Leon flipped through the brittle pages, his eyes narrowing as the script detailed the Emperor's climb.
From the moment Julius grasped power, he hadn't stopped there. The journal explained how he refined his method again and again, chiseling at its flaws until it became something greater. A discipline. A legacy. He later named it the [Imperial Art.]
Leon leaned forward, lips moving as he traced the Emperor's words. The journal revealed the discoveries Julius made along his rise.
The first was startling; professionals, those who followed the art system, awakened affinities at Rank 4, the same level as a C-rank beast. Leon froze. That alone set them apart from beasts, who never gained such a boon. Beasts lacked affinities entirely; only raw instinct and power carried them forward. This meant anyone on the using the art system had an advantage Julius himself had built into the system.
The second revelation was even more staggering. At Rank 5, a professional awakened their core.
