In the past, there were many precedents showing that Fleshcrafters always end up on a darker path, committing immoral acts, experimenting on beasts and humans, and creating forbidden chimeras that disrupt the ecological balance of nature.
Most of those crazy individuals were obviously hunted down by the church and publicly punished. So, this profession isn't really viewed in a positive light by the public in general. To prevent such events from ever occurring again, the Association and the Church reached a mutual agreement.
Only Fleshcrafters who are members of the association would be allowed to grow, and they could not commit evil atrocities; the Association would have to ensure that.
But Fleshcrafters not belonging to the Association would not be allowed to grow stronger, remaining under the church's severe scrutiny.
So, while the public respected the Fleshcrafters belonging to the Association, Fleshcrafters not belonging to the Association are usually treated with hatred, just like how people treat cursed ones.
Kale could not help but shake his head in disappointment. The church truly and utterly brainwashed the people of the Empire; it seems that whatever they say goes without question.
However, he realized there was a strange factor at play. Kale delved a bit deeper into this topic and thought that, considering how haughty the Dragon Church was and its unmatched influence.
Would they truly relent and allow the Association to handle such a matter? It would be more in their nature to purge or manage all Fleshcrafters. To control another category of Awakened.
Unless the Artificers Association was powerful enough to stand on an equal footing against the Dragon religion's forces.
His guess was correct indeed; the Leader of the Artificers Association was amongst the three strongest humans within the Human Empire.
Of the seven Major Ranks of power for Awakened, he sits on the highest rank of them all, alongside the other two mighty existences.
The Seven Major ranks are -
[1] Apprentice
[2] Master
[3] Grandmaster
[4] Lord
[5] Highlord
[6] Overlord
[7] Sovereign
Each of the Major ranks further has three stages in them: Lesser > Greater > Peak
So, it means the Association Leader was a Sovereign Artificer,
While the other two Sovereign-rank existences were the Emperor of the Ignis Dynasty
And the Pope of the Dragon Church.
No wonder the Dragon Church did not dare to meddle too much in this matter.
This news suddenly filled him with a trace of relief and determination. If he could really join the Association and become an important enough member by showing his value, he might not have to worry too much about the Church hunting him down.
Then his focus moved to the next topic: the test would actually have three parts, testing one's potential across all three professions of the Artificer Pathway.
Kale's semi-photographic memory actually worked strangely. When he reads through a page of information in a single delayed glance, it's almost as if that piece of information is still stored on a separate disk in his brain; to consciously realize that information, he would have to access that separate disk with active focus for once.
Which was why he called it Semi-Photographic memory.
All the knowledge he devours is always there, but on a separate disk of sorts, which takes a moment for him to access and put into his active consciousness.
As he was lost in actualizing all the information related to the test, a sudden doubt crossed his brain, breaking his focused visage. He remembered, 'The system had back then classified the Red Dragon as a Tyrant rank being. What's that supposed to mean?'
He realized that in the Major ranks of Awakened, there was no 'Tyrant' word in it. Kale instantly got up, going a few turns to another shelf.
He picked up another book that contained the details of the Tamer Pathway. Flipping a few pages inside, there were a few candidates reading books on that row; they flinched at his sudden action, then glaring at him hatefully,
Kale finally saw the information he needed.
It seems those Major ranks from Apprentice to Sovereign are, in fact, only Awakened Ranks, meaning those were a classification only for humans. Not the Ranking system for Beasts, but it was the beasts who truly controlled most of this world. Humans only lived in this Empire.
This piece of land was humanity's only safe haven.
Unlike the Seven Awakened Ranks, Beast Ranks were eight in number -
[1] Feral
[2] Alpha
[3] Ravager
[4] Tyrant
[5] Apex
[6] Ancient
[7] Mythical
and...
[8] Supreme
In here, from Feral to Mythical were the same as Apprentice to Sovereign.
But the last rank, Supreme, was different; as Kale read the content, written in ancient texts with bold golden letters, he could feel it, the writer's tone in the following words was lost in complete reverence towards the Divine Entity.
"Throughout heaven and Earth, there is only one being who stands upon the True Throne of Supreme Transcendence."
"He is the singular Strongest Existence of this world."
"The Chosen Guardian Deity of Nergal's World Will"
"The Progenitor of The Dragon Race."
"True Master of all Awakened Paths."
"The Patron Deity of Humanity."
"The Divine Beast of Wisdom."
"THE WORLD DRAGON."
With every word Kale read, his grip on the large book became tighter and tighter, echoing the rage inside of him. He still remembered the voice of that supreme existence, and despite all its unfathomable power, that was enough to shake all of Heaven and Earth.
What did the so-called Guardian Deity do???
It cursed him, in fear of his potential, in his fear of the possibility of him taming the untamable species. If this mighty Dragon were truly so Supreme in its power and wisdom, it would not have done such a lowly act. To fear the acts of an Ant like him.
In his blinding rage, Kale's eyes had turned bloodshot.
Thankfully, he was wearing a hood that covered his face so that no one could see the twisted, hateful expression on his face. His presence became chilling, a trace of his bloodlust oozing out like smoke. Killing a dragon twice gave him the aura and gaze of a killer.
A feat so monumental that few had perhaps achieved in the history of humanity, or if any at all. But he had to quell his rage forcefully and come back to his senses. He loosened his grip, putting the book back onto the shelf.
Going back to the position he was sitting in moments ago, he then asked the system mentally, harboring some doubt, 'System, even with the protection barrier, and the Nemesis Dagger. I should not really be able to kill a Dragon of Tyrant rank, right? That's equivalent to a Lord Rank Awakened in human terms.'