บท 15: Freelancer

As soon as Arnold got out of the car, he was immediately rushed to the Vice President's office, where John was waiting for him along with three other people like the guild's manager, Vice President's assistant - Maya, and Jake skylander, the leader of the guild's main team.

"Come in and have a seat first, before we get into details." John said waving his hands. "Now that everyone has settled down, I assume you haven't seen your test results right?"

"Yeah I haven't. The technicians told me that it I was a special case and my guild would be the one to inform me about it." Arnold nodded.

Hearing this, Maya handed him a file. Arnold opened the file and saw a platinum card was inside the file. He picked up the card and carefully read what was written on it.

NAME : Arnold Ling

GUILD : Flying Swords

TEAM : C

ROLE : Mage

AFFINITY : Ice and earth

RANK : C

LEVEL : 30

POTENTIAL : <Error occurred while measuring potential>

This was his warrior's registration card and had the PRSD insignia on it. The card stated that he was a level 30 because he leveled up by two levels after the computers had analysed his data. The PRSD department had sent the card directly to the guild. Everything was pretty much normal in it except the potential part.

Generally the potential of a warrior informed the others about the highest rank the warrior in question would be able to achieve in his lifetime. The rating only went up to S rank. If the measured potential was above S rank, then the system issued an error message like the one shown on Arnold's card.

After seeing the card he immediately knew why he was called to the guild.

"I guess you have an idea about why you were called here?" John asked.

Arnold nodded. He knew that, with his powers he'd be able to get to this point sooner or later, but it all was happening way too soon.

After a brief pause, John continued, "It's my pleasure to inform you that you have been promoted to team A. Maya will inform you about your new privileges later. But first I want you to meet your new team leader and the guild's ace : Jake skylander." John waved his arms towards the man standing behind him.

Jake walked out first. He was wearing a white T-shirt, his hands were behind his back, and his eyes were flickering with a deep light that looked like the starry sky. A natural pressure emanated from his body that sent shivers down Arnold's spines.

This feeling became stronger as Jake walked closer. He stared at Arnold, and Arnold's legs felt soft like he was being stared at by a monster that was about to devour him.

Actually, Jake had only looked at him casually. The pressure came from his far superior level. Jake extended his hands towards Arnold and said, "Welcome to the team."

"Th-Thank you. I l-look forward to working with you." He quickly replied.

After a brief interaction, Jake bowed to the vice captain and left the room. Arnold immediately realized the power difference they had. After all Jake was one of the few S+ warriors the guild had. He had been personally trained by the President himself! The President only showed himself to the 'A team' and couple of others like the vice president. The 'A team' comprised of the talents handpicked by the president himself, and this team worked directly under The President's authority. Questioning them was like questioning The President himself. This team was considered to be one of the best in the United States of America. It was an honour to be a part of this team.

Seeing Arnold all excited about the venture, John decided to break yet another news to Arnold, "Although I'd like to say that you can immediately join Jake's team, you can't. After all the 'A' in the team's name stands for rank A, but even if you have the potential to surpass the A, you're still at rank C and the President won't allow a rank C warrior to join his team.

"No need to be disheartened by it. I have a proposal. In your new contract, it states that, you can work as a freelancer. Meaning, you can pick any job, team up with any guilds, and clear as many dungeons as you like. Though you'll have to pay a commission of 15% of your overall pay. This will give you tons of opportunity to rank up. I know it will take sometime but this is the fastest way to increase your rank for now.

"Unfortunately I have to leave now but Maya will tell you about your new privileges of being an 'unofficial' member of team A." After saying this John took his blue suit and walked out of the office. The others followed his queue, leaving Arnold and Maya alone in the office.

Arnold couldn't believe the luck he had. He wanted to talk with John to see if he could be allowed to work as a freelancer but he didn't even have to say a word about it and he was already given the chance to work as a freelancer- helping him to earn more money and get some beast crystals as well!

"Shall we talk about the other privileges then?" Maya asked in her usual tone.

Arnold smiled. "Yes please!"