By the time Lucius and Skull finally left the Bureau of Talents, it was already 7 p.m. The ride into and through the Noble District took another hour and a half, giving Lucius more than enough time to regret agreeing to let Skull accompany him.
Throughout the entire ride, Lia slept peacefully on Lucius’s lap while he was forced to sit and listen to Skull talk about anything and everything, most of which was completely irrelevant, simply because the shameless man seemed determined to keep a conversation going despite Lucius’s blatant display of disinterest.
For some reason, ever since his potential rating had been announced, Skull had apparently decided that the two of them were destined to become close friends and had been trying to shove the idea down Lucius’s throat ever since.
Huff!
Lucius let out a tired sigh as he glanced through the window. Since they entered the Noble District, all he had seen were skyscrapers, towering structures, enormous plazas, extravagant buildings, and streets so clean that they looked like they had never seen the outside world.
Everything screamed wealth and extravagance to such an extent that Lucius felt almost overstimulated. After spending most of his life surrounded by mines, ruined settlements, cramped slave quarters, and barely enough food to survive, the sheer amount of wealth surrounding him was beginning to feel exhausting rather than impressive.
Eventually, he gave up on looking outside and turned his attention back toward Skull, who was still talking.
"Tell me about the academy," Lucius said.
Skull’s face lit up like a candle. He immediately adjusted his seating posture, turning slightly toward Lucius as though he had been waiting for those exact words. "To understand how the academy works, you need to understand how the entire Guardian system works."
Lucius raised a brow. That statement actually managed to pique his interest. "Okay..." he nodded, giving Skull his full attention for the first time in several minutes.
"So, in the world of Guardians, your potential rating only tells you what the state assumes is the limit of your strength. However, it does not mean that is who you are," Skull continued. "Just because you are given an S+ potential rating doesn’t mean you are an S+ rated Guardian."
"It just means I’m a Guardian with the potential to reach the S+ rating?" Lucius’s voice trailed off as he pieced the explanation together.
"Exactly." Skull nodded. "The Guardian system works on what we call Contribution Points. Ratings are tied to certain levels of Contribution Points. For example, entering the C rating requires thirty thousand Contribution Points. It doesn’t matter if your Talent is potentially rated S or D. Once you accumulate enough Contribution Points, you become a C rated Guardian."
Lucius rubbed his chin thoughtfully before raising his head again. "So what’s the purpose of the potential ratings?"
Skull smiled at the question. "Potential Rating simply shows the capabilities of a Talent, and it’s quite accurate. People with A rated Talents tend to struggle against S graded missions. It’s basically a guide designed to prevent you from overstretching yourself and getting killed."
"Ooh..." Lucius muttered, slowly nodding his head.
"However, most Guardians don’t live up to their potential rating, and there is a reason for this." Skull’s focused expression was gradually replaced by a contemplative one. "Actually, two reasons."
"No, wait..." Skull rubbed his chin thoughtfully before correcting himself. "It’s one."
Pa!
William lifted his hand from the steering wheel and facepalmed, causing the car to immediately swerve into the opposite lane. Everyone inside the vehicle screamed loudly, including William himself, who quickly realized what he had done.
"Hold the steering, damnit!" Lucius cursed as he grabbed the side of his seat.
"Ooh!" William quickly grabbed the wheel with both hands and pulled the vehicle back onto the correct side of the road.
"Bastard, are you trying to get us killed?!" Luke yelled before reaching forward and grabbing William by the neck.
The moment Luke began strangling him, the vehicle swerved again.
"You moron, why the hell are you strangling the driver?! Are you trying to get us killed?!" Skull screamed as he grabbed Luke by the neck and began strangling him in return.
The car swerved violently from one side of the road to the other as William desperately tried to keep control of the steering wheel.
Lucius stared at the trio for several seconds before his expression became completely exhausted. There were extremely intelligent people working in the mines, yet somehow these were the people who had been saved, recruited, and entrusted with transporting him.
"Lord, take my life, but take these three first," Lucius prayed.
The three men suddenly froze and looked at him and quickly released each other.
"What kind of prayer is that?" Skull demanded.
"The kind a man makes when he realizes the driver, passenger, and team leader are retards and are probably going to get him killed!" Lucius yelled.
Skull immediately shrank back while Luke looked away, awkwardly whistling as though suddenly finding the passing scenery incredibly interesting. William focused all his attention on the road but kept stealing nervous glances at Lucius through the rearview mirror.
Lucius sighed and rubbed his forehead. He then looked down at Lia, who remained completely undisturbed throughout the entire incident. She was still sleeping peacefully against him, breathing lightly with a small smile resting on her face.
’Thank goodness she’s a deep sleeper.’
Lucius let out another sigh of relief before shifting his gaze back toward Skull. "Continue."
Skull nodded awkwardly and raised one finger. "The reason most people don’t live up to their expectations is because of their career path."
"Career path?" Lucius blinked in surprise.
"Yes, career path." Skull nodded firmly. "Guardian is just a broad name that encompasses all humans with Talents. In actuality, there are two terms for people with Talents and the jobs they do."
Lucius did not even notice himself leaning forward, curiosity slowly burning in his eyes.
Skull held up two fingers before bringing each one down as he mentioned the names. "Hunter and Hero."
Lucius blinked in surprise. He had never known that either of these distinctions existed. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but Skull continued before he could even start.
"A Hero is basically a Guardian trained for domestic problems, like saving people from burning buildings, stopping armed robbers, dealing with criminals, and all that domestic hero stuff that only goes on within the city." Skull sounded almost unimpressed as he explained it. "Naturally, their ratings are mostly always low because domestic problems are graded low. With that low Contribution Point income, most of them never reach their true potential before retiring."
Lucius slowly nodded his head in understanding. It made absolute sense. If someone spent their entire career handling low level problems within the safety of a city, there was little opportunity for them to accumulate the Contribution Points necessary to climb through the Guardian rankings.
"So what’s the second one?"
"Hunters are the real deal!" Skull’s eyes practically sparkled with excitement. "Hunters are the ones who leave New York and travel to any part of the country to save soldiers on duty. They are the ones fighting on the front lines for America’s territory recovery efforts. Their missions are ten times... No, a hundred times more dangerous than what Heroes do. Because of that, their missions are graded much higher, and the returns in Contribution Points are far greater. All the top ranked Guardians are Hunters for a reason!"
Lucius slowly nodded while rubbing his chin, his expression becoming thoughtful as he considered everything Skull had explained. There was another question that immediately came to mind.
"The monetary pay is better than that of Heroes, correct?"
"Of course..." Skull blurted out without hesitation.
"Then I know what path I’m taking." Lucius said decisively.