Fenrir's Journey : I Shall Devour The Heavens!

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...')

Hearing the 'child' before them refer to herself as a 'King', many people within the Guild wanted to retort. However, after she had killed two people in an instant, nobody was willing to risk the chance that she was actually at the Foundation Realm, as offending her was the same as washing your neck and waiting for her to claim it. Since it didn't seem like she carried any weapons on her, they could only pray it would be a quick and painless death...The Receptionist woman, who had previously been pale, had now turned white as a ghost as she hesitantly asked, "King...? Are you rea...I mean, at what Stage are you, if I may ask...?" Fenrir had turned her attention to some of the surrounding Mercenaries, sending them warning looks. When she heard the question and was about to answer, a man's voice suddenly rang out through the Guildhall, saying, "Don't ask what you have no need to know. Fill out her paperwork and finalize her registration!"When she heard this loud voice, the Receptionist startled and began quickly moving her hands while exclaiming, "Y-Yes, B-Branch M-M-Master!" Without questioning the girl in front of her any further, the woman began quickly filling out the necessary forms as the man, appearing to be in his late twenties and with stark black hair, walked over with a smile on his face, saying, "It is the honor of our Branch to welcome such a young King into our midst, though, I should perhaps say 'Queen'...?" Since there was a strong Yin aura forming around the young woman before him, even though he couldn't quite sense her cultivation, the Guild Master could easily tell Fenrir was a girl. However, as there was no way of knowing all things under Heaven, any number of surprising existences could appear before you, even what looked like a 13-14-year-old girl that had enough strength to wipe out a small army...For a few seconds, Fenrir remained silent, thinking about the man's words before nodding her head and saying, "Queen. Fenrir." The first word had been directed towards the Branch Master while Fenrir had turned her eyes to the Receptionist for the second. Hearing this, the Receptionist filled out the area for Fenrir's name on a golden Guild Card while the Branch Master laughed in a lighthearted manner. Since he could tell that the girl, Fenrir, wasn't very sociable, he decided it would probably be better if he leaves her be for now.It was more important to research her background right now anyway, especially since he had already known about the event involving the Flame Jade Sect's Fourth Young Master. Ice Elemental Qi wasn't that rare for female Cultivators, but being able to create a pillar of ice that not even the Elders of some Sects could melt was 'exceptionally' rare. He assumed this girl before him previous belonged to a Sect that cultivated Ice and Yin Elemental arts, especially considering the aura following her body...After confirming that all the paperwork was complete, and that the new 'Queen' had her Guild Card, the Branch Master smiled, saying, "By the way, Queen Fenrir, my name is Liang ZhenKang. If anyone in the city gives you trouble, make sure they know you are a member of the Mercenaries Guild. Other than the Inner Disciples of the Heavenly Moon Sect, most of the other Sects should give our branch face. If not, well, I'm sure you can handle yourself..." Having seen the murderous glint in the young girl's eyes, the Branch Master pitied the idiots that tried to pick a fight with her. She might have registered as a King but he, at the 4th Stage of Core Formation, couldn't even see through her cultivation realm...it was starting to look like a storm had come to the Heavenly Moon City...or perhaps a Blizzard?(Fenrir's Commentary: 'Queen...I wonder if Master would be proud of me...?')

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...')

Chapter 40: Info