Through my many raids, I'd gained quite a lot of material. What I lacked, I made up with from my mining. This allowed me to strengthen my body with more precious metals and remake my sword.
My body previously contained approximately 400 cubic inches of adamantine, 100 cubic inches of mithril, and 200 cubic inches of orichalcum. With all the extra material I obtained, I was 15 percent adamantium, 25 percent Mythril, and 30 percent orichalcum by volume.
Considering I was approximately 3700 cubic inches, it was a lot of metal. My body was still mostly mana steel, but that was fine, considering most people couldn't even put a scratch on me now.
I'd also made some changes to my sword. It had an entirely adamantine edge, reinforced with mythril and orichalcum to strengthen its spine. My nanomachines also allowed me to change the shape of the blade slightly. I used the ability to make a gun blade.
The edge would stay mostly the same, but the spine would change into a long barrel, and the hilt would become a stock. I hadn't properly tested it, but I knew it worked, so that was good enough for me.
I'd also changed the secondary hilt on the blade to have holes on either side of the spine, allowing me to grab onto the dull edge on either side. The holes were big enough to fit my fingers, giving me more leverage at close range.
All the precious metals also made the sword and my body extremely heavy. The sword, previously around 20 pounds, was now 45 pounds, and my lithe figure was 300 pounds. The adamantine, in particular, is very dense.
Though my body weighed a lot, nobody would ever feel it. By manipulating density, size, texture, and other forms of matter, my cells could alter density, look, and feel. By storing some of my cells, I could be whatever. Even my bones were moldable adamantium alloys.
With my body and weapons all in order. I prepared anything we needed for the trip, and we left two days later.
We rode in a wagon with Holone driving and Zarith and me riding our horses. Rex, Grey, and Vesper were also coming along. With none below the seventh rank, our party was a fearsome one to behold.
Even Zarith and Holone's war horses were at the low seventh rank. We would be riding for three straight days to the city, with no stops.
Even with the wagon, we rode at 60 miles per hour, and over three days with close to no stops, that was over 4000 miles. This planet has approximately twice the volume of Earth, so its surface is 1.5 times larger.
"Alex, how old are you?" Holone broke me out of my calculations.
"17, why?"
"And yet, you're the leader," scoffed Zarith.
I'm stronger than both of you combined," I snarked back.
"Sure, but have you actually led anyone?" asked Zarith.
"I've had training."
As the heir to the Bellmont Duchy, I start learning young. I could run a town or even a territory by myself.
"Any real experience?" Holone interjected.
"I lead you guys," I responded.
"Sure, but that was just on hunts and defenses, not real battles against other people," Zarith argued.
"Would you have liked to fight against people?"
"Would've been more fun."
"You're thinking of duels. Murder is never fun."
"You sure? Ask those slaver guys. They murder whoever is in their way." Zarith had personally seen the cruelty of people, even against their kind.
"They murder for a purpose, albeit not a good one, but for a purpose, not for fun.
Even serial killers take enjoyment in seeing people suffer, not killing. To enjoy taking a life, one has to be seriously messed up."
"You had no problem killing those slavers," responded Zarith.
"They were criminals, bad men. And having no problem isn't the same as enjoying."
"You talk like an old man, not like you're seventeen." Holone seemed to want to be included in the discussion.
"Life does that to a man."
"I thought you were a girl." Zarith had a confused look.
"No, and even if I was… it's the same idea."
Zarith still seemed confused.
"You'll get. I was confused at first as well." Holone reassured.
-----
We traveled in peace for three days. Holone asked me an unexpected question when we were a couple of hours from the city.
"Are you gay?"
"The fu—" I cut myself off.
"No, why?" I was confused by the suddenness and rudeness of the question.
'Well, there was that one time."
"It's just… you're next to two powerful, beautiful ladies, and you haven't made a single move or even glanced at us."
"I agree. It doesn't even seem like you acknowledge us as women. Most men would love powerful ladies like us." Even Zarith joined in.
"I don't know what to say. I don't like you like that.
Were you expecting me to make a move?"
Holone was the one to answer. "I mean… You're stronger than us; we're all alone in the middle of nowhere."
"I know that's probably happened to you in the past, but not all men are like that. We've been working together for over a year now. I thought you knew me better than that."
"Sorry if I offended you, but sometimes, it's like you never knew someone." Holone's expression was slightly pained as she said that. Sensing a story, I didn't push further.
-----
The rest of the journey was made in peace. As we got closer to the city, I gave Holone a bracelet with an illusion enchantment and put one directly on her as insurance.
The guard around the gate was lax, asking for a fee if you wanted to enter without identification. The guards were all fourth or fifth ranks, slightly weaker than the slavers. The security was good for an outer city like this one.
Of course, we all hid our strength as well. Having a party of seventh rank was extremely rare, even more so when you considered that I am a ninth rank.
Even the horses and pets lowered their outward ranks. We all lowered our mana output to that for the fourth rank and the pets to the third rank.
With all our preparation, we got through without much issue. Holone and Zarith went their separate ways, and I would check out some of the slavers' deeds. They all looked like warehouses or townhouses, probably used as headquarters for the business.
We would maintain telepathic communication in case someone ever got in trouble. We are outlaws, so getting separated would do us no good.
My first order of business was to register at the mercenary guild, a spot for freelance workers of all kinds. While called the mercenary guild, it was just a job site for freelance workers to find jobs.
The mercenary guild was a big organization with multiple branches worldwide. The guild masters of each guild were like chairpeople, each with a different stake in the organization.
The guild had no central headquarters, choosing to meet at various locations and times only known to the guild masters. Each guild master was mighty, with the weakest being eighth-ranked.
I housed Arion at a stable inside the city as I did my business. It would be too troublesome to take him everywhere. Rex was too big, so he was circling overhead. Only Vesper and Grey could come with me.
Vesper was only slightly bigger than average, and Grey, while as big as a petite horse, was a typical hunting dog.
The guild hall was a big building in the middle of the city, four stories tall and as big as the town hall.
The inside wasn't much different. It was big and grand, but the boisterous talk and drinking brought it down, as the first floor served as a saloon for the workers in between jobs.
I made my way to the front desk, and contrary to most stories, I was not bothered.
"Hello, what would you like to do today?" The friendly lady at the front desk was dressed in a traditional worker's uniform.
"I'll be registering."
"That will be a one-time fee of one gold."
It was pricey, but I didn't mind it.
"Will you be registering alone or as part of a group?"
"I'd like to create a mercenary group." The lady was a little taken aback. While her body didn't show it, her eyes gave her away.
"It will be a ten gold fee to register a group."
I slid over the cash.
"You mentioned you will be registering a mercenary group, is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Here," the lady slid over two documents. "This one is for the group registration, and this is your independent registration."
"Thank you." I took the two pieces of paper and went to an empty table to fill it out. The tray at the center of the table contained a pencil, which I used.
The questions were basic things like name, group size, and profession. It didn't take me long to finish, but my lack of daemon language training made it a little longer.
A heavily armored man approached me as I was about to finish up. He wore full plate mail and was a rank-five warrior, but nothing special. I assumed he had come back from a job.
"You registering kid?"
"None of your business." I got up from the bar seat.
"Just a little bit of friendly advice. Don't get your hopes up. This isn't an easy job, especially the mercenary business." The man placed a hand on my shoulder.
"Thanks for the advice, but I think I'll manage." I flashed a quick smile.
"Just don't get yourself killed out there. God knows I've seen too many like that." The man walked away.
I half expected him to antagonize me, but instead, he seemed friendly. Pushing the scene to the back of my head, I returned to the counter.
There was a line now, so I waited for my turn.
"Did you finish registering?" The lady asked when I got to the counter.
"Yeah, here's the documents."
"Looks good. So you've signed up as a mercenary. If you want, you can be assessed by one of the staff here or start at the G-rank."
"I'll be assessed."
"Great, that's all for your individual registration. You are also creating a mercenary group, with you as the captain?"
"Correct, madam."
"Just so you know, the group will start a rank below your individual one, and as the group earns more achievements, its rank will increase along with the number of people in your organization."
"Is that everything?"
"You'll get briefed on the rest from this handbook." The lady handed me a short manual of guild rules.
"Now, you're all set, and…" the lady checked my papers. "The Greyhound Mercenary Group is established as of today."