Atlan couldn't hide the surprise from his face.
"Are you happy? Your first mission is only at a 1st stage Student difficulty."
Happy is not the right word.
When he first found out about his mission in the Remedium, he wasn't that surprised. He knew that he would eventually have to do his job and go to his first mission.
He was given a very gracious one-week period where he could prepare for the mission.
Atlan took full advantage of this and killed as many Pseudo Canzers as he could. By doing so, he was able to advance his Mage LifeSkill to C class. And he was even able to get another Genus and advance it to 2-star.
It had only been 4 days since then, and he thought he'd have 3 more days to practice. Turns out he didn't.
Fortunately, though, he was able to acquire another SSS class LifeSkill from the unfortunate tragedy earlier.
If people found out that his SSS class and his C class LifeSkill were at the 3rd stage Student Realm, they would feel that he was overqualified.
This mission was only intended for beginners at the 1st stage Student realm. Yet Atlan had two LifeSkills, which is already a cheat itself, in the 3rd stage difficulty.
And the fact that he was a Porter made this extremely interesting. He wasn't even going to be fighting the Canzers!
"Your teammates are right there." She pointed at the youthful group in the reception area. "They are also beginners like you."
When Atlan and Lizzie finally arrived at the reception area, Neumann introduced Atlan to the rest of the group.
"This here is our star porter, Atlan."
Everyone's eyes gleamed when they finally put a face to the man they had heard so much about.
"I can't believe you're only in the first stage like us!"
"You were able to defeat two 3rd stage Students in a race! How did you do that?"
"Even though we're the same age, you're so much better than us already."
"I'm glad someone as capable as you is our porter."
Everyone greeted him with praises and compliments. Even though all of them were roughly the same age, they all looked at Atlan as if he was a senior they deeply respected.
Atlan was a little bit overwhelmed with their enthusiasm. He didn't know how to respond to them, so he looked towards Neumann for help.
However, Neumann just winked at him and nodded his head. He hyped up Atlan to the rest of the team so that they'd quickly integrate him into the group.
The best part was that Neumann didn't have to lie. All of Atlan's achievements were true and weren't embellished at all.
His plan worked as they all got along well.
"Hello…I'm Atlan," he greeted them.
They then introduced themselves one by one and told him about their respective jobs.
The oldest out of all of them was a man who was 20 years old, and he had a C class Pugilist LifeSkill.
The others were younger than him, about 18 and 19 years old.
One boy had a D class Archer LifeSkill, the other had a C class Tank LifeSkill, and the last boy had a D class Scout LifeSkill.
The only girl in the group had a C class Stun Wizard LifeSkill.
Atlan noticed that all of them had LifeSkills lower than A class. This meant that these groups of youths were natives of Genesis City; they were born here.
If they weren't, then they wouldn't have been able to enter Genesis City in the first place.
"This time, there's seven of us that are going on this mission," said Neumann, taking the lead.
"You're joining us?" Atlan was surprised because Neumann was at the 4th stage of the Student realm.
"Yes. In beginner missions like these, there is always a veteran present to help the newbies.
Don't worry, I won't interfere with your first mission. I'm only going to act if it becomes dangerous."
The other newbies were relieved to hear that Neumann was going to be their guardian angel for their first mission. It was reassuring to know that a veteran would be there to cover for their mistakes.
"Sir Neumann," greeted the receptionist from behind him.
Neumann turned around and replied to her. "Is the Canzer Report ready?"
The receptionist smiled. "Yes. The report just came down from HeadQuarters."
She handed him a thin stone tablet about 8 inches wide and 12 inches long. Atlan got a glimpse of the stone tablet and saw letter carvings etched into the very stone.
Neumann saw Atlan's curious look and explained. "This is a Canzer Report. This is compiled by the Operators who monitored the Symptoms manifested in the City.
It details where the Symptom is, what type of Canzer we're dealing with, and the equipment needed to defeat them."
"Why a stone tablet?"
Neumann chuckled and the receptionist answered it for him. "It's supposed to symbolize that the Canzer Report is final. It's etched in stone.
There are a lot of Vanguards who second-guess the orders of the Operators.
Hmph. Knives should stay knives. They shouldn't have foul mouths."
Looks like the two specialties really don't get along…
Neumann awkwardly let out a forced laugh. He understood both sides and knew that both Knives and Quills had their flaws. Some people understood that, but there were also a lot of people who hated the other side regardless.
Wemby and the receptionist were two sides of the same coin.
"Ahem," the receptionist coughed. "Anyway, we have already packed up the special equipment for the mission. Please pick them up."
Neumann walked over to the receptionist's office and took out a colossal backpack that could easily fit three people together.
It must have been extremely heavy because he had trouble with the weight and had to drag it out of the reception area.
"This is your job, Atlan. You'll have to carry this into the Remedium."
The rest of the youths in their team gasped when they heard that. They knew the strength of a Savior in the 4th stage Student realm.
And if Neumann had trouble picking that up, then it would be unbelievable for a 1st stage youth like Atlan to carry it through the Remedium.
"Are you kidding sir? Atlan's impressive but that's impossible—"
Their complaints were quickly silenced.
Atlan walked over to the backpack, casually picked it up with just one hand, and slung it over his back. He secured the straps to his chest and looked at everyone expectantly.
"So, when are we going?"
Their mouths went agape.