"I'll join,"

"Heh?"

"S-sorry?" Cila was momentarily taken aback, a mix of confusion and surprise evident on her face.

"I said I'll join your guild," Aron smiled, reaffirming his decision.

Cila felt a surge of happiness upon hearing his words, and her lips moved against her will. "But why? You could have more if you joined the adventurers."

'...Fool, what am I saying? We haven't had a new member in a whole month, and here I am suggesting our rivals... Damn it... P-please don't go away...'

Leaning against the wooden counter, Aron stared into Cila's emerald eyes.

"I don't like chains, and I don't enjoy working with people who see others as mere tools." The mere thought of signing a restrictive contract and limiting his movements made his heart reject the idea. After all, he's going to slaughter a few bad people who are responsible for Raum's capture.

Cila's eyes widened slightly, and a small smile appeared on her face as she bowed her head in response.

"I see. Then allow me to welcome you to the Mercenary Guild." She reached under the counter and retrieved a small bronze card, which she explained further.

"Our ranking system is quite simple. It starts with bronze, followed by Iron, Silver, Gold, and finally Mithril. Depending on the number and rank of quests completed, as well as your performance, you can rank up."

Aron nodded approvingly. "An easy and fair system."

Cila nodded, offering further explanation. "Because our guild resources are limited, we save most of them for high-tier members. That's why we encourage new members to rank up. New members must complete three quests, two of their choice, and the last one given by the guild as a test to rank up to the Iron tier and assess their performance and personality."

"This is your card; you start in bronze. You have two months to finish two quests of your choosing. After that, the guild will assign you a final quest. The card fee is five silver coins, but if you don't have the coins, you can sell your cores, and I'll cut the fee."

"Sure," Aron replied, handing her his bag. "Inside, you'll find 10 goblin cores and 3 gray wolf cores."

During his journey to the town, Aron encountered three goblins. With a single swing of his black greataxe, he cleaved them all in half. He also ambushed two wolves he found by the riverside. One died instantly with a single blow, and the other put up a slippery fight. But Aron found out that he could control the greataxe far better than the greatsword. Expertly utilizing the greataxe, he delivered a precise strike that cleaved the other wolf in two. Aron was pleased to have acquired two formidable weapons.

Cila took the bag and disappeared into a room behind her. Aron watched her until she was out of sight, noticing a few hateful eyes watching him from the back, mostly men, and looks of desire from the women. Honestly, he paid no mind to it, focusing instead on what's important: HUNGER.

'I'm so damn hungry. Lady, please give me my money quickly... No, Aron, you must make a good impression. These people will be potential trading partners, and more coins mean more food. But I'm HUNGRY…'

Aron continued his internal monologue, speaking rapidly to himself. If anyone overheard him, they would surely think he was crazy.

After a short while, Cila returned with a small bag of coins and a bronze card bearing Aron's name.

"Ten basic goblin cores, two silver coins each, and three basic gray wolf cores, ten coins each. Taking five silver coins as a fee; inside the bag, you'll find 45 silver coins," she informed him, handing over the bag and the bronze card.

"This is your bronze mercenary card. Just put a few drops of blood on it, and it will be permanently linked to you," Cila explained.

Aron removed the gauntlet from his left hand, bit his finger, and let a few drops of blood fall onto the bronze card. The card absorbed the blood, and his name on it lit up in a red color.

Cila explained more about the card: "The card will track your progress, and you can also use it to access many of the guild buildings and call for service, depending on your rank, of course."

"Good." Aron smiled satisfactorily, then turned his gaze to Cila, causing her to shiver slightly. "Cila, do you know any other ways to make money? I need the cores for something else. I only sold them because I had no other choice."

Cila raised an eyebrow. "Oh! In that case, you can sell the monster corpses you hunt. Take the gray wolf, for example. Its pelt can be used to make clothes or add to armors; its organs are valuable in alchemy; and even its meat is sought after for tamed beasts."

Aron's eyes widened in amazement at the efficiency with which every part of the monster was utilized.

"Thank you, Cila. You've been very helpful," he expressed his gratitude. She had answered all his questions in the best way possible and with a smile on her face. After all, she was truly a professional employee.

Cila bowed slightly, showing her respect to the man who had treated her with dignity. He didn't show any inappropriate behavior and always looked her in the eyes.

He didn't even stare at her figure, despite the fact that Cila was a very attractive woman, with her beautiful emerald eyes, long red hair, and milky-like skin that added to her charm, as well as her perfectly round breasts that matched her curvy figure.

This was the opposite of what most men showed her. She was used to men ogling at her, gazing at her with lust and desire. But this was the first time that a man looked at her in the eyes and with respect, and that touched something inside Cila. She felt happy and joyful, and she found herself appreciating Aron's noble and gentle behavior.

The moment she raised her head, she was stunned for a second. Aron was inches away from her face.

'...C-Close! Close!... Oh my god, he's so close... Where is your noble behavior!?... Close...'

Her mind was in chaos, her cold and professional face threatened to break, and her cheeks flushed slightly, yet she managed to hold herself.

Cila gazed into Aron's intense black eyes, feeling an inexplicable attraction to their depths. Those eyes were assessing and scanning her, and it almost felt like he could see past her skin into her soul.

Suddenly, Cila saw his black eyes flash a crimson glow, just for a split second before returning to normal.

'Am I imagining things now?' She wondered as she focused more on his eyes.

Not until Aron spoke did she snap out of her state, returning to reality.

"Hmm!... You're a strange one, Cila. For some reason, I sense that your inside doesn't match your outside."

"...Strange, indeed," he remarked.

"!!!" Cila was shocked by his words. Honestly, she didn't know what he meant by that, but his words shocked her to the core, sending a cold shiver down her spine.

Aron smiled warmly at her and spoke in a calm and gentle voice. "I hope that next time we meet, I'll see the real 'you.' Okay?" With that, he turned and began walking away, leaving Cila in a state of shock.

But before Aron could leave completely, he paused and turned back to Cila. "Oh! I almost forgot. Do you know a place that serves good food?"

Cila kept staring at him for a few seconds, then she did something that captivated everyone in the hall.

She smiled.

Not a fake smile that she gives to a high noble or a professional smile that she is forced to show to the guild members.

A genuine, heartfelt smile with her small pink lips. In that moment, she exuded a beauty that left everyone stunned. Envy filled the hearts of some women, wishing they possessed that kind of charm, while men yearned for that smile to be directed at them and not to a stranger. Soon, the atmosphere grew tense as men in the hall harbored ill intentions towards Aron.

With her beautiful smile intact, Cila responded in a gentle, warm tone, different from before.

"There's an inn called the 'The Drunken Chef.' They say that the food there is so good that you'll get drunk from eating so much."

Aron's smile widened. "Wow! That sounds good. And by the way, thank you for everything." He turned and waved before departing, leaving Cila beaming with her beautiful smile as she gazed at Aron's back.

Jealousy filled the hearts of the men in the hall who viewed Cila as a potential partner because that smile wasn't meant for them.

One man, in particular, with messy brown hair and brown eyes, wore full leather armor with a few attached metal pieces. He sat with his two friends at a small wooden table, his gaze shifting between Cila and Aron. This man was obsessed with Cila. He had once confessed his feelings before, only to be rejected.

Since then, he has resorted to harassing and intimidating any man who shows interest in her, or at least any man he believes he can beat. Now, this man has made the worst decision of his life.

He blocked Aron's path with his legs.

Cila saw his action, her smile instantly vanished, replaced by a look of disgust.

'...That man again, can't he understand that no matter what he does, I won't accept him,'

Her gaze shifted to Aron with worried eyes. She didn't want him to get hurt. After all, he was the first man to treat her with respect.

Aron, on the other hand, kept walking forward without caring at all. Just as he was about to reach the man's legs, Aron raised his foot and, with great force, crushed the man's legs, breaking every bone.

"AHHHHHHH!!" The man's scream echoed throughout the hall, capturing everyone's attention.

No one reacted. They just stood there, shocked. The room fell into silence, the only sound lingering being the man's cries. But Aron interrupted it. Swiftly covering the man's mouth with his left hand, his fingers digging deep into his cheek, he lifted the man off the ground until his feet dangled helplessly.

"Hmmmm!... mmmm!!"

A dark and heavy aura emanated from Aron, engulfing the hall in an overwhelming sense of dread. Almost instinctively, everyone reached for their weapons out of fear. Those in close proximity to Aron found themselves frozen, unable to move a muscle.

The man's two companions attempted to draw their weapons, only to be met with heavy pressure landing on their shoulders.

"Kaaaahhh!!"

The flaming crimson eyes were watching them, and the death bird was ready to jump on them with its claws. Deep inside, they knew that one move meant instant death.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!'

Aron's gaze shifted to the man in his hand, his grip tightening around his jaw, threatening to break it. With his right hand close to the man's chest, shaping his fingers like claws, the dark-red mana started to gather on his fingertips. Aron was about to pull out the man's heart. But…

"Stop!" A commanding voice interrupted the tense atmosphere.

Someone had grabbed Aron's hand just as he was about to strike. Aron turned his face to see who grabbed his arm. In just a fraction of a second, someone appeared next to him without him sensing it.

He was a tall man, taller than Aron, with a large and muscular figure, gray hair, and a short beard. He concealed the upper half of his face behind a black mask, leaving only a scar visible stretching from his left ear to his lips.

"!!!" Aron directed his killing intent and pressure towards the masked man. He didn't seem to be unaffected by it much.

"What he did was foolish, but aren't you overreacting a bit? Are you going to kill him just because he obstructed your path?" The masked man questioned, and everyone nodded silently in their minds.

Only one person in the hall remained untouched by Aron's intimidating presence. Cila was unaware because Aron held his killing intent from affecting her as a gratitude for helping him, but she was smart enough to know just by looking at people's faces around her.

'That's it, thank you, thank you… punish him more, MORE!... You have no idea how much trouble he caused me.' Cila is probably the only person who supports Aron's actions, apart from Raum.

Aron remained silent, locking eyes with the masked man. But then he sensed that the man in his grip stopped struggling. He shifted his eyes toward him and found out that he lost consciousness. He couldn't stand Aron's dark and heavy aura, and also… Well, his pants were wet.

'Disgusting worm!' Aron's face turned ugly. He didn't want to hold a disgusting creature like this one, and since he blacked out, Aron lost interest in him.

He released his grip, allowing the broken man to collapse onto the ground. Aron shifted his gaze to the masked man.

"!!!" Shivers rushed down the masked man's spine when he saw those crimson eyes. He quickly released Aron's arm and took a step back, out of Aron's way, allowing him to walk toward the exit.

Everyone moved out of the way of the pale man with black hair. The raven hopped on his shoulder as he walked out of the hall.

"Phew!!.." Everyone sighed in relief the moment he walked out. The masked man turned to Cila, seeking answers.

"Cila! Who is he, and what is his purpose here?"

Cila smiled, her voice filled with amusement. "He's our new member."

Then she gazed coldly at the broken man who had caused her so much trouble.

"Fuck!!!" The weak mercenaries, most affected by Aron's presence, cursed inwardly, imagining similar scenes repeating themselves every time he visited.

"Interesting!" The masked man displayed a smile that showed all of his teeth before vanishing into thin air, like smoke.