The police arrive on the scene and begin placing privacy screens to keep the curious eyes of the bystanders from looking at the destruction and death left behind. The screens were an amazing improvement from the caution tape of the past. These new screens are complete holographic sheets that display from the ground and place a 15ft. Tall wall of blurred light. These screens also use imaging cameras on the front that allow it to act as a one way mirror for the police to see outside of the crime scenes.
Zahn sat on the curb looking at the resulting horrors from the fight he witnessed. He was asked many questions about the events and his role in saving some of the humans. The humans he saved were also questioned along with Lyam and Aiden. Only a short moment passed when the three of them were ready to continue along the way.
“Hey, Aiden, what did you mean earlier when you said my rank?”, Zahn asked curiously.
Aiden turned and looked at him with a confusing look. After taking a moment to gather his thoughts he replied, “You really are new to this world of Immortals, huh? Everyone who becomes Immortal is given a rank based on how powerful they are. These rankings are very complex in theory, but are simplified in practice. I am a good example of this. My defense and speed are very low compared to Lyam, but my attack power and stamina are much greater. That being said we are both ranked as 4. The important part is that no matter what a person’s rank may be, their power can be significantly different as the ranks are considered an average of your combined stats. Gyle is a good example of this if you have ever heard of him. He is a high ranking Immortal in New Proxon, but his stats have dramatic differences. His attack power is around 8 while the rest of his stats are considered 5 or lower. He is basically a glass cannon.”
Zahn started thinking about what his rank could be, but he had no clue what stats they really judged to find out. He asked Lyam and Aiden what they thought his rank would be right now.
“It’s not really that easy to say, Mr. Novix. We have no way to gauge your attack power and energy capacity right now; however, I will tell you that you have a decent amount of healing and defense. The lower your defense the more pain you feel and the easier it is for you to get hurt or take real damage. The lower your recovery or healing the longer it takes for your wounds to heal. If it helps; my recovery is ranked as a 5. I am able to recover from most minor wounds within seconds and I can regrow lost limbs after a while of resting. I would say your recovery is around 2 or 3 right now. Your defense is most likely the same.”, responded Lyam.
Zahn was shocked to hear how low the ranks seemed. He wanted to know more. “What do you mean by those numbers? They seem so low, how strong are the higher numbers?”
“The ranks are split into categories–five to be exact. A normal human has a ranking of 0 in all stats. That is considered the baseline and the five categories branch from there. Levels 1 and 2 are considered the ‘Decade Ranks’. Levels 3, 4, and 5 are the ‘Century Ranks’. Levels 6, 7, and 8 are the ‘Millennium Ranks’. Levels 9 and 10 are called the ‘Elite Ranks’. The last category is referred to as the ‘Eon Ranks’. The last category is for Immortals who have become too powerful for the 10 levels system. There have been new systems recently to test their power to create a better scale for them as well, but naturally the government is slow and no one has accepted a new system yet. The ranks were decided on different year measurements as a general idea of how long a being of that power would have been awakened. They are not exact of course, but all Immortals have nearly infinite growth potential. I may look young, but I am actually 382 years old. Lyam is an old grouch sitting a nice 507 years old. I was only a level 2 about 200 years ago. It does not seem like a big jump in power, but trust me when I say there is a huge difference.”, Aiden replied.
Zahn was fully mesmerized by all of the information he had been told. He could not help himself but guess how much power he held inside him and if he had been holding himself back with fear.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The three of them arrived back at the car after a few minutes of walking. They started on their way forward–continuing where they left off. Zahn was still in need of new clothes and a few more items he would need to start at the academy. The city was shining with bright lights as it always has even in the middle of the day. They had such an adventure already and it was barely noon. A few minutes passed in the car as they arrived at their first stop.
The building was made of a strange glass. Zahn had never seen anything like it before. There were cracks running through each pane, but the cracks were glowing with red light. The solid portions of the glass were screens that flipped through multiple images of models wearing clothes and other accessories. The doors slid open the moment they stepped up to them and the inside was nearly unbelievable. Zahn felt like an ant walking on a kitchen table when he walked inside. The room was filled with hundreds of displays and screens with different clothes, bags, glasses, and more.
“This place seems too expensive.”, Zahn said.
“Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.”, Aiden replied.
A woman began to approach them as they stepped further inside the building. She had bright red hair like the color of a rose. Her lips wore a matching shade of lipstick and her eyes were a deep pink color. She was wearing a flowing black dress that had splashes of red gemstones on it.
“Hello, and welcome to Immortal Apparel. Do you have an appointment or is this a walk-in?”, she said with a soft soothing voice.
Lyam bowed his head in response, “A walk-in, ma’am.”
She smiled and continued, “Certainly! May I ask your name?”
“Lyam N.”, responded Lyam.
“Oh, right the way sir!”, she replied.
She led them into a room separate from the main entrance. The room was much smaller, but still large enough to fit at least 15 people in it comfortably. Lyam and Aiden sat down on the arm chairs by the table and began reading holo pads–holographic pads that took the place of newspapers and magazines decades ago.
“To what do I owe the pleasure, gentlemen?”, the lady asked.
“He needs new clothes. He starts the academy in a couple days and he’s from Grith. He doesn’t have anything to bring with him to wear.”, Aiden answers.
“Ah! Well then what a surprise that is. Please, let me examine you.”, she motions over to Zahn.
He stepped up to her as she wished. She looked at him very close and started taking measurements using a strange mirror. The mirror had a holo pad on the side of it and was able to take all of Zahn’s measurements while he stood there. After a few seconds the measurements were finished. She looked at Zahn and started staring at him intently.
“Do you mind if I touch you for a moment?”, she asked.
“U-u-uhh, n-no I don’t mind.”, he uttered.
Aiden let out a slight laugh as Lyam kicked his foot.
She stepped closer to Zahn and began feeling his hair. The texture was healthy and the color was rich. She looked into his eyes and saw the radiant shine of his purple eyes. She then started feeling his arms and shoulders. Zahn was getting the feeling of fluttering all over. He felt embarrassed to have her so close to him. She stepped back and walked over to the holo pad on the mirror to type a few more things.
“Ok, we are all done!”, she smiled.
“Huh?”, Zahn exclaimed.
“This place is pretty high tech, Zahn. They are the best in the business too. The mirror gets your measurement while they examine your skin, hair, its color, and your eye color. They input all of their findings in the system and it will select an entire wardrobe for them.”, Aiden said.
“Yes. After the wardrobe has been selected the one who examined your finer details hand selects the best outfits for you. I will be the one doing that for you. Once you have seen the items we have selected you will be able to give feedback and we can change anything you want about any of the outfits you get.”, the woman continued.
“Let’s get going. We still need to stop at a couple other places as well. You can put this on my tab as well, ma’am. Consider it a gift, Zahn.”, Lyam responds.
Zahn was mixed with so many different emotions and thoughts. He felt happy that he was going to get new clothes, but he was a little disappointed that he was not the one picking them out. The more important thing to him was that Lyam said it was a gift from him. He could not remember when the last time he got a gift from someone was, but he still could not understand one thing as they walked out of the building.
“Uh, Mr. Lyam. What exactly is a ‘tab’?”, he asked.