Master Rank (3)

It's like they were missing something, and Arthur's intuition told him that it was definitely something simple that he was overlooking. 

"Calm down," Arthur sat his little sister down before explaining. "You're not the only one frustrated right now. Also, even if sparring was the answer, it will have to be outside because last time I checked, I'm the one paying for the kitchen you nearly just destroyed."

Lily looked away at that. She knew that Arthur was right, and that he was the one being rational right now which was ironic seeing how she literally had a skill for being wise. 

". .My bad bro," Lily sighed. "You're right. What you're saying is logical, but I'm just. . tired of failing again and again."

Arthur's face broke into a soft smile. "I'm not mad at you or anything - okay, maybe I was but that doesn't mean I don't understand how you're feeling. And, as for how to transverse into whatever comes after the Adept rank, maybe there's information on it online or something?"

"Maybe," Lily said, before her expression matched her brother's. "Fine, fine. I'll give you the win this time." 

"Excuse me?" Arthur raised an eyebrow. "But seriously though, is there any information on it? Wait, before that, how many gods are there in the States right now?"

Lily paused for a moment, mentally counting while reaching for her phone. "Hmm, let me think. The last time I checked, there were five confirmed gods that I'm aware of, including me. Six, if we're including you but let me check just to be sure."

Fiddling around on her phone, Lily scrolled through different websites that were updating information to the latest minute, which wasn't that surprising considering that the world was technically going through anarchy right now. 

"Damn," Lily said, before looking at Arthur with wide-eyes. "Including you and me, there's ten now."

Arthur whistled. "Woah, I didn't realize there were that many of us. No wait, these are just the ones that the media could capture right? Then, there definitely should be more."

"Right," Lily replied. "Looking through the articles here, apparently all of them have already been contacted by the government, but because of the barriers they can't really be called in. They're all still in their own state-city, but apparently, they've sworn to be bound to the U.S."

"Huh?" Arthur scowled at the thought of being bound to any form of government. Patriotism was something that died to Arthur the moment the country shunned orphans like him away when his parents died. "Why on earth would they do something like that?"

Lily tapped at her phone screen. "I'm not sure but it's stated here that all of them have been called by the name of their Legends. And. . .Oh! Apparently, one of them - Raphael the Archangel declared that he was bounding himself to the U.S government because that was what a good American citizen would do."

Arthur and Lily had the same scowl on their faces. 

Lily was the first to speak. "That's how it's written, but looking deeper, the dude's a Sergeant in the army."

"No wonder," Arthur replied. "But, ten of us huh?"

"Maybe more."

"Maybe more," Arthur repeated, while looking outside the window. He didn't know why but he felt a rush of adrenaline. He was excited. Why? He didn't understand. Perhaps he felt content at the amount of family he had. Perhaps, he wanted to meet them and see how strong these gods actually were. He didn't know but all he knew was that something would happen if he met another god, or any gods that were out there in the world. 

"And, is there anything on advancing past the Adept rank?" Arthur asked, expectantly. 

But, to his disappointment, Lily shook her head. "No. In fact," Lily continued scrolling past her screen. "There's not really that much information on the Adept rank either, only speculations."

Arthur sighed. "So, basically, either we're the first ones to reach the Adept rank or the government and their Gods are withholding information, huh?"

"Either way," Lily switched off her phone. "We don't have anything to progress." 

Massaging her temples, Lily sighed. "Ah geez, why does this keep happening to me?! Every time I get my hopes up, something always ruins it. And, now I can't even materialize that stupid silvery aura thing anymore."

Arthur threw his head back in exasperation, before whispering to himself. "It's like our own power is reje. .c. .ting us." 

Lightning struck him. An idea popped up. Whatever it was, he finally understood it, he finally knew the reason why they keep failing to jump into the next realm despite having enough build up or concentration. 

And of course, seeing as how he managed to figure it out faster than his little sister, he had to do the thing every older brother did when they one upped their sibling. 

"EUREKA!"

"?!"

Arthur threw his head forward again, before jumping up on his couch while screaming at the top of his lungs, startling his little sister. Having been startled, Lily was about to unleash her frustration onto Arthur before he silenced her with a finger.

"I got it."

"Yeah, and what exactly did you get?" "Be careful with your answer because I'll beat your ass otherwise."

"Uh huh, and I'll roundhouse your head." 

". . .So?"

"Anyway, what I'm trying to say, dear little sister of mine, is that I figured it out."

"You figured what out?" Lily's eyes blinked wide. "No way."

Arthur tipped his metaphorical hat at her and bowed. "Your [Divine Wisdom] knows no bounds."

Lily just rolled her eyes. "Stop being stupid and talk already."

Arthur laughed at her reaction. It always made him chuckle whenever he teased Lily. Maybe he's been reading a little too much sadistic manga lately?

Anyway, Arthur focused on the matter at hand. He raised a finger, and coughed, getting Lily's attention."So, this is what we've been doing to jump into the next stage."