Back at the outer branch beside Katiu Forest, Krune was waiting for his ID to be processed. He was left alone after the attendant finished telling him the benefits of being a Three Stars Mercenary. The problem is, he was told that the process would only take at most one hour, but it has already passed more than two. Krune has a good temper, so he didn't really mind having to wait longer, but they could at least have told him that something happened.
Krune was pondering if he should go out to ask what is happening when the door of the office opened again. He was relieved, seems like they finally finished. He looked at the person who entered, but to his surprise, it wasn't the middle-aged woman from before, but someone he had never seen. It was Marcin, the outer branch supervisor.
"Hello, Krune. I'm Marcin, this branch's supervisor. I came to congratulate you personally."
Krune didn't think much, but since the guy came just to congratulate him, he will accept those words. He heard the middle-aged woman tell before that it had been a very long time since a Three Stars Mercenary appeared in this branch. So he could understand the reason why the supervisor came.
"It wasn't much, I should be apologizing instead for the training room, it was me who broke it down after all."
Marcin was all smiles, it seemed like he didn't care the least bit.
"That's of course, not a problem, we had told before that everyone could go all out during the test, the fact that the formation couldn't hold was our fault in the end."
Marcin then put a serious face and spoke.
"Krune, usually the process to register a Three Stars Mercenary would take at most one hour. Still, the Head Quarters have made an exception due to your amazing performance during the test. So they decided to reward you with a Four Stars Mercenary Badge and ID, that's why it took so long for the process to be finished."
Krune felt puzzled for a bit, but then his eyes lit up! He had thought about something and asked.
"Does it mean that I will receive a better discount when buying something from the guild?"
After hearing that comment, Marcin almost fainted! It was evident that this guy had no idea what it meant to receive a Four Stars Badge at his cultivation level at all!
"Cough, Cough. Well, you see, you are not wrong to think that. There is indeed a better discount for Four Stars Mercenaries."
He felt like crying while saying those words, but then he continued.
"But that's not what is important about it. The thing is, only cultivators at the Core Formation Realm can apply for a test to acquire a Four Star badge and ID. Still, the Headquarters made a special exception for you. You must understand that by becoming a Four Stars Mercenary, you also became a symbol of the mercenary guild. You will have the right to represent the guild when necessary too. Four Stars Badges are hard to get even for Core Formation Cultivators. This is to show how highly the guild thinks about you."
Krune was quite surprised.
"It's a little exaggerated, isn't it?"
Marcin replied.
"Not at all! You will receive special treatment at all cities with mercenary guilds in it, and you must understand that this level of membership represents one's status in our continent. Countless sects and clans will be willing to pay high prices for you to join then! Be happy, young man! You will be famous now!
Krune's mouth twitched when he heard the word 'famous,' he then asked.
"Err... What do you mean with famous?"
He doesn't want to be famous, he doesn't want anyone to pay attention to him at all!
On the other hand, Marcin heard him asking about being famous and thought that Krune was more interested in prestige instead of benefits. Poor Krune would be crying if he could read Marcin's thoughts.
Thinking like that, Marcin then continued.
"That's right, your picture has already been sent to all mercenary guild branches in our continent. The guild has also announced the fact that a Foundation Establishment cultivator performed amazingly during the mercenary guild test! The news being spread now stated that that Katiu Forest outer branch had given birth to a 1st stage Foundation Establishment cultivator capable of using two or more elements at once and even Skill Merge! It also says that you were successful in building a 'Universe Foundation'! And it's exactly because of your universe foundation which is extremely rare in our Yule Continent that you can use more elements at once while being at your level."
Marcin got more excited the more he spoke.
"You can already jump in joy, young man! In at most a few weeks, there won't be a single cultivator in our continent that doesn't know about you. Especially because of your eccentric hair, it will be your trademark! Impressive, right? Right?! As for our outer branch guild of the Katiu Forest, we will be able to bask in the limelight too."
Marcin then laughed out loud, really loud!
As for Krune? He had already fallen on his knees, this time he is in his human form, so he does have tears, which are running down from his eyes now. Marcin looked at that and thought that Krune was so happy that he was crying.
"Haha! No need to cry, Krune. This is what you deserve, you can take your time to enjoy this moment."
Krune looked at him as if Marcin was a demon! But then again, who asked him to act so overpowered during the Mercenary Exam? He could only blame himself for that!
Krune then received his Four Stars Mercenary Badge and ID. After that, he left the office with a gloomy face. The world seemed to be crumbling down around him, it was not time for him to show his prowess yet, he isn't strong enough to protect himself from prying eyes.
As soon as he reached the entrance hall, everyone immediately spotted him. As the place that gave birth to the Four Stars Mercenary at the Foundation Establishment, it was the very first to spread the news to everyone. The entire village already knows about him now.
After feeling sad for a little while, Krune finally came back to terms with himself. Since it was already like this, there is no meaning in keeping cursing his luck.
'So be it! Even if I'm famous now, as long as I keep myself in check, the news will get old, and people will eventually forget about me. I just need to stay low for a while, and everything should be okay.'
His mood improved a bit after thinking about that, he then remembered that Yusa was waiting for him in the hotel restaurant and proceeded there.
After arriving at the restaurant, he soon noticed Yusa in a table at the corner. He was just about to go there when a crowd of people and demon beasts in human form barred his way. They all wanted to see this new rising star, Krune had to squeeze quite a lot to arrive at the table.
Yusa was laughing at that scene, when he finally arrived she welcomed him in a friendly way.
"Yo! Mister Rising Star! One of the extremely rare special early stages Foundation Establishment with a Four Stars Mercenary Badge and ID, the one with a universe foundation. I'm happy that you could take a little of your time to talk with someone as unimportant as me."
She said all that while laughing, she could totally see that Krune wasn't happy with this situation at all.
Krune smiled bitterly, every word was a knife going through his heart, the total damage was almost an overkill.
"Please, miss Yusa, let me go, okay? I didn't want anything like this to happen, not at all! I'm suffering here at the moment."
Yusa was smiling from ear to ear. She had already known back then before the mercenary test started, that Krune is a first-timer 'leaving the forest demon beast.' It felt really good to tease him, after laughing a little more, she finally entered the topic at hand.
"Alright, the thing I wanted to talk with you is related to the ranked mercenary teams, are you interested in forming one?"
Krune was puzzled. Ranked mercenary teams? What is that?
"Could you explain what is this ranked mercenary team is about?"
Yusa was already expecting that he didn't know, so she was prepared to explain.
"It goes like this, the mercenary guilds of the entire world have a team rank for accomplished teams. There are three ranks according to the cultivation level.
The Earth Rank is for Qi Condensation mercenary teams. Although not many people pay attention to this Rank, it still exists as a form of making the new recruits who joined the guild as Qi Condensation to put more effort."
"The second is the Sky Rank, as you can probably imagine already, this is the Rank for those teams with members at the Foundation Establishment Realm. In this Rank, your team can also have Qi Condensation cultivators. Still, because there are Foundation Establishment cultivators in the team, it is part of the Sky Rank. Of course, teams of the sky rank would usually only accept Qi Condensation cultivators that have peculiar or amazing abilities."
"The last is the Heaven Rank. This is a rank where the group has to have at least one Core Formation Realm cultivator. Of course, this Rank means little for us at the moment. It doesn't matter how famous you or I am, a Core Formation Realm cultivator wouldn't join us anyway. The missions available for the Sky Rank aren't things that Core Formation cultivators are interested in either, especially early stages like the both of us."
Krune understood how the rank system worked, he then asked.
"Why you want to enter the rank system? Is there anything that makes it worth?"
Yusa nodded.
"Yes, for those on the path of cultivation, cultivation resources are of paramount importance! It's not simply spirit stones. There are also alchemist pills, rare materials, spirit pastes, etc. But they are hard to get, even if you have the money, there are things that you can't simply buy. You need connections! And that's where the team rank system comes about."
"If you go to the mercenary guild now and check the list of items for sale, you will find out that the best quality ones are only available for those in the rank system. It's a way of ensuring that everyone will put the necessary effort to uphold the mercenary guild's name."
Krune understood. It's indeed an excellent strategy to use cultivation resources to force the mercenaries to put their best efforts into the tasks. No wonder that the mercenary guild is regarded so well in the field of missions.
"It looks good and all, but why me?"
Yusa then gave a bright smile, she pointed at his Four Stars Mercenary Badge.
"What else could be? 25% Discount! Your Four Stars Mercenary allows you to have a 25% discount on all products available for sell. With that, we can also enter any country free of charge. Not to mention the ability to use teleport formations by paying only the cost to activate it. Tell me, is there anything better in this world than saving money?"
Yusa showed her true face! She is a money-grubber through and through, and she has no intention of hiding that!
Krune was taken aback. He thought she would say something to do with his strength, or because of his universe foundation, or because he could use two elements at the same time. But in the end, it was money! And it didn't seem like she was lying at all.
Krune started to wonder if it would be a good idea to create a rank team or not. On one side, if he goes up in the Rank, he will catch more attention, but on the other, there is bound to have a lot of cultivation resources that will help him greatly in the future.
Noticing Krune's dilemma, Yusa smiled and struck while the iron was hot, she knows very well what he is concerned about.
"Oh, I also forgot to tell that the teams can opt for having their members' names hidden. Only the team name appears, and any other information can be kept a secret by the guild until they decide the opposite. Or when you enter the Heaven Rank, only the Heaven Rank can not hide their information."
Krune's eyes immediately lit up!
'Low key! There is finally a low key event happening in my life!'
He looked at Yusa.
"Alright, I accept. I also remember that they said that there is a very small number of contestants that can pass the mercenary guild test even with the lowest grade. Still, you were able to pass it directly with a Two Stars Badge and ID, so I believe you are quite strong too, it would do no good if only I put effort after all."
Yusa was amazed by his answer. Could it be that he thought she would slack off if she had passed the exam with the lowest grade? But in the end, it didn't matter, what matters is that she got Krune, the one who could get several benefits and mainly, a 25% discount on everything!
"Great, then we need to find at least one more cultivator or demon beast. The rank system doesn't allow teams with less than three members."
Krune nodded, and then he asked.
"Should we go back to the guild to register first?"
Yusa shook her head.
"The outer branches can't register a team, only main branches or the headquarters. We will need to go to Kaley City main branch to have our team registered. Let's do like this, I don't have anything else to do here anymore, so if you are free too, we can depart tomorrow."
Krune agreed. The main reason he wanted to apply for the mercenary guild was to get a badge, which would help him in finding a mercenary group going to Kaley City.
"Very well, let's do like you said."
They conversed a little more about other details and decided to leave. But just as Krune started moving, another crowd that has been waiting for him appeared again. This time, Krune snapped, and then, he began changing his clothes...
Yusa was almost frightened to death, her face as red as a tomato! Just as Krune was about to remove his underpants, she stopped him.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Krune was puzzled, but then he explained.
"I heard that you humans find it disrespectful to change clothes in front of others, so I'm doing it to show how angry I am. Look, a lot of people immediately left. As expected, this is very effective, after all!"
Yusa wanted to die!