Chris walked into the orientation room just as the presentation was ending, the three people he’d approved looking over to him as he nodded to the speaker, who quickly left the room.
“Now,” he said as he stood in front of the group, “I’m sure you’re all wondering why I gave you a pass, correct?”
The three looked at each other, before silently nodding.
“Mentality,” Chris answered, “I believe that each of you possesses the correct kind of mentality to become a good A, or even S, Rank Diver.”
“What do you mean by that, sir?” one of the three asked, Chris looking at the woman as she adjusted her blonde ponytail nervously.
“I don’t know if you’ve been informed yet, but you’ll find out eventually anyway, but I became an S Rank by entering and clearing an EX+ Rank Dungeon,” Chris explained, the three gasping and staring at him with wide eyes, “Even then, I didn’t choose to be an S Rank. I actually chose an A Rank Class and B Rank Job, but they got upgraded by the System because I was the first person in the world to clear an EX+ Rank Dungeon…Solo.”
“But what does that have to do with mentality?” the other man in the room asked, “Uhm…sir?”
“Just call me Chris,” Chris chuckled before continuing, “What I mean by mentality is this; you have to be prepared to go a little crazy and still not stop to complete an S Rank or higher Dungeon. After looking over your profiles and seeing you in person, I think you three are the only ones in the group that have a hope of doing that.”
“Go a little crazy?” the other woman blinked, “What do you mean by that, si-, I mean, Chris?”
“The only reason I got through the Dungeon was because I didn’t stop, even though I wanted to so many times,” Chris explained, “That, and I have a Skill called Self-Regeneration, it basically means that as long as I have at least one Health left and enough time, I will not die from injuries. I spent a good two or so months starving and dehydrated in the first two floors of the EX+ Dungeon because of it. It drove me crazy.”
“But you seem pretty sane to me?” the blonde hummed, leaning forward as she looked at him.
“Am I?” Chris asked, his tone going serious, “I jump into danger now like my life depends on it. I kill monsters without thinking. I could level a city block by sneezing too hard. Do you think that wouldn’t make someone a little insane?”
“Fair point,” the blonde nodded.
“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this,” Chris continued, “I think you all have the right minds to not only be able to withstand going insane but also come out the other end as decent enough people to not abuse your powers.”
“Abuse our powers?” the other woman muttered, “Why would we do that?”
“If you could fly, would you?” Chris asked, the three shrugging as they nodded, “Exactly. But you wouldn’t use that power to drop people out of the sky, right?”
“No!” the group gasped, staring at Chris in shock, “Of course not!”
“Which is why I chose you,” Chris nodded, “That’s all I have to say. Any questions?”
------
“Sorry,” the blonde said as she stood up, walking out of the room, “But I’m out. If you say that there’s still an eighty to ninety percent chance we’ll die in an S Rank Dungeon even if you’re with us, I can’t take that risk.”
“That’s fine,” Chris nodded to her, “You can still register to become a regular Diver at the front desk downstairs if you want to.”
“I think I will,” the woman nodded back, “Thanks for the explanation. I won’t share any of what I’ve learned here today, I promise.”
“And you two?” Chris asked as he turned to the other two people in the room, watching as they looked at each other, “You can still drop out now as well. You won’t be in trouble.”
“I…” the woman said, “I’m good. I’m going to stay and see this through.”
“Same,” the man nodded.
“Okay,” Chris hummed, smiling at them, “Then I guess I should hear your names?”
“Sharon Genloud,” the woman replied.
“Michael Arbuckle,” the man said.
“Well, nice to meet you, Sharon, Michael,” Chris said, turning to the door as he waved them after him, “Come on, it’s time for you to join in on our party training session.”
------
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Well,” the woman muttered, “This is more than a little insane…”
“Agreed,” the man nodded as they watched the supposed Healer of the group fire a beam of pure white light at the Defender, who held out his shield, projecting a dome of energy around himself, blocking the attack, both immediately drinking a vial of bright blue liquid after and gagging slightly, before doing it again.
“That’s the point of showing you this,” Chris said as they watched a pair of girls running around the large room, one so fast she was able to complete a full lap before the other could even get a quarter of the way around, though the slower one was summoning two different animals repeatedly as she went, “I wanted you two to see the potential power you could be wielding once this is all over.”
“It’s…” the man started to say.
“Scary,” the woman finished, Chris just smiling as he nodded.
“That’s exactly what I was hoping to hear,” he said, “Being an A or S Rank doesn’t only mean that you’ll be powerful, it also means you’ll need to know when to use that power. And being at least slightly afraid of that power will help you make better decisions. At least, I think so.”
“Are you scared of your own power?” Sharon asked, Chris just nodding again as he spoke.
“Honestly, I’m terrified of it,” he replied, “Like I was saying before, it would be easy for me to bring down this entire building by accident, so I’m almost always holding back.”
“Almost?” Michael blinked.
“I get to let loose in the Dungeons,” Chris chuckled, “So it’s not so bad. Though, even then, I have to be careful not to get the rest of my party caught up in any of my attacks or spells, or I could seriously injure, or even kill, them.”
Sharon and Michael both swallowed nervously as they looked back at the intense training the others were doing, nodding slightly as they could only marvel at the sights occurring in front of them.
------
“Two out of twenty,” Ryan hummed as he sat back in his plush chair, Chris nodding from the other side of the desk, “A better ratio than I expected, truthfully.”
“There were two others with potential,” Chris admitted, “But one was doing it for the wrong reasons, and the other dropped out.”
“Yes, I heard,” Ryan replied, “Well, it’s still better than I expected. So, when do you plan to take them into a Dungeon?”
“As soon as possible,” Chris admitted, Ryan just nodding, “The sooner the better, in fact.”
“This to do with your plans to try and increase the Ranks of your party’s Classes?” the man asked, Chris nodding back, “It won’t be easy. You’ll have to bypass a few rules the Association has put in place to allow your party to enter anything above a B Rank Dungeon.”
“Rules?” Chris blinked, “What rules?”
“Divers cannot enter a Dungeon more than one rank above their party’s average Class Rank,” Ryan explained, “Considering two members of your party are D Rank, and the other two are C Rank, that means normally they’d be restricted to C Rank Dungeons. With you there, that increases by one Rank.”
“I see,” Chris sighed, before giving Ryan a knowing look, “But it’s already been organized, hasn’t it?”
“Yes,” the other man chuckled, “Seeing as your party are the most experienced Divers the Association has, I was able to pull a few strings to get them approved to assist with Project S Rank.”
“Thank you,” Chris smiled, surprising the other man with his next words, “For everything. Even though I’m still not used to the reality, or even the luxury, of all this, I really appreciate everything you’ve done and are doing for me and the others.”
“I’m not only doing it for you,” Ryan replied, this time Chris being surprised, “I’m also doing this for the good of the country, and the Association. Chris, I’m going to be honest with you, there is going to come a time when I am going to have to make decisions that I know you absolutely will not agree with, but I’m going to have to do it anyway. That means that our relationship may become strained, but I want you to know that I will always do my best to make the right choice.”
“I believe you,” Chris nodded, looking down, “I also understand what you’re saying. Hopefully it won’t be so bad as to ruin our friendship, but that’s probably just wishful thinking on my part.”
“True,” Ryan laughed, Chris quickly joining him as the two chuckled together, “Anyway, we have you and your party set to enter an S Rank Dungeon in Indianna in two days’ time. Think you’ll be ready for it?”
“I think so,” Chris nodded, before pausing, “Wait, S Rank? Couldn’t we just do the Trials of Turmoil? Wouldn’t that give better results?”
“We don’t know,” Ryan shrugged, before turning serious, “But this S Rank Dungeon is also starting to show signs of a Dungeon Break. The last one was devastating enough, being A Rank, so we don’t want to risk another even worse one occurring.”
------
“So,” Chris said as they stood in front of the large stone door, “Everyone ready?”
“As we’ll ever be,” Elizabeth replied, swallowing nervously.
“Remember, I’ll only be here to assist if necessary,” Chris continued, “This Dungeon is for you six to gain Experience, and hopefully High Rank Classes for Sharon and Michael.”
“Right,” the party nodded, the two aforementioned people walking up to the door and touching it.
“You get your Stats?” Chris asked as the two stared at the space in front of them in surprise, both nodding, “Great, let’s go in then.”
Chris waited for everyone to touch the door, before laying his own hand on it, looking at the familiar screen that appeared as he did so.
“Extreme Difficulty,” he said, the screen disappearing a moment later as the door swung open, revealing the darkness beyond.
------
“They’ve entered the Dungeon,” Ryan said as he watched the video feed, letting out a nervous sigh, “I really hope this works.”
“We all do, Director Peterson,” the Major hummed from the video call, “We need stronger Divers desperately.”
“I’m sure they’ll do fine,” Ryan nodded, staring at the screen as the door stood menacingly in the image, “I’m sure they’ll all be fine.”
------
“Oi,” the heavily British accent shouted through the meeting room, making the various men and women turn to look at the speaker, “When the ‘ell am I gonna getta meet this ‘Strongest in the world’ bastard, then?”
“Our reports state that he has just entered an S Rank Dungeon with a party, Mr. Crier,” the man at the head of the table said, cringing slightly at the clothes the speaker was wearing.
While the rest of the room was dressed in pressed and tailored suits, the man stood out amongst them in a hoodie with a worn leather jacket over the top, his feet up on the table showing off his ripped jeans and dirty sports shoes.
“Well la-dee-dah,” the man huffed, “Good fer ‘im. Still don’t answer the bloody question!”
“We’ll contact the American Diver’s Association and organize a meeting for you as soon as he exits the Dungeon, Mr. Crier,” the man nodded, hiding his scowl at the other man’s words.
“Fuck’s sake, I already told you lot enough with this ‘Mister’ shite, me name’s Andrew, Andy to me mates,” the man growled, “But you lot get to call me ‘The Taker’.”
