Following the map from the Visitor Information Centre, the couple soon arrived at the Mercenary Union building. This was a grand structure with a sharp and bold design with over twenty stories.

Shen led Xue’er through the wide automatic doors. The hall on the ground floor was occupied by computer terminals similar to the ones from the Visitor Information Centre. There was a dozen of them lined up on either side of the doors.

Some people were operating on the terminals as they looked around. There was a woman who seemed to be a worker of the Union who greeted the two.

“Hello there, are you new here?” She judged this since Shen and Xue’er were looking curiously at everything.

“Ah yes, we like to sign up to be mercenaries.”

“Of course, this way please.” The woman smiled and led them to an empty terminal.

“Most functions of the Mercenary Union can be operated though these terminals. There are also workers in case you require further assistance. Please let me know if you need any help in setting up your profiles.”

Shen and Xue’er thanked the woman and started operating the terminal. They were greeted with options to sign up or sign in as a mercenary.

The information requested from the Mercenary Union was not much with only a name and race being the compulsory information. Details such as fighting style as well as whether the person could use mana or spiritual power were optional.

Shen and Xue’er quickly set up their profiles. The terminal required them to submit security measures such as hand prints, iris scan as well as DNA samples. All three pieces of information was required at each login to ensure that no one could fake identities.

After logging in, Shen selected to display available missions.

“Big Brother Shen, we should take that escort mission, that way we get to see what it’s like outside the cities.”

“Ok, that’s a good idea. Let’s do as Xue’er says.”

Soon, the details for the mission came up. This was a mission with a quota for the number of mercenaries that could sign up. There were still a few vacancies. Therefore, Shen and Xue’er signed up for two of the spots.

It seemed that the convoy that they would be guarding was going to a nearby livestock farm and would leave the city in two days. Shen noted down the meeting time and place and left the Mercenary Union building with Xue’er.

“Xue’er, we have some time to spare. What do you want to do?”

“Big Brother Shen, should we go look at the market place? We might need some weapons that use mana. We can’t rely on spirit stones forever.”

There were quite a few weapons developed for people who were not able to use mana. Most of the weapons used mana as the source of energy. Although, Shen had no trouble manipulating mana, Xue’er would need protection as well as weapons.

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The good thing was, Shen and Xue’er had a powerful physique compared to the natives since they had been tempered by spiritual power.

“Xue’er, let’s go back to the market place. We should be able to afford at least one weapon with these mana crystals.”

 There was actually a trading post established by the Mercenary Union next to the Union building. However, they currently had no commodities that could be used other than spirit stones.

Shen decided that they would look around for a suitable weapon for Xue’er since spirit stones could come in handy for Xue’er in emergencies.

There was a section of the market place that specifically sold weapons, as told by the Earth Immortal they met earlier.

“Xue’er, what kind of weapon do you want? They have these guns that discharge mana bolts. It’s a good ranged weapon.”

There went to a store that was recommended by the Visitor Information Centre’s guide for newcomers to the planet.

A wide variety of weapons were displayed through the terminals with their corresponding price and firepower shown.

The currency of the planet was mainly in two common units. The local product of mana crystals that were required as an energy source as well as Alliance Credits which was a universal currency used in the human sectors of the universe.

Xue’er flicked through the different guns available on the terminal. Most of the designs were small and lightweight styles with varying amount of firepower.

“Big Brother Shen, do you think we can afford this one?”

Xue’er pointed at a particular gun that was a larger model than the majority.

Shen also looked through the specs of the gun.

“Oh, it’s powerful but cheap!”

Xue’er asked one of the shop’s workers for a sample of the gun. The gun was a large handgun with an extended barrel and a scope on top. It was heavy compared to other handguns but it had a much more powerful energy rating.

Soon, a worker came out carrying the gun.

“Can I ask why it’s so cheap even though it’s quite powerful?” Shen asked out his doubt while Xue’er was inspecting the gun.

“Oh, this is an old design made by a gun fanatic. It’s too heavy to use for most people and it needs special bullets. Most other weapons just require mana crystals you see. This gun needs ammunition which needs to be charged with mana beforehand. It’s not convenient at all.”

“Oh, do you sell those special bullets here?”

“Of course, you get two free bullets with the gun. But seeing that this is an old model that’s not very popular, I’ll throw in another two sets for free. They won’t be charged with mana though.”

“Xue’er, what do you think?”

“I’m ok with it Big Brother Shen, it’s not heavy.”

The worker looked at the large gun and the delicate looking girl with a slight astonishment. Normal non-mana users would never choose this gun as they had no way to recharge the bullets by themselves and it was too heavy to use in the jungles.

Shen took out the mana crystals.

“Ok, are these enough?”

The worker brought them to the counter and placed the mana crystals on a scale. The display attached spat out a number. The worker took back some of the mana crystals and handed them back to Shen.

It seemed that mana crystals were traded using the amount of energy contained in them.

“Ok, wait a bit, I’ll get the bullets.”

The worker put away the mana crystals from the scale and headed into the room behind the counter.

Soon, Shen and Xue’er walked out from the shop. Shen held a bullet in his hand.

“Let’s see how much mana it can store. According to the worker, a fully charged bullet can be used to fire 20 shots.”

Shen drew in the surrounding mana and guided it into the bullet. After one minute, Shen felt that bullet was saturated with mana and further filling it would cause the bullet to explode.

“Big Brother Shen, the worker said it should take around 10 minutes to fill for an average mana user.”

“Oh? I was going slow too.”

“Big Brother Shen, what should we do before the escort mission starts?”

“Hmm, well we don’t have a lot of mana crystals and no Alliance Credits. Let’s go to the bank to turn these mana crystals to Credits. It’s more convenient to use.”