"So, you're the one that old Urs has been training. You don't look all that tough." One of the four mercenaries ganging up on Avery said.
He was a short man with a bald head, and surprisingly bright blue eyes that seemed to go against the tough exterior he was presenting.
Still, Avery did not underestimate the man. He had on thick combat clothing and two quality laser pistols at his waist.
The other three mercenaries, two men and one woman, looked equally well kitted out. It was obvious that they were not greenhorns.
'If I hadn't been through truly hellish training over the last two months, I'm sure that I would find these four pretty intimidating. But compared to Urs, they hardly feel threatening.' Avery thought.
"Well, looks can be deceiving. If you want, I'll show you each what I can do."
Avery gave each of them a fearless smirk and waited for their responses. He had already been told by Urs that some mercenaries liked to haze new recruits and that the best way to deal with them was to simply hold your own, and if they continued anyways, to beat them in a practice battle.
However, contrary to what Avery was expecting, the tense atmosphere quickly evaporated and the four mercenaries started laughing.
"No, there's no need for that. We already know that you're pretty tough. Everyone's been talking about the crazy sh*t Urs has been putting you through. Anyone that can last as long as you can with that guy, certainly has what it takes to be a merc. We just wanted to see how you'd react to us ganging up on you. Sorry about that." The sole woman of the group said, a good-natured smile on her face now in contrast the scowl she had earlier.
It was upon hearing this that Avery realized he had been gotten. These senior mercenaries had never truly been hostile towards him, and had just been acting to get a rise out of him.
Of course, he had responded in the correct way if they really were trying to question his abilities, but he should have seen through their ruse if he wanted to truly be successful.
"I see. And here I was beginning to believe I'd have to defeat all of you to get you to recognize me." Avery said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Nah, we were about to head out on a job. No time for that." The man in charge of the group, who had spike green hair and a deep scar down his face said. "Ah, you just qualified to become two star didn't ya. Here, I'll send you the details of the request we've accepted. There's still a lot of openings for it, so if you want, feel free to join it."
Avery quickly exchanged contact information with the more experienced mercenaries and their leader sent him the particulars pertaining to a multiweek mission accepting up to thirty two star or higher ranked mercenaries.
"Make sure to read over it carefully before accepting. Though, I suppose you don't need that advice from me, seeing as how Urs was training you."
With that, the four of them took their leave.
"I guess that I got through that okay." Avery said with a deep sigh once the other mercenaries had left.
While they had switched their tunes quickly enough once he stood up to them and gave the traditional response, things could have gone very differently depending on how he reacted.
He was certain that if he either shrunk away or got angry, that they would not have become friendly so easily.
'I really need to thank Urs again for everything he taught me.'
While reaffirming his gratitude for his mentor's teachings, Avery opened up the documents that four senior mercenaries had sent him and looked through them.
To his surprise, it was actually a request for guards from the Dirluc Mining Company, the same group he found devastated by pirates not so long ago.
"Makes sense. I'm sure after that they've got to keep up appearance and bring in extra security to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again." Avery mussed.
Hiring several mid-ranking mercenaries was naturally costly and would eat into their profit margins. But if the company's workers refused to head out to the asteroid belt, then they would be unable to make even a single Krenin.
Avery, seeing as he already had some connection to this request, decided to take it.
There was a good chance that it would be fairly boring, since he would just be patrolling a certain area with no guarantee of anything happening. Still, it would serve as a good mission that was not too difficult and also paid decently well.
With his decision made, Avery headed back to the reception counter to finish up his advancement to a two star mercenary and register for a week of protection service for Dirluc Mining.
When Avery approached the same man that had registered him, his apathetic demeanor was completely gone, and he was looking at Avery with a starry-eyed expression.
"That was amazing! I've never seen anyone trounce the two star advancement programs so effortlessly before. You set a new record for this branch."
Excitedly, the receptionist turned the screen of his monitor around so that Avery could see it.
There, he found his name atop a long list detailing the time it took to defeat the four simulated pirates.
Truthfully, he did not think what he accomplished was particularly impressive, and he only held the record by a fraction of a second. There were dozens of other names right below him that had similar clear times.
Nevertheless, he was not going to say anything to lower the man's enthusiasm. Doing so would serve no real purpose.
"I'm glad you enjoyed my little performance. Now, could we complete my rank advancement. There's a job I want to apply for that requires me to be a two star." Avery said, leading the man back towards his job.
Thankfully the receptionist was a professional, and swiftly took care of the necessary procedures.
"Okay, everything is set up. Dirluc Mining will be expecting you in the next three hours. Good luck on your first assignment."