Atlan felt the shaking of the ground as he opened his eyes.
When he came to his senses, he saw that he was in the back of a moving vehicle. It was the same truck that the woman came in when she visited them for the Draft.
It was shaking as it traversed the mounds of gray sands in the Unclaimed Lands.
Atlan lay on the horizontal seats alone, with just the woman on the other side. She was looking far out the window, observing the desolateness of the Unclaimed Lands. Her long curly hair obscured her emotions.
Atlan massaged his head.
Receiving those messages felt like being hit in the head by a giant rock the size of his fist.
The only thing he remembered was seeing the apparent extinction of angels. After that, he passed out.
"What happened?" he asked out loud.
She turned towards him and her expression turned into relief. She seemed to show genuine care for him after seeing him fall suddenly into unconsciousness.
"It's really good that you're feeling better now. I thought you wouldn't wake up till you're in the hospital."
"Where am I?"
She showed a smile that brought out the natural beauty of her lips.
"This is a military convoy on the way to Genesis City. It's the place where I'm from and…It's the place where you'll live!"
Atlan looked confused. Why was he suddenly going to this Genesis City after passing out?
"Congratulations!" she clapped. "You have officially been Drafted by Genesis City!"
She congratulated him and he smiled at her awkwardly in return.
"Oh…hehe…cool."
The woman chuckled to herself. Most teens who got this incredible news would either weep from joy or shout in excitement. She never saw someone only say 'cool' after being drafted by a City.
But although Atlan might seem indifferent, he was celebrating on the inside. He got Drafted! By a City, no less.
He was living the dream of most of the inhabitants of the Unclaimed Lands. He was living the dream of those who wanted to live forever.
But how could Atlan celebrate?
He was still too shocked at seeing the angels die off and fall from the sky. He was still filled with questions in his mind.
What happened to the Draft after he passed out? What happened to the extinction of angels?
And why did she look okay even after that bizarre rainfall of dead angels? She was acting as if it never even happened.
"Now that you've been Drafted, you'll live in Genesis City where food and wealth are abundant."
He interrupted her. "What happened to the draft?"
"I immediately ordered a trip back to the City the moment you passed out. I can't have our star recruit getting ill now, can I?"
She looked at him like a diamond in the rough, like a treasure she found in the woods.
I can't wait to brag about drafting a B class Porter to my friends, she thought.
She couldn't risk losing such an amazing prospect in the Unclaimed Lands.
She made the decision to return to Genesis City where Altan could receive the proper healing he needed. After all, he was officially a citizen of the City.
He was entitled to immortality.
"What happened to you?" she asked him.
Atlan wanted to know that too. "I don't know."
He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling of the burning sensation near his heart. He tried to locate where his Soul resided.
[Atlan]
[Bloodline: Angelic Reaper of Souls]
[Genus]
—1x (3-star) Human
—1x (10-star) Grim Reaper
—1x (10-star) Angel
[Mutation]
— (10-star) Gluttonous Soul
— (10-star) Lightspeed Angel Wings
[LifeSkills]
Specialty: GLOBAL
—God: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique
———1st stage Student Realm
————(0 / 1000)
Specialty: Vanguard
—DPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution
———1st stage Student Realm
————(0 / 1000)
He did see the extinction of angels. This proved it.
He also noticed that he got another 10-star genus. Not only that, his bloodline changed because of it. He was now an 'Angelic Reaper of Souls'
As for what that meant, he didn't know.
"Miss?"
She looked back at him fondly. He wasn't a kid from the Unclaimed Lands anymore, he was a future comrade.
"Call me Lizzie."
"Lizzie…can you tell me more about LifeSkills?"
She nodded. They were still about a few hours away from Genesis City, so now would be a good time to get him up to speed with Savior lingo.
She raised her hand and showed two fingers. "There are two kinds of Saviors in this world."
Atlan answered, "The ones in the front line and the ones in the back."
She smiled and nodded. She appreciated the fact that he was so attentive.
"Yes. The ones in the front lines have a specialty called Vanguards. They are the ones who fight the Canzers in the Remedium–the dimension where the Gods body resided."
Atlan looked at his Soul System and saw that one of his LifeSkill had a specialty of a Vanguard.
"Under that specialty, you'll see your job. For Vanguards, the usual jobs would be the Tanks, the DPS, the Mages, the Scouts, and even the rare Porter job like yours!"
Specialty: Vanguard
—DPS: (SSS) Cherubic Retribution
Atlan looked at his Soul System. Unlike most people, he had two different LifeSkills.
From what he knew, Saviors only get one. He didn't know if that was good or bad. After all, he'd have two realms to advance.
He didn't even know how he got another LifeSkill.
People only acquired LifeSkills through the Draft. However, he inadvertently acquired this second LifeSkill after he witnessed the extinction of angels.
His powers seemed to derive from reaping deaths, or more exactly, Souls.
That begged the question. Will he get more LifeSkills in the future if he reaped more deaths? He didn't know the exact criteria for acquiring powers.
Did he only get LifeSkills after witnessing an extinction? Or was it because he reaped 10,000 souls of the same species that he was able to acquire a genus and a LifeSkill?
He didn't know.
Atlan looked back at Lizzie. He wanted to know more about LifeSkills.
"You said there's another specialty besides the Vanguards…Lizzie," Atlan added awkwardly.
"Yes. The second specialty is called Operators. They are the ones that stay behind in the real world while the Vanguards fight in the Remedium. They are the ones in the backline"
Atlan was confused. "They don't enter the Remedium to fight Canzers?"
"No. Their job is different. They kill Canzers using machines or concoctions specially made to exterminate Canzers.
Exterminating Canzers doesn't just mean killing all of them. Sometimes, you have to purge their very lair so that they don't respawn.
That's the job of Operators.
I can't really go into detail because it's not my specialty. I'm sure they'd want to brag about themselves, so just ask anyone you meet later."
This was very informative for Atlan. However, it didn't fully unveil the mystery of his Soul System. After all, there was a third Specialty for him.
"There are only two specialties? Vanguards and Operators? That's it?"
"Yup. Those are the only ones."
Atlan looked at his first LifeSkill.
Specialty: GLOBAL
—God: (SSS) Grim Reaper Physique
This was a new speciality. GLOBAL.
How am I supposed to know what this is when I don't even know the first two basic specialties?
Not only that, it had a new job. A God.
How could that even be considered a job?
But no matter how curious he was about his LifeSkill, he couldn't ask Lizzie. He would have to find out more about this LifeSkill on his own.
"I see you're wondering about your Power Realm," she misunderstood the confusion on his face.
"Everyone starts out in the 1st stage Student Realm at first. Then, as you kill more Canzers, you get more experience.
With 1000 experience, you can advance to the 2nd stage of the Student Realm, and so on until the 9th stage.
After that, you can advance to the Pre-Internship Realm.
But that's too far into the future. You'll have to accumulate experience by going on missions in the Remedium."
Lizzie looked at Atlan and saw that he was even more confused than he was before.
"Is there something you don't understand?"
Atlan kept his focus on his Soul System, but he forced out a response. "No."
"Then what is it?"
Atlan looked at the words in front of him.
"It's nothing," he lied.
[Available Experience: 10,000]