Rise of the Limitless One

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The building that made the Guardian credentials on the Isle of Power resembled an administrative office found on college campuses. Large glass panes with gold-plated door handles greeted Lucian's sight as he stepped inside, scanning the interior.

Instead of what he expected, the institute appeared more like the layout found on the ground floor of a Fortune 500 company. The desks were even larger than some of the concierge desks.

However, Lucian felt this was to be expected. After all, the Isle of Power was the richest entity on Alteria. Why wouldn't lavish buildings litter the expanse of the island's coverage?

Eventually, Lucian approached the desk located in the center of the floor. Not only was it the only vacant area, but each desk possessed a unique label. As one would assume, the Isle of Power possessed an organized classification system. So, each of the desks possessed a code assigned to a distinct division.

A Guardian could only approach the desk that corresponded to the code on their identity slip granted by their instructor. In Lucian's case, it was the card given to him by Oryon.

Once he arrived at the desk, a slim male with black hair and glasses with a slender frame looked up towards him, "A new Guardian, I presume?"

"Correct," Lucian nodded while leaning against the desk. He slipped his hand in his pocket and withdrew the card mentioned earlier. Silently, he slid the card across the desk, within arm's length of the male.

Before accepting it, his eyes fell upon the name on the card, "An addition to the Special Division? You must be quite extraordinary then." 

"I suppose you can say that. Aren't we all?" Lucian said with a soft chuckle.

Compared to an early age human, Awakeneds were truly extraordinary. They each possessed abilities that escaped the imaginations of humans. When it came to this fact, the Priming was truly a blessing.

But, that's as far as its grace stretched.

"I guess we are. However, some are more so than others. Otherwise, we wouldn't have created this breakdown to separate the outstanding from the rest," the male said before pausing shortly, "You'll be seeing me quite often, so allow me to introduce myself―the name's Eren."

Eren extended his hand to Lucian with an amicable smile.

Since there was no malice between them, Lucian returned the gratitude with a simple handshake. However, Eren's expression soon changed. There was a reason he sat at this desk, receiving all the newcomers.

His ability was similar to Doctor Arc's, except it was much more powerful with a variety of attached usages. One of them was the ability to sense a Guardian's power level after having contact. After sensing their parameters, Eren then recorded the Guardian's biosignature and embedded it into their credentials.

With a special software created with the use of the Professor's ability, their progress was recorded and updated in real-time, allowing the Corps to monitor how fast everyone was progressing outside of the Monolith.

Yet, Eren couldn't get a reading on Lucian at all, which he found odd. As a member of the Special Division himself, his ability's innate ranking was an S Rank with the potential to grow.

"Is something wrong?" Lucian asked after noticing Eren's obscure expression. Evidently, there was something amiss.

"Yes…" Eren said while gradually twisting his wrist. This caused the output of his ability to skyrocket, but the results remained the same. He couldn't penetrate the defenses surrounding Lucian's information. 

Because of this, Eren resorted to using the basic way of gathering information. 'How odd. Even the Void Princess and Goliath couldn't escape the usage of my ability. What's up with this guy?'

Eren cleared his throat and withdrew his hand while looking at Lucian, "My ability is of no use, so I'll have to collect the information the proper way. What's your Fractal Rating?"

"Unknown," Lucian replied.

Again, Eren's expression became awkward as he looked up at Lucian. "Unknown? Are you perhaps… an Evolver?"

"Perhaps?" Lucian shrugged with an intrigued expression.

The term Evolver was something he heard once before. Priscilla introduced the term to him. According to her, it was an extremely rare classification. It was a Guardian without a cemented Fractal Rating. Generally, an evolver meant that something happened to a Guardian while within the Monolith.

Either they chanced upon a power hidden deep within themselves, or they gained access to some type of transcendent item. However, the number of transcendent items that appeared until now could be counted on a single hand.

Perhaps there were some the Corps was unaware of, but for the most part, every individual with a transcendent item was a cherished addition of the Guardian Corps. However, what they didn't understand was that Lucian's caliber was unprecedented.

"Then… what is your current Fractal Rating? Also, tell me your current vessel rating so I can log it," Eren said as his fingers moved at a rapid pace. One hand typed in the information that Lucian disclosed to him, but the other pulled up a special window.

For a moment, Eren's expression changed. 'They aren't aware that this boy is an Evolver? Has no one questioned his rating until now? Then again, he has one of the Director's cards. I'm sure the higher-ups will notice him soon enough.'

Shortly after, Eren closed the second window, continuing to look at the screen before him. "Ability and its starting state?"

"Hypervigilance. A starting rank of S+," Lucian said. Although he was part of the Special Division, Lucian couldn't justify himself revealing that his skill possessed an innate Heroic Order ranking.

Even the Skybreaker only received one of them after stepping into the Heroic Order. Since they could not verify his words, there was no reason to paint such a large target on his back. Although he could garner favor with the higher-ups of the Corps, it wasn't worth the tradeoff.

'I'll be in the presence of those my age, not the higher-ups. Besides, unlike the others, my ranking is truly abnormal,' Lucian thought.

Whereas the others started at a solid rank, Lucian didn't possess the ability to combat his peers right now. Therefore, attracting attention from any of the Maximized Elites or Extraordinary Guardians was out of the equation for the time being.

Even then, an S+ Ability was still a shock. 

"Wow! No wonder you've been put into this division. Such a high starting position typically means the ability possesses the ability to strengthen into a Heroic Order skill," Eren said before extending his palm. "Hand please."

Steadily, Lucian gave Eren his arm.

Hsssss!

Eren pressed a gadget against Lucian's arm, which implanted a small chip into this arm. Immediately, a holographic screen appeared before Lucian, which displayed all of his information down to the tiniest detail.

Even the fact that the Astral Corrosion Sickness plagued his siblings. This caused a question to sprout in his mind.

"Can Guardians request to have the Astral Corrosion Sickness treated?" Lucian asked.

Eren glanced at the information and saw the reason he asked, "Ah. It's possible. But it's only available to Guardians with ample contribution to the corps. Furthermore, the contribution amount is more exorbitant for non-exclusive members."

Eren continued, "But, you're welcome to change the state of your agreement at any time. Other than that, it's quite easy to rack up contribution points. Here."

Eren handed Lucian a piece of paper that detailed everything about the Corp's contributions system. Weapons, armors, crafting items, and rift resolving all counted towards contributions. Except they held different values.

After looking through the list with a quick glance, Lucian nodded. "Perhaps we can talk about it in the future."

Only once he could move unrestricted would Lucian even entertain the idea of forming an exclusive contract with the Corps. Perhaps not until he completely healed his siblings.

"We're done here. I hope you enjoy the amenities the island has to offer," Eren said while handing Lucian his finalized card. For now, his card possessed a B Ranking. In other words, if need be, Lucian possessed clearance to register for a yellow Anomaly Rift.

"See ya," Lucian waved before exiting through the door. He glanced at the whelp on his arm and rubbed his chin. 'Stone, does this chip interfere with anything?'

〈No, its transmission is being blocked. The only active ability of this chip is tracking your ability.〉

"Good," Lucian nodded before glancing around. 

Suddenly, a voice called out to him as he conversed with the stone. "Lucian!"