Chapter 1104: Freedom and Reward
Chapter 1104: Freedom and Reward
“Hmm…” Pondering over the question Eivann threw at him for a bit, Valyr eventually asked the man a question of his own. “What’s the difference between the two?”
“The amount of freedom and the amount of rewards you get, really,” said Eivann with a slight shrug, only to give the young man a longer explanation after that.
“If you choose to become a mercenary, then you’ll have to complete a set number of missions per month. However, as long as you complete those missions, you’re free to do whatever you want after that.”
“Say you did end up choosing to become a mercenary,” continued the man. “You’ll start off as a novice mercenary, where you’re required to complete five missions for your level before you’re promoted to a 1-star mercenary, which reduces that count by one.”
“With that being said, the more stars you get, obviously the less missions you have to do per month.” Eivann looked at Valyr with a calm expression.
“Then again, emergency and urgent missions don’t count since both mercenaries and military officers have to do them no matter what.”
“Of course, if you choose to become a military officer instead, then missions for you will work a bit differently,” said the man, deciding to save the talk of rewards later.
“You’ll start off at the lowest rank of private, just like how you’ll start as a novice mercenary. Though, unlike a novice mercenary, you only need to complete three missions per month.”
“However, there’s a catch.” Eivann’s expression slightly turned serious. “Unlike the mercenaries, who could choose and complete whatever mission they want that matches their level, those that take on the path of military officers have to complete the mission they’re given.”
“Wait…” At those words, Valyr slightly frowned. “So, you’re saying, if I choose to become a military officer, I can’t reject the missions that’ll be given to me?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Eivann shook his head, sighing as he found it off-putting as well. “Of course, the military won’t give you a mandatory mission that’s not made for your level. They don’t want people to waste their lives for nothing, after all.”
“Then again, you could also choose to do a mission that’s above your level to speed up your promotion,” added Eivann, to which Valyr nodded as if it were obvious. “Naturally, the same could be said if you were to become a mercenary.”
“How about the rewards?” asked the young man after that, feeling like he now had a rough idea of what Eivann meant by the difference in freedom. “I’m guessing the rewards for a military officer are better because there’s less freedom in missions?”
“The law of equivalent exchange, really,” replied Eivann as he nodded with a bitter smile. “For a military officer, the rewards you get when you complete a mission is consistently high because of the fact that it’s mandatory.”
“On the other hand, the quality of the rewards for a mercenary are highly dependent on the mission you take.”
“Both types of missions would give one merit points, which they could use to exchange for various items,” continued the man, only to have a wry smile on his face soon after. “However, the items available for a military officer through there are significantly better because, as I’ve mentioned before…”
“The missions are mandatory,” said Valyr as he finished the man’s sentence, only to let out a faint sigh as he nodded soon after..
“Anything else I should keep in mind before making my choice?” he asked Eivann after that, to which the latter went silent before responding.
“Well, there’s a unified store that both mercenaries and military officers could spend their merit points on,” said the man, waving his hands in slight uncertainty. “Then again, it’s mostly mercenaries that stop by that store.”
“Aside from that… I guess it’s the fact that although the names for the ranks are different, the positions of mercenaries and military officers are more or less equal.”
“A private is equivalent to a novice mercenary, a 1st class private is equivalent to a 1-star mercenary, and so on and so forth.”
Feeling like he’d more or less explained everything Valyr needed to know about the two positions, Eivann decided to ask him once more. “So, what do you plan on choosing between the two? Are you gonna become a mercenary?”
“Or are you gonna become a military officer?”
Hearing those words once more, Valyr began to rub his chin in thought, weighing the pros and cons of the two in his mind as he pondered over what he should choose.
Though, just as he was in the midst of coming to a conclusion, Eivann blurted out something that made him change his mind at the last second.
“Well, if you were to ask me, it’d be better if you were to pick up the path of a military officer, especially with your area of expertise as a blacksmith, Ylvar,” the man suggested to Valyr. “With the higher-ups knowing of your contributions very well, I’m sure they’ll make sure to give you missions that are easy to complete.”
“In fact, I wouldn’t even be surprised if the higher-ups only end up giving you missions that just has you forge a set number of weapons for the frontlines.”
“Is that so?” Staying silent as he listened to Eivann’s words, Valyr eventually took in a deep breath as he gave him a calm smile. “I guess I’ve come to a decision, then.”
“You’ll be enlisting as a military officer, right?” said the man in response, his expression that of excitement as he thought he’d successfully persuaded the young man.
However, the response he got from him was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
“I was planning to enlist as one at first,” replied Valyr. “The fact that the items available for military officers are of higher quality is definitely no small reason for that decision.”
“But?” Eivann asked back.
“But I came to the frontlines to fight,” said the young man in response. “I may head to the forge from time to time, but my purpose here is to ultimately help in the fight against the orcs
in person.’
Unsurprisingly, Eivann was briefly left at a complete loss for words after that, having to take a bit of time to regain his bearings.
Then again, one couldn’t blame him for his reaction. After all, out of all the blacksmiths he’d interacted with in the past, almost none of them decided out of their own accord to leave the safety of the rear lines.
If anything, the young man before him was the third blacksmith he’d met to act that way.
Taking a few deep breaths to compose himself, Eivann eventually looked back at Valyr, recalling the words Julian sent to him before the two even met.
Yet, just as the man was about to persuade Valyr again…
Whoosh!
The young man decided to unleash his aura in its entirety.
||||
“…Yep.”
“That’s enough for me to understand why.”
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