Chapter 157: Little Giants

After the previous night’s wolf dream, Zane decided to get a solid seven hours of sleep, so he went to bed early, a choice that paid off when he woke up the next day feeling refreshed and energized. The rest of the day was normal, but the peace only lasted until the afternoon, before the second class. While eating lunch, the atmosphere suddenly changed again, sending Zane and his team straight to the student board.

Zane squinted when he saw it was another Oracle article, and this time the title was [Earth’s Little Giants]. The article’s content surprised Zane because it was about the High Potential List. The Oracle revealed everyone involved; no, he even had more information than Zane knew.

According to the Oracle, the tower had two High Potential Lists. The first contained 10 members —mages and shamans—from each of the 17 regions. The second contained 5 members—knights and warriors—from each region. Zane found his and Keesha’s names in the North America Region, and his cousin in the West Africa Region; he also found Devonte’s name among the knights. Sadly, Myk and the other knights were not on the list.

"How does this Oracle know so much? Are they working directly with the tower? Maybe it’s someone from the tower posing as an Earthling for an unknown reason?" Besides the names, the article also contained information Zane didn’t believe a normal diviner could have gathered. For example, the Oracle claimed that 95% of the members on the list were performing at a high level, winning their class’ tournament and entering the Elite Class. They even released the names of the 5% who were not performing well.

"This news will spread faster than a thermonuclear reaction once we return to Earth, bringing me and everybody on the list to the spotlight," Zane thought while groaning lightly. The last sentence of the article said these people—labeled Little Giants—had the highest potential to become Grand Mages or Grand Knights if they didn’t die early. With a statement like that, how could the news not spread? How can those nations not care? Although the recruits were under the tower’s protection, Zane didn’t like having so many eyes on him.

After reading the article, the atmosphere grew tense. Evans was fine, just slightly envious. However, Tom Nguyen was in a worse mood. He still remembered the difference in performance the first time they faced a magical beast. Now he knew more than 170 individuals were as capable as Zane and Keesha, and that was devastating. Zane didn’t try to encourage them; maybe this blow would keep their competitive edge.

Zane went about his day, and in the afternoon, he finished the Elite Class with a smile. He couldn’t help it; he had achieved a 60-70% win rate against the orc, which meant it was only a matter of time before he moved on to Stage 4.

"May I have a word with you two?"

Zane and Keesha paused, glancing at Sergeant Rhode, who, as usual, wore a green shirt, military pants, and boots, almost as if he wanted everyone to know who he was. They exchanged a brief look, then nodded to him.

"On behalf of the United States, I’ve come to offer you a special admission to BEAST," Sergeant Rhode said, making Zane furrow his brow. Just as he was about to say something, the sergeant raised his hand: "Before you reject me, listen to my offer first."

Zane chose to stay silent. He couldn’t speak for everybody present.

"I’ve been authorized to offer you a 1.2 million dollar signing bonus, and 100 magic crystals weekly, all tax-free."

"Authorized?" Zane thought. "Now that I think about it, why did he ask us now, right after the list was revealed? He must have another contact from the army or the US government in the program of much higher authority."

"More importantly," Sergeant Rhode continued. "You will be granted special privilege: exemption from any military or non-supernatural operation."

"They really know how to target the crux of the issue," Zane thought. Bringing up those terms suggests someone analyzed Zane’s previous rejection and found the key—at least, that’s what they think.

"Are you saying we can join BEAST without having to do the US’s dirty work?" Keesha asked. After the last conversation, she went home and searched for "US crime." And the result was shocking: from all the coups they’ve backed, the countless sanctioned violence, overthrowing other governments for their interest, and so much more. Keesha was baffled, wondering why they never thought these things in school.

"Dirty work?" The sergeant said, then immediately cleared his throat to calm down. "Yes. BEAST is a fairly open and free system. It’s task-based, like the guild, and serves more like a platform. And your special contract will offer you even more freedom and control."

"I appreciate the offer, but my answer remained the same," Zane said.

Tom Nguyen nodded. "Same."

Evans and Evelyn didn’t even answer.

"Ms. Jackson?"

"I’ll think about it."

Tom was about to say something, but Zane caught him and shook his head. The necromancer hesitated briefly, then decided to keep quiet.

"Understand. If you don’t mind, how about we exchange Soul Crests? You can contact me at any time if you change your mind."

Zane didn’t really want to have this man’s contact, but the latter was being polite, and in this social environment, he felt he had no choice. "I’ll just block him later on," he thought. After the exchange, the sergeant left while the group prepared to head to another training room for the knight-mage training.

"You really want to do this?" Evelyn asked.

Keesha sighed. "I’m not rich like you, nor can I casually refuse millions of dollars. This kind of money can immediately change my family’s life, and it’s a great source of resources for my training." A $1.5 million signing bonus and $ 5 million a year is a lot of money, and Keesha would be lying if she said she wasn’t tempted.

"...If you’re going to do this, you should do it right. I’ll contact the best lawyers in Miami to help you negotiate your contract."

"Thank you," Keesha said, nodding. She then turned to Zane. "You don’t have anything to say?"

"Um, no."

"Nothing at all?"

"Not really, but if you want, I can offer some advice."

"Please."

"Put it in writing that you won’t sign a magic contract — not now or in the future. The last thing you want is to be magically bound to do anyone’s bidding. Also, the contract will probably have a breakage fee: negotiate it to something you can pay in case you want to leave."

Evelyn nodded. "The magic contract clause should be nonnegotiable. If they don’t allow it, you better give up."

Keesha agreed with that statement. No matter how good money is, it’s nothing compared to her freedom.

"Lastly, I should warn you that joining them means that the spiritual practice community will despise you. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but right now, all the 1-pulse shamans are from that community. More importantly, they will probably be the most powerful faction for a while. You should prepare for some trouble."

"Why would they hate me?" Keesha was not the only one puzzled by that statement.

"I can’t say much, but just know that because of years of spiritual invasion, most of them don’t fuck with the US government. And the word [Beast] is a taboo for them. So, if you ever meet one of their members, they will treat you differently after knowing you’re a member of B.E.A.S.T."

Keesha frowned. "Can’t you be more detailed?"

"No, I can’t." Zane doesn’t know the rules for what his family allows him to share and what he can’t. So, out of caution, he didn’t go too far.

"Fine."

During training, everyone began using Myk’s program. As he said, it’s an excellent tool for training movement and spacing. Unfortunately, the program was calibrated to his stats, preferences, fighting style, skills, etc., which drastically reduced its effectiveness for everyone else. Still, it was somewhat helpful, especially for the knights and a close-combat fighter like Evelyn. The training ended after an hour and a half, and everybody returned to their dorms; Zane stayed in the elevator to walk Myk to his room.

"Z, you need something?"

"Keesha might be joining BEAST."

"Is she insane?"

"You know about the Beast?"

"How can I not?" Myk replied. "Whenever your family visited, they talked about it like it was the boogeyman."

Zane paused as pieces of his childhood flashed in his mind. It was true. Whenever his family from Ghana visited, they often talked about the word {Beast}, but he tuned it out, thinking they meant an actual beast or were telling a story.

"Anyway, you should be careful what you say in front of her from now on."

"You don’t have to tell me twice."