Chương 2: Lianna Velcross

{Two Years Ago}

Lianna Velcross was not the type of person who showed up early to class.

No, she was the type of person who, on a good day, would show up halfway through holding the half-eaten burger she'd taken a detour to buy. She was the type of person whom one would see arriving at the classroom and go:

"Oh, right. She exists."

Today, however, on the last day of high school, Lianna had to make an exception. Just like every other student, she was here 10 minutes before the bell was even set to ring. She had to be.

As much as she hated it, this was too important to show up late.

[Agh, this headache is killing me!] Lianna thought as she sat in her chair with her head in her arms, her blood-red hair forming an umbrella around her on the table. [I'm so not used to getting up this early. Damn it!]

Right next to her, a boy that was about twice her size was in the same predicament, though he solved his issue by falling asleep right there, his snores filling up the slightly tense air.

The reason, of course, as to why everyone there was so tense, with the exception of that one kid snoozing away peacefully, was because today was the Watchful's evaluation.

One of the most prestigious of Telvan's many different Player guilds, the Watchful had a unique policy where they would visit every high school in the nation, once a year, to scout new talent.

It was an opportunity that pretty much everyone coveted, as being accepted by them would mean a guaranteed life of economic stability and general luxury...

... In exchange for diving into dangerous ruins and perhaps fighting horrifying creatures the likes of which people couldn't even dream of, but, hey, it removed a lot of ambiguity from life. So, people wanted to do well in these evaluations.

And, Lianna was no exception.

[Agh, I'm too stressed!] She clutched her head, as though it was threatening to burst if she didn't. [I should go to the bathroom or something. Maybe I can pee the stress away!]

So, a couple of minutes before she needed to be in her chair, Lianna stood up and simply walked out.

As she moved across the classroom, several students pulled away from her, as if she was on fire or something. That wasn't an unusual reaction, as they'd all heard about her. They all knew her background.

Lianna had gotten used to it.

There was no one in the school's halls. It was so quiet that Lianna's shoes echoed with every step she took. And, the drumming of her own heart in her ears didn't get any quieter.

[I'll just splash some water on my face and call it a day- agh, this headache is killing me!]

Entering the nearest bathroom, Lianna went straight to the handwashers. Here, she looked at herself in the mirror, stopping when she realized just how graceless she actually looked. If this was an evaluation based on looks, she'd probably fail dramatically.

Dark, red hair fell wildly over her shoulders, curving into a low-cut, sleeveless brown shirt. She had on some ripped jean shorts, and dark, crimson lipstick covering a pair of thin lips. Her red eyes, gleaming like two big rubies, betrayed how nervous she was.

[Ah... I dunno. Maybe I should have put on the damn school uniform. No, no, no. It won't affect the evaluation, you're being paranoid. Shit, am I? What if they go "nah, she looks too trashy" or something? Fuck!]

As soon as Lianna splashed that water onto herself, the bell finally rang.

[Crap.]

She raced back to the classroom. She didn't even use the restroom like she'd wanted to originally.

Everyone who needed to be here was already here. Including the test giver, who was sitting in the teacher's chair, with a small, mechanical contraption in front of him.

[Crap, crap, crap, crap!]

The man, dressed in a black tux and wearing an absurdly tall hat, smirked as Lianna came in, without looking at her directly. On his chest, Lianna noticed the Watchful's symbol, a two-headed dragon, one blue and one red to represent the Search and Rescue division and the Search and Destroy division.

That was what separated the Watchful from other guilds. Other guilds dove into dungeons for fame and glory. The Watchful only showed up when things for those other guilds went poorly and acquired their own fame and glory by saving others' asses.

As she passed him by, Lianna looked at the man's Status.

Evan Myers

MP: 200/200

---

STR: C+

END: C-

DEX: A-

MYS: C-

L: D

[High Dex. That alone makes this guy pretty damn powerful.]

As quickly as she could, Lianna made her way over to her chair. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some of her classmates trying not to laugh.

"Well, we're all here now," the test giver said. "Let us begin. Your homeroom teacher was kind enough to leave me with the class registry. I will call your name one at a time. You will step forward, place your hand on top of this machine, take your hand off when the machine is done scanning you, and then, go back to your seat. We'll be done in no time!"

He gave the classroom a closed-mouth smile as he let his words sink in.

"Now, let's get started."

Thus, one by one, he began calling out names. Different students got up and placed their hands on the object.

Lianna, meanwhile, looked up at her own stats.

Status:

Lianna Velcross

MP: 100/100

---

STR: D-

END: D-

DEX: D-

MYS: D-

L: F

---

Skills:

Block: 10

Blade: 10

Blunt: 10

Lance: 10

Unarmed: 10

Archery: 10

Sneak: 10

Healing Magic: 10

Combat Magic: 10

Summoning Magic: 10

Utility Magic: 10

---

Traits:

Child of Mana

{Born from a mana storm. Gain a boost to mana.}

---

Instinct:

Target Analysis

{Allows the user to see the Statuses of other living beings}

[Okay... My stats are horrible, I'm not gonna cope my way into believing that's not the case, but I do have an Instinct! That's way more than most people can say.]

"Next, Lianna Velcross."

Quickly, Lianna stood up.

Some of the students who'd been laughing behind her back grew quieter. The overall sense of anticipation in the room grew with every step she took, getting closer to the teacher's desk.

Here it was. The moment that Lianna felt would truly decide if her existence was mere coincidence, the product of an extremely rare phenomenon, or if it all actually meant anything.

[Come on... I don't even care about being a high rank. Just get me in there!]

Lianna stood before the desk.

The evaluator smiled up at her, the metal object in front of him waiting patiently.

"Just place a hand on top of this object. That's all you need to do," he said, quietly.

Lianna nodded.

Hesitantly, she did as she was asked.

Mana siphoned from her to the object to the evaluator. When the other students did this, their mana was a simple, blue stream.

Due to the nature of her existence, however, hers was a violet line sinking into the machine, and then coming out blue on the other end.

[Come on, come on...]

He closed his eyes for a few seconds.

When he opened them again, there was some surprise on his face.

"You can see others' Statuses?"

Lianna nodded.

"Hm..." He put a hand to his chin, considering that nugget of information. "Hold on one moment, please."

He then swiftly pulled out his phone and called someone.

The evaluator spoke to this person so quietly that even though Lianna was right in front of him, she still didn't hear anything.

Until, he said: "Understood," and hung up the phone.

He looked back and forth between his machine and Lianna.

The crimson-haired girl could feel her heart threatening to burst out of her chest with every single glance the evaluator would throw at her.

[Did I...?]

Just as Lianna asked herself that, the man's polite smile fell on his face once more.

"I apologize," he told her. "Unfortunately, even though you have an amazing ability, your base stats are just too low. Not to mention that this lovely machine of mine also measures potential. Your ability to increase those stats. And..."

"Yeah?"

"... Well, let's just say you didn't make the cut."

Lianna fell to her knees, earning a round of chuckles in the class that may as well have been a laugh track as all her dreams came crashing down around her.

[Well... Damn it. Ugh, I...] She shook her head, so dejected that she almost felt like she'd just melted into a puddle right then and there, waiting to be mopped off the floor. [I didn't make it.]

The fact that she'd anticipated this outcome didn't make things any better. No, if anything, it only worsened the disappointment, making her wonder why she even showed up in the first place.

That anger, directed specifically at herself for being so lacking, bottled up until she yelled out:

"FUCK!"

The evaluator's face did not change one bit.

"Language, please. Next!"

Lianna got up and slowly began walking back to her seat, feeling so many different eyes on her, making this walk of shame so much worse.

[I don't know why I even bothered with this. I'm just a useless child of mana, after all.]