Trees' Valley

In a partially broken down room, a woman with a dirty, white shirt kneeled.

Moonlight poured into the normally confined space by abusing the large hole on the roof, one of the many structural casualties the town had suffered nine days ago.

She stared at a sleeping young man, deep in thought.

A few seconds later, she resigned, and placed her hand on his shoulder, only to shake him.

And again.

… This went on a few moments, until strange sounds emanated from the male's body.

"... Jean? What are you doing here?? It's too early…"

Sighing, the woman waited before talking.

"Remember the test you asked about?" she inquired, causing the lad's eyes to snap open.

"We can do it now. Follow me."

And so, he got up, and walked by her side. 

Unlike before, only a handful of people hung out on the streets, all of which wore armor.

Stability returned to some of the buildings' frames, after the townsfolk spent days getting them back to a relatively good condition.

Not even top shape… They couldn't afford to spare the resources, manpower, or even the time to do so. 

"Randall, do you know how the ranks work?" 

"The what?"

"... You don't, got it."

She kept walking, and asked him to imagine a human, planting a tree's seed on a hill.

"Done."

"Now, multiply that by eight."

"Done."

"Now, add a small flower field surrounding the tree-less center, and green hues covering all of them."

"... Done. Anything else?"

The woman shook her head, and stopped in front of a ruined house, by the outskirts of the town.

Due to its location, the town collectively decided to leave it and the surrounding buildings for last. After all, it was one of the most vulnerable zones.

"Here it is… Follow me," spoke the woman, before walking in.

A layer of ash coated the entire inner structure, along with a small table, whose broken remains rested, splattered across the wooden floor.

On a wooden plank, awaited a crystal sphere.

"... There it is. The 'Rank Teller'," spoke Jean, eyeing the item.

Randall didn't give much of an answer, as he looked around. 

"You're sure no one is coming here, right?"

"I'm confident. Now, sit in front of the sphere, and stay calm."

He did as she said, and she sat down, directly opposing him. 'At least he should be around Rank 3, given his performance.'

In the sphere, eight trees sprouted high up, while their heights fluctuated. However, all of their silhouettes threatened to reach the blue ceiling of the world.

Seven of them maintained a circular formation, with a thick, vibrant hue surrounding the trunks and crowns. However, one could see through two of them… to some extent.

'Wh-what…??'

In the center of the formation, sprouted a singular tree, with flowers of all colors growing on the trunk.

'W-what the hell…?!'

The height of this one easily eclipsed the others, breaching the ceiling…

"... So?"

In spite of her heart accelerating, and the horror that invaded her body as soon as she saw the growth of the valley, she remained calm.

She had to… 

'Do I lie? T-tell the truth? But… What if he tries to-'

"Jean?... Is everything alright?" Inquired Randall, with a strangely curious expression.

"A-ah… Y-yes, I'm sorry," she replied, hurriedly.

"Ok… So, how is it?"

'... I think I'll be honest. H-he has shown kindness for the most part, in spite of speaking like an uneducated prick from time to time.'

She took a deep breath, and fired her shot.

"... In order for you to understand, let me explain something," she stated, as a blue magic circle appeared on the ground.

Flames emerged from it, and created a pyramid with 8 floors, with the size shrinking the higher up it went.

"We measure someone's fighting capabilities through the Tree Valley, a mirage of someone's past, present and future. It tells us the current condition of an individual, along with their potential…"

She paused, and saw Randall nodding.

Jean pointed at the pyramid, and spoke. "Just above the bottom floor of this pyramid, which represents the 'ungraded', is the weakest grade we know: Grade 7. By this point, the trees are pretty small."

She looked at every floor of the pyramid, and kept on. "Usually, one grows from Grade 7 to whatever grade their potential allows them to reach, with the absolute limit being Grade 1. For example, I'm currently a Grade… 4."

Then, her gaze returned to Randall's eyes, along with some slight traces of fear.

"B-but you… You are an anomaly."

"Ah? Why?" he asked, foolishly…

And she sighed, knowing that the way she handled this would potentially decide her fate.

"According to what I saw in the Rank Teller, the height of seven of the trees fluctuated, but still fitted the standards of a Grade 1… All of them."

"I see," he replied, before putting a hand on his chin.

"What about the last one?"

She flinched, and forced herself to calm down. 'Alright Jean, he didn't have much of a reaction with being told he's a Grade 1. So, this… T-this shouldn't have that much of an effect. I hope…'

"The last one… pierced the skies."

"... Is that a bad thing?" He asked, while looking straight at her eyes.

"If you consider being above a Grade 1, the limit known to every single living being in our lands, a bad thing… then, I guess?"

"Huh… Hoh, not bad. That old man wasn't lying when he said that, it seems…" he muttered to himself, as he touched his body, almost excited.

She just looked at him, puzzled and baffled, as she recalled the magic circle and the fire pyramid.

He even got up, and stretched. "Say, Jean, can you teach me how to use magic??" He asked, with a small tone of excitement on his voice.

'He… doesn't even seem to care?... I guess, I'll be alright,' she mused to herself, while maintaining her expression.

"Sure thing."

"Hehe, thanks Jean," he replied, smiling.

They both stayed there for a few moments. Only for Jean to look at the crystal sphere, and grab it. 'I should hand over the Rank Teller soon…'

"Right, we should get going. The town won't fix itself, after all," stated Randall, with a newfound confidence.

And so, they left the building. 

"Hey, Jean."

"Yes?..."

"Don't treat me differently over this, will you?"

"... I-I won't."

The sunlight washed over them, reminding the outside world of the ashes that accumulated on their bodies. 

They headed together to the Town Hall, with Jean feeling mildly off-settled all the way, and split up after each of them got a task.