a relieved smile. Now that he had registered and was on her unit, he had no escape! "Welcome! Our Sorceress is taking care of personal matters and won't be back until tomorrow, but the rest of the team is at the restaurant. Come, I'll introduce you."

Aaron's stomach chose exactly that moment to growl. He smiled. "A restaurant? Right on time!"

Tia made an unsightly face when she remembered that she would have to pay for Aaron's food under their agreement.

Aaron glanced at the receptionist. "Thanks for your help." He winked and followed Tia to the restaurant.

They soon arrived at the guild's restaurant. Located on the ground floor, the restaurant resembled a high-class English pub with twenty wooden tables, a few of which were occupied. Tia took Aaron to a table with two people.

A large man about twenty-five years old, dressed in white armor without a helmet, was sitting next to a small girl about twenty years old who wore a white tunic. Both the tunic and the armor had the engraving of a circle inside a triangle.

Their hair was blond, their eyes were green, and their facial features were also similar, evidencing their kinship.

"Aaron Ironblood, meet Lana and Logan Seccos," Tia introduced when they approached. "Lana is the Priestess of the unit and Logan, our Paladin."

"My pleasure," Aaron said with a smile while analyzing their energies. Both had Qi and Holy Energy inside them.

Priestess Lana was, by Aaron's estimates, a One Star Qi Manipulator and a Two Star Devout, as those who used Holy Energy were called.

Paladin Logan was the other way around, a Two Star Qi Manipulator and a One Star Devout.

Aaron had learned at the Royal Market that people could choose their classes, such as Rogue, Priestess, Paladin, or the Hero one that had almost been forced on him. Each person could only have one active class, and they could only change it once every year.

Meanwhile, energy specialization, like Qi Manipulator, Arcanist, and Devout, was about the energy one could manipulate. It was common to have more than one energy specialization, and changing them only depended on resources and effort.

The Paladin snorted through his nose. "Don't get comfortable, Rogue," he said with hostility. "As soon as we complete the commission, you'll be kicked from the Fire Wolves."

Aaron laughed and used his arrogant and ambitious character. "Who said anything about staying in the Fire Wolves? You're not rich enough to keep me with you."

Logan frowned. "Rich? What do you mean?"

Aaron tilted his head at Tia. "Ask her."

Logan looked at her, who swallowed and took a deep breath. "I promised him half the reward for the commission," she said so low it was almost a whisper.

"What?!" shouted Logan, attracting the attention of the other people in the restaurant. Then he lowered his voice but kept an aggressive tone. "You can't do that! You had to ask us first!"

Tia was visibly intimidated but still argued her case, "You would pay a hundred gold coins to get imperial citizenship, wouldn't you?"

"Who wouldn't? But what does that have to do..." He stopped talking when he understood. "Oh."

"Exactly," continued Tia. "If we complete this commission, Alys will reach gold rank, which will allow her to lock gold commissions. After that, it will only be a matter of time before we all also reach gold rank and thus, become imperial citizens on our own. Also, because we only need to pay him if we complete the commission, we won't be at a loss if we don't succeed. But if we do succeed, it'll be the same as paying for imperial citizenship! That's a great deal!"

So that's why Tia was so desperate to hire Aaron. Imperial mercenaries increased their ranks by completing commissions, and the unit's absent member just needed to complete the commission for the Sky Splitting Sword to reach gold rank. Because of the way the guild operated, that would be a great blessing for the others, who could use the gold rank member to rank up faster — something to do with locking commissions, whatever that meant.

That made Aaron realize he wasn't exploiting Tia as he had initially thought. He didn't need to make it up for her after all.

"This is all very interesting," he said with a bored voice. He was interested in knowing better about how the guild operated, but he needed to stay true to his character. "Keep going with all this wonderful planning, I'll get myself some food."

He went to the counter and sat on a bench there, with his back to the wall, facing the restaurant door. It was a simple defensive measure, so he could see everyone who entered the place, and no one could attack him from behind.

"Yes?" asked the handsome barkeep wearing the black and golden uniform of the guild.

"Give me the most expensive food you have," he ordered.

Tia had accompanied Aaron and intervened. "Ignore that and bring him two ham sandwiches." After paying for the food and a glass of watery wine, she returned to the Fire Wolves' table.

Aaron tasted the mortal food with interest. He could barely remember the last time he had seen a ham sandwich, let alone eaten one. Meanwhile, the Fire Wolves were talking. Or rather, Tia and Logan talked while Lana listened quietly. After he finished eating, he returned to the table.

"We'll start our journey to the commission site tomorrow morning," Tia informed as soon as Aaron sat down. "Meet us at the city's East Gate before sunrise."

"Sure thing," he said. "Where is my room?"

He didn't like the smile that appeared on Tia's face. "Half the reward, transportation, and food, that was the deal. There is nothing about lodging."

"What?! Lodging is obviously included in transportation. You don't expect me to sleep on the ground when we travel, do you? Yeah, I'll use a sleeping bag if everyone is also using one, but I demand to sleep on similar accommodations to you whenever you sleep under a roof!"

"You are right, but the keyword here is transportation. I only need to provide it when we're in transit. That means after we leave the city," she insisted.

Internally, Aaron praised her for cunning. Externally, he showed unhappiness in his face. "Such bullshit. Aren't you afraid that I won't appear tomorrow?"

Her sly smile grew even more. "When you signed the contract, you accepted the guild's rules, which means that you must provide a five days' notice if you want to leave a unit. And until the end of the five days, you must do your best to be an effective member. You don't want to provoke the guild's ire, do you?" she asked provocatively.

Logan looked at Aaron with scorn, while Lana had a hint of pity in her eyes.

Aaron sighed. "Whatever. See you tomorrow." Pretending impatience, he left the guild. However, the truth was that he had more important things to do rather than sleep.

Much more important things.

Now that he understood enough of the local culture to know cultivating freely wasn't illegal, it was finally time to thread the path to power once again.