I Became A Zompirewolf

The news of Ashton's feat, coupled with his references, had caused quite an uproar in the mercenary world. Still, not every client wanted to hire them as they were a new faction, but the number of requests Ashton had received was unprecedented for a new faction.

Ashton stood there gawking at the screen, overwhelmed with the job requests. After regaining his composure, Ashton rearranged the quests based on the type of job. To his surprise, most of the jobs were Transportation or Escorting. Similar to Eula's escorting job.

Although the pay was quite well, he wasn't too keen on accepting these job offers. Although he didn't say it explicitly during the meeting, his sole focus at the moment was to get strong, that is, levelling up. So that he could face Phantom on his own the next time they crossed paths.

'If I want to catch that bastard alive, I have to get stronger than I am.'

[Getting strong alone wouldn't help you. We need to figure out a way to interrogate him as well.]

'If only we could somehow kill Beelzebub, all the problems would be solved.'

[Go ahead and kill him. That is, if you want the Xyrans to chase our ass to hell.]

Ashton didn't respond, mainly because he had nothing to say. If only Balmond had an ability like Raphael's, then he wouldn't have to worry about handling Phantom.

'Now is not the right time to focus on Phantom.'

Ashton shook his head and went back to reading through the job list. But in the end, he gave up on it as well. His mind was all over the place. However, there were a couple of reasons why he waited to accept any quests.

Firstly, although he was the captain of his faction, it wasn't right for him to select a job request himself. Consulting others like Vimur and Laihud on the matter would also give him the insight to learn about different jobs and further solidify his knowledge of the mercenary world.

Secondly, he didn't want to rush straight into fighting as soon as he finished one job. After all, taking appropriate rest was just as crucial as busting their asses to earn money.

Not to mention, it wasn't like they could leave the station before the promised spaceships were delivered to him, and it was more like they had to stay in the Tower for a week at the very least.

'With hundreds of thousands of Yenos in my account, money will not be a problem for a while. Which means I can take on jobs which give less money but more experience.'

[What happened to the greedy bastard from before?]

'...'

[Then there's Vulcan's training, too.]

'Right. I should have a chat with the master soon. But for now, it's time to rest. I'll conduct a meeting tomorrow.'

[Try to fool someone who doesn't know you. You just want to get laid, don't you?]

'You should be glad at least one of us gets to do that. Why the fuck are you jealous?'

[...]

However, before Ashton got the chance to proceed with his plan, he noticed something. Not so far away from him stood a small group of people.

All it was one look at their uniform for Ashton to get reminded of his first day as a mercenary. The so-called Elite mercenary group: The Gold Water Mercenaries.

"These bastards never learn, do they?"

Like the first time they met, the Gold Water Mercenaries were still busy hogging all the lower-level quests. Even after the humiliation they had to face the last time, it didn't seem they had learned their lesson.

[Why don't you go and get acquainted with them? They are your old buddies, after all.]

'You snatched the words right out of my mouth.' Ashton smiled and casually walked up to them.

"Oi Square face!" Ashton yelled while the mercenaries were busy chasing away other low-ranking mercenaries, "I have wanted to chat with you since our last meeting!"

Kern 'Oma, the Deputy captain of the group, turned around with his eyes blazing in rage. Not only was he having a bad day, but now some idiotic bastard dared to mock him. Forgiving the fool wasn't an option for him.

However, when he saw Ashton's face, all the rage in his eyes evaporated instantly. The way Ashton publically humiliated them was vividly imprinted on his mind.

​ It was sheer bad luck that out of all people Gold Water mercenaries could have faced, their path was interrupted by someone who had the direct support of the mercenary association. h

"Mr Reaper! It's an honour to meet you." Kern replied with the fakest smile Ashton had ever seen, "What is someone like yourself doing on the lower floors?"

"Ah, nothing much. Just saw your familiar face and thought to meet you." Ashton responded, "What are you doing on the lower floors? Monopolising low-ranking quests as usual?"

"Haha... It's not like that."

Kern had a burning desire to cuss Ashton out, but he knew very well that f they got in a feud now, even the association would support Reaper and not them. Their last encounter had caused Kern some grief from his superiors, so he was more careful with engaging Ashton.

It was peculiar for someone from the Gold Water group to be so polite with another mercenary. But more than that, the low rankers wanted to take a job request and make a break out of there while the Gold Water mercs were busy.

Kern and his subordinates knew what the other mercenaries were doing. Sadly, there was nothing they could have done with Ashton present there as they did not want to have problems with him.

As for Ashton, things were going just the way he wanted. It was a well-known fact that Kern's squad wasn't under direct protection from their S-rank leader.

Hell, it would be surprising if their leader was even aware of their existence. Still, since they wore Gold Water's colours, no regular mercenary wanted to mess with them.

But it was different with Ashton. With Mazton backing him up, the roles of the prey and the predator had reversed. It was Gold Water's turn to know how it felt to have all the job requests forcefully taken away from them.

[I have never seen someone get this petty before.]

'Why? Did the Xyrans not have mirrors?'

[...]