Ability Verification

The machine finished its examination, the hum of its motors dying as a cascade of information filled the display. At the very top, a single rank stood out in enormous letters.

"So it really was S-Class... I've never actually seen one in person."

She looked almost overcome. Beside me, Se-a puffed out her chest as if the result were her own.

I tried to read the information listed below as well, but it was all in English or graphs, so I didn't get far. The graphs were a lost cause to begin with, and the English was so specialized that high-school vocabulary wasn't going to cut it.

"The information on the display shows the detailed structure and properties of your mana composition."

The staff member had caught my gaze and offered an explanation. She said it was used whenever a mana-related illness or complication arose. High-ranking hunters often had potions crafted for maximum personal efficiency, and the data was used for that as well. In fact, dedicated potion crafting was what the machine was used for most.

She could interpret it herself, so while the results printed she gave me a brief rundown of my data.

"Starting from the top, this is your blood mana concentration. In your case, Dan-woo, it's about three percent."

Apparently that wasn't an outstanding figure among S-Class awakeners. If anything, it ran a little low.

"But defense and healing types usually show this kind of pattern, so please don't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feel too discouraged."

Along with the consolation, she pointed to the bar graph underneath.

"This is your mana composition structure. Think of the x-axis as the components and the y-axis as the values."

"This one's unusually high, isn't it?"

Among the cluster of bars, one had been abbreviated with a wavy break. Mana Resilience. Mana recovery rate.

"Mana resilience almost always comes out significantly higher than the other values. In your case, Dan-woo, the gap is a bit more extreme than usual."

"That's a good thing, right?"

No matter how high a recovery rate climbed, I couldn't see how it would ever be a bad thing. Just as I thought, the staff member nodded.

"That's right. Even if your total mana pool is low, high resilience can cover for it to a degree. And if your total mana is high, you absolutely need this ability to handle that much mana properly."

It was a capability that became more essential the stronger you became — the more your mana pool grew. For the record, total mana does increase, albeit very slowly. The method: use a lot of it. That's the only way. Or compensate with artifacts.

"Ah, the results have finished printing."

She collected the printout from the machine and, at the same time, started Se-a's examination. She removed the special device I'd used, took out a fresh one, and drew blood. While Se-a's test ran, she decided to walk me through my awakened ability.

"The ability name is Guardian Knight Who Harbors a Sacred Blessing! This confirms that the S-Class naming convention applies to men as well!"

The S-Class rule refers to ability names coming with a full phrase or modifier attached. Even for the same ability, F through A would be something like Flame Mage. S-Class would be Infernal Mage Engulfed by Karmic Fire. Think of it as the names getting a serious case of chuuni.

"Unusually, your other stats are about the same as an ordinary person's, but you're overwhelmingly superior when it comes to defense and healing!"

"Is that impressive?"

"Based on how you described using the ability, you're a complete long-range tank-healer — the undisputed number one! Other S-Class defense or healing types still have high baseline stats across the board, you know? But it looks like every last one of those stats went into defense and healing for you!"

...That's a compliment, right? She's not roasting me. Right?

"Look at this. See these two bar graphs?"

She worked the device display and the computer, then turned the screen toward me. Just as she'd said, two graphs were up — graphs with identical categories along the x-axis.

"The left is yours, Dan-woo, and the right is the historical average for S-Class defense-type ability users. Can you see the difference?"

Side by side like this, I got the picture. How much weaker I was than they were.

"Wait, is this okay? There's almost nothing related to offense."

"It's fine! There are more than enough offense-type hunters. If you're thinking of working as a hunter, you can pick and choose whoever you want!"

I don't think that's the issue.

"Honestly, there are only two S-Class defense types in the entire world. You're the third, Dan-woo, so you really can pick and choose."

No, that's not the issue, I'm telling you. That said... I'm the third S-Class defense-type awakener...

"That's incredibly few."

"If you look at the distribution of awakened abilities, offense types are the most common. Then support, then defense, then healing, in that order."

In percentages, she said, it came out to fifty-three percent offense, thirty-four percent support, ten percent defense, and three percent healing. She added that anything hard to classify gets lumped into support, so the number of support types actually useful in combat would be far smaller.

"So leave the attacking to them. If you don't have this much offensive power, trying to force some attack capability would actually be poison. Building up your stamina and focusing on tank-healing looks like the better path."

The excitement from a moment ago had given way to a serious expression as she offered the advice. From here on, this was important for me too, so I committed every word to memory.

"A dungeon party is five people at base. Any more than that and the odds of a coordination breakdown exceed the odds of a clean clear."

"So we need to balance it out with five people?"

"Yes. And that's why your existence is so valuable. Among current S-Class ability users, there is no tank-healer who can both defend and recover."

"Not a single one?"

"Not a single one."

What's more, even among S-Class awakeners, there was no one who could both tank and heal.

Let me pause here for a brief explanation. Ability rank and hunter rank are different things. No matter how high your ability rank is, your hunter rank starts from the very bottom. You start at F-Class and climb based on results, and a high ability rank only gives you a slight edge in those results.

And regardless of ability rank, a hunter can rise as far as A-Class — but S-Class hunter rank requires an S-Class ability as well. She said that was because there are commissions so far beyond common sense that only they can handle them.

"Anyway, if you put a party together, you could fill the other four slots entirely with offense types. You'd have a party with overwhelming firepower that doesn't sacrifice defense or recovery."

"...Do you think I can do it?"

I'm such a coward I don't know if I'd manage. This incident had made it clear I needed to get stronger, but if I actually went into a dungeon and came face-to-face with a monster, I had a feeling I'd just freeze up.

"It's okay. I'm not planning to send you through any gates."

"Se-a..."

She took my hand and soothed me, telling me it was all right, and I slowly leaned closer.

"I'm so jealous..."

Just as I was about to sink into her arms, the staff member's voice came cutting in. I finally remembered there was someone else in the room and pulled back. The rebound from not seeing her for a few days — a few hours, subjectively — was bigger than I'd expected.

"I-is there anything else to explain?"

"Ah, yes! Let's see... huh? Why is this like this?"

The staff member, scanning the results from the top, tilted her head as if she'd found something off. She checked the logs on the examination device's display, then spoke in a cautious voice.

"Um... do you see this?"

"Mana Manufacture Distribu... a mana generation distribution chart?"

"That's right."

The staff member agreed with Se-a. But why? From where I was sitting it looked fine.

"Look here. There are two graphs, right?"

"There are. Does that mean there are multiple types of mana?"

"You could say it's similar."

Things like aura or ki are officially classified as different forms of mana. That's why they show up on the mana generation distribution chart. But that wasn't the problem.

"Then what's this component marked with a question mark?"

"That's the issue. If it isn't a machine error, it means a new type of mana..."

Mana, aura, ki. The source of the power dwelling inside the human body. The medium and the fuel that activated awakened abilities. And the completely new mana inside me. I had a guess about that.

Authority...

The divine power that the Goddess's mother had passed to me. That was probably it. If they investigated that in detail, would they discover it was divine power? And if they did, how would people react? If something dismissed as an urban legend turned out to be real... things might spiral beyond anyone's control. For better or for worse.

"But the odds of a machine error are high. This happens from time to time."

Just as I'd started imagining the worst, the staff member spoke up in a bright voice. I looked up to see her operating the device, wiping the question-mark values from that section. Then she winked at me.

"Don't worry about it too much, okay?"

She must have noticed something was off herself. That this really was a new type of mana, and that I had some idea what it was. There was no other reason she'd act like that. And yet...

"By the way — this is totally out of nowhere, but I was so shocked. I never imagined Ian got caught in a dungeon break and that's why he couldn't go live."

Why bring that up all of a sudden...

"The fan cafe is in complete chaos, you know? As a yandere I wanted to share information, but the Association blocked it so I couldn't."

This person. She was a yandere?

...Ah. So that's why.

I'd been wondering why she was going this far to help. Now I understood. Simply because she liked me. That one simple reason.

"Thank you."

She shrugged as if she had no idea what I was talking about, and I couldn't help but smile. But is it really okay to just delete that? She must have done it because it wouldn't be a problem, right?

"Lee Se-a's examination is finished as well!"

Before I could ask if it was really okay, she spoke first. Twenty minutes had already slipped by, and Se-a's test was complete.

"Wow... so you were of the Heavenly Clan? That's an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠incredibly rare ability too."

The results she showed us listed it exactly as her appearance suggested: Heavenly Clan: Guardian Knight, and the rank was A-Class.

"Is it that rare?"

"Absolutely. Non-human abilities are rare to begin with, and among them the Heavenly Clan is both powerful and extremely few in number."

Besides the Heavenly Clan, she said dragonkin and demonkin also possessed unmatched strength and were equally scarce.

"Congratulations, Se-a."

"Thank you."

I was as happy as if it were my own. When something good happens to the person you love, you end up happy too.

"Would you like an explanation?"

"No. I studied awakened abilities during training."

She said she'd learned about them during Escort Officer training, as part of how to handle awakeners. With nothing left to do, we took the printed results and left the verification room.

"Want to go straight to the Association President's office? Or take a short break first?"

"Let's go now. I want to get this over with and rest."

"Got it. Follow me."

I hadn't slept of my own will for three days, so the fatigue had barely lifted. If it were up to me I'd go home and collapse right now. But I'd decided to at least hear them out, so we headed for the Association President's office on the seventh floor.

Time to settle this.