Heroes and Scavengers

After slaughtering the beast, Lucius dug a small grave in front of the building he once called home and buried Lia there. With a heavy heart, he boarded the jeep and left with Sergeant Skull, who seemed strangely excited by what he saw and went as far as to record the fight. 

Should he turn this video in while delivering Lucius to the government officials he was certain he could milk out more benefits from them, maybe even get a promotion. 

Sergeant Skull had to admit that his initial evaluation of Lucius was terribly wrong. He thought Lucius just had superhuman strength, but after this display, he was certain what this kid possessed at a low-grade super strength at the very least.

Since there was an already secured route to allow the safe passage of Aether-Crystals, there were no complications in their journey to New York, which lasted for about 9 hours. During this time, Lucius didn't say a single word, he just leaned on the door and watched the scenery.

As they approached New York City, Lucius's eyes flickered with some emotions as he saw a 30-meter-tall Aether Wall stretching for miles in every direction with a smooth surface composed of a translucent material that seemed to hum with latent energy, giving it an almost organic quality.

The wall was powered by Aether-crystal and this energy flowed through the wall like a current, powering the translucent blue dome which covered the entire city. 

"Impressive right?" Sergeant Skull asked when he noticed the change in Lucius's reaction. He saw this as an opportunity to engage the kid in a conversation and create a good relationship with him before Lucius gained fame.

"I guess it's alright…' Lucius shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright?!" Sergeant Skull was taken aback by Lucius' reply. "Within the confines of the dome, the climate is regulated to ensure optimal conditions for human habitation. Temperature, humidity, and air quality are all monitored and adjusted as needed. It is the ultimate paradise any man can ask for!" 

Lucius was annoyed as the man spoke, he wanted to ask what use it was if such perfection could not be shared with the rest of the world, but the texts appeared before his eyes as the voice spoke.

[The reason we Xenovians grew to become one of the strongest races in the universe is our inability to express our emotions. It allowed us to shield our thoughts and to make this even more effective we learned how to speak less. This man is trying to get on your good side, so why not use him to get some information about New York and the world in general?]

Sighs…

Lucius didn't even want to speak to the sergeant, but the voice had a point.

"Tell me about the city…" Lucius asked, and the face of the middle-aged Sergeant lit up with a smile.

"The city is divided into two sections. The residential area and the commercial area." Sergeant Skull began his explanation.

"The residential area is located at the edges of the city, next to the walls. Its inhabitants are Americans who don't have unique abilities, or at least a child with the potential of becoming a guardian. These people however work in other sectors like finance, construction, and so on. Just low-paying jobs that keep the city running…" He continued.

"The commercial area is reserved for the nobles, generals, and guardians. Basically the upper echelons of society. But don't worry, even a guardian in training without any background is granted a good living area in the commercial area. As you advance and gain more merits, you will be rewarded accordingly." 

Lucius listened in silence as the sergeant spoke, nodding in understanding occasionally.

"Basically what you are saying is the only way to rise to the level upper echelons if you don't have unique abilities, or you are not born into a noble family is by joining the military and working your way up the ranks?" Lucius asked thoughtfully.

"Yep…" Sergeant Skull responded ignorantly.

He didn't think Lucius would despise the system because he was benefiting from it already, but his response only made Lucius's resentment of him grow even more.

[Ignorant…] The voice commented.

"Tell me how guardians are ranked." Lucius shoved his emotions aside surprisingly easily and continued the conversation.

"Amongst the guardians, there are six ratings. D, C, B, A, S, and SS." Sergeant Skull explained. "Currently there are only ten SS-rated Guardians in the entire world, and the United States has two."

Lucius noticed the proud light blazing in the eyes of the sergeant when he spoke about the rankings.

"Before you join the academy, your abilities are put to the test, and based on your performance, you will be given a potential rating which basically means your expected peak but don't think too much about it because it's not always accurate." He added.

Lucius asked for more details about guardians and their duties. To his surprise, there were two types of guardians across the world; the ones who just stayed within the safety of the walls and played heroes for civilians, and then there were a few who left the walls of New York and joined soldiers in military operations to capture more territories lost to beasts.

They were called Heroes and Scavengers respectively.

The latter type of guardians usually end up becoming the peak-ranking guardians because of their massive contribution. In terms of overall power, these guardians even with weaker abilities can defeat normal heroes with an abundance of experience they gain from risking their lives. 

These top-tiered scavengers were also the top-ranking generals in the military!

This made Lucius realize why Sergeant Skull was eager to help him out. Based on the type of power he had, Lucius had the potential to become a top-rated scavenger. Should that happen, he would have a strong influence in the army and Sergeant Skull would in turn have a smooth and successful military career.

Even now, this bastard was trying to take advantage of him!