Chapter 33: Ranking Journey

Reen was done digesting the fifth and final guy after some time. Eren had quickly taken care of them by entering the slime devil form. He didn’t have to exert much because these goons were rankless. He didn’t even check their loot and threw it away. They were so poor, Eren felt pity for them.

He already had plenty but didn’t have many ways to spend his newfound riches.

Eren again made his way to the house without anyone suspecting him. He had completely taken care of Reen’s appetite. She was content and happy.

Reen kept on stretching and contracting her slimy mass on Eren’s chest to show her affection. She also kept on telling him how her food tasted and differed from each other.

Eren ignored Reen’s shenanigans and assumed a meditative state. He was using a traditional ranking technique to sense mana around him. So far the training has been in vain but he didn’t give in.

Eren already knew that sensing mana took time. It didn’t come to humans as easily as the magic or demon beasts. And sensing mana was only the first step.

The second step required attracting the mana within your body and forming a mana core. The third step involved activating that mana core to draw the energy from it. A person enters F Rank when the third step is followed through.

A mana core has three phases that define the stages within the rank. For example, an F rank mana core will be formed right below the person’s navel after the second step is achieved. In the third step, primary mana pathways will open that will allow a person to draw and circulate the mana from the cultivated mana core.

The F Rank mana core will first enter the vapour phase that indicates the person is in the initial stage of that rank. When mana core enters the liquid phase, it will be considered as the person entering the middle stage of that rank. And the upper stage of the rank would mean the core has entered the solid phase.

For a rank up, the core needs to be burst from within to allow for a higher tier of mana to condense and take its place. After a successful ranking promotion, a new mana core will be formed and observed to be in the vapour phase again. But this vapour phase will be of Rank E tier. The mana core needs to go through the same three phases again until it reaches the saturation limit. It again goes through implosion once that happens and paves the way for the next rank up.

An F Rank mana core will attract the mana of the same tier. And so will be the case for other ranks. The amount and density of the same-tier mana required to progress further in the ranking journey increased with each rank up. That’s why it became difficult for high ranked entities to keep on breaking through to the next ranks.

Eren had entered F Rank during his second academic year. That meant two years from now on. And he had stayed in the F Rank after graduating from the academy. He was nowhere near the E Rank when he graduated.

Isaac’s party members were also in the F Rank but all of them were close to breaking into E Rank with Ralph being the closest among them. This on-field experience program also served as a trigger for the LA academy’s students to break into E Rank before they graduated. And this had almost become a norm. Therefore when Eren graduated with his F Rank, he was looked down upon.

But Eren had decided that he would enter F Rank before he even attends the academy. He had less than a month but he predicted that it was still doable with the right resources and determination.

Eren stayed in the meditative state for a few more hours before calling it quits. He then asked Reen to resume being a good coffee mug, which she did with a lot of complaining.

Eren was informed by aunt Nina that she’ll be back after a week. But discovering the city lord’s token in one of the ID stones had him spooked.

Eren predicted that if and when his second crime scene gets discovered, aunt Nina will have to prioritise coming to the city first before everything else.

Nina’s visit to the city of Laurel will have to be postponed. Therefore Eren didn’t take any risks and would ask Reen to stay in the inorganic form when he sleeps.

Eren’s mindfulness paid off. Aunt Nina returned the next morning, four days after her departure. Eren had just woken up and gotten fresh by then. Aunt Nina told him she too needs a fresh bath before doing anything.

Eren made fresh egg bread toast for breakfast by the time Nina came downstairs by the breakfast table. He made her sit and served her breakfast with orange juice before taking the same menu for himself.

Aunt Nina liked the attention Eren was giving her these days. She started having her breakfast while answering Eren’s queries about how did she had come so soon:

“I couldn’t go to the city of Laurel, Erni. We discovered something in the forest that made us change all our plans.

Soon the entire city will come to know about the incident so no harm in telling you. Isaac Osan, the grandson of Isen Osan has died an unnatural death in the Osan woods.

Isaac’s entire party has been wiped out. The ones who died with him are all students of the Lionheart Adventurers’ academy including him.

Plus, the guy that you met the other day, Lin Karr. His nephew Ralph also died in that wipeout. Lin is a lecturer in the LA academy. He had decided to take a break to continue his ranking journey.

But after this incident, Lin is looking for an umbrella to hide from criticism and repercussions. He had insisted for Isaac’s party to complete their on-field program sincerely, you see.

Isen Osan might see him as the one who is responsible for this tragedy and target him illegally. So he has decided to resume his lecturing duties in the academy to gain a haven.

So you might see Lin during your academic years. If he reaches that place safely without getting killed, that is. What else? Ha yes, the city lord will soon organize a city-wide procession to honour his grandson and will make an important announcement on that day.

The curfew is withdrawn for the time being as there’s no risk of demon beast initiating beast tide anymore. It will stay this way until any new news regarding the same emerges that says otherwise.”

Eren nodded and resumed having his breakfast. He didn’t remember Isaac or Lin from his previous life. Probably because, in his previous life, Isaac hadn’t died. He and his party members would graduate from the academy the same time he entered it.

Plus, without Isaac dying, Lin had no reason to return to the LA academy. So he didn’t know about the lecturer either.

“When will the procession take place?”

Eren asked while having his juice.

“By tomorrow it seems.”

“Alright. If the city is open now, I’ll visit the markets. Have a few things to buy.” Eren said while taking both their plates to the sink.

“Underpants? Hehehe!”

Eren could hear Nina’s query and laughter from behind him. He could only laugh mirthlessly at that. He indeed needed to buy them before he entered the academy.