Riven walked beside Yue Lin, the sound of the city rising and falling around them like waves through leaves.
Both of them hadn't spoken since they left the shop.
And he didn't really mind.
They crossed a few wide-rooted bridges leading onto other trees, until they reached it:
Public Tree No. 1.
The trunk was thicker than most, occasional pink leaves fluttered overhead, caught in the breeze like petals shaken loose from an invisible spring.
The area bustled with activity.
More crowded than the shopping trees.
Some people moved with purpose — some in gleaming armor, others in dusty traveling clothes. Veterans checking notice boards. Rookies laughing too loudly. A few merchants loitering near the base, offering overpriced gear to anyone who looked unprepared.
The Mercenary Guild entrance was a little further down the tree, directly carved into the trunk — wide and solid, with a reinforced archway of dark wood. Engraved plaques lined the sides, listing rules in sharp golden script.
A row of delicate wind chimes hung just beneath the arch.
Despite the press of people, they gave off a quiet, calming note every time the wind stirred.
It felt strange — almost peaceful.
They stepped past the wind chimes and into the Mercenary Guild.
Inside, the noise dimmed — not entirely silent, but quieter than the city outside. The air was cooler too, filtered through natural vents in the trunk walls and faintly scented with incense.
The interior was spacious. Practical.
Wooden beams reinforced the walls, and a high ceiling curved above them like the ribs of a ship. There were a few sitting areas to the side, rows of mission boards posted along the far wall, and a wide central counter staffed by three people in grey robes — all wearing the guild's insignia on their shoulders: a sword crossed over a coin, just like the token Bosu had shown them.
A few groups were gathered nearby, either collecting payment or turning in completed commissions.
Yue Lin didn't hesitate. She moved toward the counter with a silent confidence, her robe barely whispering as she walked. Riven followed.
A bored-looking attendant — a man in his late thirties, sharp-jawed with tired eyes — looked up as they approached.
"New registrations?" he asked.
Is it that obvious?
Riven and Yue Lin both nodded.
"Names?"
"Riven."
"Yue Lin."
The man scribbled something on a thin stone plate that glowed faintly as he wrote.
"Halfmoon coin each," he said simply, not bothering to explain further.
Riven slid one from his pouch and handed it over. Yue Lin did the same.
That was it. No questioning, no testing, no nothing.
Almost too easy.
The attendant didn't seem to care. He handed them each a slim wooden badge, engraved with the guild's emblem and their names burned into the back with thin qi-etched lines. There was a zero next to the names too.
Riven didn't remember if it was there for Bosu too, but at the very least everything else looked the same.
"You're now registered as Timber Ranked Mercenaries." he said. "If you want to rank up, either complete enough missions to earn points or request to take a formal exam."
It's that easy?
What Riven didn't realize, was that no one without some strength or self confidence would pay a halfmoon coin for a low ranked mercenary identity.
So people who did register either had a decent level of strength or were gifting money to the guild.
No matter what it was, they didn't mind.
So obviously they wouldn't care too much about the initial applications.
The attendant nodded toward the boards on the far wall. "Mission requirements and rank limits are listed there."
Yue Lin glanced at Riven, then began walking toward the far wall.
The mission boards stretched across it in neat sections — three panels in total, each made of dark lacquered wood, with thin slats to slide in requests. Each panel was labeled with an emblem at the top.
The far left was marked with a simple wooden plate: Timber Rank.
Next came Bronze and then Silver.
Riven was sure there were more ranks than just these three, but he couldn't see any other panels for now.
The timber and bronze board were stacked, while the silver one was a little more empty.
Riven moved to the Timber section and started scanning the entries.
Most were simple. Bodyguard work in smaller towns, herb gathering, animal extermination, messenger duties, or escorting caravans for a few dozen miles.
Some even looked insultingly basic.
One asked for someone to chase away birds from an orchard using non-lethal methods.
Each of them were marked with points.
Mission such as the task to chase away birds had just one point, while other more difficult looking ones like escorting caravans or animal exterminations awarded more points.
Riven exhaled slowly through his nose. Yue Lin beside him made no comment, but her eyes were moving just as quickly as his, scanning through each line.
Nothing on the first board looked even remotely interesting or worth their time.
He moved down to the Bronze panel, just to look.
That's when he saw it.
"Request: Subdue and harvest venom from Gale Scorpions spotted near the Galecrag Hills.
Type: Monster Subjugation.
Location: Galecarg Hills; 60km east of Verdance.
Rank: Bronze and above.
Reward: 4 points/venom sack, 2 halfmoon coins/venom sack."
Gale Scorpions.
He'd heard of them.
They were wind-elemental beasts — lesser ferals, fast, agile, but rarely in large packs.
Most importantly...
With them being lesser ferals, they had a chance at producing beast cores.
And he really wanted more wind elemental beast cores to keep improving his bloodline.
But—
Bronze Rank.
Riven frowned.
He glanced back at the counter they'd come from, where the same dull-faced attendant still leaned back in his chair, clearly uninterested in life.
Then he turned to a different counter on the right, where a woman with sharp eyes and tidy hair sat behind a stack of forms, calmly speaking with another registrant.
He waited until she was free, and stepped forward.
"Excuse me," he said. "I'm newly registered — Timber Rank. If I wanted to take the exam to advance to Bronze, how would I go about that?"
The woman looked up at him, gave a nod, and set her brush aside.
"You want to take the advancement test?" she asked, voice crisp but not unkind. "That's no problem. The fee is one halfmoon coin. Since you're new, I'll assume you don't know the ranking breakdown?"
Riven gave a small nod. Better to let her explain it directly.
She turned the paper in front of her and tapped three lines as she spoke.
"Timber Rank is for non-cultivators, local laborers, couriers, or young disciples who haven't built up any credentials. Technically anyone can apply — so it serves as a baseline."
"Bronze Rank is where actual combat recognition starts. It's made for cultivators at the Inner Essence realm and higher, or others who've proven themselves — like veteran hunters or similarly skilled individuals."
"Silver Rank is typically only for Inner Condensation Realm cultivators and above. You'll see those missions are much rarer and significantly more dangerous."
Riven processed it quickly. Yue Lin had wandered closer too, eyes faintly narrowed as she listened without interrupting.
The attendant continued, "That said, most newcomers stay in Timber and just take basic missions to build up points. If you gather a hundred, you can apply for rank-up without testing."
She looked at Riven. "Do you still want to take the test?"
"I do," Riven said simply.
"Then here's how it works," she said. "You'll fight one of our appointed test attendants — a cultivator at the mid-stage of the Inner Essence realm. If you can either win or fight to a draw, you'll be promoted to Bronze immediately. If not, you'll have to earn it the long way."
"I'll take the fight," he said without hesitation.
He had no fear toward anyone in the Mid-Inner Essence Realm.
The woman nodded. Then, glancing at Yue Lin who had now stepped up beside him, she asked, "You look like you came in together — would you like to take the Bronze test as well?"
Yue Lin gave the faintest of nods. "Yes."
"Very well," the attendant said. "It will be one halfmoon coin each."
Riven reached into his pouch, Yue Lin doing the same beside him. They handed over the coins.
The woman accepted both, then stood and motioned for them to follow.
"Come with me. The testing grounds are in the back wing of the guild."
She led them through a side door behind the counter, down a long corridor that curved slightly upward with the natural grain of the tree. The air changed — quieter, more tense — and faint thuds and qi flares echoed from somewhere further ahead.