章 14: Impressive
All of them were gasping for air, with Wemby laying on the ground and letting his legs cool off. He couldn't believe what he saw.
How was it possible that a 1st stage Student was able to speed past two Saviors who were in the 3rd stage? That was absurd!
Sure, Atlan had a Physique LifeSkill perfect for running while carrying heavy weights. But that still wasn't enough explanation as to how Atlan overpowered the combination of a speed LifeSkill and a mutation working together.
Were Porters that impressive? Or was it just Atlan's innate talent?
"Ha…ha….that was amazing. You…you're so much faster than me. I almost can't believe it." Wemby forced himself up and congratulated Atlan.
How embarrassing would it be for him if he stayed lying on the ground while Atlan stood tall barely even catching his breath?
"Thanks. That's the first time I've ever run that fast. It's…freeing."
The oval-faced guy walked over to Atlan and held out his hand. "Oliver. Congrats."
Atlan shook hands with the guy and was happy to finally know his name.
"Looks like he's really impressed with you. He even gave you his name!" Lizzie and Neumann both walked over to Atlan and congratulated him on his very unexpected win.
Lizzie was very proud of Atlan. She was the one who recruited him, and she felt a fraction of his achievements as her achievements.
Neumann, on the other hand, was speechless. He knew that Atlan was strong, evidenced by his strong grip, but Neumann didn't think that Atlan would be able to beat two of the fastest 3rd stage Saviors head to head.
"You won this competition fair and square."
Atlan finally let go of the flags in his belt, and a slight earthquake emanated from the crash. After a moment, the flags disintegrated into particles and disappeared.
"Looks like we have a very reliable Porter in our midst. We'll be relying on you for most of our missions, and I hope you show that amazing power of yours in our adventures."
The rest of the competitors all approached Atlan and congratulated him.
They introduced themselves to him, in the hopes that he would be the Porter in their missions. If they had a teammate like Atlan, they could be sure that their missions would go smoothly.
Everyone returned to the HeadQuarters and they relaxed on the steps and conversed with each other.
Atlan learned that most of them were older than 100 years old.
"Believe it or not, I only started this Savior business 25 years ago. At that time, I never thought I had the talent to fight Canzers.
So, I postponed my Draft. I never bothered with it because I was content with my life.
But everything changed because of my daughter. She participated in the Draft as soon as she could and it turned out that she had an A class LifeSkill!
She rose through the ranks, and I felt alienated from her. In an attempt to understand her better, I did my Draft to become a Savior and the rest was history."
Neumann had a very noble reason as to why he became a Savior.
Atlan found it interesting that even at more than a hundred years old, Neumann was still able to make life-changing decisions like a kid trying to find his way.
Meanwhile, people in the Unclaimed Lands barely even live past the age of 20…
Must be the effect of immortality, Atlan thought.
"I'm not like old Neumann the eighth over here," Wemby teased. "I didn't start my Savior journey till I was only a hundred years old. I was a regular old noodle shop owner but after 80 years, I got tired of it."
Wemby and Neumann both started late in their years. But it still took them a significant amount of time to advance through the stages.
20 years might seem like a blink to them, but to Atlan, it was a whole lifespan.
"Does it take that long to advance through the stages?"
Neumann and Wemby had a shared self-deprecating laugh. "If you're like us plebs, then yeah it'll take you tens of years to advance.
One of the reasons why we're stuck in this stage is because there are a lot of Saviors with the same job as us. We're a bit overpopulated. And there are barely any missions that are suitable for low-level Saviors like us.
We only get about 3 missions a month in a good year. So, it'll take us years to accumulate experience."
Wemby patted Atlan on the back. "But you have talent. You'll be getting more and more missions in the future.
And last I heard, there's been a surge of missions ever since the Solar Event. So, it'll be easier to get experience now more than ever."
"Oh yeah, have you guys heard about that Solar Storm? I heard it's been messing up some of the systems in the City," one of the Saviors commented.
"Oliver, you're the oldest out of all of us. Has this ever happened before?"
The infamous oval-faced guy who was sitting on the railing of the stairs all by himself spoke only one word. "No."
"Either way, I know it's bad to say this, but I'm glad there are more missions. More experience for us. Who knows. Maybe after this, there'll be a drought."
"And lucky for you, newbie! I think that you'll be able to advance to the second stage in just a month!"
Atlan remained silent as they talked about the 'fortunate' Solar Event. Knowing the ominous reason behind it, he couldn't celebrate quite as well as those guys.
Should I tell them? Would they even believe me?
Lizzie saw the worried expression on Atlan's face and felt partially responsible.
She was the one who put those thoughts of Angels and extinction in Atlan's head. She regretted ever saying those words aloud when it wasn't even true.
Those things that fell from the sky weren't angels. It was a weird solar event, nothing more.
So, she subtly changed the conversation.
"You did quite well in the competition," she praised him. "But I suggest that you don't activate your LifeSkill all the time. You get tired easily, right?
Atlan's mouth opened in shock.
"It's like a muscle. You have to deactivate it to recover from the strain," Lizzie added but Atlan wasn't listening.
Wait. I have to activate my LifeSkill?
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