Mech Arena : The Book

Talent Ranking 2.

At this moment, the second awakened student from Region C had already received his result. He, too, possessed an Uncommon talent for his main ability, However, his weapon affinity was only at a Common level. Fortunately, since his main talent was far higher, he would still be able to improve it over time.

Having a weapon affinity lower than one's main talent wasn't unusual—it happened quite often. What was truly rare was the opposite case, where a weapon affinity exceeded the main talent. Though uncommon, there had been a few instances of that throughout history.

Seeing how quickly the talent evaluations were progressing, Mr. Charles decided to speed up his explanation.

"An Uncommon talent boosts a mech's performance by up to 40% and allows the pilot to install two implants per mech in their hangar lineup," he continued. 

"Next is the Rare talent, which provides up to a 60% boost and allows for three implants."

"In the city, those with Rare talent are considered the backbone of Phoenix City, as they super soldiers need to have a Rare talent at best before they can be chosen to lead the offensive teams against Kaiju because anything below 50% output can barely scratch a Kaiju's body. And with three implant slots, they have more flexibility to strengthen themselves compared to Uncommon-ranked mech super soldiers."

"They are always highly sought after, so if you happen to awaken a Rare talent, your life will change completely, like a carp leaping through the dragon's gate and transforming."

"After that comes Epic talent. These individuals receive an 80% boost and can equip up to four implants. If you awaken an Epic talent, even Regions S, A, B, and C will compete fiercely to recruit you, offering more than you could ever imagine."

"In fact, in the entire city, there aren't even up to ten Epic-tier mech super soldiers. That alone tells you how rare they are."

"And finally, Legendary talent, with a Legendary talent, you gain a full 100% boost and can equip up to five implants. Just think about how powerful that makes you. In the entire city, there are only two individuals with Legendary talent," Charles concluded.

"Teacher, if they are that powerful, does that mean that if I'm able to awaken a Legendary talent, I can make Region F great?" Aiden asked, his eyes sparkling with anticipation, while Mr. Charles chuckled.

"Putting aside whether you can awaken such a talent, if you are fortunate enough to do so, my advice is simple, I want you to choose a higher-ranked region that extends an offer to you," he said.

His words shocked the other two students, as they struggled to understand why he would say such a thing.

"But why, teacher? I thought you said helping our region grow was the goal," Aiden replied, his face filled with confusion, even Jake found himself paying close attention, waiting for the explanation.

"It's because I don't want you to waste your future, that's why I'm telling you to accept the offer of a higher-ranked region if they reach out to you." Mr. Charles said calmly. 

"The amount of resources required to nurture a Legendary talent to a top level is not something any institution in Region F can support. In fact, even if a student from region C awakened the Legendary talent and the Region C's army decided to raise him themselves and were able to convince the person to stay, they would still need to receive support from multiple guilds within their territory just to raise a single Legendary talent to top potential."

"Being a super soldier isn't as glamorous as it seems, it costs an enormous amount of money. And for those without backers or support, especially Uncommon talented super soldiers, things can become extremely difficult."

"And that's only at the lower levels. Now imagine how much would be needed to push a Legendary talent to the very top, to become one of humanity's pillars."

"That's why I said, if you ever awaken a high-tier talent, I don't see any reason for you to stubbornly remain in Region F when you don't even have the resources to push yourself to the top, with this explanation, I hope i have been able to make you understand my point and you aren't more confused," Charles said.

But when he looked at his students, he could clearly see the confusion in their eyes, they had all grown up believing that awakening alone was their ticket to a better life.

What they had never been told was the strict hierarchy among the awakened, and the vast gap between each talent rank.

Right now, it all sounded like simple numbers, but those numbers would determine whether they stood above others or struggled beneath them.

The only way someone with a lower-tier talent could compete was through overwhelming wealth, which would give them access to top-tier mechs and weapons, or by being a seasoned veteran with exceptional control and fully optimized implants to bridge the gap.

That was why Charles had given Aiden that advice.

"An Epic-rank talent!"

Just as Charles was about to finish speaking, a collective gasp echoed through the room, forcing everyone to look up.

An Epic talent had finally appeared, and it belonged to the D Region student with the green mohawk.

Up until now, all ten students from Region C had completed their evaluations, and every single one of them had only awakened Uncommon talents.

While Uncommon wasn't the worst rank, it also wasn't particularly impressive, especially when compared to Rare talents, who could rise to become commanders in the military if they chose that path.

And if they joined a guild, wealth and status would naturally follow.

So the fact that all of them had only awakened Uncommon talents hadn't caused much of a reaction, as it had become the expected norm.

But now, the very first awakener from Region D had just revealed an Epic talent, which was two levels above what all of the Region C students had awakened.

Immediately, the Region D students who hadn't even taken their tests yet turned to look at the awakened students of Region C with clear disdain.

It was almost as if they were saying, See? We're better than you.

Even though it wasn't one of them who had awakened the talent, they already regarded the student on stage as their leader. And at this moment, since he was the first among them, they believed their overall results wouldn't fall below those of Region C.

In fact, some of them even felt confident that one among them might awaken the Rare talent which is one level higher than Uncommon.