Chapter 3

Frank appeared on top of the bleachers rather than the crevasse leading from the center of the structure. This did two things, first, it gave him a good view over the rest of the gymnasium, which showed that even now after all this time the final few students were matriculating their way through the awakening platform and were nearly on their way out.

The second thing being on the top of the bleachers did was it gave Frank the chance to move around without being seen by any of the guards, but only if he went unnoticed. Crouching low and crawling his way behind the seats, he deftly made his way forward, not wanting to gain any unwanted attention.

On instinct his body never actually rested on the ground, instead he just used the tips of his toes and fingers to maneuver his way around. This feat would have been almost impossible earlier. That or if he had done so earlier, he would have needed to make multiple breaks.

This time however things were different, as Frank had felt not one but two distinct breakthroughs, both of which led to more strength, stamina, coordination, and most importantly more mobility. Keeping his head down he didn’t check to see if anyone else saw or heard him. Instead, he used the they will call you if they see you method.

This method was nothing new, nothing created by Frank, but rather the same method that all kids have when they know they are doing, have done, or are about to do mischief. Basically, keep your head down, get away as quickly and quietly as possible, and deny it completely when and if you are caught.

Frank got to the edge of the bleachers and saw his first true hurdle. Namely a light hand rail that went up two feet or so, designed to catch anyone who inadvertently fell.

For his part, Frank saw the hand rail, then quickly raising his head up, he gave a quick scan of the area, and didn’t notice anyone that was paying attention to him.

He looked, but didn’t see anyone that had noticed him.

Feeling somewhat confident, he crawled closer and looked through the open railings and looking down once again saw that no one was nearby and that the area right below was in a perfectly dark alcove, similar to the on he had gone into when needing a moment to relax.

Realizing he didn’t have much time and needed to get down, lest he go back and get caught by the flame wielding psycho soldier, Frank did what any would have in his shoes. Namely, he reached out with his right hand, grabbing one of the supporting rails, then slowly but quickly slithered his body over the side of the bleachers and once his feet were down he had cut off the distance by about half, especially with his arm fully extended. Then not wanting to draw out this moment, he gave a slight kick off from the side with his foot, while simultaneously letting go of the railing and dropped to the ground.

Plop.

That time he did make a sound that instantly drew everyone’s attention to him.

Feeling somewhat chagrined by the sudden attention, he went with the first excuse he could think of.

“Whoops, tripped there,” Frank said, then going a little more forcefully into the role as others were still looking at him he continued. “Watch out, the ground raises by a quarter of a inch, right there.”

Chuckle.

There was a bit of pitying laughter that came from his last comment, as many people began to finally look away.

Relieved that no one called him out or made any comments about him randomly falling on a flat piece of smooth slate, he quickly moved. For a second, he almost expected to feel the slight pinching sensation that almost always followed his falling from a similar distance, a pinching sensation that made it, so it was hard to walk, and equally hard to move around for a day or two. Fortunately, this time there was no pain.

In fact, he still felt good. Confident even, as he made his way past the used snake oil salesperson, AKA the used Occultivator salesman. As he moved though, Frank didn’t waste the chance to get free energy, purposefully walking into and through the demonstration field, reaching his hand out to swat at the free floating motes of energy that were provided since the salesman’s last time.

There was a slight path that Frank could have taken to avoid the salesperson, but the main one that everyone used went right in front of the salesperson and his display desk. This was also the one that a suddenly woozy Frank veered off of, when stumbling into and absorbing the ambient energy that had been provided for demonstration purposes.

“Hey, get out of here. This is my demonstration area!” The salesperson shouted at Frank.

“Oh, sorry.” Frank said, playing off the part of a misguided student who was clumsily making their way through the gymnasium. Then having drawn in two more motes of energy, Frank felt a slight surge of energy, as he made his way to the career table.

In his mind, Frank saw this stealing of energy as a win-win. First, he made it so hopefully one less person was tempted to buy the slum area deathtrap that was an Occultivator. The second reason why this was a win-win as it meant that Frank was now one more step closer to reaching another breakthrough point in his cultivation.

Maybe it was a loss for the salesperson, and ultimately a loss for the military as a whole who was expecting fifty percent of the commission, but they deserved that loss as that loss was at the cost of fellow citizens of the lower levels. At least that was the way Frank saw things.

Frank couldn’t tell exactly where he stood, but it was clear from the sensation in his body that he was well over the halfway marker of being full of energy again. Realizing it was time to fully invest in his future, he stepped forward, into the line of job applicants and taking a deep breath prepared himself for what he was about to do.

***

What Frank failed to notice was the careful gaze of the guard who seemed to follow the boy’s movements like a hawk. A guard who went by the nickname Vanguard.

Of course, given Vanguard’s unique condition, and ability, it was impossible for most to view him, as the man’s true name was Gaulding, but that was a lifetime ago that he last used anything but his alias. The letter denoting his power rating was D. As a D-Rank cultivator there was only one reason why he was accepted to come along on these types of situations. Most of the time he was meant as crowd control, as his D-Rank power allowed him to mostly move around unnoticed by others. His Awakened power was a form of chameleon skin, though that wasn’t exactly the best way to describe his power. His power was called Calcitification, and resembled the effects of calcite resting on an object, rather than being clear or see through, the image from behind was pushed forward and through as if it was the same exact on the others side. As a D-Rank skill it meant that he was only able to grab images from up to an inch away from his body and present them perfectly on the other side of his body without any distortion. The power was perfect, and made him the perfect scout.

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Vanguard was always attached as an augmentee to such awakenings for the sole purpose of being able to spot lower ranked gems. Gems who like himself would fall through the cracks if not identified and harnessed to their full potential early on.

He had first noticed the boy when he snuck his way back behind the rafters. Following the boy, he was surprised to see the boy swerve into each mote of energy. Effortlessly guiding his way to images that were at the furthest edges of his Occultivator’s vision, which being the recent most top of the line version were actually a neural implanted contact lens that helped identify energy within an immediate area of twenty-five feet away.

When he saw the kid drop and visibly go into a meditative pose, the guard honestly found himself impressed.

Yet, the kid would clearly not amount to much with just an F-Rank ability, which is why Vanguard opted to leave him be. Particularly as it was clear that the boy was not a danger to himself or others.

Vanguard’s attention was once again redrawn to the kid when he attempted to leave a few moments later when he stumbled into the resident hot-heads and was chased off.

With that Vanguard made a note to scan for the kid and see when he tried to leave the other side of the bleachers. From a glance, it was clear that Vanguard wasn’t the only one who was interested in the kid, as the other two guards, the ones that had chased him off, made constant glances back behind them to see if they could find him. The only thing was, they were probably too close to the action to notice his actual escape.

Smiling to himself, Vanguard watched as the boy stealthily climbed his way up the side of the rafters and made his way to the bleachers. Then he gave a quick scan of the area before moving. He was so good at moving that Vanguard nearly missed him making his escape over the far side. This forced Vanguard to run quickly around the side of the bleachers to get a better view, where he noticed the kid drop, draw the attention of others and then easily dismiss his sudden appearance by claiming he stumbled.

Honestly, that alone made Vanguard impressed with the kid. Then the way he went and stole the free samples from the used Occultivator salesman almost made Vanguard laugh out loud right then and there.

Intrigued, he got closer to the kid, he managed to see the recent changes made to the kid’s body, as detailed by his Occultivator feed that was feed into the base database and read the boy’s current attributes and standings.

Body Cultivation Level II. Core Value II. Talent: F-Rank Energy Eyes

Strength: 8 (Below Average) + II = 10

Dexterity: 9 (Below Average) + II = 11

Agility: 8 (Below Average) + II = 10

Mind: 7 (Way Below Average) +II = 9

Power: 14 (Way Above Average)

Willpower: 12 (Above Average)

Hidden Power Rating: 8 / 14

Seeing the boy’s progress, Vanguard was impressed. Most spend months trying to learn to cultivate that quickly, yet the boy had done so perfectly not once, but twice. Of course, the closer you were to your actual awakening day, the easier it was to cycle the energy in the correct pathways. Also given that he hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink, also meant that there was less deviation from toxin buildup within the body.

Honestly, for a moment, a very brief moment, Vanguard was legitimately jealous of the boy. Not only had he advanced twice, but he had done so fully, and managed to improve his core value both times. Also, the fact that he now had a Power rating of fourteen was astounding, as that was almost one per year of his life. Given that the boy was at most fifteen, as that was the maximum age anyone was allowed to wait to be awakened.

“Age?” The Career developer asked.

“Fourteen.” The F-Rank boy stated clearly.

“Preferred occupation?” The man asked in a slightly distracted tone.

“Janitor.”

“What?” The Career Developer asked, suddenly shocked by the change.

“Janitor, or if that is not available, can I take hazardous duty janitor?” The boy inquired.

“What, why yes. Yes of course we do have a position for hazardous duty janitor available.” The man began, but then paused as he looked at the boy. “You do realize that these are dangerous places that you will be subject to cleaning, right?”

“I’m aware.” The boy said with a certain intensity.

Pausing for a moment, the Career Developer leaned forward and looked almost sad about what he was going to say next. “You do know that Hazardous Janitor, while it does come with a twenty-five percent pay raise over standard janitors, the pay might not be worth it. You can get cut up, mangled, or worse, eaten by the lower rats.”

Hearing that, Vanguard paused, realizing that he suddenly felt a twinge of respect for the Career Developer. No doubt the Career Developer would gain a substantial bonus for getting someone to sign up for the dangerous job of being a hazardous janitor, but here he was, actively trying to talk the boy out of doing so.

Pausing for a moment, Vanguard didn’t know how to think about that.

“That’s fine.” The boy said, stopping the man from talking him out of the position. If anything, the boy seemed to be more resolute in his decision.

“Is it money? Is someone in your family sick? I assure you that this job won’t be able to provide for them the way you think it will.” The man said, one last time.

“No, no need for money. Well, there is a need, but this I think is my calling.” The boy said adamantly.

And like that, Vanguard watched arguably the most interesting boy sign up for what had to be one of the worst jobs available. For a moment he thought about tabbing the boy right then and there, yes there would be more paperwork by grabbing an F-Rank kid. Though if his guess was correct the talent he had, Energy Eyes, gave him the ability to view energy the same way the Occultivator allowed normal people to.

It was known that the Occultivator was dangerous to use, even now Vanguard had to limit the Occultivators use to just one eye and even then only for a portion of time otherwise his coordination would become tougher to focus on.

For a moment, Vanguard thought about tabbing the kid right then and there to be part of his special forces unit, granting him an honorary B-Rank that would pull him out of poverty and into the mid-tiers. He thought about this, then ultimately decided against this course of action.

The kid clearly had ambition, the fact that he made no reference to his tier two of body cultivation did not go unnoticed by him. Meaning that he likely had a family, a plan, or maybe even a significant other that he would be thinking about if he was plucked away from here.

No, for the moment, Vanguard decided to make a note of the boy, one that he intended to follow up on the next time he was in the slums.

While he normally hated coming to the slums, he felt that it was for times like these that he had been pulled from the frontlines with the intent to help in just such situations.

Vanguard waited until the boy moved away and was fully outside the building before he dropped his cloaking power right in front of the Career Advisor.

As expected, the Advisor jumped a full foot into the air at the sudden realization that a musclebound guard had just appeared within close combat striking distance of him.

“Wha-ho!” The man shouted as he saw Vanguard suddenly appear.

With that quite a few sets of eyes all turned to the two.

Realizing his outburst the advisor looked suddenly embarrassed by his sudden outburst. This was good as it hopefully meant that the man would be more concerned about the trained killer standing right before him wearing the uniform of the advanced forces, and less concerned with the power ranking tab. A tab that was clearly missing from his uniform, along with any semblance of rank for the military. In fact the only indication of power at all was on the stripes on his right arm. Stripes that showed that he had broken through both the body and blood cultivation layers and was clearly in the final stages of Skeletal Cultivation.

“How, how can I assist you? Sir?” The advisor eventually stammered out.

“That boy that just signed up for the position of a hazardous janitor. I want you to mark his file for us, and make sure that wherever he goes, we expect to see a monthly status report on his work efforts and efficiency.” Vanguard said, pulling out a communications card that would provide direct access to Vanguard’s units’ personal communications platform, which was often used to track and monitor individuals that caught Vanguard’s attention.

“Ye, yes sir.” The man stammered, earmarking the boy’s application, and sealing the communication’s card to the form.

“Very good.” Vanguard said, then taking a step back he activated is power and disappeared from sight entirely.

“What?” The advisor said, staring off into space.

Vanguard snickered to himself, this part, the part of disappearing from right in front of people, it never grew old.

For a moment, he thought about following the boy to see what would happen next. But instead, he realized that there might still be one or two more gems to discover from the remaining few applicants that were still trickling through.

“Frank Fotos.” Vanguard muttered to himself, trying to remember the name, and hoping that this kid, unlike all the hundreds of others would make something of himself. It would be too much to pull an F-Rank second tier body cultivator, even if he did so within hours. No, what was important now is that he not only get the strength, but also learn how to move his body with his new found strength and ability. “Maybe being a hazardous janitor was the best option for you after all.”

Then like that, all thoughts of Frank Fotos slipped away from Vanguard’s mind, as he went back to the task at hand, namely finding more talent to keep an eye on for the special operations units.