Chapter 16: Competition

"Don't mind him."

"It's true though. Those Quills don't do anything but order us around. If you even try to talk to them about mission placements, they'll ignore you like a ghost."

Neumann felt helpless as Wemby let out his frustrations. Although he didn't necessarily deny the words of Wemby, it still wasn't right to bash the other party in front of a newbie.

"Quills?"

"It's what we call them, those Operators. They're called that because the only thing they do is stay in their offices and write, hence Quill."

Atlan didn't know that there was a sense of friction between the two specialties. And by the looks of it, there was a deep-seated frustration pent up from one side rather than the other.

"They call us something too," Neumann added. "They call us Vanguards as Knives. After all, according to them, that's all we're good for–as blades.

They diagnose the Canzers we're fighting, they are the ones who think up a solution, and they're the ones who decide which Savior fights the Canzers–"

Wemby couldn't help himself and finished the thought. "We're just mindless tools that cut wherever they want us to cut. We're just the knives of a 'magnificent' surgeon."

I didn't know the dynamic between the two was so strained. But if what they said was true, I can see how they would feel underappreciated.

"Let's stop the talk here," Neumann saw that Wemby was getting worked up again.

Just then, the doors at the top of the HeadQuarters opened wide.

"Looks like the stars of the show have arrived."

Neumann was glad that they arrived so early. If they didn't, then Wemby could get so worked up he'd start a fight with the Quills again.

"Who are they?" asked Atlan.

They all wore green battle suits, which meant that they were all Vanguards–or Knives as others liked to call it.

He also noticed that they had weapons slung behind their backs. Wemby, Neumann, and the rest didn't have any weapons on them. But this new group had it.

"They're here to see who can kill the most Canzers under a time limit in an intense competition.

And unlike us old folks, these are real talents. Even though they're so young, they've already surpassed us at the 3rd stage and above.

And to answer your question, this particular group of Saviors are the Damage Dealers, they are the ones that actually fight the Canzer head-on with their LifeSkills."

"You guys don't fight Canzers?"

"We do. We can fight Canzers in a pinch, but that's not our job. Wemby's a Scout, which means he's running around and distracting the enemy.

I'm a Tank, so I just soak up the damage and protect my team.

Oliver is an infantryman, which means he can deal and take damage. But that means he won't be good at both."

Wemby then pointed to one guy whose green battle suit was altered to have a hoodie. The hood obscured his eyes.

"That guy's already at the 3rd stage but he's only been doing this for 10 years. He's a mage, which means he can deal AOE (area of effect) damage to a large group of Canzers.

I think he'll win this week's competition because mages have an inherent advantage at dealing with lots of Canzers."

There were a lot of jobs within the group. There was a sniper, a rogue, an assassin, and other jobs whose main responsibility was to damage the Canzer in lots of different ways.

The group of 'geniuses' walked down the steps and had an aura of seriousness around them. Even though they were part of the same group, there was a sense of competition between them.

As they all walked past Atlan and the group, everyone's eyes subconsciously went toward the young woman at the very back of the line.

Even within the group of geniuses, she had an air of superiority that could not be ignored. In the Remedium where black is white, and white is black, her straight golden hair seemed to have an inherent glow that further attracted everyone who had eyes.

"Woah…I didn't think she'd join the competition. Atlan, forget what I said about them being talented. She is the real talent.

She's a recruit from overseas. Our City snatched her away from a Metropolis by offering her more benefits, the most important of which is a rare Genus.

She joined us just a few days ago, and she's already causing quite a ruckus.

She's the real deal. She has an S class LifeSkill with a DPS job!"

Atlan watched as the girl walked down without glancing at anyone. She looks young. She looked to be the same age as him.

One representative of the group walked over to Neumann and greeted him by saluting.

They both bumped their fist on their chest two times as a sign of respect.

"Sir Neumann. How've you been?" The man had a great head full of brown hair down to his waist.

"Been doing good, Zonald. It's surprising you got her to join the competition."

Zonald sighed. "You don't know how much I had to pester her. That kid doesn't listen to anyone–typical golden child and all that. Sёarᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The only way I was able to convince her was when I said that the prize for the competition would be a mission to the Remedium. The kid's enthusiastic, I'll give her that."

Even though Zonald was exasperated from dealing with an aloof girl like her, there was a hint of pride on his face.

After all, it wasn't every day that he got to mentor an S class talent.

Wemby couldn't take it anymore and dragged Atlan to face Zonald. "Have you met our newest recruit? He's a B class Porter!"

Zonald and the rest of his group stopped and looked at Atlan. Even they knew the importance of a Porter, especially since there was a lack of one in the Student Realm.

The only one who didn't bother to look was the girl.

"Not only that, he was able to beat all of us in our competition! He's able to beat two 3rd stage Students in a fair race, with mutations and all that while just being in the 1st stage!"

Everyone's eyes were filled with amazement and awe when they heard that.

Meanwhile, the girl and Atlan finally saw eye to eye.

A competitive fire lit up in her eyes.