"while we apologize for the trouble, we cannot reimburse you since this party was not formed by the association."

That's right, despite the fact that I was paired with a vampire hunter, the association won't pay me for my troubles. 

"I see. My apologies for troubling you. May I recieve payment for my mission completion? Along with his payment too of course."

"Of course, for the killing of two dozen Panthers you will receive 2400 Galactic Credits."

2400 credits...even the cheapest ship cost 500,000 credits, this is going to take way too long. I need to find someone with a lot of money who has no problem giving it away. Unfortunately not a lot of people have both of those traits. It's either that or power level my association ranking, which for now is probably my only option.

"Excuse me, I'd like to take a rank C mission, also, how many more mission points until I can take my promotion test?"

"If you successfully complete this C rank, you will have 3 points, so you will need to have 7 more."

"Understood, if I were to hunt C rank monsters outside of missions, would I still recieve mission points?"

"Yes you would, every 5 monsters is 1 point."

"This information is very appreciated. Have a swell day"

The C rank mission I got were to slay jungle treants,ferocious sentient and mobile trees with a hatred for non native species, like us. I head to the mission area and see one roaming about. I'll take this opportunity to learn how they fight and what their mechanics are. I walk up to it and scratch it, causing a quarter of it's health to fall. Sheesh, imagine if my claws were upgraded. I let it attack me to figure out it's movements. Its the opposite of the panther, it's slow, heavy, and large. It takes a sizable chunk of health with every hit, but it's so slow it's easily dodgable. With this I tear it to shreds. The mission is to kill 10 of them, and every 5 outside of that is 1 point, so in order to fulfill the 7 points I need to kill 35 of them. Well, I have nothing but time anyway.

After I get done killing the last one a fellow player walks up to me.

"Here there...Erebus, how ya doing?"

"I'm doing fine milady, and you?"

"A gentlemen huh? Not rare to see on the internet anymore. Anyway, saw you taking down those treants with some weird claws, what are those?"

"Ah, well you see, I am a member of the extraordinary race called the Sanguine. We are born with claws and fangs sharper than almost everything if we polish them right"

"That's, so, cool! But what's with your speech pattern? Are you LARPing or something?"

"Ok, OOC really quick, I'm roleplaying, alright? I'm a prince of a fallen kingdom trying to make one of his own, that's my whole schtick"

"So you are! Ok! So how should I address you, Your Majesty?"

"I am Erebus, master of the Darkness and blood, and crown prince of a fallen kingdom long since forgotten, ravaged by time. You may address me as Your Highness, as I am not yet king of anything yet"

"Very well, Your Highness. It was a pleasure meeting you, maybe we'll meet again, I sent you a friend request."

"I suppose I should accept, you may be a commoner of one of the lesser races, but for now I too have the role of commoner, it would be rude to decline"

Her name was...Pro Flirt....ah for fucks sake. If there's a man in that capsule I'm going to be so embarrassed. Actually...if it's a female it's even worse! Aaaaahhhh! Fuck, I just let my Chuuni rip like it was a beyblade! Ah well, I modified my appearance extremely. I have long, jet black hair, red eyes, and a lean but fit body, so no one will recognize me outside. 

I go back the FA whilst wallowing in my shame and turn in all the magic stones of the treants. Clerk looks surprised.

"As you see, I should have enough points for my promotion test, may I?"

"Of course. If you would follow me I'll take you to the room"

I follow her to the basement, its square in shape and the floor has the outline of a fighting square. A man follows us, bulky and brawny. He speaks to me.

"I'm your tester, my name is David, If you can withstand my attacks, you become C rank, if you manage to get a couple hits in, you'll be C rank and halfway to B rank, if you manage to beat me, you'll become a B rank, although I highly doubt that'll happen."

"I understand, may we proceed?"

"Kuahaha! Of course, here I come!"

He swings his heavy mace while protecting his body with a shield. I dodge and claw, but all I do is scratch his shield. He tries to bash me wish his shield, but I kick his shield and push him back a little, I charge him and claw his chest a little. Blood comes out but it's just a light scratch. He covers himself with his shield and charges me, trying to push me into a corner, but when he gets close I grab his shield and turn it slightly so his trajectory changes, he tries to turn back but I claw his back and manage to get a real good hit in. He staggers a bit.

"Things are getting real huh? Alright, i won't hold back either!"

His mace transforms into a sword and he drops his shield, becoming a dueler almost.  He tries piercing me with a triple pierce move, and while I manage to miss one he get pierces me twice. Now my blood is flowing a little. He slashes at me but I block with the claws on one hand and scratch with the other, I barely miss. He drops low and tries to cut my legs, and I turn to whenever my side is exposed and he misses, but when he tries to slash my side I turn again and grab him by his shoulder, pushing him to the ground. My claws reach his throat and the match it's called. I won.

David congratulates me, and the clerk hands me a credit chip.

"What would this be for?"

"Whenever you rank up the association gifts a bit of complimentary money, to incentivise ranking up more. Since you ranked up twice, you will get both the B rank and C rank promotion gifts. This chip has 75,000 credits on it."

My mind is confused at the sheer number of credits I now have

"Isn't that a bit...much?"

"The C rank test grants 25,000 and the B rank test is 50,000, therefore 75,000 is your total."

Well, between this and the treants I took care of, and the money Vayr had, I now have about 100,000 in my account. I may be the richest character in the game. I look at the leaderboard and see that I am the highest rank freelancer player, and the third highest in money. Wonder what the other two did to get to much money.

I walk up back to the main floor of the FA and see...Pro Flirt. She spots me.

"Erebus, I saw you in the leaderboard, who knew you were so powerful...and rich"

I can practically see dollar signs in her eyes as she looks at me. Several other players stare at me as they realize that I'm above them.

"When did I grant you permission to greet me so casually? You address me as Your Highness, and that is it. Understood?"

The other players are baffled by my roleplaying and suppress snickers. I too suppress my emotional instability, primarily my embarrassment. I already committed, its too late to turn back now, I ate the poison, I must now lick the plate

"I seez your highness, if you would grant a commoner like me an audience, I would like to know what your plans for the future are?"

"Very well, it's not like you won't know of it soon enough anyway. I shall first obtain a spaceship, and then I will obtain a fief from one of the local warlords, build relations with the warlords and nobles, and  eventually take over for myself, becoming the fifth, or maybe consuming the FFP to become the fourth galactic power. Those are my goals for now. But first, I require my suit. I must now take my leave"

I leave the building, heading over to the tailors. With 75 thousand credits I should have more than enough money to buy an armored, self mending suit meant for royalty. Pro Flirt follows me.

"Why are you following me?"

"Well, as a member of the female gender, I know quite a lot about fashion, perhaps I can help you pick one?"

"My suit will be special, it will be tailor made for me"

"Then I can help you design one?"

"I already have a design in mind."

"Well fine then, I'll just watch you then"

"Will nothing I say convince you otherwise?"

"Nope"

"Very well then."

We head inside and the clerk takes one look at me and Pro Flirt, and immediately has a look of disdain

Sir, madam, this store can be rather expensive. I do not think you have the funds to purchase anything here."

"I am well aware of my clothing status, that is why I've come here. Take a look at this credit chip and tell me if I have enough."

He takes a look and immediately a look of shock and regret fills his face.

"My apologies esteemed customer, what can I help you with?"

"I have a suit I want made. I want it to be soft on the inside and hard and leathery on the outside. I have panther furs you can use. Make it to where the fur can be taken out and replace at any time. I don't have any material for the outside. I want it to be automending and want it to be able to be used a light armor. This here is the design that I have. Please use it. "

"I see, this is a rather regal outfit, is the esteemed customer perhaps an up and coming noble?"

"I was once the crown prince of an empire that spanned the stars, but the ravages of time have destroyed it. I plan on resurrecting what my father killed, and to do that having a proper regal outfit is a necessary first step."

"I see Milord, I will have it done to your specifications. Please wait, it'll take about two hours to make."

"Of course, take your time so it comes out nice."

I walk out and Pro Flirt comes out with me. I decide to go take a B rank mission so I can get used to the difficulty before I start taking A rank missions. Seems I need clear out a jungle giant settlement. Shouldn't be too hard I think. I'll even get a lot of blood out of it. As I'm on my way I notice someone other than Pro Flirt following me. I stop and call out.

"Who's there? I know you've been following me, come out!"

Three people come out, clad in light armor covered with religious symbols. One of them calls out

"We know what you are night spawn, surrender and your death will be painless!"

"More hunters? You know of the person Vayr? This is all that's left of him."

I pull out the desiccated finger and wave it around. This seems to provoke them enough. I catch a side eye at Pro Flirt and realizes she's a little creeped out. Ah well, being evil isn't for everyone.

The three hunters come at me, shooting their lazers and trying to dodge my claws, but I'm faster than them, I did after all spend a lot of points in my agility stat. I clawed off the gun hand of one, and used the blood to bind one of his teammates. I promptly drunk his blood, quickly of course so while there's still some left, he's now dead and I am even more powerful than before. I use what little blood is left and bind the other two, and I drain their blood into my inventory for safe keeping. I take the index finger of their right hand, just like with Vayr, and use some sinew from their body to make a crude necklace.

Pro Flirt is now throughly disgusted, but also impressed with my combat skill. She calls out to me as I head out to the jungle giants.

"Y'know Erebus, er.. Your Highness, Im actually a scout for a guild, you look strong enough, why don't you become a member?"

"What's your guild name?"

"Goonswarm"

"No thanks. I was never interested, but I was curious what guild you were a part of."

"Jeez, you're no fun"

"I am plenty of fun, did you not just see what happened?"

"Ok, that was pretty cool. Think I might tag along for a little bit."

"Sure, I guess I can grace you with my presence for a little bit longer"

I grip the necklace of desiccated fingers and head over to the jungle giants camp.