Magnetic Constitution

They said it was fine, but even so, all of this was being bought with allocated training funds. There was no way I could just shrug and say it didn’t matter. Feeling guilty, I hunched in on myself, and the instructor gave a snort of amusement before adding, “To be honest, someone like Ms. Seha, who’s already quite skilled at channeling mana, doesn’t really need to go through this process at all.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Most of the hands-on work in this training course is designed to help newly Awakened people get used to their abilities, even if only a little.”

“I see.”

“During the first screening in the registration process, and then again on the first day of practical training, we take a look at each trainee. After that, we decide which direction their training should take.”

“Then what about me...?”

“In your case, Ms. Seha, you were already like this the first time I checked, but now that I’m seeing you again, your control over mana has improved even more. At this point, it should be fine to move one step further.”

“The next step would be...?”

“Fieldwork. Of course, I don’t mean sending you out alone to fight blindly. You’d go on party hunts with veteran Awakened. Are you interested?”

Of course I was interested. Repeating motions on my own had its limits, after all.

“Yes, I’d like to try.”

“Good. Then I’ll make the arrangements in time for tomorrow’s practical session.”

“Thank you.”

“Not at all.”

At first, I’d been a little intimidated by him—his head was half-bald, and his face looked rough enough to scare people off—but it turned out he was actually a pretty decent instructor.

I spent the day like that, and the next afternoon, just as promised, I was sent out alone to do live combat training with veteran Awakened.

“What is this...?”

Before we headed out, several people came over and started attaching various devices to my body. When I asked what they were for, one of the staff members kindly explained, “These are measuring devices for checking Ms. Seha’s stats.”

“Ah...”

Stats. That was something I’d learned about in one of my general education classes.

Unfortunately, the status window doesn’t provide a person’s individual stats. But some method of quantifying an Awakened’s abilities is necessary one way or another, and for that reason, these days people often use sabermetrics-based methods to assign numbers to the various actions an Awakened demonstrates in real combat. Those numbers are generally called stats.

With data like this, you can get a clear picture of what each Awakened is like without having to go back and inspect every single battle scene one by one.

I’d heard that a few famous guilds each had their own distinctive way of calculating stats, but most people used the standard stats established by the Awakened Management Bureau.

Fortunately, the measuring devices didn’t feel cumbersome at all. Apparently, if you go into battle wearing these things, the AI calculates and organizes your stats in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠real time without anyone having to do the math manually. The world really had gotten convenient.

Then I went into practical training with the veterans, and right from the start, I ran into a bit of a problem.

I didn’t know what was going on, but the moment a monster appeared, it would come charging straight at me first. Even though the tanker was standing there in front of it, holding the line, it still came at me with murderous determination, and there was no way I could not be flustered by that.

At first, I thought it was just a coincidence.

I even wondered whether I’d somehow gotten some strange smell on me or something, but as the practical sessions kept going, I was forced to admit it wasn’t a coincidence at all.

One of the senior Awakened who’d come along for the gate exploration tossed out a remark as casually as if he were commenting on the weather. “You’ve got a magnetic constitution.”

“Magnetic?”

“A build that attracts monsters. In other words, the ideal trait for a tanker.”

Good grief. A magnetic constitution? There was such a thing?

Had that ghost pulled some kind of trick again? Or was my unreal-looking face simply scoring so high on the charm scale that even monsters were getting dragged in after me?

No way. No matter how you looked at it, we weren’t even the same species. There was no way that could be it.

Whether he noticed my reaction or not, the senior Awakened went on, “You’re sturdier than you look, Ms. Seha, so I think it’s a pretty good choice. Tankers are a rare breed.”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

“I-I see.”

So, in the end, he was saying my job was basically to stand in front and get beaten up on everyone else’s behalf. What a miserable joke.

After I’d gone out for practical training a few times and come back, one day the bald instructor called me into the interview room.

“Is there... some kind of problem?”

“Based on your practical training so far, Ms. Seha’s stats have been compiled. Take a look.”

In other words, my report card had come out.

No matter how well you think you did on a test, the moment someone puts the grades in front of you, your heart starts pounding. I took a light breath, then unfolded the neatly printed A4 report.

Seeing that wall of specialist terminology made my head swim, but when I looked at the evaluation column beside it, it didn’t seem to be saying anything bad. No, with words like “astonishing” and “top-tier” repeating over and over, it sounded like something incredibly good was being said.

“You probably don’t know what all that means just by looking ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at it, right?”

“Haha...”

“To keep it simple, your aptitude is extremely good, Ms. Seha. Based on these numbers alone, even if things go badly and various problems pile up, you have a strong chance of growing into at least B-rank. If you keep working steadily and things go well, even S-rank is within reach.”

“...”

My eyes widened before I could stop them. S-rank?

“Of course, like I just said, that’s assuming everything falls into place. It’s common for someone to show excellent potential at the beginner level and then see their numbers drop sharply once the gates they’re dealing with get tougher.”

“Ah, I see.”

Apparently my dejected expression was entertaining, because the bald instructor smiled faintly and went on. “Still, one thing is certain: you’re at least this year’s most promising prospect. Once training is over, I imagine you’ll start getting calls from all over the place.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Really. Besides... ah, I’m not saying this with any bad intentions, but Ms. Seha, you have a way of drawing people’s eyes. I expect the competition for you to be fierce.”

He’d put it in a nice way, but in the end he was talking about my looks.

When I sank back into gloom, the bald instructor gave a bitter little smile. “Still, I suppose it’s not very pleasant for Awakened to be judged by their appearance rather than their actual ability. But being able to seize people’s attention is a talent too, if you think about it.”

He wasn’t wrong. But that was only something you could say because you didn’t know the core of me was still a man.

When I turned the page, I found a general assessment written there.

— A trainee with highly unusual, destructive talent. The ability itself appears to be modeled after a specific game character, but the degree of its realization is extraordinarily high. The data gathered so far points toward the birth of a perfect evasive tanker.

— The most noteworthy point is the TAF. During practical training so far, the trainee’s recorded value has reached 94.8%, which is on the level of a top-class tanker in the industry. Remarkably, this was achieved without a separate taunt skill, through ordinary behavior alone. If a specialized taunt skill is acquired in the future, the effect is already something to look forward to.

— Excessively high TAF can be dangerous, but this trainee has proven capable of avoiding most attacks with exceptional agility (EER 88.2%, AER 91.8%, THB 142 sec). Even the few effective hits occasionally taken are endured through a naturally high level of physical resilience (DTR 72.1%, MDT 7800+ DG, CCR 0.45 sec).

— Since the trainee can use mana with skill and also possesses strong offensive power, further development of these excellent traits is likely to result in unprecedented tactical value.

— Overall Evaluation: S

As expected, I didn’t really know exactly what the numbers meant, but the S at the very end of the overall evaluation jumped right out at me.

That single letter made it clear the instructor wasn’t just being polite when he said I was good.

It even said I was top-tier in the industry. It even wrote that they were looking forward to what would happen if I learned a specialized taunt skill.

“That’s... seriously impressive.”

“It is. Even for me, after all my years as an instructor, this is the first time I’ve seen numbers like these.”

“That much?”

“Yes. That much.”

There was no mistaking it: in more ways than one, I was turning out to be a record-breaking case. I just hadn’t expected that the words “record-breaking” and “astonishing” would be applied to me like this.

But whether he knew what I was thinking or not, the bald instructor kept talking. “You should probably try to secure an agent before training ends. If you make a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weird contract at the start, you may end up having a rough time.”

“An agent...?”

An agent for an Awakened? Wasn’t that something only so-called star Awakened needed?

But the bald instructor wiped the smile from his face and looked at me seriously. “You need one, Ms. Seha. Don’t take this lightly. Please think about it seriously.”

Overwhelmed by his earnestness, I found myself nodding before I’d even fully thought it through.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”