TSHHHHH
The chamber opened just as Atlan regained his senses.
With his eyes blurry, the first thing he saw was the long curly hair draped over the beautiful face of the woman. Behind her were the rest of the teens sitting in the gym looking on at him curiously.
Atlan awkwardly got out of the chamber, stumbling as he did so. His leg muscles moved too fast than what he was used to.
The first thing he noticed was the view. He seemed to have grown a few inches taller, matching the woman face-to-face.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, simultaneously looking at him and the tablet in her hands.
The technology allowed her to see the physical qualities of his body, but unfortunately, it couldn't gauge his mental status. Many get exhausted fighting monsters nonstop, but most get traumatized from experiencing death.
Atlan was different.
Everyone got out of the Draft by dying; they failed to advance to the next batch. He got out by doing the exact opposite; he killed a god.
"I'm fine?" He didn't know the right response.
How could he even explain the feeling of gaining dominion over all aspects of Death? He didn't even remember much of what happened. Everything felt like a distant dream.
"I'm guessing you did well. You were there for 30 minutes."
Most candidates from the Unclaimed Lands lasted for only 10 minutes. Maximum. By lasting longer, he must have defeated more batches of monsters. In her experience, those who lasted that long gained C class LifeSkills.
That would be mighty impressive. He could get accepted by a Village with that LifeSkill.
"I didn't do well. I didn't even get past the first batch."
The woman chuckled. It was a funny joke.
DING
The tablet finally finished its assessment of Atlan's Draft.
She expected to see the usual scores. F class to D class obscure LifeSkills that didn't stand out. However, when she looked at her tablet, her eyes visibly widened.
The measurements of his durability, physical strength, and musculature were off the charts!
She couldn't believe it.
She expected to see this amazing score with talented kids in the Inner City trained by their Savior parents. But not of a kid like Atlan.
She looked at it again, thinking that she saw it wrong, but it still displayed the same result.
"This…this says that you have a B class LifeSkill!"
Atlan frowned. Even in a half-asleep state, he seemed to have remembered his LifeSkill being more than B class…
Meanwhile, the rest of the teens in the gymnasium all gasped. They all looked at Atlan with eyes of amazement. Nobody expected that a gem would emerge from this ragtag group of teens from the Unclaimed Lands.
A B class LifeSkill was enough to get drafted into a Town!
He'd get to live in his own house! He'd get to eat delicious meals every day for free! And most of all…
He'd finally shake off his mortality!
"Woah…I can't believe Atlan's going to get Drafted."
"I want to get drafted too!"
"Keep dreaming. Even all the other kids from before only got D class LifeSkills at the most."
The rest of the teens were excited for Atlan. This was the best thing that could have happened for him.
The woman, however, thought differently.
They were underestimating his results! She knew that Atlan's powers were more amazing than what they were giving him credit for.
She faced him directly, matching eye to eye with him.
"Close your eyes and focus on the burning feeling inside your heart.
It's hard for beginners to sense their Soul System, but you just have to concentrate–"
"I feel it," answered Atlan.
This surprised her. Usually, new Saviors were too weak to even feel their Soul System. They'd need a few days for their natural strength to accumulate.
"That's unusual," she commented. His Soul seemed to display an early strength equivalent to those with A-class LifeSkills.
"Whatever. It must be different for Porters. The Soul System is a visual representation of your powers. Can you tell me what you see?"
[Atlan]
[Bloodline: Grim Reaper of Souls]
[Genus]
—1x (3-star) Human
—1x (10-star) Grim Reaper
[Mutation]
— (10-star) Gluttonous Soul
[LifeSkills]
Specialty: GLOBAL
—God: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique
———1st stage Student Realm
"I see my name, my bloodline, my genus–"
The woman interrupted him.
"That's good. Let me explain to you quickly what those are.
What is a Genus?
It's the DNA of a species, it's the very blueprint of your body. Right now you're seeing one genus, the human genus. And because of that one genus, your Bloodline is a human.
I said before, if a God deems you worthy, then they will give you an extra Genus.
For example, if you were given a Mermaid Genus, you could evolve your bloodline from a human to a Merman.
And once you have a different bloodline, you'll have a chance of getting a Mutation."
The woman thought her explanation was too complicated for a beginner like Atlan. So she didn't expect him to understand it immediately. But surprisingly…
"The Genus changes your Bloodline and the Bloodline dictates your mutation," Atlan muttered.
This greatly impressed her.
Atlan looked over at his Soul system. He not only had the Human genus, but an extra one as well. He must have gained it when he ate that 'apple'.
Since he got the God of Death's Genus, his bloodline changed into the Grim Reaper of Souls. And because of his bloodline, he gained the mutation Gluttonous Soul.
"What are the star ratings on the Genus?" he asked her while eyeing the 10-star Grim Reaper genus on his Soul System.
"That's the rarity of the genus. The human genus has a base 3-star rating; it's one of the weakest out there.
The higher the star rating, the rarer the genus.
The rarer the genus, the stronger the mutation you can get.
The mutation follows your genus ratings, so if you have a 4-star genus, you'll get an equivalent 4-star mutation."
Atlan nodded. "Hmm…so the rating system goes from 1 star to 10 star rating?"
The woman giggled. "No, silly. It only goes up to 9 stars.
You'll only get a genus after you've proven yourself worthy of it. Usually, a God would give you a new low-rated Genus after 3 years of missions.
You'll only be given 6 stars and above genus from a God if you're a proven hero with hundreds of years of experience in the field. So work hard and be patient, okay? Of course, it doesn't hurt if you curry favor with the God first."
He looked back at his Soul System and saw 10 stars depicted on it. He wasn't wrong.
Atlan stayed quiet about his true bloodline. Even if he told her the truth, she wouldn't believe that he got a 10-star genus from a God.
"Next, let's talk about your LifeSkill. Does it say Physique on it?"
Atlan nodded. Not only that, but it confirmed his suspicions that the estimation of his powers was wrong!
It was SSS class!
"Just as I guessed. You have a very good and very rare B-class Physique LifeSkill.
Ordinarily, a B class LifeSkill will only get you drafted by a Town. However…because of your Physique LifeSkill, you have a unique job.
You are a porter!"
From her excited voice, Atlan guessed that this was somehow a good thing. But he was clueless as to what this exactly meant.
"What's a porter?"
She saw his confusion and quickly explained.
"I asked you earlier if you wanted to fight in the frontlines or the backlines, right?"
Atlan nodded.
"Well, those that fight in the frontlines need specialized equipment to fight different Canzers.
Having Saviors carrying heavy equipment while journeying through the Remedium is simply too risky.
That's why we need Porters!
They have Physique LifeSkills that allow them to have superhuman strength. With their powers, they can carry the heavy loads for the Saviors. They are essential in the success of a mission!"
Despite her enthusiasm, Atlan didn't see how good his job was supposed to be.
"You'll learn more about it later, but the thing that you need to know right now is…
You can be recruited directly by a City!
Porters are rare, especially high-class ones like yours. You can pick any City in the world and they'd be happy to draft you in their territory!"
That was a big upgrade. Usually, only A class LifeSkills tempted Cities into action. They wouldn't draft anyone from the Unclaimed Lands for any less.
Only now did the rest of them understand the hype and eagerness in her voice.
They couldn't believe it.
Atlan was a transcendent talent that would soar to the high heavens.
They never thought that he'd get a B class LifeSkill, much less a rare and in-demand job like a Porter.
His incomparable prowess squashed their envious looks. His powers weren't something they could even try to replicate. In their minds, he must have defeated batch after batch of monsters with ease.
They didn't know Atlan never even killed a single monster.
Well…maybe one.
Not only that, they were making a big deal about his LifeSkill being only B class.
It was actually SSS class!
The woman knew that the tablet analysis only went as high as B class, but she never even considered the possibility that he went above and beyond that.
It was too unbelievable.