Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

Along the way to the Mercenary Guild, Fenrir knew she was being followed and it was starting to make her very upset. She hadn't eaten anything since arriving in the city and, though she didn't actually require sustenance to survive, the hunger in her stomach had begun increasing. Pretty soon, she would probably have to leave the city and begin hunting again, unless she could find a way to deal with her hunger through other methods. For now, she just wanted to get the information she had come here for in the first place and, after that, leave behind this city.After killing that girly man the previous night, it would be too troublesome to stay here for long. Though she planned to build up her reputation in the future, it didn't seem like this was the best place to do it as, even after exploring the city a little the previous day, she hadn't 'felt' any danger. Even the monsters deep in the forest had caused her instincts to trigger more than the middle-aged and old-men that had shown up the previous night. Since she had been able to kill those monsters with almost no effort, Fenrir felt that all the people in this city were just weaklings.It didn't take long for her to find the Mercenary Guild as, upon reaching the center of the city, it was the largest building present. There wasn't a single other building within 500m of the building's periphery and, as it was more than 100m in height, it stood out like a sore thumb. It also helped that there were a lot of people dressed like Mercenaries, with a few Cultivators, entering and exiting the large open doors. Fenrir saw that most people traveled in groups of 3-5, though there were some that looked more confident in their strength who traveled alone.Ignoring the surrounding gazes, Fenrir attempted to make her way into the Mercenary Guild before her path was suddenly barred by two men, one having a bald head and a scar over his nose while the other was a wiry man with two daggers strapped to his belt. The bald man, who also had a large build that gave him more than 40cm of height over Fenrir, smiled as he said, "Hey there, little fairy, you don't look like you belong here. Tell this big brother what family you ran away from. If you're trying to become a Mercenary, why not join the two of us? We can take care of you, gyahahahaha-!"The wiry man with the daggers began snickering as well, adding, "Hehehe, why don't you let these big brothers look after you? I'll even protect you during the night, you...know~?" As the man said his final word, his head had already separated from his body, tumbling to the ground with a face full of confusion. As for the big man, he stayed standing there with a lascivious grin on his face, looking towards where Fenrir had been previously standing. Currently, she was walking over the threshold of the Mercenary Guild's entrance, parting the sea of people who were now giving her a very wide berth.For several seconds, the bald man just continued standing there, almost as if he had been frozen in time while his companion's blood spread out across the ground. The onlookers had no idea what was going on until someone noticed his skin was becoming progressively paler. Shortly after that, a layer of frost began to spread over his skin, clothes, and even the large metal saber on his back. Then, after nearly a full minute had passed, the man's now white skin began to crack and fracture as his body broke apart into icy chunks...(Fenrir's Commentary: 'So stupid...so stupid...so stupid...so stupid...')

Ignoring the increasing volume of the outside, Fenrir walked to one of the information desks where there was a young woman with long black hair, tied loosely in a braid. Within her hair, she had two white sticks in her hair with bands of gold around the ends and, as she looked towards Fenrir, her fair complexion became progressively paler as she asked, "This...Young Miss...how can the Mercenaries Guild help you today...?" Never in her life had she seen a young girl with such a fair and icy complexion, causing people to instinctually double-take only to become stunned when they saw her scarlet red eyes...Squinting her eyes slightly, Fenrir coldly stated, "I need information. If it is cheaper to obtain, I also wish to join the Mercenaries Guild. If not, I will take the information alone." Knowing that some information would likely only be accessible to members, Fenrir knew it would likely benefit her if she joined before procuring the information she required. As expected, the woman nodded her head and pulled out a piece of paper and a jade tablet, explaining, "The Guild does provide information cheaper to its members, so I will process your registration. However, there are rules and regulations you will have to follow after you join..."Fenrir noticed that the woman looked over her shoulder, observing the crowd gathered near the entrance with a hint of fear on her face. When she turned her eyes back, the woman became even paler and quickly started explaining the rules and regulations she mentioned. Apparently, it was against the rules to fight and kill other members of the Guild, at least within the boundaries of the cities that had Guild branches. If there was fighting outside the city, as sometimes missions could be very competitive, that was just considered the fate of the losers. As for other things she needed to be aware of, there were several grades ranking from F, being the lowest, and SSS, being the highest, at least for 'general' mercenary ranks.Above SSS, there were the ranks 'King', 'Emperor', and 'God', bold titles that designated people with Cultivation Realms above the Qi Refining Realm. When Fenrir asked her to explain in better detail, the woman went on to detail how ranks were assigned, and how they corresponded to Cultivation Realms in general. From this, Fenrir learned that the weakest Cultivation Realm was called the Elementary Refining Realm, where the practitioner would focus on developing their body, mind, or spirit. Generally, anyone within this realm was stuck at F-Rank in the Guild until they had completed a number of quests.Beyond the Elementary Refining Realm, there was the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul Realms. Even further above that, though it was only a legend, there was the Immortal Realm but, as there hadn't been anyone in the Oyone Continent to reach it in the last thousand years, it was called the False Immortal Realm. Each of the ranks, F-SSS corresponded with one of the nine stages of the Qi Refining Realm, though it was possible to earn higher ranks based on your completed quests. As for the King, Emperor, and God ranks, they were associated with the Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul Realms respectively.When the woman was finished explaining, Fenrir nodded her head and said, "Then you can put my rank down as a King." The moment these words left her mouth, the somewhat chaotic Guild became absolutely quiet as the majority of the surrounding Mercenaries, all of the Receptionists, and even a strange blue cat, all looked at Fenrir as if she was a monster.(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Since I'm a girl, should I have said 'Queen' instead...? King sounds cooler...difficult decisions...')

Early the next morning, long before the sun rose in the sky, Fenrir woke up with a loud yawn. Rubbing her eyes, she smelled a strong odor of burning, comprised of everything from building materials to human flesh. Snorting, Fenrir jumped down from the tree and began walking towards the center of the city, knowing that the Mercenaries Guild could be found there. Along the way, she passed by the area where her ice pillar had been the previous night, now having dissipated away with an almost perfect circle on the ground.It was obvious that several people had tried to melt her ice, causing the ground around the pillar to become scorched. Unfortunately for them, until the Ice Elemental energy had lost its form naturally, it wasn't going anywhere with their weak flames. As for the secondary smells, there were several charred corpses around the area and Fenrir could see that the Inn she had been in the previous night had been burned to the ground. This annoyed her a little bit, as it meant they were likely looking for her again and she would probably have to deal with them soon.As if on cue, a group of three people flew towards her position atop three medium length straight swords. Fenrir noticed the man at the front was the same old man that had been so talkative the previous night, practically giving away information for free. Since they didn't seem to be hostile yet, Fenrir allowed them to land, only to be taken aback when the old man bowed to her, saying, "This Lee greets Senior..."Feeling the hairs on her back stand on end, Fenrir glared towards the man and said, "Do not call me Senior...I'm not old. Tell me what you want and then leave me alone. I don't have time to waste with you." The old man, who had introduced himself as Lee, awkwardly smoothed out invisible wrinkles from his robe as he said, "Ah, it was not my intention to disrupt Se...your plans. I just wanted to give you a warning, as you seemed to match the description of the person wanted by the Flame Jade Sect..."This news wasn't surprising to Fenrir at all, so she asked, "And, what does that have to do with you? If the Flame Jade Sect wants to find trouble with me, that is their business. I will deal with them my own way, so butt out of my business..." Turning away from the old man, Fenir went on her way, ignoring his attempt to call out to her again. She had already been able to tell since the previous night that the old man wasn't any good, as the smell of blood was very thick on his body. She also didn't like the look in his eyes and, even though he didn't gawk at her, there was a glimmer contained within that made her feel disgusted...Seeing the unknown girl walking away, the 'old man', surnamed Fen, turned to his two students and said, "Try to follow her in secret, but don't interfere with her business. See if you can find out the reason why she has come to the city. If anyone from the other Sects tries to scout her, inform me at once. We can't let such a precious raw material fall into the hands of the other Sects..." Hearing their orders, both of the young men gave a chest salute before taking to the skies on their swords once again. As for the Fen Lee, his eyes glimmered with intrigue as he lightly commented, "Such a strange girl...and that Yin energy coming from her body...she would make an excellent furnace for my grandson..."(Fenrir's Commentary: 'The smell of burned flesh...*snort*...putrid...')

Chapter 39: Obstruction