The Perfect Specimen

The attendant escorts Alistair and Michelle to the mission hall. Behind them, the two boys following at a distance making it obvious that they are stalking them.

Alistair sees their commitment to following them and the frustration at their persistence peaks. He turns and asks Michelle in a soft voice,

"If you aren't going to tell me why they are so hung up on you, could you at least tell me how strong they are? I saw them during the spar and they are surprisingly weaker than I originally thought."

Michelle looks at Alistair weirdly, "They aren't strong at all. The only reason I hide from them is because if I show them that I am stronger than them, my brother will know that I am getting stronger...Ah! I didn't mean to say that..."

She puts her face in her palm as she reflects on her words. Alistair slowly grasps the reason for her reluctance to fight. He turns to her and says,

"I may not be able to say that I can beat them straight up, but I can at least endure fighting against them. As long as they don't have any weapons or abilities I'm not aware of."

"Yeah sure you could endure against them, if you are only relying on fighting techniques. Alistair, these are students who are being groomed to be ascended. We are the chosen of humanity, we are at least somewhat dangerous with or without weapons."

The attendant who has been listening in on the side chimes in,

"Also student, Diamond In The Rough Orphanage does not allow weapons in non-mission designated areas. It is also against students caught fighting outside of combat designated zones."

Michelle nods her head in agreement.

Alistair's ear prick up at that statement, "Then what if they are not caught?"

The attendant smirks at the quick thinking of the student, "Unless caught in the act, then it could be said to have never of happened."

Alistair sighs at the realization that unless he is able to stay within eyesight of instructors at all time, he would be subjected to attacks at any time.

He turns to Michelle again and asks, "Then what type of abilities do they have?"

"Well the tall one is only adept at using light spells. He is pretty much useless otherwise, only relying on his physical stature to overpower others while blinded. The other slightly chubby one is adept at boosting spells. He is able to give small enhancements to himself for very short periods of time."

"Boosting spells? Light spells? I really need to read more into the different kinds in the future... But for now, what enhancements and how long..."

Alistair and Michelle converse about their stalkers all the way until they reach the mission hall. The attendant leads them behind the counter and into the back room. The two boys try and follow them through but are stopped by the attendants cold stare and grudgingly wait at the entrance of the hall.

"Okay, so now that we have gotten rid of the pests, what did you wish to talk to me about?" Alistair asks the attendant as he takes a seat by the table in what appears to be the break room of the mission hall staff.

"Of course. Before I go into detail on the reason though, I would like to confirm with you a few things." The attendant sits down next to him in a relaxed professional manner.

"No problem, ask away." Alistair secretly clenches his fists as he realizes that he will need to use a skill that he previously deemed too dangerous to use. He mentally prepares himself for acting.

"On the night of the mission in question, did you go to the kitchen and perform the duty assigned to you?"

"I did, yes."

"While there, did you determine the cause of the noise in question?"

"Yes."

The attendant slightly narrows his eyes and appears less relaxed as he asks his next question.

"What did you determine the cause to be?"

Alistair tries his best not to change his bodies posture or facial expression as he says,

"I took apart the machines and put them back together as instructed by the manual, while cleaning each part. It appeared that nothing was wrong until I turned off the lights and then the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound came back.

After double checking and not finding anything wrong with the machinery, I put my ear up against the wall and heard the cl.i.c.k.i.n.g sound clearly being louder on the other side. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the outside to be on the other side of the wall.

I'm not to sure of the creature, but it would appear there is something out in the darkness making that sound. After thinking that, I chalked it up to creatures outside and was going to report my findings after class."

Alistair looks at the attendant in a calm manner betraying the frantic state of mind he is in. Hoping his performance passed the test, he looks at the attendant expectantly.

"Ah, is that so? Well, there has actually been a report of creatures lurking around that area. As a result the rating was upgraded from the difficulty rating of D to D+. As a result the reward went up as well to 150 points and a extra meal voucher. Congratulations young man."

The attendant lets loose a small sigh and a content smile returns to his face as he informs Alistair about the mission and processes the completion for him.

"I must apologize though, since this young lady was not registered on the mission at any point she will not receive a mark of completion."

Michelle chimes in and grandiosely states, "That's fine. In the future though, we would like to register for missions as a team though."

The attendant flatly says, "You can only add more people if they are present at the time of signing for the mission or added after the fact by the mission holder. There are no 'teams'."

She takes a shot to her pride as she feels embarrassed. "Ah, of course. That's what I meant..." she tries to awkwardly laugh it off but the dead silence in the room snuffs her chance at recovering.

"Anyway, I am thankful for the reward. I have a request though, I am aware that the points can be used for more than just food. Could I get a list of all the items the points are useful for?"

"Of course. However, the list would require 25 points. Are you okay with this?"

Alistair guffaws at the shamelessness of requiring one to spend reward points on the list of possible rewards.

"This is highway robbery! I have never even heard of a list of rewards. We are told that it is mainly used for food upon entering." Michelle adds in on the side.

"Really? Everyone else is told the same thing, and yet you see some students who have been here longer than you wearing special gear or granted certain privileges that others are not giving them an advantage over others. So tell me, is this not something someone would consider highway robbery?

Students could get things from magical materials, to extra perks during missions and even one on one training with instructors. Students, you need to realize that there are many ways to the top of the pyramid at this school."

Both Michelle and Alistair quickly catch on and figure out then and there that standing out is not the only way to get stronger in this school. Rewards, points, marks, recognition and who knows what else. Both of them begin subconsciously planning their rise to the top.