Chapter 31 – Floor 1 – 21’s Ranking of Heroes
For the first time on the expedition, many of the Sages finally had to sleep after the first five days at sea. Clico lay fast asleep while the tides of the ocean murmured and whispered mysteriously.
In his dreams, Clico stood in the darkness of the dungeon. Lavilin opposingly walked out of the shadows a few feet away from him. Shade energy radiated off of him and veiled his face. His glowing red eyes permeated in the darkness.
"You've arrived! At last, all the arrangements and preparation I have made have led you back to me."
Clico yelled in rage violently and ran towards Lavilin. Upon connecting his first to Lavilin's face, he disappeared.
"Don't be like that. Remember when we were best friends? One day you'll understand why I came here." Lavilin spoke regretfully. Attacking in the voice's direction behind him, Lavilin disappeared again and reappeared again in another direction.
"Is this about Emelia? I do regret her death, but don't worry, Nillvia is fine." Hearing the names of Lavalin's victims, Clico vehemently charged again in Lavalin's direction. He apparated once again further away.
"Don't say their names!" Clico bellowed.
"My friend, I'm sorry for bringing up such a touchy subject, but please forgive me. I didn't mean for things to turn out this way. I truly care for you and the others, but," Lavalin's tone dropped. "You are weak. Get stronger. In your current state, you can't save me nor her. I will meet you and another on Floor 19. Please, don't keep Nillvia waiting." Lavilin smirked mischievously and blended into the shadows, like black smoke.
Clico pounded the cold floor of the dungeon. Coming back to himself, he woke up in his assigned room gasping for air. His roommate, Council Trainee Trike, put his pillow over his head.
"What's wrong with you?" Trike muttered. Trike had stayed in the room for the entire trip. It was unclear why, but he had barely left his bed at all. He was one to talk.
"Sorry…" Clico said quietly.
"What a weirdo..." Trike grunted. Clico's face became red with embarrassment, and he silently got dressed and left in a hurry. It was morning anyways.
A crowd of people had gathered on the main deck of the large ship. A wooden bulletin had been set up overnight. On it was a list of the aura levels of those on the ship. People were arguing and whispering about its accuracy.
***
"21's Ranking of Heroes"
SS = Skill Specialization
*Rankings subject to change*
*Rankings may not be accurate*
*Rankings are subjective to base levels of aura*
*Bring all complaints to Ziphe*
Deities:
1. High Queen Tyermsy – Goddess (B) – SS: Space, Void
2. Grand Councilman Ziphe – God (B) – SS: Authority, Science, Runic
3. High Priest of the Void Vladimir – Half-God (F) – SS: Void
Royalty:
4. Superior Councilman Nure – King (S) – SS: Science, Runic
5. Councilman Ryke – King (B) – SS: Void, Elemental, Runic
6. Councilwoman Zirene – King (C) – SS: Runic, Wind, Water
7. Gatekeeper Elos – King (D) – SS: Void, Spirit
8. Gatekeeper Ciphe – King (F) – SS: Void, Science
9. Omira – King (F) – SS: Shade
Princes and Princesses:
10. Vice-Councilman Zacchaeus – Prince (S Sage) – SS: Summoner, Elemental
11. Vice-Councilman Blue – Prince (S Sage) – SS: Electricity, Spirit
12. Gatekeeper Ecnelis – Prince (S Sage) – SS: Authority
13. Gatekeeper Groth – Prince (S Sage) – SS: Void, Authority
Sages:
14. Adventurer Anaxmai – Sage (A) – SS: Authority
15. Wandering Sage Clico – Sage (B) – SS: Runic
16. Wandering Sage Mo – Sage (C) – SS: Prophet, Earth
17. Wandering Sage Do – Sage (D) – SS: Prophet, Earth
18. Council Trainee Trike – Sage (D) – SS: Authority
19. Gatekeeper Realeh – Sage (F) – SS: Authority, Void
20. Wandering Sage Kiln – Sage (F) – SS: Elemental, Authority
21. Wandering Sage 21 – Sage (A) – SS: Prophecy
22. Wandering Sage Utone – Sage (F) – SS: Water
Wizards:
23. Council Trainee Duchess – Wizard (A) – SS: Fire
24. Council Trainee Goln – Wizard (C) – SS: Light, Void
25. Council Trainee White – Wizard (C) – SS: Elemental
26. The Stowaway – Wizard (D) – SS: Authority, Natural
***
"This is blasphemy!" Bellowed the High Priest of the Void. "How dare you insinuate that I am nothing but a half-God! Blasphemy! Blasphemy!"
"Calm down sir, I'm sure it's a misunderstanding." White said weakly. White had been deemed the weakest in the entire sub-group, apart from the 'Stowaway', and he tried to convince himself along with the Priest that it was all nonsense.
"Silence trash!" The Priest struck White across the face. White fell to the ground.
As soon as White hit the floor, an overwhelming aura covered the deck. Ziphe instantly appeared between White and the Priest, and he yelled at Vladimir.
"How dare you strike a member of the council. You are guest here. Apologize immediately."
The Priest responded in a fury, "What kind of expedition allows for such malpractice? You have changed much about the arrangements for the expedition, and you have allowed the riffraff to go unchecked while we sail around in circles! Your so called 'prophet' has also put up entirely inaccurate aura rankings list. It is insulting to a High Priest like myself."
Ziphe intensified his aura. Anyone below a Prince level, including Clico, were either forced to the ground or felt it hard to breathe. Princes and Princesses are a sub-realm in-between Sages and Royalty classified this way because of their relation to the Kings and Queens at the Royalty Realm. Even they felt the pressure Ziphe exuded.
"A mere bulletin written by a Wandering Sage is enough to enrage a Deity of the Great Seven Paths' Church?" Ziphe roared.
"It is clearly a joke. 21 put himself in the 21st slot and insinuated a High Priest was a half-God. There is even a 'stowaway' that clearly doesn't exist… Obviously, this was intended to lighten the mood and not to be taken to heart, right 21?" Ziphe defended 21, but he glared at him maliciously.
"Ah yes, yes, there is clear misinformation on the chart done on purpose. I'm sorry my joke did not land. I intended to move people up and down depending on their contributions on each floor, and it could make up for the tension and danger of our trip." 21 awkwardly apologized. Seeing the scene he caused, the Priest bowed his head in embarrassment.
"I apologize for harming you, Trainee White. You have been a good host and have been very accommodating. Now that I think about it, it is quite a funny idea mister 21." The Priest fake laughed and tried to shake 21's hand. 21 took his hand and leaned in to whisper in the Priest's ear. The Priest's face went ghastly pale.
"I think we should keep the rankings. It would even be funny to see if I can go all the way down to a Wizard." The Priest declared while chuckling.
"How could that bastard know that?" The Priest inwardly thought. Soon the higher-ranking members on board left the deck.
Watching the bizarre scene unfold, Clico still took the bulletin to heart. Although there were obvious jokes like the High Priest being a half-God and 21 himself as rank 21, for the most part, the list looked accurate at first glance. Clico knew he was middle of the pack in terms of power and potential. Unless Clico found an opportunity such as a teacher or acquiring a powerful artifact, his growth would be too slow.
Clico heard Lavilin's words echo through his mind,
"You are weak."
He knew it was true. Even though he wasn't considered weak by many country's standards, a Sage in a Dungeon of Deities was like an ant in the houses of men.
Although there are many Sages in the world, they are still considered the baseline standard for power and are often thought of to be the backbone for powerful countries and organizations. Sages begin to have a qualitative change in their vessel and aura where they are able to live for nearly double their original lifespan, need to eat, and sleep less, and have much longer endurance in battle or when working. Instead of living for 70-100 years as a human, a Sage human could live for hundreds of years.
Breaking through the Sage realm is extraordinarily difficult, and a Sub-Realm dubbed the 'sub-Royalty' Realm was named for those stuck at the S level or 'peak level' of the Sage Realm. Princes and Princesses are typically people who have become the apprentice of a King or Queen of an elite organization or country. Nurturing a Prince or Princess is a key step in continuing strength from era to era when Royalties or Deities eventually die. This Sub-Realm continues the qualitative change in the body as well as the now in the spirit. At this realm, a human can live for hundreds of years.
A Prince cannot progress to become a King unless their body and soul are able to contain vastly greater quantities of aura compared to before. However, if a Prince or Princess is able to ascend to the Royalty Realm, skill specialization becomes a much bigger deal because progression in aura at this point is heavily based on how your skills can amplify your aura, equipment, and vessel to new heights. Clico was stuck at one of these bottlenecks at the B Rank Sage Realm where he needed a new approach to progress.
Those who did become Royalty received a drastic increase in aura, lifespan, and ability. Living for over a thousand years, Kings and Queens are considered the powerhouse of an organization or country that carries them into the next generation. The strongest countries have a few Royalty and even fewer Deities. The Gatekeeper Cult, for example, are almost on par with the Four Powers and the High Mage Council, which both boast numerous Kings and Deities in their ranks.
The amount of resources required to nature Royalty, or even Deities for that matter, is so vast that many elites have been raised to become that strong from birth. For example. a Goddess like Tyermsy, who was raised on the Void Continent, was specifically chosen from birth and was raised over an era of one thousand years with copious resources from the previous generation to rule over the Gatekeepers. Even though she was raised in the same generation as Ryke, their destiny's diverged based on the potential the leaders of the previous generation saw in them.
Deities become nearly immortal, and depending on their abilities, could live forever. Ziphe and Tyermsy were both B Rank Deities with vast swaths of aura reserves. Ziphe was known as the God of the High Council, while Tyermsy was known as the Goddess of the Gatekeepers. Very few actually saw them fight, so their actual Godly authorities were vague. Deities usually never died of old age; they died in combat.
Clico, on the other hand, was not raised to be strong. Clico was able to attend Agate Academy because of his hard work and knowledge. Climbing the ranks without a backer proved difficult for him. If not for Wandering Sage Mite taking Clico under his wing, it would've been unlikely for Clico to become as strong as he was. Without Mite, Clico would have remained a low-class Wizard in the mortal realm his whole life. Perhaps the dungeon could be an opportunity to grow, but his goal wasn't to be strong but to catch up to Lavilin, the twin brother of Nillvia.