Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Hearing that a seven star mercenary was here for him came as quite the surprise to Avery.
There were not many of them to begin with since the rank was only given out to the best of the best. And having one seek him out personally was unexpected to say the least.
At first, he thought that it might have possibly been Liesel’s grandfather who was currently the leader of the Kaizer fleet. He was the only seven star mercenary that Avery had any connection to after all.
But she informed him that it was almost certainly not her grandfather.
He commanded the fleet’s flagship, which was an enormous vessel that was even a bit larger than the Intrepid.
If it was in the Granvard System, it would be hard to miss.
"Would you be able to tell me which seven star mercenary is looking for me?" Avery asked.
"Sure, he didn’t ask me to keep it a secret. It’s Fiend Hunter Zefield."
Avery lit up with recognition upon hearing the man’s name.
Obviously, he had memorized who all of the top-ranking mercenaries in the Dramid Alliance were. His ultimate goal was to become a seven star mercenary, so it only made sense that he would look into the people that already held the position.
"The Fiend Hunter, huh. I don’t know much about him other than that he specializes in taking down space monsters."
"Yes, well, he isn’t the type to care about his reputation or media presence. This is my first time meeting him, but from what I can tell, he’s very mission oriented." The branch manager responded.
Among all of the seven stars, he was probably the only one that had never even conducted a single interview with anyone.
The only real news about him was his achievements, and from what Avery remembered, there was a long list of them.
The man led his team against some of the most dangerous space monsters out there. That was how he had gotten the nickname Fiend Hunter.
’I wonder what he wants with me then? We’ve fought things like energy lifeforms and Jalllas before, but our typical targets are space pirates. Maybe he heard about the queen energy lifeform’s core and is interested in that? I really have no way to tell.’
Avery was understandably wary of Zefield’s intentions.
He had no idea what the man wanted or even his general personality. Other than that the guy was famous for hunting space monsters, and had become a seven star mercenary, that was all Avery knew.
Still, it would definitely be rude to not even meet with Zefield when he went out of his way to travel to the Granvard System just to try and contract Avery for some sort of job.
"So, do you want me to set things up? I can assure you that there won’t be any harm in meeting with the man."
Perhaps seeing a hint of hesitancy in Avery’s expression, the branch manager tried to push him towards at least seeing Zefield.
Seven star mercenaries were highly influential within the Association. Far more than a single branch manager. The man in charge of Granvard I might have been worried that his position would be in jeopardy if he did not help facilitate this meeting.
"Sure, I’ll hear the man out. I can’t say I’m not interested in what a seven star mercenary wants with my newly established mercenary company." Avery said, knowing that avoiding Zefield would likely only lead to trouble.
With the branch manager serving as an intermediary, a meeting with Zefield was set up an hour from the current time.
That was incredibly quick considering that Avery had just arrived back in the system, but apparently the Fiend Hunter wanted to get started as soon as possible.
"Jasmine, I’ll be leaving you in charge of the Intrepid. Kasandra, you’re with me."
To get to Granvard I a bit quicker, Avery was going to take the Dauntless so that he could land in the hangar close to the Mercenary Association branch.
He had asked if he could bring anyone else along with him, but the branch manager had said that Zefield only wanted to meet with him. It had taken a couple of rounds of back and forth before the branch manager got the seven star mercenary to allow just a single other person to accompany Avery.
Taking Kasandra was the obvious choice, as her hearing abilities that could reliably tell if a person was lying were a massive advantage for any negotiations.
When the two of them reached the Mercenary Association Branch, a clearly professional and longtime member of the staff led them to one of the secured private meeting rooms.
As soon as they were brought inside, Avery’s eyes were drawn to the man sitting at the head of the table set up in the room.
He had a real presence to him. It felt similar in its intensity to Cerise Gunvald’s presences, though of a completely different quality.
’That guy must be Zefield.’
Avery did not need an introduction from the man to know that he was a seven star mercenary. Despite being in a relaxed posture, he had a decidedly dangerous air about him.
Zefield was not human either, but part of the Therianthrope species like Kasandra and Kaiden.
He was not a Felis Therianthrope though. Avery could tell that he was Sylvilagus Therianthrope from the long, rounded ears sticking up out of his head.
They honestly detracted from the guy’s somewhat menacing face, as did the ball shaped tail coming out of his lower back.
Sitting on either side of him were a man and a woman Avery figured were members of his team. Both of them were obviously competent mercenaries in their own right.
The man was Vensian like Nianni, while the woman looked to be mostly human but had a more protracted brow line and larger eyes. Avery guess that she was of mixed blood.
Along with those two, there was another woman in the room, but she was sitting on the other side of the table away from Zefield and his companions.
She was an average-looking human dressed up in a business suit. Avery’s best guess was that she was either the one that had hired Zefield in the first place, or their representative.