[Lesson Time]
Since we have come pretty far, I'll be telling you about the tiers for Clarion users—since I gave one for artifacts too. Heide has moved a lot in the tier.
The first one being Instinctive Spark. This is where 80 percent of Clarion users remain their entire lifetime. The reason for their awakening can be random, but only a small number of people achieve Clarion to begin with.
The second one is Awakened Perception, the next level for Clarion users. Only 10 percent can reach this level. This is the level that Sinus and Evena are at.
Next comes SenseBorne—halved again. Heide is currently in this level. Despite his amazing mastery and unique approach to the Clarion of Touch, he is still a SenseBorne. Shalap is a prodigy, having awakened at this stage in the fastest time. Gars too is in this level, thanks to his hard work, but he doesn't rise further since he doesn't train his Clarion.
Next is PrimateSense, halved again. Monday, Wanora, and Katherine are the notable characters in this level.
Synthensia is the next one, which only 0.5 percent of people achieve.
Tier six is Akashic Sense. Only the best users of Clarion, those with the highest mastery of their Clarion, lie in this tier. The notable person here is the Emperor.
Tier seven is the Omnisentia. No one alive has reached this. Reaching this level means that a human would have complete control over the flow and handling of their Clarion.
> Note: This doesn't reflect combat level. If it were about combat, there would be many changes—excluding the Emperor, who would still remain at the top.
This system was unfairly built around Clarion users to keep them in order. The higher you're rated, the better your worth in terms of hiring. Every four years, you have to give a check to the Authority of Towers to assess your Clarion. But due to the main location being at such a large distance, the AT has made tiny branches around the continent.
---
Well, that's it from our side.
"Here you go, sir Heide Decimus. You are a SenseBorne now," the lady renewing my card said, smiling as she handed me my identification card.
The card that identified me as a Clarion user.
---
[ MINISTRY OF CLARIONS ]
Name: Heide Decimus
Age: 17
Education: N/A
Clarion: Touch
Tier: SenseBorne
Status: Active
---
So much for a card to identify.
I looked up at her and said, "Is there a synthesis level available?"
She smiled. "I apologise, but sorry—they aren't present at the moment."
"Ah, yea. I get it."
I walked out and saw the several booths. I spotted Shalap getting excited to receive her card. Evena had gotten hers too. She was surrounded by a lot of people a couple of minutes ago—mostly because her Clarion is the Clarion of Pain. It's rare, so people wanted to get connections to her, in case she becomes great.
Evena saw me and walked toward me. I could hear her wooden leg as she walked.
She came to me and said, "I got... it," and showed me her card.
---
[ MINISTRY OF CLARIONS ]
Name: Evena
Age: 19
Education: N/A
Clarion: Pain
Tier: Awakened Perception
Status: Active
---
I looked at it. "You're 19?"
She nodded softly as she said, "They asked... me my age... I didn't know... so they brought someone... who checked it using... his artifact."
"Oh? Did they get your birthdate?"
She shook her head.
I sighed. "It's fine. At least we know how old you are, right?"
She looked at me and nodded, just as Shalap came rushing in.
"LOOK! I GOT IT! MY FIRST CARRD!" she said, kissing her card.
---
[ MINISTRY OF CLARIONS ]
Name: Shalap
Age: 15
Education: N/A
Clarion: Hear
Tier: SenseBorne
Status: Active
---
"Aw man, still so cool! I got SenseBorne! What did you get?"
"Not telling." I walked away, Evena following behind me. Shalap trailed after us.
"C'mon, please~!"
Hm. Well, it's good I didn't tell anyone I have two Clarions. Even Monday warned me about it, saying they usually keep tabs on things like that, since not much is known about dual Clarions.
Seriously though... I had to deal with this identification card early in the morning.
Guess it worked out, since everyone was at home thinking about the key I told them about.
Earlier this morning, when everyone was home, I brought up the key—and Monday brought up the identification card. So I went with Shalap and Evena to get theirs, and renewed mine. They said they'd think on the key.
"Wonder if they found anything yet..."
As I walked, Shalap asked, "Found what? The key? Your grandfather gave it to you, right?"
"Yea," I said.
"Was it important?" she asked.
"I don't know. But I'm sure it is."
As I walked, I felt someone grab my hand. I looked down and saw Evena's hand holding mine as she said slowly, "Please... slowly."
Ah.
I slowed down and smiled. "Sorry," I said, grabbing her hand tighter, and we walked together.
Shalap said, "Can I also hold your ha—"
"No."
"Oh, why the special treatment to her?" she complained.
"Well, probably because she doesn't nag me like you."
"Oh, bullshit. You just prefer her."
"Can't say I don't," I snapped
We reached home, and I saw Sinus and Gars with gloomy expressions. I came in and asked, "What's up? Found anything?"
"It's complicated," Sinus said. "For that, we actually checked the gifts we got from him. Yours is the only one with those carvings. And from what it seems like—it's a map. That much Monday figured out. He's in the room with Wanora, trying to find more. All we know is that it has a map of Menyurl."
"That's... interesting?"
"So, got your card?" Gars got up.
"Yep." I smiled, showing him mine.
"SenseBorne, huh?" Sinus said. He saw Evena's card and added, "Well, Evena is in my team, unlike you guys."
"Thanks," Sinus smiled, hugging her. "How come everyone keeps getting better at using Clarions?"
Gars said, "Well, you just aim for better handling of your weapons."
Gars high-fived Shalap as she proudly showed hers—also SenseBorne.
"Well, I'm sure Monday will be happy," I said, "but let's not disturb him for now." I sat down on the couch.
Evena sat next to me and said nothing.
I turned to her. "Hey, how does my eye look?"
She looked surprised at me suddenly turning around, but when she looked into my left eye, she softly said, "Pretty…"
"Thanks." I smiled.
Just then, Sinus came over and grabbed my head, looking into my eye. Gars came near too and said, "Damn, Wanora was right—it looks girlish."
"WHAT? SHE SAID THAT?" I stammered. "It's pretty, though."
"Yeah," Gars chuckled. "It is pretty—like a lady's. I mean, I did know that you have long lashes, but with the pink eye... that's something."
"So it's a new Clarion, right?" Sinus looked at me.
"Yeah. Activated randomly. So no idea how it works. It's like... it's working always, but somehow I still see things normally."
"So like... what did you say about seeing atoms and stuff?"
"Huh?" I turned red. I'd only told that to Wanora—and specifically told her not to say anything.
Because look at their reactions. They wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded.
"Well," I stuttered, "it's not atoms. I just see the arrangement of things and can use the Clarion of Touch to rearrange it into the order I want. In simple words—solidifying stuff out of thin air. Like this."
I summoned a clean piece of rock out of thin air. It was smaller than back then, but I guess that makes sense. My brain was at an all-time high due to the fight back then. There's a thing about Clarion users—compared to normal days, our Clarions can be heightened during fights, due to the brain being stressed and working furiously.
Though, this does stress out the brain at a faster rate.
But currently, unlike the large boulders I could produce, I'm only able to make small ones—since I'm not in a high state of panic. Though NC can be increased if I practice with my brain. Simple things, like thinking and training the mind to do repeated sets of patterns until it gets used to it and can do it easily.
Sinus looked at the rock in the air, just floating, as he said, "Wow... I can't do that."
"You didn't train that way," I said.
"Well, I don't regret it either way." Sinus chuckled. "I'd rather just be using the Clarion of Touch normally."
"'Normally,' huh?"
Yeah... I'm one of the anomalies using it not the way it's intended. Probably because of Honurad Decimus teaching me.
The Clarion of Touch is meant to be used to analyze texture and refine stuff. Mainly, it's used to make weapons and for proper handling of them. Swordsmen and blacksmiths are most popular among Clarion of Touch users.
So Sinus chose the easy way—that stresses the brain a lot less. He developed a grip that doesn't falter even if he's falling. He can aim and shoot steadily mid-air.
The Clarion of Vision is mainly for observation. Mainly popular with readers. It's a Clarion that can help with quick thinking and being able to know more than you should.
Wanora usually uses it to understand the core of her artifact—and use it to its proper extent.
The Clarion of Taste—it's generally considered useless. Mostly used by poison testers and doctors. The Clarion can help with distinguishing the difference between lookalikes if needed.
Monday, however, uses it for making tasty food.
The Clarion of Smell is usually for enhancing the animal-like instincts of the body. A large number of its users are physically on a different level—just like Gars—but tend to develop animalistic tendencies.
Gars, due to the training of Honurad Decimus, avoided this.
The Clarion of Hearing is usually used by spies and scouts. Its main focus is to help with detection. Shalap, however, developed it to predict movements using it.
But still... despite all of this, we still can't tell what our grandfather wanted to say with the carvings.
Goes to show how far ahead of us he was.
Wonder if I can see like him...
Just then, the door burst open.
Monday came out and said, "Found it." He showed that key and added, "This is a map—and it's leading to the south of the town."
"South?" I stood up. "It wasn't carvings but a map? I thought it was written... something."
"Should we go, then?" I said.
Wanora followed behind Monday, saying, "Let's go."