I was finally in Sephoria City.
It had been more than a month since I started heading toward Sephoria, and I was finally here.
The road was no longer dirt, but a paved stone one. The houses were well-built and taller, people could be seen everywhere, many of them wore weapons, others were simply mundane individuals.
Everyone was wearing either a pienfu or a hanfu. No poor person was accepted in cities — they existed only in some small villages. Here, everyone had a decent amount of money.
In fact, if someone became too poor by losing too much wealth, they were banned from the city unless they managed to regain it.
Sirius continued to walk along the stone-paved road, looking with amazement at all the houses and shops. A bow and crossbow shop stood nearby, and a jewelry store was just a few steps ahead. To his left, he could see a giant flower shop, surrounded by an axe and hammer shop.
Aurelius and Marn had told him that Sephoria City covered an area of 300 km². It was truly impossible to walk slowly through the city. One either had to run — if they were a martial artist — or take a caravan.
In fact, ever since he first laid eyes on the city, he had seen people jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It was allowed by the imperial city, as long as no one damaged another's property.
The mercenary guild wasn't that far away, about twenty kilometers from his current location. Sirius, as someone at the mid stage of the Self Vision realm, was able to run at thirty-five kilometers per hour without exhaustion. Since it wasn't that far, he would run a little faster — surely a short run wouldn't tire him out, right?
So Sirius jumped onto the nearest roof and began running at forty-five kilometers per hour toward the mercenary guild, leaping whenever needed. The roof tiles were solid enough to resist his steps, so Sirius didn't need to hold back at all.
He was still only in the Self Vision realm, after all. He was still human.
On his way to the mercenary guild, Sirius did nothing but look around. The sights of a city were vastly different from those of a village — and far better.
Sirius hadn't spoken to many people in his life, yet it seemed he liked it. He also enjoyed seeing others happy. Sephoria City seemed like the perfect place for that.
Around thirty minutes later, Sirius finally arrived at what appeared to be the mercenary guild.
The mercenary guild was an immense palace. Stunning, long purple dragons were sculpted into the building, rising toward the sky.
The door was massive — the entire structure was probably around fifty meters tall. Other than the dragons, it wasn't particularly decorated with rare ores or gems, yet it was still beautiful.
Many people were chatting outside the palace, and even more inside. They all carried weapons — many different types.
I jumped down from the roof to the ground. My long hair swayed slightly before returning to place. I had arrived at the mercenary guild.
Many gazes turned toward me — probably because of my hair — but when they saw the officer's crest, they looked away. They weren't scared like they would be if I had shown the Virelys family crest, but the officer's crest held enough authority that people preferred not to cause trouble.
I passed through the palace doors and approached the counter.
As I arrived, a young man with blond hair greeted me warmly.
"What can I do for you, officer?"
Sirius shook his head.
"You misunderstood. I'm not an officer, just a mundane martial artist. The grand officer gave me this crest so others wouldn't bother me because of my hair."
The young man's eyes widened.
"The grand officer personally gave you an officer's crest just to prevent others from annoying you?"
Sirius nodded.
The young man continued.
"So you're here to become a mercenary? Could you give me your name, age, martial art realm and stage, please?"
"My name is Sirius Altharys. I'm fifteen, and I'm at the mid stage of the Self Vision realm."
"Y-You're at the mid stage at fifteen? That's monstrous. To confirm what you've said, you'll have to come with me — we need to test your martial skill."
Sirius followed the young man into a room where several mannequins and an old man were waiting.
"Young man, you'll have to strike the mannequins using your strongest technique and your full energy. The first mannequin is for novices, the second for the early stage of Self Vision, and so on."
The old man continued.
"We'll judge your strength by your actual power, not just your stage."
Sirius nodded and stepped up to the first mannequin.
He slowly swung his saber, without any technique. The mannequin was sliced cleanly in two.
Then he stepped up to the second mannequin and, again without technique, cut its head off without resistance.
That confirmed it — Sirius had truly stepped into the Self Vision realm.
Both the young man and the old one looked attentively at him. Fifteen was really young. Even just cutting through the second mannequin was impressive at that age.
Yet the red-haired boy continued, walking toward the third mannequin — the one for the mid stage.
Cycle-Ending Bloom, first movement: Falling Edge.
Sirius swung his saber downward with all his strength. The dummy was sliced in two. There was a slight resistance, but it still felt like cutting through butter.
Sirius then walked toward the fourth mannequin — the one for the late stage.
For this one, he had to go all out. It was a stage above his.
Cycle-Ending Bloom, eighth movement: Split Flow.
Sirius swung his saber horizontally with all his might and will — from right to left, then left to right.
And the dummy's head was also severed — without resistance.
Both the old man and the young man widened their eyes. Wasn't the boy at the mid stage? Why did he cut the late-stage dummy so easily?
"I'm stopping here."
"Why not try to cut the peak stage dummy?"
"Because I'll fail. I can feel it. It's useless to try."
"So, you're mid stage with late-stage power, is that right? We'll issue you a crest — your mercenary rank will be C. The crest will display your information: your current stage and your stage strength."
"Thank you."
"Ah, I almost forgot — you'll need to pay one silver piece to become a mercenary."
Sirius tossed a silver piece toward the young man and then headed toward the mission board.
The young man stayed behind, speaking quietly with the old man.
"Chief, did you see that officer's crest? The boy said the grand officer personally gave it to him because of his hair."
"The grand officer… Then that boy is either a noble or a respected guest of a noble. I'll look more closely into his identity later."