On the very next day after running into a life threatening situation, Seth continued to report back to the Federation Base and was giving his full effort in the training exercise.

Or at least he tried to at the least.

Seth could still hear the screams of the Fortress Tortoise and the image of it being pierced was vividly imprinted in his mind. It had disturbed him all night as the image kept popping back into his head, constantly waking him up and leaving him in a fitful sleep.

When they had returned the day before Jacks had told them that the danger was resolved. The rift had closed itself and nothing had broken though.

Quickstream had been immediately dispatched once the Federation had receive the emergency signal and information that Echor sent. As the fastest agent in their base, Quickstream was responsible for immediate on-site observation and analysis of the threat..

Seth had asked his Master for console about his restlessness, but he was kicked out right away, as Master stated his current state was due to lack of experience. It was something he had to figure out on his own.

“Hurry up you ladybugs! Even my grandma can run faster than you!” yelled Sergent Johnson. Then he addressed Seth who was lagging behind the group. “ Seth come over here. Need to talk to you for a sec.”

“Seth jogged off the track and asked, “What’s up?”

“I heard about yesterday. And from what I see clearly you’re not up to it today. Take a break today. Go home and relax.”

“What? But I'm perfectly fine. I can still r-”

“No you’re not. No need to push yourself. Jacks talked to me already and gave you permission for a break if I see that you’re not doing great.”

“I see... I guess I'll take today off then.”

“Sure. Take the rest of the day off. Heck, if you need to take the next few days off too. I don’t want to see you back here until you’re back to 100 percent.”

***

Once Seth had changed out to normal clothing and left the Federation building, he found Kong leaning against the wall at the entrance. Seth greeted Kong once he saw him.

“Hey Kong, they also told you to take the day off?”

“Yeah, they did.” Kong stared at Seth, as if he was studying him.

“W-what?”

“Nothing. You don’t have a mercenary ID right? Just come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“The Mercenary building. We’re going to sign you up to be a mercenary.”

***

Thirty minutes later. Seth found himself inside the mercenary Association building.

When a person think of a mercenary, they would think of a person who is strong and willing to do anything for money. It didn’t matter what the job was, as long as they were paid. Mercenaries were always portrayed as scary and vulgar people in the stories that he heard in school.

So he was quite surprised when he saw how clean the building was when he entered. There were 3 counters, each manned by a receptionist. The floor was clean and nothing else occupied the room. It was also void a of any presence beside the receptionist.

Kong dragged him to one of the counters in which he was greeted by a bored looking woman who was typing on her phone.

“Hey. What’s your business here?”

“Seth looked at Kong who just nodded in assurance. “H-hi, ’m here to sign up as a mercenary.”

The receptionist took out a tablet and handed it to Seth. “Read this and fill out the information. Hand it back to me when your finished.” She then continued to look at her phone.

The tablet handed to Seth was asking for his name, age and contact information. Those were quickly filled out as he moved on to the next page which was a disclosure agreement, basically stating that the Mercenary Association was not responsible for any death or injuries gained during a job. Seth merely glance it over and checked the box. After seeing the Federation contract, this kind of disclosure agreement did not faze him as much anymore.

Once Seth finished, he handed the tablet to the receptionist who then proceeded to the back. She came out a minute later with a card and gave it to Seth. “ This is your mercenary ID card. As a newbie, you start at the lowest grade, bronze. There are a total of four grades. bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. You can upgrade your mercenary levels by completing enough jobs of the same level. You can find jobs on our site or wherever you can find a Mercenary Association building, which is in most cities. All right, introduction to the mercenary Association is over. Congratulations you are now officially a mercenary. Now get out.”

“Wait that it?” Seth asked incredulously.

“What you want me to do? Give you a history lesson about the association?”

“I just thought signing up as a mercenary would be more...strict.”

“Did you want us to roll out the red carpet? Shoutout to the world that you’re a new mercenary? Look kid I get paid by the hour for manning the counter. I don’t get paid for doing extra and checking backgrounds is extra work. As long you are older than 15 years old, then you are good to go. If you want that anything else, go do something worthwhile.”

Rude. Seth thought and made his way over to Kong.

As he walked away, Seth found Kong and ask, “Are you finally going to tell me why you want me sign up as a mercenary?”

“That’s because it’s one of the easiest way to get past the walls.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Oh, I'm sure you’re feeling about the same as me. After seeing that yesterday, I thought I'll go out and do something I enjoy.”

“And what is that?” Seth ask skeptically.

“Finding a living target and punching it really, really hard.”