The Mercenary Route

The Mercenary Route is one of the three storylines playable in the game. In order to play this route the player has to choose the Mercenary at the beginning of the game. The male and female route are just slightly different.

Prologue
The Mercenary is a top-notch fighter and verifies his skills in the infamous entrance exam of the House of Offensive and Defence. The 84 aspirants were called to the outer barrier of the Karl-Fay bridge and assigned to one out of three officers. Each group should perform a raid on different troublemaking factions in the depraved Amen Is'r district. The Mercenary becomes a part of lieutenant Berivan Hewrami's squad. Unfortunately the lieutenant is killed pretty early and the whole squad except the Mercanary and Sarima Adebaya, a fellow aspirant, was wiped out. The Mercenary took lieutenant Hewrami's gear and teamed up with Sarima to fight their way out of the district. Once on safe grounds the HOD general supervisor told the Mercenary that the whole operation was a disaster and only one squad leader and 13 aspirants survived the operation. All survivors will be accepted to the school and will form a special class. The Mercenary spends the night in the House's student quarters.

Main Quest: Welcome to the clan
The next morning the Mercenary travels to the city of Veningstadt to pick up his recruits equipment from the HOD's gear factory. On the way back he meets the Scientist camping in the night and spends the night talking to him and Enris. Back in Arriffa he gets assigned to his first four tests, that will determine what ability level the students will be labeled:

Quest: Digger
The students have to dig three holes in the HOD's training ground. One dugout, one trou-de-loup and one shelter or hideout.

Quest: Crafting
The students get a brief introduction to crafting useful tools and basic weapons.

Quest: Combat training
The students have to compete against each other in one-on-one battles.

Quest: Tactician
The students are forming groups of 2-3 and have to corner the other squads without injuring anyone.

Main Quest: Bulletin Board
The Mercenary has to wait for the results of the test and has free time. He decides to explore the city. Sarima pairs up with him and together they visit the stores and places of the HOD area. In the evening the two mercenaries get drunk in the Institute of Scouting's bar, where their upperclassmen tell them about the house's bulletin board, a board where taskmasters pin their requests and apprentices can train and improve their skills and earn some money by fulfilling the quests. Sarima and the Mercenary decide to give it a shot the next morning.