Death... and me

Luan was still curious, so he asked, "But what kind of test? Is it battle? I've never battled anyone before."

That wasn't true. Roan had purposely made Rafatia and Luan fight against each other to test their abilities quite a few times. He already lost count of how many times he scolded the two because of mistakes. It's just that Luan considered Rafatia to be a friend, so it was different in his head.

Roan didn't care, telling him, "Good! You've only been bullied so far back in Dry Sky City. Now it's time for you to show that you can do more than just receive a beating. Otherwise, you'll get a beating when you come out."

The worker couldn't help but think, 'No beating or a beating... this kid is having quite a hard time with such a dad.'

"Ahem... is there anything else I can help you with?" the worker asked.

Roan pondered over it for a bit before nodding. "Can I use this Mercenary Guild badge to look into the guild's information?"

"Sure." The worker nodded in response. "However, the amount of information you have access to depends on your mercenary rank. You have just joined the guild, so it'll be very limited."

"Mercenary rank?" Roan then looked at his badge, asking, "Does it follow the same status as the other guilds? For example, Bronze, Silver, Golden, etc..."

The worker shook his head, explaining, "No. The other guilds have subcategories to separate their member's levels. For example, they have Initial, Medium, High, and Peak levels for each. The mercenary guild is different. We don't have subcategories, just the categories themselves. They can be seen on your badge. Can you see the stars on your badge?"

Roan could indeed see a star engraved at the top of his badge.

The worker continued, "Since you just joined, you're obviously at the very first level, a One Star Mercenary. Naturally, you only have access to One Star Missions and One Star Benefits. Information is one of them."

Roan nodded in understanding. "How many stars do I need to learn about how to use the teleport formations in the undersea cities?"

"Who knows?" the worker shrugged his shoulders as he replied. "I'm not even sure if you can at all. However, there are always exceptions. That's why I didn't say it's impossible but extremely unlikely. As you can imagine, I don't have access to such information either."

Roan was already satisfied with that answer. At the very least, he obtained some useful information. "Very well. That's all I needed to know."

The worker nodded after that. "You can bring Luan to the entrance of the Utari Demon Beast Forest tomorrow. Our Guild Master and elders will be there to oversee the test. As for what Luan needs to do, you'll only find out tomorrow. Even I don't know the contents of the test."

Roan liked that system as it didn't give anyone an unfair advantage. "We'll be there."

Meanwhile, Rean found an inn for his group to stay at the moment. "Alright, you can just take any bed. I'm going out since I have a few things to do." Suddenly, he received a message from Roan through their Soul Connection. "Oh! Roan said that they'll have a Mercenary Guild test tomorrow. It would be a good thing if you let Rafatia take part in it as well. What do you say?"

Falangia looked at Rean before asking, "In that case, I might as well take the test with my daughter."

Rean shook his head in response as he told her, "Not gonna work. The test for those at the Core Formation Realm ended today. You'll need to wait until the next month to take the test again."

Falangia couldn't help but sigh after that. "Alright then. I'm going to the Mercenary Guild with Rafatia to register her, I guess. What about you?"

Rean then took his badges from the Formation and Blacksmith Guild from his spatial rings. "It's about time I upgrade my badges to the Golden High-level." In fact, Rean was confident he could draw and forge Golden Peak-level formations and equipment. After all, he was at the door of the Transition Realm. However, he decided to leave it for now. 'I'll take the test again once I enter the Transition Realm.'

After being in the city for quite some time, they thought the city was quite nice. There was barely any trouble happening. The fact was that the same happened in most of the islands occupied by humanoid races. Roan found out in the information available to him that there was a reason behind it. In Pol Continent, most cities, undersea or not, were considered neutral zones. Guards kept order on the island while aquatic demon beasts did the same with undersea cities.

However, that was only inside the cities and occupied islands. Islands without cities and the sea itself were an open space where everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. This was a good thing for both the humanoid races and the demon beasts. That way, both low, medium, and even high-level cultivators and demon beasts would be able to temper themselves.

For example, the Mercenary Guild accepted both aquatic demon beast and humanoid race members. However, more than 90% of its mission board happened in uninhabited islands and especially the open sea. It wasn't out of the norm to see mercenaries fighting each other outside if they got the same mission and needed the same thing. Of course, they could also join forces to finish the mission faster and share the rewards.

'Simply put, there's no lack of places to train in this continent. Even then, there are quite a lot of safe havens where one can rest both inside and outside waters.'

Of course, Roan knew that things weren't so easy. There were obviously exceptions. For example, if one offended someone in a powerful position and tried to hide in a city, the city wouldn't protect them. Especially if one offended someone from the demon beast powers. Pol was a continent where aquatic demon beasts ruled, so aquatic demon beasts set the rules. 'In any case, this isn't a bad choice of a place to live in.'