The ringing of a phone went off, as it was eventually picked up by someone.
"Hello? Yeah it is, what's up? Is that so? Alright, I'll be there." Said the person whose voice sounded like a boy.
He put his phone away before heading over to his room, getting dressed as he walked over to his mirror to make sure he was ready to go.
This young boy was Alex Mustang, a thirteen year old living on his own in an apartment in downtown Lastation, one of the four nations within Gamindustri.
He worked as a mercenary for all four nations, however he primarily worked within the borders of Lastation via the Guild.
The phone call he had just received was from the Guild from another nation, Planeptune, who had requested his services for one of their quests.
With nothing else to do, Alex figured he'd go ahead and accept it since it'd be easy money.
Once he was ready, he walked on over to where his sword was, grabbing the handle and hooking it onto his back.
Now Alex was completely set to go as he walked out of his apartment, closing and locking the door before heading on over and boarding his motorcycle as he exited the parking lot and drove off.
[TimeSkip]
After a decently long drive, the boy had arrived at Planeptune, known as the land of Purple Progress due to the city's technology advanced culture and architecture.
While Alex certainly enjoyed the aesthetic and vibe that the nation gave off, he felt it was a little much in terms of presentation.
Regardless, Alex had to be here for his current job.
The boy eventually arrived at the Planeptune Guild, parking as he entered the building.
When he did, he noticed three things within the Guild.
One, straight in front of him was the receptionist desk where people would accept quests and sign up as a official members.
Two, to the left and right of him were tables where the members could sit and chat among each other.
And three, the quest board to the left in between the receptionist desk and tables.
Though Alex did work for the Lastation Guild, he rarely ever went there as he preferred to accept work via his phone.
When it came to requests outside of Lastation however, he had to enter the Guild to accept it which he found as a slight hindrance but didn't mind it all that much.
Alex approached the desk as he stood in front of the person who handled the phone calls.
"Hm? How may I help you sir?" Said the person.
"I received a phone call from here for a mercenary request." Said Alex.
"Ah yes. So, you must be Alex Mustang then? If so then I'll go get the request form so you can sign it and officially begin." They said.
The person turned to the book looking through a file of papers before seemingly grabbing the paper as they placed it on the desk in front of him.
"Sign right here." They said, pointing to where he'd have to write his signature while handing him a pen.
Alex grabbed the pen and signed the paper, as he then noticed that the paper had two lines for signatures.
"Oh right. I forgot to mention that this specific job asked for two people." Said the receptionist.
"Then, who's the other?" Asked the boy.
"That would be me." Said another voice behind.
Alex turned around to see a fair-skinned girl with a short physique and sharp, green eyes.
Her hair had a pale brown hue that reached down near her waist.
On her head was a hair accessory which consisted of two green leaves on the left side of her head.
She wore a loose and large blue coat with silver buttons and trimming that was worn open.
The coat itself easily looked like it was way, way, WAY too large for her to wear, as the sleeves reached through her hands.
She also wore medium-length black socks and blue boots with silver trimming that matched her coat.
"Oh. It's you." Said Alex, seeming familiar with the girl.
"You sound like you've heard of me." Said the brown haired girl.
"I have. You're IF. Known as 'The Lone Gust of wind blowing through Gamindustri'. You're pretty popular amongst the guilds seeing as you're recognized as the most successful guild member in Planeptune." Said the boy.
"Huh. You're pretty well versed. Well, the same also applies to me. You're Alex Mustang. A well known mercenary for the Lastation Guild. Though you're only thirteen, you've been in the mercenary game since you were seven meaning you're practically a veteran." Said IF.
"Well, seeing as we're quite familiar with one another, then it'll be an honor to be your partner IF." Said Alex.
"Likewise." She said as she signed the paper as well.
Once that was settled, the two received the quest's location on their phone.
"See ya there." Said Alex as IF nodded.
The two then split momentarily as Alex got back onto his bike and drove off.
After a bit, Alex had arrived to the location last as he saw IF standing by her purple bike, waiting for the boy.
Alex then parked next to her as the girl smiled.
"Bike too huh?" She asked.
"Yeah why not? It's convenient." He replied, getting off it before approaching her.
"So, what exactly is the job?" He said.
"It's rather simple. Just up ahead are two Ancient Dragons that have been scouring the area as of late. We just have to take them both down and It's mission complete." Said IF.
"Really? Alright then. Let's rock and roll." Said Alex.
The two walked on ahead before eventually spotting the two dragons walking around and minding their own business.
IF withdrew her Katars from her wrists as Alex unlatched his sword from his back.
"Gotta say, I've been a little curious to see what kind of skills you got." Said IF with a smirk.
"Hm? That supposed to be a challenge?" Replied Alex.
"Not at all. I just wanna know if what people say about you is true or not." She said.
The boy merely chuckled at that before turning his attention back to the dragons.
"Alright on three we each take one okay? Good luck. Three, two, one!" Said IF.
The two then went in separate directions as Alex ran towards the dragon to the right as it eventually noticed his presence.
The dragon immediately went for an onslaught of slashes as Alex continously dodged them all with ease.
On the last slash, Alex had opted to block it with his sword, knocking him back but successfully protecting him.
Alex then looked up to see the dragon open its mouth as it launched a ball of ice at him.
The boy simply swung his sword and aimed it in front of him and right at the dragon.
"Fire!" He shouted as from the tip of his sword he released a fire ball.
The two elemental attacks collided with one another, canceling each other out.
Using this brief moment as an oppurtunity, Alex began to climb up the dragon's leg, avoiding its claws as he gradually began to climb up its body.
Alex would then reach the dragon's back where it'd be unable to reach him as the boy charged up his sword and ran up to the back of the dragon's head before jumping towards its neck, spinning around and creating a circular flame slash around him as he cleanly cut through the dragon's neck, as its head fell off before the beast eventually dispersed into pixels.
As the boy landed and latched his sword back onto his back, he heard clapping as he looked up ahead and saw IF, who had finished her dragon quicker than him, give him a round of applause as she approached him.
"Nice job kid. Gotta say, you definitely didn't disappoint. Normally people I've seen have a rough time against Ancient Dragons." Said the girl.
Alex simply chuckled. "Well, I do aim to appease." He said in a joking tone.
IF gave a small laugh in response before opening up her phone and giving him her contact info.
"Let's stay in touch." She said.
The boy nodded, adding her contact into his phone before giving IF his contact information as well.
Once that was done, the two walked back to their bikes.
"I'm gonna be heading back to the city. I'm assuming you're gonna be heading back to Lastation, so mind if I ask for your number?" Asked IF.
"Hm? Uh, no not really but, why ask?" Said Alex.
"Well, in three weeks there's gonna be this big tournament held in the Planeptune Coliseum for all of the adventures of every Guild to showcase their skills. I'm gonna be the referee overseeing all the matches and I'm sure you'd do great. What do ya say?"
The boy thought about this for a bit, as he saw this has a fun and exciting way to spend time as he really had nothing else to do.
"Alright then count me in. I'll be there." He said, as Alex and IF took out their phones and exchanged each other's contact information.
"Awesome. I'll sign you up. See ya there kid." Said IF as she drove off leaving Alex there.
Alex wondered if he made the right choice, though he very quickly shrugged it off and drove back home to Lastation.
Little did he know that this one choice would be the kick-starter to his grand journey he was about to partake in.
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Chapter 1: Complete