Chapter 17 — Level 1 License

  “This is for you,” said the evaluation administrator, handing over the stamped evaluation card along with an electronic token. “Stay still for a moment please.” He then took out his tablet and ran a full body scan of William. “I’m sending your measurements to the back. Just wait one moment, and you’ll receive your uniform and official awakener license.”

  “Okay,” William said, taking the items from the administrator.

  “Are you familiar with the new uniform rules?”

  “No. There are rules?”

  The evaluation administrator nodded. “Yes. We established new protocols to combat the threat of a catastrophic monster outbreak combined with heavy electromagnetic interference.”

  He continued to read from his papers in a businesslike voice. “Under Crisis Protocol 109, all members of the awakened fighting forces are required to wear their uniform at all times while performing duties in an official military capacity.”

  “That includes participation in combat operations, patrols, or awakener duties of any kind, including those related to guilds and miscellaneous tasks. The uniform will prominently display your rank so that during times of crisis when electronics are offline, power levels can be clearly identified and communicated.”

  “I see. So we’re supposed to wear the uniform all the time?” William asked. He felt slightly embarrassed wearing a rank 1 uniform at all times. It felt like a token of shame.

  “During all missions, yes.”

  “So what happens if I forget?” he asked.

  “According to the crisis protocol, failure to wear your uniform will incur a penalty with escalating consequences including pay deduction. The government is very serious about this, as we had major issues identifying awakeners during the crisis last week.”

  William quickly noted that he would wear the uniform. He didn’t want his already meager pay to get deducted any further.

  “But what about tanks that have to wear heavy armor? Do they need to wear the uniform as well?”

  “Under extraneous or unreasonable circumstances, the uniform mandate does not apply. Wearing heavy armor counts as one of those circumstances.”

  “Does the uniform offer protection?”

  “Yes. Uniforms are weaved with synthetic fibers blended with enchanted fabric that offer a degree of protection against the elements as well as minor cuts. You’ll be issued new sets of uniforms periodically as they become damaged from combat usage.”

  An attendant emerged from the back of the room, scurried over and handed him a standard issue military uniform as well as his laminated license. Its embroidery was noticeably more plain than the one the rank three student was wearing earlier, although he couldn’t expect anything more as a level one.

  William put on the plain single striped uniform, which combined the aristocratic military aesthetic from the early common era with modern functionality and a slightly toned down design. Overall, it was visually distinct but not exactly impressive, being a rank one uniform after all.

  He left the testing center shortly after and was received by the white haired woman once again, who walked him through to the main hallway before calling out the next candidate’s name.

  “Look, that’s the Trinity Academy student! He just finished his awakening.”

  “What rank did he get?”

  “Look at his uniform. He’s just a level one.”

  “That’s kind of disappointing…”

  “Why couldn’t his parents just buy him an elixir? I heard that drinking one guarantees that you’ll awaken at level four minimum.”

  “That’s just some bullshit you heard from the internet, man.”

  The chatter quickly died off as people were no longer interested upon discovering he was just another rank one awakener. William sighed. He was used to being treated as invisible, or even a second-class citizen, but he really thought that he’d be able to turn his situation around after the awakening. If only he could have awakened the light instead… He couldn’t stop the childish thoughts from running through his head, even though there were far more concerning things to worry about… the theory… Abby… the mysterious light… and yet all he felt was disappointment, as if the key to dealing with all of these mysteries had slipped from his grasp at the last possible moment, extinguishing hope.

  Naver Frost glanced at his awakener license and patted him on the shoulder. “Congratulations on awakening!” he said with that characteristic smile of his that made his eyes appear as crescent moons. It was hard to read what he really thought, although for whatever reason it seemed like Naver was genuinely happy about the low ranking. “A fire ability is quite good!” Naver added on cheerily.

  Naver’s enthusiasm couldn’t rid him of his disappointment. “You can be honest, Naver,” William said. “I’m sure you didn’t want to get stuck with a level one. If you got assigned to some other advisee from Trinity who awakened at a higher level, you would’ve been better off.”

  “Well, I will most certainly mourn the dreams of steak dinners and luxury hotels that come with advising a higher rank,” Naver laughed. “But don’t feel so down, Mr. Blackwood. Fire is an excellent ability to have as a level one. We can work with that.”

  Naver’s words were right. Even if he didn’t have that powerful light anymore, he could still work with a level one fire ability. “You’re right, and there’s no use crying over spilled milk, after all,” he said.

  “Naturally.” Naver Frost’s eyes darkened. “And don’t forget, there are some disadvantages to awakening at a higher level.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Before William could get a read on what he meant by that, his navigator gently but firmly pushed him towards the direction of the exit.

  “It’s almost time to go, Mr. Blackwood,” he said, returning to his cheery voice as he glanced at his watch. “We’re already a bit late for today’s training. The car is outside.”

  “What car?” William asked. He felt like his navigator was being evasive.

  “Ah, you’ve missed several broadcasts while you were in a coma. The government provides transportation to and from all training regiments,” said Naver. “So that there are no excuses for missing training.”

  They were definitely serious about the whole draft situation, William mused. And to be fair, he knew quite a few Trinity Academy students who would probably whine and make excuses not to attend.

  “I cannot accompany you to the training, but please keep me in the loop, since I will act as your information and dungeon broker for the next two months. If you have any questions, message me through my contact card in the email you received earlier today.”

  William raised an eyebrow in surprise. A personal information broker and a personal dungeon broker for a level one awakener? Did he mishear?

  “Really?”

  Naver Frost nodded. “Everything has already been arranged between your university and the government.”

  William felt his heartbeat quicken in excitement as process the good news. He couldn’t believe that they would spare resources like this on a rank one awakener—again, having an elite Trinity background pulled through. Having a good information broker made a world of difference at both low and high ranks.

  Information brokers received vital confidential updates on newly discovered items and dungeons, technologies and patents, as well as monster activity updates in the wildlands. Meanwhile, dungeon brokers could actually broker deals for raid rights to dungeons. There was no need to explain why those were important.

  Normally an awakener had to be level five or higher and in a captain position at a guild to earn such personalized treatment. A regular level one awakener had to settle for second-hand information found through the online forums, with some desperate awakeners who felt stuck at their level paying a stupidly high subscription fee for access to the VIP forums. Even then, some of the best threads and communities were locked and invitation only.

  Dungeon brokering was an even trickier business. The dungeon brokerage business was mainly controlled by a few companies that specialized in the business, with some independent brokers handling the smaller and more common dungeons. A normal level one awakener would usually have to pay exorbitant fees to have the rights to raid a smaller dungeon or even give up half of their loot rights, so some awakeners and independent parties actually tried to wander around until they found one of those tell-tale rectangular portals. But that could take weeks.

  In other words, without an information or dungeon broker, the average level one awakener had a hard time even getting the opportunity to develop themselves. It was like trying to run a marathon with a blindfold on and heavy weights strapped to your legs. Forward progress was possible, but heavily limited.

  Having Naver Frost supporting him made things completely different. Trinity Academy must have reached quite the deal to secure personal navigators for all of its students, and more importantly, they were both invested in the same success—in him. But all good things came with a catch. The arrangement didn’t sound permanent—he’d only have his personal navigator for the next two months.

  Two months… It wasn't much time at all, but he could get a lot done in that time frame as long as he worked efficiently to get the full benefit of a personal navigator’s support. He could work with this.

  Hope began to return to him, fueling him. He wouldn’t stay level one forever. To hell with expectations. He was awakened, and that meant that his work had only just begun.

  He had to make some serious plans to reach his objectives. One, research about the madness principle and its implications. Now that he had an information broker, he’d have to have a serious talk with Naver, but only after knowing if he could trust him.

  Two, he needed to investigate Abby’s disappearance. He owed this to her. Abby had stood up for him when no one else would. Over the course of his life, not many people helped him when he was in need. This was a matter of principle, and he took this seriously. But following the skulk’s tracks beyond the school building was a suicide mission unless he had the required sufficient strength and information to survive a potential confrontation with it.

  That led to the third item on his list, which was by far the most important. Before anything else, he needed to get stronger, and he needed to find that light again.

  Getting stronger could be broken down into two separate parts. Part A would be related to resource management. Everything related to the monster hunting process was expensive. Weapons, artifacts, armor, consumable potions, military equipment, and all of that came with ludicrous price tags due to the high demand for them. He’d need to complete his first raid before going to the stores or the auction houses.

  Part B would be the actual development of his powers through exposure to otherworld energy, combat exposure against monsters, and overall honing of his body and skillset. For now, he’d best focus on putting on some muscle and learning to better control his fire magic.

  With his plans set, William signaled to Naver. “I’m going to head over to the training site now. Where is it?”

  “By the warehouses in the outer districts of the city,” Naver replied, glancing again at his watch, then at his phone. “Your car is waiting outside already. License plate HN1107. Black.”

  “See you later then,” said William, walking past the rows of Dongan Academy students who were no longer paying him much attention at all. As he emerged from the Awakener’s Bureau and into the sunlight, he took in the feeling of a fresh start, looking idly at the park with many trees across from the Bureau. It was a sight for sore eyes in the otherwise very metropolitan downtown area.

  A honk from the black car that just pulled up broke him from his moment. William boarded the car.

  “You’re almost late, you know that right?” the driver said in a gruff, impatient voice. He was in his forties and looked like the average taxi driver.

  “Can we get there on time?”

  “Maybe. If we’re fast it’ll take about twenty minutes. You better buckle up, kid.”

  William buckled his safety belt in as the car sped forward, hurtling through traffic as they made their way towards the outskirts.

  He checked his phone for the first time in a while, swiping away several heated messages from Manager Kim which included a photo of his fat manager pointing at the broken kitchen exhaust in anger. A problem for another time.

  Absentmindedly, he opened up the information forums and posted a single comment.

  During the outbreak, I think I saw a monster acting weird, like it had intelligence. It knew how to open doors. Did anyone else see something similar? Am I crazy? — Anon 2175

  He hit send without much expectation for a reply.

  …

  Less than a minute later, a few replies began to roll in.

  Maybe you need to go see an eye doctor, zzz.

  A monster that can open doors? Even my mom can make a better story than that. Reported.

  Dumbass.

  Yeah, you’re crazy.

  …

  Less than a minute after posting, he received a notification.

  Your comment has been reported for falsification of a monster encounter.

  Now that was frustrating, and nobody seemed to believe him either. Maybe he’d be better off posting on a less mainstream forum. What about that forum Abby Fate liked, the Occultarium?