Mercenary, a short way of calling people who use their power to earn money. It was a common word in Ardin; a world where commoners are treated unfairly by the nobles. Commoners were depraved of knighthood and forever stuck as a foot soldier unless they have connections, so becoming a mercenary has been an obvious choice for them.

In 572, in the kingdom of Lunica, a man named Seth Reilden started the mercenary guild with the intention of gathering all mercenaries into one group. The guild's motto was to give the mercenaries an easier way to get missions and share information. With Seth's charisma, he gathered people and showed that it was easier to move with the help of the guild.

As time passed, it became clear that there were too many casualties. To lessen the deaths, the ranking system was created. Those with strength will get higher ranks, leaving the weak ones at the lower ranks. A mercenary can only get a mission based on his/her rank, making sure that the mission is within his/her capabilities.

The mercenary guild grew bigger. It continued to, even after Seth's death. Soon, it branched out to different kingdoms. There were some problems regarding the loyalty of the guild to where it started, but the guild made it clear they were only loyal to those who pay for their services.

Centuries have passed since its creation. The kingdom of Lunica is long gone, but the mercenary guild remains strong and is now a common thing for all kingdoms. I'm also a mercenary, since it's easier to earn money by using my strength.

My name is Alex Mortia, the disciple of the former spear emperor. By master's wish, we had a death match, which I won, making me the new spear emperor and wielder of the spear regalia Longinus. Since then I lived for myself, and I joined the mercenary guild to earn money to live in luxury.

There are ten mercenary ranks, and it starts from the black class. The color gets lighter and lighter from there, making the white class the highest rank a mercenary could attain. I'm currently in that rank, and it took me three years to get there. Would have been a lot faster if I didn't have to go back and forth doing useless missions.

Now the problem is my current body. I could somehow prove my identity if I show Longinus and the emblem of the water regalia on the center my chest, but I better hide my identity until I'm strong enough to take missions as a white class. As of now my raw strength is down to 30%.

I could fight at 35% to 40% thanks to my experience, but that'll only put me at red class; that's four ranks below white. I should keep my condition to myself, especially the fact that I have the water regalia. I'll be dragged to different conflicts if people know I have an elemental regalia, and it would be bad if that happens while I'm weak.

Now I'm walking in the middle of a forest, heading to Valtair City, the place where I currently live at. I plan on getting my money and go to a faraway city where I could act freely without being found out.

I already prepared a letter to get my money without a problem. It says that my current body is my disciple, and the first task I gave her is to get my money. With the letter, none would stop me. If that's not enough, I'll use one of my techniques to prove I'm a disciple of Alex. One [Spiral Dance] should do the trick. Heh, who said I wasn't good at planning?

A thin layer of cold water is currently covering my body to keep myself cool. It's been a week since I've got this power so I at least know how to use it. I can't say I mastered it though. There are too many things I've yet to test, and I can't use it while fighting with the spear yet.

It's like a master who uses one sword decides to fight with two. Each sword has the same strength so normally one would think it would make him stronger. But in reality, it would be the opposite. If he tries fighting with a style he's not used to, no matter how good the weapons are, he won't be stronger. He would be able to pull off good moves thanks to his experience, but he would be much stronger if he sticks with one sword. Of course it all changes if he starts training with two.

For me, it would be better to focus on the water regalia. I prefer the spear, but the power to control all existing water and all its aspects without mana limitation is a lot better. Even if I start now, it'll take a long time to reach the level of strength I had before. On the other hand, if I put the same effort in using the water regalia, I'd probably be two or three times stronger than I was before; maybe even more.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

I lost most of my strength, but I got a powerful ability at a cheap price. Changing genders is far better than being paralyzed for the rest of my life. A curse that would permanently erase my memories would work well with me though...

Anyway, I can't say I'm ok with this yet. Now I can't play like I used to. I'm well aware that sexual relationships can form between girls, but being a man is much more pleasurable; I think.

...

"Young lady, what are you doing walking in the middle of a forest during night time?" Said a rugged looking man with unkempt clothes. He had a sword on his waist and two small knives on his back

I could also feel a few more hiding behind the trees, around ten. I knew they were following me, but I left them alone since I found it funny how they thought they were doing a good job hiding their presence.

"If you don't want to die, then strip-"

"So you finally decided to show yourself mr. bandit."

"What?"

"But I recommend turning around and looking for another victim." 

"Trying to bluff your way out? Not gonna happen young lady. But I do admire your courage. It'll be fun breaking you ahahaha!"

"I'll take that as a no then."

The ones hiding laughed maniacally in response. ""Hahahahaha!""

While they were busy laughing, I dashed to the man in front of me and took his sword without him realizing. While behind him, I observed his sword, and boy was it worthless. "I'm not really a swordsman, but I know this sword is trash. You should consider buying a new one."

He turned around while grabbing his knives, but I cut both of his arms. He fell and rolled on the floor while screaming in pain. "GAAA! MY ARMS!"

"Uwooo! It didn't break!? I guess it's worth something after all. One copper coin maybe?"

"Y- you bitch! Get her!" Said one of the man hiding behind the trees.

In a few moments, eleven men appeared, all running to me with weapons in their hands; I- I did say around ten, not exactly ten...

When I grabbed the man on the floor, he started screaming like a little girl. "NO! PLEASE! FORGIVE ME!"

"You think taking him hostage will stop us-"

"Hostage? Nah." I raised the man with one hand. "He's just a projectile." I threw the man to a group of bandits and ran to the opposite direction.

With the sword, I decapitated two men. The moment it broke, I took a sword from one of the corpses and dashed to the others.

It only took a few minutes to kill every bandit except one: the one without hands. I also broke four swords in the process.

"M- monster!"

"It took you that long to realize? To think you were this stupid. No wonder you became a bandit..."

He glared at me despite knowing the difference in our strength. "Don't talk like you know everything about me!"

"Hmhmhm" I laughed with my mouth closed. "What's so different about you and the other bandits? Would you mind telling me?"

"I didn't become one because I wanted to! I had to earn money for my family!"

"Uwaaa! You make it sound like you have a noble cause. And here you are, trying to assault a lone girl walking in the forest. Was ravaging my body a part of helping your family?"

"..."

"Well, I'm waiting."

"Yes, I'm at fault, but please don't kill me! If I die then my family would-"

"Nope" I decapitated him with a random sword. "I already gave you the chance earlier."

I dropped the sword on the ground and walked away. "That took a load off my chest. Now I feel better."

Unlike him, I don't sugar coat my words. I killed them because they didn't heed my warning, not for a grand cause like ridding the world of criminals. I could've avoided them, but I guess I wanted to use them as stress relievers.

I'm well aware that I'm not a good person. Well, at least I gave them a warning right?

"Now then, I wonder what I should eat tomorrow.”