The Guide-Sentinel Center.
A gathering place for Sentinels and Guides, established by the government.
Under their teacher’s guidance, Feng Zhi and the others arrived by hovercar. They split up at the entrance: the Sentinels went where Sentinels were supposed to go, and the Guides went where Guides were supposed to go.
The group headed farther in, and Feng Zhi was led into a building.
People were waiting in line inside. Feng Zhi sat down in a chair, picked up the Sentinel-Guide Beginner’s Manual beside her, and began to read.
First came the rank system. Sentinels and Guides followed the same scale, from highest to lowest: SSS, SS, S, A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Everyone awakened their Sentinel or Guide rank at eighteen. After further training, almost everyone could improve by three ranks.
For instance, she was currently an F-rank Guide, and would certainly become a D-rank Guide in the future. As for reaching any higher, that depended on luck.
After a person awakened as a Sentinel or Guide, their genes would alter their body over the next two to three months.
Sentinels’ physical abilities improved dramatically, and their five senses became sharper. They also awakened Abilities and Mental Power, both of which would be fully awakened within three months.
Guides’ physical abilities and five senses improved as well, but not nearly as much as Sentinels’. Their awakening focused more on Mental Power, Abilities, and Guide Pheromone.
Of course, three months was only an estimate; it depended on a person’s natural talent. Someone especially gifted might awaken their Ability and Mental Power in less than two days.
The Abilities Sentinels awakened were all kinds of offensive powers, most commonly metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
Guides, on the other hand, had only two types: Healing and Purification. Neither gave them any combat ability.
Pollutants existed in this world, and they were all collectively known as Aberrants.
All kinds of high-tech equipment were ineffective against Aberrants. Only Abilities could harm them, so Sentinels were the main force in fighting them.
High-tech treatments were also ineffective against wounds caused by Aberrants. Only Healing Guides could treat them.
Because Sentinels regularly faced Aberrants, their Spirit Bodies were vulnerable to Pollution. Purification Guides had to use Purification Abilities to cleanse their Spirit Bodies.
That wasn’t to say only Purification Guides could purify them. Healing Guides could do so as well, but the method was different.
Guides awakened something called Guide Pheromone.
Protected by Guide Pheromone, Guides weren’t affected by Aberrant Pollution, and Healing Guides could also use their pheromones to reduce a Sentinel’s Pollution.
Guide Pheromone acted on the body, so Healing Guides had to make physical contact with Sentinels in order to purify them.
Light purification might involve holding hands or hugging; moderate purification might involve kissing. There were also deeper levels of purification, which naturally required the most intimate contact.
Because of the methods purification required, and because Guides had no offensive abilities and needed Sentinels to protect them, a system had emerged in which one Guide could bond with several Exclusive Sentinels at once.
Feng Zhi had known about this rule for a long time, but she was still delighted now that she was actually here.
Who wouldn’t want a harem of three thousand beauties? Besides, the higher a Sentinel’s rank, the more refined his features and the better his physical abilities.
She opened her Game Panel and took a look. She had no idea how her Healing skill differed from a Healing Ability.
And when they’d previously tested her and found her to be a Guide, had she really awakened—or was it because of the game? The timing was just too much of a coincidence; she couldn’t help being suspicious.
Feng Zhi read the Sentinel-Guide Beginner’s Manual twice. By then, it was her turn.
A staff member scanned the Chip on her wrist, and her information appeared on the screen in front of them.
Name: Feng Zhi
Age: 18
Identity: Guide
Rank: F
Ability: Undetermined
The staff member updated Feng Zhi’s personal data Chip on the computer and connected it to the Guide-Sentinel Center.
“Miss Feng Zhi, you’re an F-rank Guide. Let me confirm: do you plan to work as an Independent Guide, or would you like to become an Official Guide with us?”
“If you become an Official Guide, we’ll provide food and accommodation, and you’ll be able to attend the Sentinel-Guide Academy for free. You’ll also receive a base salary of 20,000 starcoins each month. Once your Ability has been confirmed, your monthly salary will remain 20,000 starcoins if you’re a Healing Guide, or rise to 40,000 if you’re a Purification Guide.”
“You’ll work twenty days a month. If you work overtime, you’ll receive an additional 10,000 starcoins per day, plus commissions, bonuses, dividends, position allowances, and other rewards. Each month, we’ll take five bottles of Guide Pheromone and five bottles of Ability Fluid. Those ten bottles will belong to the government free of charge; you can do whatever you like with the rest.”
“If you’re an Independent Guide, you’ll receive a base salary of 10,000 starcoins a month, regardless of your Ability, and you can still attend the Sentinel-Guide Academy for free. But each month, you’ll have to sell the government twenty bottles of Guide Pheromone and twenty bottles of Ability Fluid. A bottle of Guide Pheromone costs 500 starcoins; a bottle of Healing Ability Fluid costs 500 starcoins; and a bottle of Purification Ability Fluid costs 1,000 starcoins. We’ll settle the account once a month and issue the payment along with your allowance. If you don’t meet the quota of forty bottles, you won’t receive the 10,000-starcoin base salary, but the rest will still be paid.”
“If you fail to meet the government’s requirements three times in total, you’ll permanently lose your base salary, be permanently barred from becoming an Official Guide, and have to repay the cost of your studies at the Sentinel-Guide Academy.”
Feng Zhi didn’t hesitate. “I want to be an Independent Guide.”
Between the allowance and the money from selling Guide Pheromone and Ability Fluid, she’d make 30,000 starcoins a month. That was more than enough for her to live comfortably. So why would she want to go to work?
Still…
“Can I apply to have some Ability Fluid extracted now?”
This was the perfect chance to see whether she could pass her Healing skill off as a Healing Ability.
The staff member paused. “Are you sure? You’ve awakened your Ability already?”
With that kind of talent, she wouldn’t be F-rank.
Feng Zhi felt a little guilty. “Might as well try. I’m feeling something unusual, but I’m not sure.”
The staff member said no more and brought over a small ball that looked like plastic.
When an Aberrant was killed, it dropped an Aberrant Core, which could be used to make all kinds of things.
The small ball in front of her was made from an Aberrant Core. It could store an Ability and turn it into liquid, making it convenient for Sentinels to use in battle.
The ball was only about the size of a fingernail. A small green dot glowed on its surface, beside an F.
“This is an F-rank Ability Fluid Orb. Channel your Ability into it. Once it’s full, the green light will turn red, which means it’s ready.”
Feng Zhi took the orb and curiously squeezed it, then used Healing on it.
A streak of white light shot from her hand into the orb, and a trace of white liquid appeared inside.
Feng Zhi stared.
It worked?
Could she pass her Healing skill off as a Healing Guide’s Ability?