Chapter 360 Mercenary Association (1)
Chapter 360 Mercenary Association (1)
"Tell me something... why is that whenever something bad happens, you're always in the middle of it?" Aamon shook his head.
"Believe me, I keep asking that question myself." Ashton shrugged, "But I never get any answers."
It's been a couple of hours since Ashton returned on the mothership of T.I.T pirates and narrated the entire story of what happened and why he returned earlier than expected. At first, Aamon thought Ashton gave up on the trials, but when he saw him he remembered the boy wasn't weak-minded enough to give up everything so easily.
"Either way looks like you people have gone on a shopping spree," Ashton mumbled while looking around the new ship.
"Yeah. We have been busy while you were gone." Frank replied, "Thought we might as well upgrade a few things."
Ashton nodded and kept looking around. This ship was certainly bigger and probably faster than the one they had been using till now. He still had much to learn about different types of spaceships and their classes. But he was immediately acquainted with the ship by Lycaon.
It was a phoenix-class ship known as, the Spirit of Vengeance, aptly named by Lycaon since vengeance was the only thing on their mind. A point Lycaon made sure to iterate over and over was the strength and weakness of the ship.
The Phoenix-class ships were known for being a warmongering battlecruiser packed with high firepower technology while also being agile enough to give a chase to escaping targets should a need arise.
That being said, these ships had a fatal flaw in them. They had to sacrifice heavy armour for speed as it was a light cruiser, not a heavy cruiser. That was why they had to purchase a few more small ships to act as a makeshift shield for the mothership.
"All that aside, it's a shame you couldn't complete your trials." Frank chimed in while installing a new device in his hands, "I wasn't very hopeful, to begin with, since all of us had a tough time there. But after seeing your growth, I would say you could have become the first outsider to ever walk out of the planet with a tag of A-grade being."
Lycaon, working on Frank's arm, eventually let go of his tools and turned his attention to Ashton. The werewolf wordlessly got up and began circling around Ashton. After orbiting him for a while, he nodded as if he was pleased with Ashton's progress. All the while the rest of them were strangely looking at Lycaon to say something.
"I think you are ready for your first mission as a mercenary in space." He finally spoke.
"Are you for real?" Frank raised his eyebrows, "I get that he is strong, but starting off as a mercenary for hire, don't you think it'll be a bit too much."
"For the progenitor of the undead, you sure are full of emotions." Lycaon rolled his eyes, "He's a warrior. In my eyes, he has already proven his worth. Also, unlike us, he would have someone to guide him through the obstacles, so you don't have to worry about him getting lost or something. If you want another reason, I can give you a couple more."
"No... it's fine..."
Frank gave up. Nothing good would ever come out of arguing with someone like Lycaon. Especially when he was all riled up. Lycaon was so adamant about Ashton becoming a mercenary because he wanted the boy to establish himself as soon as possible.
Frank and Dracula might be deaf enough to not hear what their soldiers were talking about them, but Lycaon wasn't. Back when they decided to become pirates, all of the members had to go through rigorous training and trials to prove themselves.
But Ashton? He was simply welcomed in their ranks with open arms. While the progenitors and Aamon knew how valuable Ashton was, the rest of them didn't, nor did they care about his genes or shit.
In their eyes, he was receiving unfair treatment. But unlike their leaders, the only thing rest of them cared about was a person's might. Something they had not seen since, during the fight with Beelzebub, none of them was present there to see just how strong Ashton truly was.
Levelling up wasn't the only reason why they had suggested Ashton complete the Euphorian trials. Clearing the trials would have also acted as a way to demonstrate why everyone valued him so much.
The trials Ashton completed were enough to silence everyone. But the way he had to leave the planet, hampered his reputation. That's why Lycaon wanted Ashton to join the independent mercenary organisation and prove his power there.
Also, becoming a mercenary was the best way to get acquainted with the rules and regulations of living in space. Fortunately, there was only one rule of space: Survival of the fittest.
If you're weak, you're inviting the ones above you to trample you into dust. But if you're strong, you can do whatever you please and no one would be able to do shit about it.
"I'm fine with it." Ashton spoke up, "Being a mercenary should have its perks and with Otiga's help, I should be able to cruise through the missions."
"Ah yes, the woman..." Aamon nodded before getting lost in his thought, "You did a great job bringing her on the ship. An alliance with her would prove to be beneficial to us all."
Ashton nodded, he already knew her value regardless of what Aamon might have said.
"Then it's decided. We'll drop them at the hub, collect some supplies and be on our way." Lycaon said with finality, before going back to work on Frank's arm.
"What do you mean, drop us and be on your way? Where are you going?" Ashton asked.
"Somewhere you're not qualified to." Aamon replied, "Technically, I'm neither. So if you want, I can tag along with you-"
Before Ashton could respond, Lycaon did it for him, "Stop coddling him and leave the kid alone."
He then turned toward Ashton and continued with a serious tone, "You want to make a name for yourself? Then learn to do everything by yourself or forget about making the Xyrans pay for their wrongdoings."
Aamon stared at Ashton to gauge his reaction, and to his surprise, Ashton was completely calm. He was expecting him to show some disappointment or anger as he usually would have, but he did not. In a matter of a month, Ashton had changed a lot. Well, because it was a month for him but for them, it had been a while since the flow of time was quite weird for Euphoria.
Ashton left the control room without speaking another word. Once he was gone, all of them looked at each other before they broke down laughing.
"You are one twisted bastard." Frank smiled, "While didn't you tell him you already got him registered as a mercenary?"
"Why does it even matter?" Lycaon replied, "His fate is much bigger than ours. One of these days, we'll have to leave him alone, so might as well train him to be a loner while we can."
"By the way, did Dracula contact you? It's been a while since he disappeared along with his granddaughters." Aamon changed the topic of discussion, "To be honest, I don't care about them, but he took Ashton's summons with him. He might get upset because of it."
Lycaon stared at his watch and shrugged, "They should be here any moment now. Also, the twin might not be as strong as Ashton or his succubus, but they are strong enough to be included in our forces. That's why Dracula also registered them as mercs and took them under his wings... quite literally, if I may say."
***
Ashton did not waste any time and immediately went inside his room. Thankfully, Anna wasn't there, which made things easier. After converting himself into an undead, Ashton slowly took out the Grim reaper's scythe and laid it out flat in front of him.
[Are you sure the ability would work?]
'Honestly, not at all. But there's no harm in trying, is it?' Ashton replied, 'If things begin to go wrong, you know what to do.'
[Don't worry, my pull-out game is quite strong.]
'Of course, it is. To pull it out, first, you have to put it in. Unfortunately, I can only hope you have learned from my experiences.'
[...you wanna die? Just use the damn ability.]
The ability Astaroth was referring to was the same one that Ashton used to sever Darjud's arm. The ability was called [Disassociation] and as the name suggested, it could separate a targetted thing from another.
Since Ashton used it on Darjud and saw the results, he was hoping he would be able to do the same with the scythe and separated the corruption from the source. Therefore, making the scythe usable once again.
'Here we go...'
Ashton raised his arms over the scythe. The only thing in his mind was to make the scythe usable so that Balmond could have a feast. The dark aura of the scythe seemed to react to Ashton's wishes, but the moment everything appeared to be going fine, the power of corruption overwhelmed Ashton.
His fingers slowly began to turn black, from the corrupt aura. It was at that moment Astaroth pulled the plug.
'Damn it! I almost had it!'
[Tough luck boy. Looks like you gotta level up that precursor ability of yours. Also, no need to thank me for saving your life though.]
'I wasn't going to.'