Aegon approached the desk where a young disciple, probably only 17 years of age, was waiting patiently.

[A disciple that doesn't look much older than me can work here? I didn't see any mission of that kind.]

When Aegon stopped in front of the desk the disciple spoke in an unhurried and friendly tone, always keeping a slight amicable smile.

“Welcome to the Mission Hall. How can I help you?”

[This guy knows his stuff, he must receive a commission of some kind for outperforming his colleagues.]

Looking around he noticed that even though he chose his mission close to the entrance he now had his back turned to the staircase.

There were 3 other people registering missions in the Mission Hall and yet when he was walking here he didn't even notice the others.

A slight frown formed on his face, and he turned back towards the young disciple who wasn't smiling anymore.

“I don't like getting played.” Aegon said in a clearly angered whisper. Yet, only a few seconds later, his annoyed expression turned into a cheeky smile.

“I really didn't enjoy what you did to me but I'm still willing to register my mission with you if you show me how you did it.”

A few seconds of silence passed while the disciple pondered about the offer. He soon broke the silence.

“Sure, my name is Percy by the way.”

“Mine is Aegon, Aegon Silver.”

Both nodded in mutual acknowledgement.

With the introductions done, Aegon reclined against the round desk like someone in a pub would and waited patiently for the show.

Percy looked around the room and soon noticed a young female disciple walking towards one of his colleagues, his eyes turned bright blue and the girl who was previously walking straight to another desk took a detour around it and stopped behind Aegon, waiting for her turn.

Her eyes were not empty, she didn't seem brainwashed. It all looked like it was voluntary.

[Well , I should have expected it wouldn’t be something easy to replicate but I have no idea what’s up with those eyes. Maybe a technique? No point in asking him, he won't answer anyway, at least I learned something interesting.]

Turning back towards Percy, they shared a look of evaluation.

[Now that I think about it...this guy has some cool tricks, he seems worth knowing.]

[He isn't a total idiot after all. It wasn't like I was going to tell him my secrets but he seems to respect and know what can and cannot be asked.]

In the spur of the moment, Aegon banged his mission on the table.”I'm going on this mercenary mission with a friend. We still need a few more people, want to join?”

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Percy finally laid his eyes on the mission Aegon chose.

-Help defend the village of Miriande from bears.-

Lately, the village of Miriande is being overrun by bears that kill as many people as they can and steal the food that the farmers have in store.

Miriande is in a region that's not too cold during the winter and not too hot during the summer so their food stocks stay at a decent quantity all year round however, with all the casualties and lost food they could go hungry if a harsher winter or a drier summer was to come.

It’s assumed that the bears are feeding their alpha, preparing him for an evolution.

Requirements:

7 disciples to help defend the village and kill all the attacking bears.

Rewards:

200 contribution points for each disciple.

Bonus:

200 contribution points if the alleged alpha is killed. (Only to the killer.)

“You said you have a friend that’s already going right?”

“Well, he doesn't know it yet but he will come.”

Percy pondered for a moment. “‘I'll go if I get to choose the last four people of our team.”

[I don't really have anyone in mind so might as well let him bring his friends.]

“Sure, you can bring your friends.”

“Ok, I'll register the mission now and drop by your house later to discuss when we leave and stuff.”

“Got it.”

Aegon left the Mission Hall soon after and walked to his room where Roy was probably waiting for him.

[I took a bit longer than planned.]

...

Outside of Aegon’s house, a clearly bored and slightly annoyed Roy leaned on the door.

“Hey, I kind of lost track of time but, on the upside, I have some good news.”

“Hmph.” Roy snorted but still waited for Aegon to continue.

“I just passed by the Mission Hall and found a good mercenary mission, the reward is 200 contribution points for each person plus a bonus of another 200 if we kill the final boss.”

Roy was caught off guard by Aegon's so-called “good news”.

“And you assumed I would go too because...” Roy raised an eyebrow, being thrown into something without his knowledge wasn't his cup of tea.

[Since when did I give him enough trust for him to think this was ok?]

The shameless person in question already expected this question.

“Well you’re a loner and I’m a loner, since this mission requires a team of 7 we can meet new people that might be useful acquaintances to have…”

Roy thought that Aegon did have a point but it still hurt being called a loner...

[I'm not really a loner, we’ve only been here for a few days. I just haven't had a good chance to talk to people yet…. Yes, that's the reason!]

“I also checked the whole Mission Hall and this mission seemed one of the best when it came to the time/reward ratio.”

Roy couldn't really confirm if his words were true or not as he never went to the Mission Hall but he couldn't find any reason why Aegon would lie about something like that so he nodded in agreement.

“Ok, it doesn’t sound like a bad idea but you said it was a mission for 7, who else is coming?”

“I actually only know one other person and he is coming later to sort out the details with us, the other four are his friends.”

Roy only nodded in acknowledgement, not really bothering too much with this matter anymore.

Aegon, already knowing this new “friend” of his, rapidly changed the subject to avoid his trademark long silences.

“So, should we start then?” As he was talking he removed the swords from his back and carefully placed them inside his house. When Aegon returned he had another set of wooden twin swords. It turned out that when the battle class was close to finishing Miss Julia told them that in their rooms they would find wooden weapons for training..

With his sparring swords in hand, Aegon assumed a horse riding stance and silently waited for his opponent.

Roy also drew his longsword from his back and assumed the Ox sword stance.

Both youths just walked in circles looking for an opening for a few seconds until both exploded forth with descending blows.