The path of power was divided into seven natural ranks, with each being a vast leap above the last.
Rank 1 – Novice
Rank 2 – Adept
Rank 3 – Expert
Rank 4 – Master
Rank 5 – Ascendant
Rank 6 – Grand Ascendant
Rank 7 – Prime
Reaching rank 7 granted one powers light years beyond what an ordinary human could achieve.
But there was also a rank beyond it.
Rank 8 was special in a way. It wasn't just one path, instead, it diverged into four.
Saint: A restricted path. Only the pope could achieve this, as granted by divine right. It was known as the weakest rank 8, but also the easiest to ascend to—if you were chosen, of course.
Transcendent: The "standard" rank 8. Anyone who reached rank 7 could ascend, but that was only if their talent allowed it.
Voidwalker: No amount of training could grant it; only those who were ready to devote themselves entirely to the world had the chance to advance to this stage, and even then, they had to fulfill other mysterious conditions.
Eternal: It was the pinnacle of rank 8, reserved only for the true rulers.
Very few could achieve Rank 7, so those who could achieve rank 8 were even more rare to come by.
Similarly, skills also had Ranks, but unlike awakeneds, there were no rank 8 skills.
If an awakened of lower rank were to learn a skill of higher rank, its rank would decrease to match the user's ranks, and so would it's destructive power.
Skills were also divided into four sub-ranks:
Low → Mid → High → End
A "low-rank" skill at Rank 4 was nothing compared to an "end-rank" skill at the same level.
Together, these formed the foundation of the world's balance of power.
….
Raven drew a slow breath, focusing essence into his hand in a steady stream.
Then, it began materializing.
A faint hiss cut through the silence.
Sparks formed at his palm.
It was almost as if the air around him sharpened. And in the air, Raven could smell the metallic tang of ozone.
'Lightning Strike.'
His hands glowing in a pale blue light as the sparks crackled wildly.
Then, he lunged.
In an instant, he was in striking range.
He thrust forward, his hand penetrating the dummy easily.
The dummy convulsed violently.
Then it stopped—both the skill and the dummy.
Raven pulled his smoking hand out of the hole, his bloodied hand emerging from the other side....
'Blood?!'
Raven was surprised.
He wasn't bruised, nor did he feel any pain, that meant that the only other place the blood could have come from was—
He looked at the gaping hole that was slowly reforming.
Sure enough, the hole in the dummy's chest wasn't.... metal.
"Damned novel, it never bothered to explain any of this."
He murmured.
And, theoretically, it shouldn't need explanation.
But considering the dummies were so lifelike, it could have at least gone into more detail about them.
'Where do I wipe this off?'
He wondered.
The blood did not frighten him, it wasn't his first time seeing blood, after all. Admittedly, he wasn't a saint, he had killed someone before.
A robber who had broken into his apartment with a gun, both of them struggled, and one of them ended up dead.
Thankfully, "it was self defense" did it's job well.
'I'll clean it off later.'
He decided as he refocused on the dummy.
It was fully healed now, not even a drop of blood stained it.
'I suppose I should do it again, to gain a feel of it.'
He backed away and began charging essence again.
Lightning crackled to life in his palm. It gathered, sharp and crackling as if it was unstable.
Then, he dashed again.
The distance between Raven and the dummy vanished in an instant,
He thrust his hand again, his hand penetrating the dummy easily.
Soon after, the sparks died off, and Raven pulled out of its hole.
It quickly reformed after that.
'Surprisingly, it was very easy to use this skill.'
Nyx had made it sound like it would take him hours to complete his training.
However, it only took him minutes.
'Maybe she thought I would test out the skill, then move onto physical training with the dummy.'
Why would he?
How would he?
He wanted to grow stronger before the exams, but would striking a dummy wildly, without a proper weapon at that, really do any good?
'I'll have to ask Nyx to help me with my training later.'
Even though he was hesitant to speak to her, she was officially his mentor. That was the reason she saved his life, because he agreed to her demands.
He was hesitant on speaking with her though.
The trust he had for her had diminished, but, it was his fault for trusting her in the first place.
'Later.'
He thought, sighing.
_________
[Would you like to dismiss the dummy?]
_________
The screen appeared before him, and Raven mentally answered with 'yes'.
The dummy vanished with a bright glow.
'Right now, all I want to do is rest.'
[A/N: Daily updates will start soon]