Chapter 20: Talent
The climbers association was the organization that acted as the regulatory control body for climbers.
It was a global body, with branches in every major town and city across the world and its importance trumped that of any other body on Earth.
The association exerted a degree of control over every single guild and even held influence over individual climbers regardless of their affiliation.
The reason behind why the association was so powerful was because it controlled the key aspects of one becoming a successful climber.
Firstly, it was the body with the largest reserve of Tower Gold Coins on the entire planet which it used to fund the education of new climbers and procurement of key defensive weapons.
Acting as a customs agent which checked everything that was taken into the tower and brought back on Earth, the association served the dual purpose of safeguarding Earth from dangerous substances and unknown diseases and also collected a tariff fee which helped it grow into the economic powerhouse that it was.
With this money, it bought and operated various talent testing centers, which helped determine the innate potential of newly awakened individuals.
What element did one show a natural affinity towards?
How naturally well tuned their mana pathways were?
How robust was their physical body?
How good were their reflexes?
It tested an individual on a total of 64 different criteria and graded them on a score of 1 to 10 for each criteria.
After all the testing was done, they gave one a talent grade which represented how much of a potential they had and the maximum tier they were likely to reach in their lifetime if they worked hard enough.
The talent grades went from F- to SSS+, however, 99.99% candidates fell between the F- to B- range.
A 'D' grade talent meant that the individual was most likely to be unable to progress beyond floor 30 of the tower and would spend his life being a below average climber.
A 'B' grade talent meant that the climber could potentially reach upto floor 50, however, the path to reaching such heights was extremely difficult.
Such talents were highly valuable in any guilds and ended up becoming either core members or team captains should they progress beyond floor 40.
Rarely ever did a talent above B+ grade pop up and these were the talents that were considered a cut above the rest and could be labeled as the 'Elite' climbers of the world.
These were the climbers that had the potential to perhaps transcend the infamous floor 60 and achieve a lifespan of thousands of years, becoming a lesser god.
These talents were rare and out of a 1000 who had such a potential, perhaps only a single one out of them was able to achieve it, however, all of them showed a smooth ascension until at least floor 40 and were highly sought after talents that occupied the top positions in any guild.
The guildmaster, vice guildmaster, legion commanders, guild elders of any major guild were talents that were ranked A- or more, however, while extremely valuable on Earth, in the entire tower, across thousands of planets, there were still millions of talents ranked A- or more, which was why the true rare ranks that constituted the real talents, were those who belonged to the fabled 'S' class.
The true heights that an S class could reach was considered immeasurable and about 1 in every 10 talents who was ranked as an S class, ended up becoming a lesser god someday.
Riva, was one such talent, ranked S+ in her evaluation, which was one of the highest evaluations ever witnessed in over 20 years, and the highest ever in 200+ years if one discarded the evaluations of the two monsters of the True Elites Guild, Neatwit and Karna.
Ranked SS- , Neatwit was a generational talent, the likes of which Earth had never seen and was the wild card of the True Elites Guild who only appeared in major tower runs and never seemed to be involved in the guilds day to day affairs.
An ascension freak, his love for slaughtering monsters was legendary as it was rumored that unless he killed at least 1000 monsters a day, he didn't even have a drop of water.
However, while a SS- rank seemed impossible to beat, Karna, the True Elites guildmaster was a step higher at SS rating, becoming the highest ranked individual in the history of the Climbers Association since its inception 250 years ago.
Not just Earth, but the entire universe was in uproar when Neatwit and Karna were evaluated so highly in the difference of just one month from each other, as Earth had witnessed the birth of their two brightest stars.
In just 20 short years, the duo climbed a whopping 50 floors together, infamously having never failed a tower run even once.
The guild that they created, became the number one guild on the planet within a decade with every aspiring new talent joining their ranks in hopes of ascending fast alongside their bright stars.
The duo, were repeatedly approached by bigger tower organisations that operated beyond the scope of Earth as they tried to poach them into leaving the tiny planet, however, Karna and Neatwit did not abandon their home planet, participating in four dangerous monster outbreaks and heroically saving millions of lives.
They were a part of the reason behind why humans were such fanatics when it came to climbers as nobody on Earth had the guts to criticize Karna or Neatwit after all they had done for the planet.
However, while SS was good, it was still not the best evaluation as SS+, SSS-,SSS and the legendary SSS+ still remained.
A potential of SS signified that one could climb up to the 80th floor, becoming a legendary figure that was only a few steps beneath the True Gods, however, a potential of SSS suggested that one had the potential to become a True God themself!
It was a heaven defying talent, one that was only talked about in myths and legends, however, in the last 500 years, not a single SSS talent had popped up in the entire universe.
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/// A/N - Mass release chapter 2 of 5, I'm feelings much better and am confident of being able to finish all the bonuses today!///
Chapter 21: The scam
( The day after graduation, country X )
Rocky, Taylor and Adam approached their local Climber's Association headquarters in Country X and excitedly discussed future prospects amongst themselves.
"Man this is a massive scam, no matter how I look at it.
Non-climber families like ours are not allowed to possess more than 1 tower gold coins.
The fees for any good university on floor 0 is at least 5-7,000 TG a semester, so there is no way in hell that you can pay that amount yourself if your parents are not already climbers….." Adam mumbled in annoyance as Taylor picked up from where he left off and continued " and the only place where you can borrow 7000 TG is the Climbers Association, the same place where you test your talent.
However, for lending that money, they make you sign a bond which forces you to provide at least one year of mandatory service to the association and you swear to protect humanity in at least two upcoming raids by serving on the front lines.
So effectively what they do is that they don't let you earn TG, force you into fighting for humanity, and then leech a % of your income until you pay back the principal with a 7% rate of interest"
*Claps*
The three friends sarcastically clapped for the brutal business practices that the climbers association followed as a monopoly, however, they also understood that it was because of these said policies that Earth remained the safe haven that it was.
"What university are you planning for?" Rocky eventually asked the two friends as they waited in line for their turn to be tested.
" I'm going to go for the university of basic elements if my talent is atleast a C.
It has great alumni, a good campus and a great education program, what about you two?" Taylor replied
" I'm more interested in the university for non-combatants.
I want to become like the great forger Kalash, he's paid in millions, he's more respected than guildmaster Karna at times.
He's living the life" Adam said, as he turned towards Rocky, awaiting his answer.
" I'm aiming for the university for nourishment of young talents…. But let's see" Rocky said as both Adam and Taylor instantly cracked up at his choice.
" Hahahaha! The number one ranked university on floor 0, of course you want that one" Taylor said, laughing out loud.
" Brother the fee is around 100,000 gold a semester.
You will drown in debt I'm telling you, D-R-O-W-N" Adam said as he slit his finger across his throat, showing Rocky that he would be a dead man if he made that choice.
"Do you really think you will be ranked A or higher in the talent evaluation? They don't even take in A- you know, the university for nourishment of young talents is a brutal place-" Taylor said, reminding Rocky that even if he ignored the economics of it, he would still be unable to enter the place without sufficient talent.
"Man, their principal is infamously crazy! Even your sister avoided that university although she could have enrolled into it" Adam said as Rocky shrugged his shoulder and smiled nonchalantly.
He did not care what others said, he had already made up his mind that if the university for nourishment of young talents was ready to have him, Rocky was ready to go there, regardless of what others told him.
"Alright, wish me luck boys, looks like I'm up next" Taylor said as the display monitor showed his name and Taylor was asked to enter the talent testing chamber.
Rocky and Adam wished him the best of luck and eagerly waited for his result as they stared at the monitor outside.
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Examinee - Taylor Hudson
Elemental Affinity - Water, Earth.
Close Combat Talent - Below Average.
Suggested Path - Mage.
Overall Grade - C
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The key areas of Taylor's evaluation were displayed on the screen, once he was tested as Rocky and Adam clapped enthusiastically at his result.
C was a pretty good result and Taylor could easily live a great life with such a talent as it seemed like he was suited to become a mage!
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Next Candidate - Adam Wilfred, please enter
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The screen displayed Adam's name next, as Rocky slapped him on the back and gave him some encouragement.
At this moment, Rocky felt even his heart starting to beat louder as he realized that it was him who was going to be tested next.
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Examinee - Adam Wilfred
Elemental Affinity - Fire
Close Combat Talent - Below Average
Suggested Path - Non Combatant / Forger
Overall Grade - C-
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Rocky glanced at the screen and nodded in approval over Adam's grading, as it seemed like both his friends had sufficient talent to pursue the path that they wished for.
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Next Examinee - Rocky Yadav, please enter
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The screen displayed, as Rocky took a deep breath and walked into the testing room.
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/// A/N - Mass release chapter 3/5. ///
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
21 Power
stone 
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