"You're going to be Mercenaries?" Their classmates started asking the four of them in the middle of the break time.

"Yeah once we turn Twelve all four of us are going to do part-time work as Mercenaries," Miriam said explaining the agreement made all those years ago.

The agreement was simple: Once all four of them; Mark, Miriam, Gaige and Gray, have all turned twelve years old and have completed Stage One Mandatory Education. In this case to study for six years. All four of them are allowed to become mercenaries as a sort of part-time job but only for an entire month as they are required to enter Stage Two of Mandatory Education, which is to study for three more years.

All they have to do is to wait for Mark and Miriam to turn twelve and they're good to go since Gray had just turned twelve years old a short while ago while Gaige turned twelve this month. The entire mercenary job is more of a summer part-time job, not that I'm against it. Mark thought to himself as he was busy reading his notes.

"It's a shame such a woman of high standing is forced to such lows how tragic," Liam said as he was glancing at Mark, but Mark ignored him, mostly cause acknowledging his presence itself is a tiring experience.

"And to think such a woman is also the heir to the House of Archiman." Liam continued while still glancing at Mark, who continued to ignore him. Liam then proceeds to slam his palms against the table trying to get Mark's attention.

"What do you want Cole?" Mark asked not bothering to look up. "At least pay attention when I'm talking to you!" Liam said causing others to look at him with curiosity.

"Haven't you noticed it yet? Nobody cares." Mark pointed out. "Some people even think it's cool."

"But I'm worried for her," Liam said in a dramatic tone.

And I don't care. Mark thought with a sigh as he continued to rant on how Mercenaries are immoral thugs whose loyalty is won over how deep one's pockets all the while praising the Scout Rangers and how they fight for the people. While true, that isn't the case for all mercenaries as they're also just as noble as the Scout Rangers, not to mention Scout Rangers could be as corrupt and immoral as Mercenaries too.

"If you care for Gray as much as I do then why don't you come along? Go and protect Gray yourself instead of crushing her dreams like that." Mark said slightly bluffing him to see if he'll make a move.

"Like hell, I would," Liam said with a rather smug look on his face. "Why else do you think I'm talking to you, I want you to be her bodyguard and protect her for me."

"I mean even without you saying that I'm still going to protect her," Mark commented in a low voice as Liam clicked his tongue and walked away as he overheard Miriam and Gray continued to talk about how excited they were. Eventually, Liam was then replaced with Gaige who was glaring at Liam as he walked away.

"What's his deal?" Gaige asked Mark as he was leaning on his table.

"He was just ranting about how 'unsightly' the four of us becoming Mercenaries are," Mark said while imitating his voice on how Liam pronounced which earned a chuckle from Gaige.

Gray watched from afar as she watched Mark and Gaige enjoying a laugh, she let out a sigh of disbelief. Mark is more than capable of becoming the most popular student in the class and yet he chose to keep his head low. The only reason he isn't part of the bullied clique is the fact that he's friends with her and the fact that he's Miriam's twin. But other than that people don't seem to leave him be instead.

"Why don't you just ask him out already?" Clara, her classmate, asked her as she buried her hands in her coat pockets, Gray's face went bright red as she avoided her gaze but still kept her composure.

"It's not that simple, besides I don't think Mark seems to be into romance," Gray said calmly walking away as she made her way into the hallway with a yawn.

"But making that is not?" Clara said nodding at the bandages on her hands which she immediately hid behind her. She had been working on a side project ever since she had learned of their agreement she has managed to work on this as her way of showing her feelings for him.

"I mean I doubt he'll think of it like that anyways," Gray answered while still hoping to be proven wrong. Well only time will tell, it's not like I'm in any rush, Gray thought to herself but she does need to consider that since she is the heir to her family name first and foremost.

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[The Second Advent]

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"Happy birthday to you!"

Mark and Miriam smiled as they both wore birthday hats they look at a pair of cakes before them where one was Chocolate, Miriam's favourite flavour, and the other one was Strawberry, which was Mark's personal favourite. The day had come for both of them to turn twelve years old, and it was the night before their summer vacation had truly begun as a result nearly all of their class, even Liam, are present for the party.

"Now blow the candle!" Mary smiled proudly as she watched them both simultaneously blow the fire out of the candle all the while she and their father started taking photos of them through their Holo-Phones, all the while Joshua was holding his now two-year-old daughter named Mirabelle while Owen was busy handling his four-year-old named Gavriel.

"Happy birthday little brother!" Miriam greeted Mark as she wrapped her arm around him. "Hold up I'm the older one since I came out first." Mark bantered back as he removed the arm around her as she gave him a cheeky grin on her face.

"Enough of that chatter let's have some cake!" Gray said already holding a small plate and some eating utensils earning a chuckle from the other people present. And so everyone present started eating the cakes that were bought for this special occasion.

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As Mark was eating his fair share of the cake, Sandra walked up to him with a happy smile on her face to which Mark smiled back at her. He knew that it was time for them to discuss their little adventure towards the unknown.

"I'm not here to talk about the agreement, I'm here to greet you a happy birthday." She said with a chuckle as Mark's shoulder's slightly slumped. Perhaps there was a time and place for everything after all.

"Besides, I and the others have already decided where to go," Sandra added with a bite of her cake.

"Can I ask where?" Mark asked innocently hoping he can get her to reveal their little itinerary for their trip.

"That's a surprise," Sandra winked at him. "Think of it as a post-birthday surprise for you four."

According to their parents, him, Miriam, Gray and Gaige and their respective mentors have all agreed to travel separately to not only learn to not be independent but to also learn and adapt in various situations. This made more sense after all four of them have been joined by the hip since they first met in Caga so it made sense that the adults would try and separate them so they can learn to be a bit more independent.

Mark himself agreed that they each need to learn to be more independent.

First was Gray, she needs to be independent so she doesn't need the aid of future advisors that could potentially have an ulterior motive, like himself. Second was Miriam, as a potential heir to the Settlement of Fenrir she is required to learn the basics of independence and leadership so she can be capable of leading Fenrir someday. Gaige being the son of an executive of Hashira Enterprises must learn basic leadership if he were to climb up the corporate ladder and become a suitable leader for the branch. As for Mark, well he can use this as a way to learn more about the world around him.

"I'll be looking forward to what you have in store for me then," Mark smiled excitedly as he was very much ready to test out his new greatsword.

"Mark?"

He turned to find Gray sitting next to him on the sofa with a slice of strawberry cake on her plate in one hand with a small box in the other.

"What's in the box?" Mark asked teasingly knowing full well it was meant for him. This was because Gray had just gifted her an ammo pouch so she can use it for her gun.

"Yeah yeah spare me the teasing here," She said with a grin while having the most adorable, in Mark's opinion cause of the pre-teen hormones, blush on her face as she handed him the box.

Sandra silently walked away while giving them both a knowing look indicating that she figured out what was about to go down all the while Mark set aside the cake and proceeded to open the box but to his surprise, it was a dark grey sweater that came with a hood that had a pair of dog ears stitched to the hood of it.

"This is pretty nice," Mark said as he decided to put on the hooded sweater which itself was amazingly warm and comfortable. "Did you make it yourself?"

"Yeah and it was pretty hard to work on so better be grateful," She said showing off her hands which were covered in band-aids while having the cheekiest grin on her face. "Do you, do you like it?"

"I love it." Mark smiled back at her which caused her ears to turn a bit red and turn away.

"Though it's a bit big on me I think I'll grow into it," Mark said noting that the sweater appeared to be several times bigger than his and he had to roll up the sleeves so he can use it.

"Made it big on purpose so that way even if you hit a growth spurt it'll still be wearable." Gray pointed out as she started eating her cake all the while trying to hide from his gaze. "Now I can't wait to use it once I enter the field," Mark commented as he kept the sweater on for the duration of the party.

One of the things to learn about this new world is that this world uses an old calendar system from a precursor civilization but the year begins after an event known as the Collision. Furthermore, to put things in perspective it had been twelve years since the Great Neogean-Vakarian War had ended therefore both lands are left in a state of uncertainty.

And so the date is June 21st PC176 within the Post-Collision Calendar. The day Mark and his fellow childhood friends would begin their journey. According to the four mentors, they were to part ways in four separate directions. Mark and Sandra, were to head north towards the cold regions. It was also discussed that they were the first ones to leave. And so a week after their birthday, which comically doubled as Mark's farewell party, their families gathered one last time so that they can see Mark off.

"Well I'm sure that you're eager to set out in this world but be sure to contact us with the phone okay?" Mary said while holding Mirabelle as she was on the verge of tears, Mirabelle on the hand was reaching out towards him with her arms extended.

"I promise I'll be sure to contact you, plus it's only for a few months we'll be fine," Mark said reassuringly towards his mother and younger sister. Upon cue, his Father and Miriam walked towards him sharing this look of pride they have.

"Make sure you got everything packed okay?" Joshua said running his hand through his hair causing Mark to chuckle as he was very much prepared for everything he could think of. "But you know, I'm kind of on the fence with the whole Mercenary and Scout Ranger business. I'd tell you all about it but—"

"You can always tell me when I return." Mark simply smiled at him, meanwhile, Miriam's prideful look was then replaced with a one smug.

"Try not to get in too much trouble while I'm not around, everyone knows you're prone to that," Miriam said pulling him into a hug. The two of them weren't much into the whole showing affection but when push comes to shove the two truly care for one another that is one of the things Mark had ins his years living with his family. He had grown to care for his sister so much that he has no problem getting into fights if they ever insult his sister's honour.

Miriam pulled away and then gave a teasing look at Gray who had this rather envious look on her face as she watched them hug. Miriam backed away and watched as Gray walked towards him with a rather sheepish look on her face.

"The Sweater came in good timing huh," Gray said as her eyes landed on the hooded sweater with dog ears that Mark was wearing. She had a torn look on her face, as though she was proud of him but at the same time, she was reluctant to see him go.

"I know right, I'll be able to enjoy this sweater when we head off." Mark smiled but he noticed the look she had on her face. "Come on don't be too sad we can still contact one another through our Holo-Phones."

"I know but—" Gray said as she started to sniff. "—I talked to my parents that I want to go with you which is why I—"

Mark didn't let her finish the sentence as he wrapped his arms around her. He didn't have any reason to do it, he just did it on impulse silently blaming it all on the teenage hormones that he felt for her.

"I promise you, I'll be careful alright," Mark said as he felt her silently sob into his shoulder. After all, it was the first time since they were born they are about to separate, so of course she'd have conflicting feelings about this.

But we're just friends, you don't have to be too worried. Mark wanted to say but he chose not to as he pulled away. He knew that she had feelings for him, romantic feelings, but Mark is convinced that this is all but puppy love and that she'll move on from him and find someone better.

"Well, it's time to go." They heard Sandra speak up causing Gray to pull away and wiped the tears off her face as Mark sighed. A part of him did want to bring Gray along but he chose not to press that matter, it had already been decided long ago that they were to do this on his own.

"Guess it's time to go," Mark said as he and Gray exchanged looks one last time and then turned to walk away to a road that leads to a truck for them to use. "We have a few stops first before we get to work to finalize your Mercenary License." She explained to him.

"I don't mind, if it lets me learn more about it," Mark said shooting a glance at his family and friends all waving at him as she drove off.

He felt a pang of sadness inside him as they become even more distant.