“So,” Chris asked, “Why did you want to speak to me so badly?”
“It’s quite simple, Mr. Sanders,” the woman said, glancing over at Ryan as he nodded, “We need more S Rank Divers.”
“More S Rank Divers?” Chris blinked, “What do you mean by that?”
“More Divers with Classes and Jobs at your Rank,” the Major continued, “And, unfortunately, we can only see one way to achieve that.”
“Hold on,” Chris shook his head as his brain started working overtime, “You can’t seriously be suggesting what I think you are, can you?”
“Sending new Divers through A Rank and higher Dungeons of at least Hard Difficulty, yes,” the Major nodded, “I understand if you’re against this, but it’s needed to secure America’s place in this newly emerging world, and to ensure the safety of its people.”
“I only survived by luck!” Chris shouted, “You can’t seriously expect people to risk just…throwing their lives away at the chance of power, can you?!”
“Of course not,” the woman replied, “And we won’t be allowing just anyone to do so. There will be a very in-depth vetting program, focusing on mental wellbeing and physical capabilities.”
“So what?” Chris growled, “You’re trying to make an army of people able to destroy entire cities?”
“No, Chris,” Ryan finally spoke up, “Part of the initial vetting process will be through you. If you don’t think a person has what it takes, you can reject them.”
“Through me?” Chris muttered, looking between the two of them as they nodded, “What if I reject everyone?”
“Then we won’t have any new S Ranks until someone stumbles through a high Rank Dungeon on their own,” the Major said plainly, “At least with our planned method those that enter will have a higher chance of surviving.”
“What about us?” the man asked, “What about my party? We’re already plenty strong, and most of us don’t have Classes or Jobs above B Rank.”
“Primarily because you’ve been there to help them survive, Mr. Sanders,” the Major continued, “Any normal party without someone of your strength and power with them would have most probably been wiped out long before they even made it to the third floor of a Hard C Rank Dungeon. Not to mention the Dungeon Break we just experienced.”
“The what?” Chris blinked.
“Dungeon Break,” the woman repeated, “It’s what we’re calling the event where monsters exit a Dungeon because it hasn’t been explored or cleared for a time. Are you suggesting that you and your party would spend the rest of your time jumping across the country to ensure that every Dungeon we know of won’t have a Dungeon Break of its own?”
“I…no,” Chris sighed in defeat, “I couldn’t do that to them.”
“Of course not,” the Major nodded, “Which is exactly why we need to make more S Rank Divers. You may be powerful, but you are far from omniscient.”
“What about my party?” Chris asked again, “Is there a way to…upgrade the Rank of their Jobs and Classes?”
“We do not know,” Ryan sighed, shaking his head, “It’s been theorized that it should be possible, but the methods by which to do so are still a complete unknown.”
“How are the Ranks in the Association decided, anyway?” Chris asked, Ryan stepping forwards to explain.
“The Association is made up of three core departments,” the man said, “First is the Management Department that takes care of everything to do with getting permission to enter Dungeons and getting supplies and other resources. Next is the Research and Development Department, this is where Crafters like you father work. Last is the Diver Department. That is what you and your friends are a part of.”
“That doesn’t answer my question, though?” Chris frowned.
“I was just getting to that,” Ryan nodded, continuing, “The latter two departments use the Ranking System. It works very simply; a person’s maximum Rank cannot exceed that of their relevant role, that being Job for R&D, and Class for Divers.”
“Wait…” Chris blinked, “So Beth can’t be above a D Rank then?”
“No,” Ryna shook his head, “Unfortunately not. We have only allowed her access to certain facilities primarily because she is your sister and a member of your primary party, but unless she is able to increase the Rank of her Class, she cannot go above D Rank.”
“But her Job is B Rank, isn’t it?” Chris asked, a hint of desperation in his voice, “Can’t you like…I don’t know, take the average of the two?”
“Unfortunately not, Mr. Sanders,” the Major cut in, “If we made any more exceptions for your sister, and the rest of your party for that matter, than we already have, we would risk a lot of questions I am sure you don’t want to have to answer. We’ve already done everything we can, but it’s reached a point where we can do no more.”
“But…but…fuck,” Chris muttered, dropping his head into his hands, “How the fuck am I going to explain this to Beth?”
Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
“It’s already been done,” Ryan sighed, Chris looking up at him in confusion, “Your party was sent to take the orientation seminar for new recruits while we were in this meeting. Part of that is an explanation not too dissimilar to the one we just gave you.”
“Oh,” Chris muttered, looking down at his feet in despair, “Fuck.”
------
“Beth?” Chris called as he entered the apartment, looking around the space for his sister.
“She’s been locked up in her room since the seminar ended,” Ayla said from the living room area, “She…wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Yeah,” Chris sighed as he walked over to her, dropping down beside his girlfriend, “I bet.”
“I’m sure she’ll be okay,” Ayla said softly as she cuddled up to Chris, laying her head on his chest, “She just needs time to…process.”
“Yeah,” Chris sighed again, blinking as he heard the door open down the hallway, looking back to see his sister walking determinedly towards them, “Beth?”
“Take me with you,” she said, making Chris blink in confusion, “When you go to train the new S Ranks, take me with you.”
“What?” the man said as the girl walked around in front of them, putting her hands on her hips, “What are you talking about?”
“When you go to train, or make, or whatever, the new S Ranks, I’m coming with you into the S Rank, or EX, or whatever, Dungeon,” she said flatly, “It might be the only way for me to upgrade my Class Rank.”
“Beth,” Chris sighed, “Look, I know that this is upsetting to you, but-.”
“But nothing!” the girl shouted, Chris staring as tears started running down her cheeks, “I want to get stronger! I want to be helpful! I don’t want to be a burden to you! To any of you!”
“Beth,” Chris breathed, standing up as he pulled the sobbing girl into a hug, “You’re not a burden, I promise. Look at Alan, he’s only D Rank as well, and he’s an integral part of our party, just like you.”
“But…” the girl sobbed as she grabbed his shirt, burying her face in his chest, “But then why? Why do I have to be D Rank? It’s not fair!”
“Hey, I’m only C Rank, Beth,” Ayla said softly, “And I’m plenty useful. I bet you’re just annoyed that you’re lower than Jess, right?”
“You’re a Healer,” the girl mumbled through her tears, “You’ll always be in high demand. But I’m just a Rogue, there are plenty of them in the Association already.”
“Beth,” Chris muttered as he looked down at the sobbing girl, her fists balled up in his shirt as she cried, “Okay.”
“Okay?” the girl sniffed, “Okay what?”
“I’ll take you into an S Rank or EX Rank Dungeon,” he said softly, “If it’ll help you get stronger, then I’ll do it.”
“Really?” his sister sniffed again, before burying her face back into his chest, “Thank you! I promise! I promise I’ll get stronger!”
“If you’re taking her, then I’m coming too,” Ayla said as she placed a hand on Chris’s shoulder, the man just nodding, “As are the others, I’m sure.”
“Yeah,” Chris nodded again, “All of you will get stronger. I’m sure of it.”
------
“We’re in,” Alan nodded, Jessica doing the same from beside him, “It’ll be hard, I’m sure, but I want to get stronger too.”
“Yeah,” the girl nodded, smiling at her friend as they sat Chris’s sitting room, “And I don’t want to get left behind by Beth again anyway.”
“Just be aware,” Chris said, “It’s not guaranteed that your Classes will be upgraded. Mine was only upgraded because I got a World First Achievement.”
“Then that’s just what we’ll have to do as well,” Elizabeth nodded firmly, “I don’t know how, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
“The only other theory with any weight is that your Class automatically upgrades when you reach a level milestone,” Ayla hummed as she looked through some documents Ryan had sent them, “But we can’t exactly wait that long, can we?”
“No,” Chris shook his head, looking at his sister as she sat tensely on the couch, “I don’t think we can.”
------
“Thank you for coming today, Mr. Sanders,” the suited woman said as she led him into the training room, a line of twenty people waiting for him against the one wall, “These are the hopeful applicants for the S Rank Project.”
Chris looked at each of them, closing his eyes for a moment as he let his instincts and knowledge take over.
“No,” he said as he pointed at the first man, continuing down the line, “No, no, no. Yes. No, no, no, maybe, no.”
“Hold it!” one of the men he’d just declined suddenly shouted, stepping forwards, “How that hell can you just say ‘no’ like that? You haven’t even seen any of us fight!”
“I don’t need to,” Chris replied as he continued down the rest of the line, rejecting eight and accepting two more, “That’s all. Those who got a yes, leave with this woman for your orientation, those who got a maybe, stay. Everyone else, enjoy your day.”
“Hold it!” the man shouted again, storming up to Chris, “You didn’t answer my question!”
“What do you want?” Chris asked, “I simply judged that, if you were to enter an S Rank or higher Dungeon, you would die.”
“Bullshit!” the man growled, “I was top of my regiment for CQC, I know how to fight!”
“Then prove it,” Chris sighed, stepping away from the man and walking to the middle of the room, “If you can land a single hit on me within a minute, you’ll get an automatic pass. How does that sound?”
“Much better,” the man grinned as he stalked towards Chris, cracking his knuckles, “Let’s do this!”
Chris just nodded to the suited woman, who stood between them, holding out a stopwatch as she called for them to start.
The man charged forwards, going for a tackle against Chris as he simply jumped over him, landing in exactly the same spot as the man shot under him, a look of surprise on his face. The man quickly righted himself, launching a kick at the back of Chris’s head, who simply ducked under it. The rest of the applicants watched in amazement as the man desperately tried to hit Chris for a full minute, the other man simply dodging every strike like he wasn’t even paying attention. Suddenly, the suited woman called out the end of the impromptu test, the man panting slightly as he stared at Chris in shock.
“What the fuck are you?” he asked, Chris just shrugging.
“An S Rank Diver.”
“Fuck,” the other man growled, “Well, I lost. But I’ll get in next time, you hear!”
“We’ll see,” Chris nodded as the man walked out, the others following him or the suited woman, leaving only Chris and a nervous looking young man, “So, why did you apply?”
“Huh?” the man blinked, before quickly correcting himself, “To serve my country, sir!”
“No, you didn’t,” Chris replied flatly, “Why’d you apply to become an S Rank Diver?”
“I…my mom,” the man said quietly, “She’s in the hospital. Needs expensive surgery to save her life.”
“I see,” Chris nodded, walking over to the man and placing his hand gently on his shoulder, “Go apply to become a regular Diver, then.”
“What?”
“You’ll get paid a good salary, and with a little saving, you should be able to cover just about any surgery your mom needs,” Chris continued, “Don’t throw away your life on a pipe dream, okay?”
“I…I don’t have the time,” the man muttered, “She needs the surgery in maximum two months. It costs a few million dollars.”
“Then go be with her,” Chris said softly, “Don’t waste the little time she has left risking your life. Use that time to make new memories with her before you lose each other forever.”
“I…” the man started to say, his words being cut off by a sob as Chris stood silently with him, the man just nodding, “T-thank you, sir. I…I’ll be back.”
“I look forward to it,” Chris nodded as he watched the man leave, before letting out a tired sigh.
