"Begin!"

I seize the initiative, rushing forward with a slash near his hips. He jumps backwards, narrowly avoiding the sudden blow, but quickly counters with a slash aimed at my head. I twist my body to the side, spinning and using the momentum to strike upwards, barely landing a blow on his arm. He retreated slightly and I hold my ground as we stand watching each other. Looking for any openings to exploit. We both rush forward, clashing a half dozen times until we separate again, sweat visibly forming on both of our brows. My hands numbed from parrying stray blows that nearly made contact. Looking around at the dusty field around me, I realize I could make use of it.

Rushing forward again, the giant seems to prepare himself for another flurry of blows, which never comes. I stop several steps from him and sweep my leg along the ground, kicking up the dust and blinding him in the process. He throws his hand over his eyes as I duck low and thrust my sword towards his throat. He moves his hand away just in time to see the tip of my sword laying at his throat. I pull away as he drops his weapon in surrender, and I throw the sword to a different recruit as I look towards Ted and notice that a small crowd had gathered.

Both Garth and Rorik were watching, One with his trademark grin and the other scowling slightly more than usual. There were also a bunch of lower ranked Mercenaries watching, looking to mostly be D ranked. Ted looked to be writing something down until he looked up at me.

"You passed, with flying colors actually. Seeing that you beat him without any injuries and even managed to parry the attacks of someone stronger than you shows your skill is quite good too, if not a bit clumsy. I would have passed you just based on that, but you even managed to win, using your environment is an important part of fighting. You would do best to remember that, you could have saved yourself a lot of trouble had you done that from the start. I'll go get you ranked up, just relax for now, it's been a hectic few days for you."

I think over the lecture he gave me and realize most of what he said was true. Replaying the fight in my head I notice several things I could have done better, like minimizing movements, or attacking blind spots rather than whats next to me.

"Good job kiddo! You just won me 20 silver." Garth had a huge grin on his face as he walked over.

"Congrats on the rank up by the way, knew you had it in you." Rorik let out a muffled

"Hmph." as he came over, a mild amount of pride showing in his eyes.

"Well, I didn't think i'd attract a crowd just from this though. Is getting up to D rank that big a deal?"

"You bet it is. D rank is like a test for mercenaries, you'll end up being recruited to other companies now, if you weren't in mine already of course. Mind you that now you'll mostly end up doing missions with others, at least you should. There are still solo contract but you might find them a little harder than normal."

"He says that, but he means that most D rank and above you end up fighting. Your'e better off in a group because if a group of bandits or monster shows up, you'd probably end up dead." Rorik the forever bringer of happiness corrects Garth with a sigh, still shocked at his lack of care.

Remembering what happened to my other team, I let out a soft smile, "I think solo missions suit me better anyways. I fight better without having to worry about anyone else."

Garth and Rorik nod their heads in unison, understanding why I would choose to do so. Garth's smile seems forced, seeming to know the reason why I made my decision, they were friends of his after all. Ted comes back to break the awkward atmosphere and hands me what looks like a silver I.D. It had my name, rank, as well as a description of how I look.

"This is your new form of identification. When you go out on missions, show that to your contractor to prove that you are who you say. And when you rank up again, go swap it out for a different, updated one."

"To think you'd be giving tests so soon, I didn't think you'd actually get him to D rank in 3 days. Looks like my training wasn't a waste after all." Rorik's eyes gave away the pride he felt towards his young protege. Ted let out a small smile,

"Well I didn't really think I'd enjoy teaching this much. Maybe after I retire i'll work in the field like you do."

"It'd be nice to have some company, seeing that I only ever have Garth to talk to. And you know how annoying he is."

"I'm not annoying, you just can't take a joke."

"I can take jokes just fine, yours are more like insults."

"I beg to differ, everyone but you laughs so it must be a problem with you."

"They laugh AT me Garth, how about you actually pay attention for once and look at why they're laughing."

Seeing the two bicker again, I look towards Ted who returned to his stoic persona and just shrugged his shoulders, seemingly used to this. Seeing the sun making its way to the horizon, I return to the inn, seeing Ed when I enter.

"Hey there kid, how was training? Did you make it to D rank?"

"Luckily, he had me fight this other D ranker, big brute of a guy. Hit like a truck but I managed to beat him."

"What's a truck exactly?"

"It's a figure of speech, he hit really hard. My hands when numb just redirecting his attacks."

"Well you needed to use your superior speed and tactics to make up for it then. Good to know you passed, congratulations on become a D ranker. Hope you know things only get harder from here."

"I'm aware, and ready. What rank were you when you retired Ed?"

"It doesn't matter, thats all in the past. I'm just an inn keep now, thats all you should know."

I narrow my eyes at his answer, expecting something a bit different. I suppose everyone has their secrets but that was a blunt way to dodge the question.

"Alright, I wont push you then. I'm off to get an early night. See you in the morning Ed."

"See ya kiddo."

I make my way up to my room and collapse onto the bed. It was a long day after all, maybe i'll ask Garth what rank Ed was, and why he want's to hide it. But thats a problem for tomorrows me.

*Ed POV

I go back into the kitchen, the throbbing of old wounds makes me grit my teeth in pain as I take out an ointment from a nearby draw. Pulling off my shirt I apply the ointment to my left side, looking down the wound seems to have gotten worse.

The grotesque mass of flesh that made up my left side served as a bitter reminder of my Mercenary days. Stretching from under my arm to my hip, my flesh caved into a red mass, similar in shape to a bite mark. There as no skin to speak of, only muscle visible, and even that seemed to be deteriorating. The ointment helped soothe the constant pain but it was losing its effect. Soon i'd have to find something else to ease it.

Memories spring up in my head as I go through the daily process, the job I shouldn't have taken, the traitor, the monster, my wife... I shake my head, clearing it of the unnecessary memories. A tear falls from my face as I dress and ready myself for the night to come.

I give one last look at myself and seeing that I looked to be in good shape I head out to the bar with a smile on my face, greeting my next customer.