[Candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} has been granted {The Originless} ]
[Description: ???]
"What the hell?" Hunter's widened eyes bore holes into the information window. "Five question marks? Nina, is this a mistake?"
Hunter gazed at the small entity floating beside his face, similarly in a state of shock and confusion, with her eyes fixed on the holographic screen.
"Didn't you say there are only two tiers beyond
Hunter's voice was laced with confusion and skepticism, but he wasn't upset by any stretch of the imagination. He deduced that if even the assistants and supervisors weren't privy to this mythical categorization bearing five question marks, then the result could only be one to be glad about for the candidate. However, Hunter maintained his composure as he didn't want to be caught throwing his arms up in celebration too early, just in case it happened to be a mere mistake or a glitch, that would be extremely embarrassing.
"Y-yes, that's what Nina's supervisor said." Nina was just as, if not more, flustered than Hunter, her visage dyed in the myriad shades of panic. "Nina will check, wait!"
Nina spluttered and closed her eyes. Her eyelids began to flutter only a few seconds later, indicating her communication with her supervisor.
Nina's eyes opened a minute or so later, but not a hint of realization or
"Nina's supervisor is agitated as well! Nina's supervisor is contacting her supervisor!" Nina moved around erratically, her befuddlement and inexperience on clear display. "Nina's supervisor says that Mother may have to be involved!"
"...Nina, I have a question." Hunter peered at Nina with a complicated expression, causing her to stop in her tracks and float over to Hunter's side. "How many layers of supervisors are there between your mother and you?"
"Eh? Well..." Nina placed a finger on her cheeks and tilted her head adorably. "Nina doesn't know... Normally, it isn't so, it's just that during the initiation period many low-level assistants like Nina have doubts, and Mother realistically can't address them all given the number of candidates, so..."
Nina floated around and returned to Hunter's shoulder, the conversation having distracted Nina from the issue at hand.
"The experienced assistants act as supervisors... And even more experienced assistants act as their supervisors... And even more ex—"
"Alright, alright, I understand."
Hunter waved his hands in front of Nina to prevent her from continuing.
'I have a feeling that I was about to fall for an infinite loop.'
Hunter chuckled slightly and gazed at the holographic window once again. The information wouldn't budge no matter how intensely the duo stared at it, so Hunter decided to take the initiative and move on from the problem for the time being since waiting around for a response didn't seem like a viable strategy given the extraordinary circumstances and their pace compared to other candidates.
"Nina, why don't we move to the next perk while we wait for the reply?"
"Huh? Um... Nina will ask..." Nina's eyelids dropped as she re-entered talks with her supervisor. "Nina's supervisor is still conversing with her supervisor, so the reply should take a while~ Nina will do as Hunter says~"
"Great, let's do it!"
The two were sitting relatively close to the wheel, so Nina simply floated over while Hunter remained seated on the floor with his arms supporting his body.
The humongous wheel, which was covered in white, started to transform into the perk allotment mode. Black lines manifested and the circle was divided into thousands of flashing compartments, the contents of which were the numerous perks offered by the battlefield to the species that required them to survive.
"Ready!?"
Nina blitzed over to the wheel's side, extended her dainty arm, and held it just over the wheel, mere centimeters away from its ever-changing surface. She flamboyantly turned towards Hunter, brandished her glowing wings, and asked in an excited voice, completely over the previous debacle.
"Yeah, go for it."
Hunter smiled at Nina's enthusiasm. The perk itself wasn't a tense affair, for there was no scope of failure, or even an abhorrent perk given Hunter's talent. He just lounged around on the white floor and casually munched on a packet of flavored popcorn he had retrieved from the pile of snacks.
Nina closed her eyes to get the draw ready.
Snap!
[Commencing the acquisition of perk for candidate {Hunter Tamaniel.}]
[May fortune be with you.]
"Spin it!"
Hunter chortled as he popped a bunch of popcorn in his mouth, some missing the mark and landing around him. Nina smiled and snapped her fingers again, causing the unrealistically humongous lottery wheel to budge, slowly at first, then with a velocity that caused some of Hunter's popcorns to fly away.
"What do you think, Nina? I mean the army thing turned out spectacularly, you know?"
"As Nina said, any perk that deals with weapons or artifacts should be good, but since Hunter has obtained not just the GCA but Witherwear Warlocks as well, Nina doesn't see viability. Many of the strongest artifacts come from one of these forces anyway..."
Nina used her free hand to scratch her hair as she contemplated what perk could distinguish itself as essential given the unprecedented advantage Hunter's fortune presented.
"Nina feels that any perk, as long as it isn't specified, should be just fine. This system has been refined for a long time, and every perk has its feasibility. Some may be better than others, sure, but even the weakest of perks may manifest as a battlefield-dominating force if wielded by the correct candidate."
Nina looked at Hunter weirdly as she uttered the final sentence.
"Heh~ Is that so?" Hunter averted his gaze awkwardly and stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Anyway, it seems the draw is coming to an end."
Just as Hunter said, the wheel began to slow down after hitting its maximum rotational speed and came to a screeching halt.
[Candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} has been granted {Location}]
[{Location} is an important asset for a successful beginning.]
"Hmm? Location?" Hunter scanned the holographic screen that flashed with the text announcing his third perk. "That's certainly a vague description."
Hunter peered at Nina, gesturing for her to do her duty as an assistant and elaborate upon the perk.
"Location, huh?" Nina's countenance was clouded in hesitation as if contemplating whether to give voice to her thoughts. "From what Nina had heard, this particular perk is a double-edged sword."
"Double-edged sword?" Hunter's eyebrows jumped in curiosity. "Can one be harmed by this perk?"
"Hmm~ Why doesn't Hunter get the specific location before Nina explains the details? This particular perk can only have one reward regardless of the intensity of the wager, so it should be pretty straightforward. It would be much easier to convey the intricacies that way as well."
Nina politely requested and left the choice completely to Hunter's discretion. Nina understood Hunter as someone who liked to operate with sufficient information at his disposal, so she didn't want to make the decision for her candidate.
"Sure."
Hunter sensed Nina's goodwill and decided to follow her suggestion. He had spent enough time with Nina at this point to understand that if there was something he absolutely needed to learn, Nina wouldn't waste a second divulging the information. As such, even though the adorable assistant reeked of inexperience and clumsiness, he could trust her enough to keep him informed.
"Keep the wager the same as the previous one. There can't be a more serious wager, right? I mean given the condition that a candidate can't die in the initiation space and all."
"Yep~! Nina still thinks this is a bad idea, but Nina has been proven wrong once, so Nina will keep her mouth shut!"
Nina huffed and puffed, but didn't delay the process much longer. She extended her hand and placed her little finger over the surface of the wheel, only this time the wheel was separated into 20944 compartments.
Snap!
[Commencing the acquisition of {Location} for candidate {Hunter Tamaniel.}]
[A wager sanctioned by the overseer of the sector has been established.]
[The wager shall proceed under the supervision of the attending assistant.]
[If candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} loses the wager, they shall forfeit all their remaining perks, accept penalties in their stead, and give up their limbs, senses, and reproductive organs.]
[May fortune be with you.]
The wheel took to its spinning ways yet again, heightening the tension in the space despite the duo's understanding that a negative result was a foregone possibility.
"So, what are we spinning for exactly, Nina?" Hunter's hand in the popcorn bag had stopped as he glowered at the rapidly spinning black wheel. "I mean are there categorizations like the army perk? Or is every compartment flashing with different locations like the battlefield tokens?"
"Oh~ Nina forgot to mention~ This perk is divided into ranks as well, but unlike the army, the location perk has fifteen classifications. The highest being
"So, should I expect a
"Nina doesn't know, but Nina won't promise anything since it's evident that the assistants aren't made aware of the complete picture either."
Nina's tone was somewhat self-deprecating, lamenting at the fact that so many problems had assaulted her during her very first time as an assistant.
"Don't be like this, come on." Hunter tried his best to comfort Nina, however he couldn't do a good job since most of his attention was occupied by the wheel. "Hey, so here's what I think... Considering the result of the army perk allocation, I think the location one will be two, or maybe even three categories superior to
"Hehe~ Only if Hunter wins~"
"Ahaha~ Of course, only if I win."
The two chuckled as the wheel began to slow down. Hunter's breath hitched as a certain extremely tiny compartment stopped under Nina's little finger.
[Candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} has been granted {Location}]
[In consideration of the severity of the wager and the unsurmountable odds, the quality of the perk has been exponentially enhanced.]
Nina floated over and settled near Hunter, snatching the popcorn packet from his hands.
"So? Will it take a bit?"
"Mmhmm~ The location is being generated. It shouldn't take too long, it's only one after all."
Nina wanted to imitate Hunter and throw a bunch of popcorn in her mouth, but her small stature made it impossible. She was forced to nibble on the popcorn individually.
"Nina should probably contact a supervisor regarding the categorization, but Nina will do it after the reward has been granted."
The two began to chat over mundane matters such as the taste of the snacks and their indifference to winning the wager despite its unconquerable difficulty. Hunter's holographic screen flashed with information only a few minutes into their candid discussion.
[Candidate {Hunter Tamaniel} has been granted {Vortigon Ascension Plateau} ]
"That's... A lot of question marks..."