A lot had happened throughout the 240 years, civilisation itself had to restart and prosper with enemies in close quartes, however with the addition of Modifications, they were given a chance to survive. Everyone took that chance in stride and wanted prosperity in their lives.
Modern Civilisation rose once again and this time, with the addition of Pentagon.
Pentagon occured at 2190, and because of their successes with the candidates in a five year term, the government made it so serving three years of military service was compulsory, and the 13 year olds would be hand picked by examiners in their final years.
The first two years in a Military Academy were pretty dull, it was the same, all the first two years did in a Military Academy were to make sure you wouldn't fall behind physically, and that you were informed of variations of Monsters who you may have to fight one day.
The final year was different. At the age of 12, their Modification would emerge. The only way someone could tell their stats and modification were through Status Stones, however, some people are able to emerge their own Status Window, nobody knew why this happened, but around a million candidates were able to emerge their own status window when their Modification emerged too out of the entire world. a million may seem like a lot, however, when their were 5 billion people in Panorama, the number itself becomes smaller.
In this world, there was only one government, and these people were known as 'The Origins'. It consisted of around 75 people who experienced the start of a new life, and for some reason, these people were able to gain a Modification without being born with one, as they were already alive at the time of the occurence.
Originally, The Origins consisted of around 1000 people at the start, however the numbers dwindled overtime, and in 20 years time, The Origins would vote among themselves and 500 people would be added into the second generation of The Origins (2260).
----------------------------------------
Neo was alone in Panorama. His parents were no longer with him, he didn't know why, all he knew was that he was in an Orphanage. However, this changed when he turned 10. He was sent away into a Military Academy.
In those three years, he experienced torture. In his early years of life he was unwell and underfed, until he eventually was put in an Orphanage at 4. For his six years in the Orphanage, he only clicked with two other people: Lexi and Mal. Both Lexi and Mal were born in the same year as him so they were also sent to Military Academies, although he was seperated from them both and he hasn't seen them in 3 years.
When he awoke his Modification, he was pretty excited. He could even see his own Status Window so he believed he'd be pretty special! However, he was met with reality. He wasn't special.
His Modification was:
[Reinforcement: You can only cast this on yourself and will be physically strengthened - Grade 1][Growth Type][0%]
When everyone gained their Modifications, they were interviewed by their Teachers and a few Examinees from Pentagon. As he told them, they looked pretty disappointed, however I added on that it was a Growth Type and Grade 1. Everyone in the room smiled. If it started at Grade 3 and has the same description, they would be quite sad, however, because it's Grade 1, that means it has much more room to grow as Grade 1 is the weakest it can be, whilst Grade 9 was the highest. Regarding his stats, they weren't anything special, below average, especially his Vitality and Perception.
Strength: 2.1
Agility: 2.8
Perception: 1.1
Stamina: 2.0
Vitality: 0.9
Magic Power: 0
Modification: [Reinforcement][Growth][0%]
Skills:
Abilities:
He wasn't worried about his Magic Power since they didn't learn it in Military Academy, that was something people in Pentagon used. The reasoning being was that they didn't want civilians learning Magic as it would become something ordinary, and could lead to things like revolts by criminals. He had no Skills or Abilities either, and again he wasn't worried. This was completely normal unless you were born to be made into a Ranker (Top 50,000 in the world).
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
In my Interview when my Stats came through. I was told that he could become a candidate for Pentagon if by the end of the year he was able to get everything above 2.8, and atleast something in 3.0 (2.0 was seen as average). Also, if they strived to be in Pentagon, it was recommended to see if you could somehow use Mana without being told how, as some people innately had the power to do so, although this very rare.
----------------------------------------
It was at the end of the year, and in my Military Academy, I was ranked 4,940 out of 15,000 in his year.
I wasn't shocked, if anything I would be annoyed if I was lower than 5,000 as I tried my best. I didn't like working out, it was something I sort of just had to do. I checked my status one last time before walking into the Hall, where we would be monitored to see if we were worthy to become a candidate in Pentagon.
Strength: 3.0
Agility: 3.2
Perception: 2.1
Stamina: 2.6
Vitality: 1.8
Magic Power: 0
Modification: [Reinforcement][Growth][50%][Grade 1]
Skills:
Abilities:
I did everything I could. Although I wasn't able to get to 2.0 in everything, he had two stats as a 3.0. That was pretty much above average! The only issue was my Modification, this was my downfall. It wouldn't rise. The buff it gave me was minimal and couldn't be compared to people who were able to transform their bodies into Rock or Steel. In duels I was useless. Especially since we were never assigned a specific weapon, that was for when you progressed your career, so I was stuck with a stupid sword like everyone else, I was stupid, my stats obviously indicated that I should be Support or Ranger. Of course, the Commanders truly didn't care.
I tumbled in, and waited for the room to fill.
An hour went by, and honestly it went quite quick.
"Hello everyone! We're going to make this quick since there's another class that need to be examined. If you are signalled please walk to left towards the man in the Pentagon outfit". The Commander finished speaking and five men in hooded robes walked over to the candidates.
I've never seen anyone in this form of outfit, so they were probably special people and had to hide their identity for some reason.
As they were walking up to candidates, I looked at my number.
'4940'. This was enough. It had to be enough.
I didn't have any friends in my year, they could only be classified as colleagues. I didn't have time, I was working at every corner. I did everything I could to get into Pentagon. I have nothing to turn back to.
I was examined with by someone and they had a sheet of paper in his hand with my Status Window.
"Strange". He muttered an unnecessary insult out at Neo.
Neo didn't say anything back, he just flinched.
The hooded man turned around and said: "This one too, he's weird though, come look". He waved at others to come look at his sheet of paper.
"Well, he's obviously a Support, but his Modification can't guarantee that he can use it on others. Maybe range if he trained with a Bow or Gun so his skills can cater to them?". Both feminine and masculine voices were speaking to eachother.
"But wouldn't that render his Modification null? I haven't heard any Rangers using a form of buff Modification before". A masucline voice replied.
This was weird, they usually glance at the sheet of paper and back at the candidate and signify whether they're accepted or not.
"Child, why is your rank so low? With these stats you should naturally be top 500. No scratch that, maybe even 250". The feminine voice spoke out to Neo.
Neo thought for a few seconds before speaking as he didn't want to stutter over his words despite being nervous. "My Modification is useless despite it being a Growth Type. I can only apply it on myself and the effects doesn't do much. I can only use it 5 times a day with a 30 minute length time. So in a lot of our exams I was unable to compare to other Modifications, especially since I don't have any skills in close combat, I was unable to show my true potential". Neo smiled after finishing his speech. He nailed it.
"Interesting, I think I understand now. Boss, over here". The Boss sighed and came walking over.
"You two really need to stop this, it's becoming annoying".
"This time it's worth it. Look at his Status Window, and I'm assuming you heard his explanation". The Masculine voice urged him to look.
Neo was confused, it was a 30 second walk over here, how did he even hear that? We aren't even shouting. Maybe he's somebody special? No, that wouldn't make sense. It's only a selection process.
As Neo was thinking of who this muscle man was, they started to converse again.
"Well. We should accept him. It's obvious that he needs to learn how to use mana so he can use this properly. I don't think this is your average Enchancement Modification since it is a Growth Type, and as you know, Growth Types are usually linked to a specific weapon, or some form of theme. In this case, his Modification is literally called 'Enhancement'. I think it's too vague to be a Growth type. Addition to this, his stats obviously meet the criteria. The only problem is whether he's a Ranger or Support type, but I guess that's up to him. We can only advise people.". The grey haired man went on a bit of a tangent but what he said had merit, and made a lot of sense.
"Okay I guess. Child, over their please". The feminine voice was pointing to the group of 10 standing near the man they were told to.
----------------------------------------
An hour passed, and out of the 1,500 in the hall, it was now made up of 23.
I wonder how many people got into Pentagon in my year.