The moment those words left his lips, almost all movement on the ground floor of the skyscraper stopped and everyone stared at the fourteen year old boy who could almost be mistaken as a girl. Some people sent glances to one another while a couple of the mercenaries laughed as they looked at Alleluia.
"Maria, has this place become a day care since I last left?".
"Look at him! If I weren't sober I'd think that he was a girl!".
"Isn't the age requirement for becoming a mercenary like 17 or something? There's no way that they'd hire a kid right?".
The reaction that everyone gave wasn't something that Alleluia hadn't experienced before. Despite his maturity, the fourteen year old still looked like a fourteen year old.
His pretty skin and large eyes were uncharacteristic of a normal fourteen year old boy, who would normally have acne and blemishes all over their face. His school uniform didn't emphasize his thin, yet muscular physique which caused many to underestimate him.
Alleluia wasn't fazed by their words and continued looking up at the woman that everyone called Maria. Her eyes scanned he piece of paper that Alleluia gave her before her eyebrows raised slightly as she gave a polite smile towards him.
"I'll inform the Boss of your application. Please wait here for him to arrive".
He nodded and watched the older woman enter the elevator and head straight for the top floor. Alleluia only opted to sit down at one of the many comfortable chairs placed near the entrance, as all eyes followed his figure until he sat down.
Many people started whispering and pointing towards him as he calmly waited for this "Boss" to arrive.
"Maybe the kid has some special background? It's usually always the case with exceptions".
"No way! If he had some special background, why would he join the Alcides Mercenary Company? Wouldn't he be better off in the military?".
"Perhaps he knows someone here? A higher-up maybe?".
All of the mercenaries in the room were probably peak, or almost peak level mortals. They didn't have the talent to awaken their Life Power and become Knights, but were still a lot stronger than the average human.
If their bodies were strong enough, they might be able to execute a watered-down version of a Life Technique. Similar to the way that Alleluia's body blurred and then vanished back down at the beach.
Without Life Power they would only be able to fool other humans. With Life Power, the power of these Life Techniques could truly be shown.
A few minutes after Alleluia sat down, a huge, mammoth of a man walked over towards him. A stern and unyielding expression on his face. This man was close to three meters tall and his arms were the size of Alleluia's torso.
He was bald and had the tattoo of a crouching tiger on his back. A single scar going down over his left eye made most people unable to even look the man in the eye.
As he stood directly before Alleluia his gaze narrowed as the kid blatantly ignored him.
"Why don't you go home kid. Come back in two or three years. The Alcides Mercenary Company doesn't put kids out on the battlefield".
Alleluia noticed the shadow block out the sun coming through the window and looked up and stared up at the giant of a man, his gaze unblinking and his pure black eyes appeared undisturbed by his words.
He shook his head,
"I can't do that. I made my bed the moment I stepped through the door. The least I can do is lie in it".
The bald man's gaze never faltered and the increasing tension in caused many to stop what they were doing and look towards the huge man and the pretty boy.
The bald man nodded before showing a sorry expression,
"I see. I'm sorry about this kid, but you'll thank me later!".
The air around the bald man suddenly shifted and a dangerous aura was let out from his body. The muscles on his right arm bulged suddenly and he raised his fist above his head, as if it swing it down on Alleluia.
His eyes showed remorse but it didn't affect his decision as the sound of air cracking caused the window behind the man to shatter.
All eyes widened and all mouths dropped as Alleluia's figure vanished the moment the huge man's forearm was about to connect with his arm and all he hit was empty air. The force behind such a blow would've shattered the bones in Alleluia's arm, and probably put him in hospital for several weeks.
A tingling sensation appeared on the backs of everyone in the room, and the huge man instinctively brought up his arms to defend both sides of his head as a heavy kick filled with a huge amount of kinetic energy transferred from Alleluia's leg to the man's right arm.
If it was any other person their arm might've been instantly broken under the force. Luckily the man's huge and bulky physique blocked most of the force behind the kick only causing a dull ache to appear in his arm.
Alleluia narrowed his eyes at the strength of the bald man. Other than Knights, he had never met someone who could block one of his kicks....
He nodded,
"You're good. Let's see how you deal with this".
The huge man's eyes widened and he frantically shook his head,
"No! Just wait a second kid! I only wanted to warn you of the dangers of joining a mercenary company! I didn't-".
Once more Alleluia's figure blurred and a cold wind blew over the huge man. He gritted his teeth and turned around, swinging his arm to hit Alleluia's smaller figure only to feel a sharp pain coming from the Life Passages in his arm.
Even if he wasn't a Knight and didn't have Life Power, the fact remained that everyone still had Life Passages. This man's Life Passages were significantly larger than other peoples and if he became a Knight he would be a force to be reckoned with.
The dull ache in his arm grew more intense after Alleluia targeted them.
The fourteen year old had a small smile on his face which grew more and more every time he narrowly dodged a blow from the larger man, who grew slowly and slower as time passed.
A scarlet tint appeared in Alleluia's eyes.
His punches and kicks carried a huge amount of force behind them despite his still growing physique. In addition, he was a lot faster, and much more agile than his opponent. Even the huge bald man who was famous for his brute strength couldn't even try to hit Alleluia whose figure kept vanishing and reappearing like a ghost.
"C'mon, is that all you got?", the fourteen year olds words were like nails on a chalk board to the huge man who roared as he swung both his arms out to catch the flexible little fellow, grabbing onto nothing but air once more as Alleluia jumped up into the air to dodge.
A huge smile appeared on the bald man's face.
"I've got you now!".
Alleluia narrowed his scarlet red eyes as the huge man raised his right arm once more, ignoring the painful strain it put on his body.
Targeting the Life Passages was the only way for a mortal to win against a Knight. It was the source of their power, and without them, they would be nothing more than a peak level mortal.
The moment the huge man stared up into Alleluia's red eyes his body shook slightly as the strength in his arm wavered. It intangible power was released from behind his red irises that shook the man to the core of his very being. The fourteen year old kicked out his leg to meet the man's extended arm but found themselves frozen in their current positions, one hovering in the air and the other standing tall on the ground.
Both Alleluia and the bald man felt an overpowering external force rush over their bodies causing them to freeze where they stood. Their desire for combat faded quickly in the presence of this force, and both of them let out a loud exhale as this external force released them from where they stood.
"It seems that my tower is quite lively today. I wonder who dared to shatter one of my windows?".
A stern, yet playful voice cut through all the others in the room. This masculine voice carried a strange and subtle power in it, which attracted the attention of everyone else in the room.
A man wearing a pitch black military cap and a customized military garb walked straight through the crowd. All the other mercenaries and office workers moved instantly as this man walked towards Alleluia and the bald man.
The pretty boy noticed the slight shake the huge man beside him had as this man walked towards them, knowing full well why he was so scared.
As the man stood directly in front of Alleluia, the man's facial features became more clear.
He appeared middle-aged, with a small stubble growing on his chin and around his mouth. His hair was long, similar in length to Alleluia's but a lot more messy as it appeared he tied it back in a rush.
A single black broadsword was hanging from his waist.
"So...", he spoke as he eyed up Alleluia in a similar fashion.
The Life Power within his Life Passages leaked out and caused a deep black smoky aura to bubble around his body. It looked as though this man had risen up from the depths of the underworld to come and claim Alleluia's soul.
He smiled,
"I hear you want to work for me?".