It was around midnight when Jay woke up.

Mr. Arthas had told him to sleep early, as the elder would bring him along during their shift tonight.

He hadn't slept well due to the excitement and the disruption to his body rhythm.

Nevertheless, the thought of formally stepping into the world of ascendants pushed him to get dressed.

-

Jay stood on the sidewalk, waiting for Mr. Arthas to pick him up.

He had been standing for about fifteen minutes, which was quite a long time for a waiting person.

He hoped the elder would arrive quickly, lest he was mistaken as a delinquent by the authorities, considering his slightly robust build and fairly casual bearing.

Two minutes later, Mr. Arthas arrived in a black pickup truck.

"Sorry for being late. I had to do work along the way here, unfortunately."

Arthas apologized for making his student wait even though it was the latter's first exposure to the ascendant world, which was quite a big deal in itself.

"It's okay, sir. It hasn't been long."

Jay spoke as he put on the seat belt in the front passenger seat.

"Thank you for understanding. Now I will bring you to a house on the southern outskirts of the city. We mostly do our operations there."

"Wait, sir. If you're something like the police, wouldn't it make more sense to move within the city?"

Even if they could do reconnaissance remotely, they probably still had to apprehend or investigate anomalies in person.

"Oh, about that. I have a partner that takes care of that. Remotely, mind you.

You see, ascendants have a variety of means at their disposal. An ill-informed person wouldn't even know how they died if they rashly faced metaphysical matters.

Although, even if one is considered knowledgeable in metaphysics, it's still impossible to guard against everything. That's why it's best to remain obscure whenever possible.

The best method of concealment we can readily do is remaining far from the observation area.

Information-related abilities like ours can counter this method, but they are quite rare, and most who have it cannot perform a counter-investigation without a medium. Considerable physical distance also greatly weakens such attempts.

On the other hand, as others find it hard to counter-investigate, we also can't perform in-depth observation, since we might produce metaphysical fluctuations strong enough to be distinguishable from ambient ones."

Having a mentor was a great boon to any struggling learner.

Jay had been fumbling about with his ability on his own.

Although he had made strides in learning about his capability, he was utterly clueless in everything else metaphysical.

This was a hidden danger since he would be prone to overestimate his ability and underestimate others if he only focused on understanding himself without understanding others.

"Alright, sir. Then how do you take action if you do find an anomaly? Does your partner perform a long-distance attack or even a curse?"

"Haha. Not really. I won't tell you now. It's best if you see it in person later."

"Oh, okay, sir. I have another question. Do you have your shifts at this time every day?

You also seem active in the daytime, like in the coffee shop earlier. It seems unhealthy."

Jay's sleep routine had stayed the same even after being an ascendant for a month.

Perhaps advanced ascendants like Mr. Arthas didn't need sleep, like the immortals in some novels he read.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"We only do this every other day, for about eight hours per shift. We share this post with several other teams. Shifts even overlap with one another at times to prevent downtime.

As for health concerns, it's not a big deal. As ascendants develop their abilities, they also gain physical enhancements to keep up with the increasing strain of ability usage, so the need for rest isn't as prevalent.

Of course, we get tired eventually since we consume physical and mental resources whenever we use our ability.

It's not that noticeable at your stage since you're only using a rudimentary form of your ability. More experienced ascendants have developed diverse and potent applications that consume resources when applied."

"Do you only rely on natural recovery, sir? Or do you have anything like supplements or medicine for that?"

Ascendant society probably had alchemists or other production-specialized people, considering the sheer variety of ascendant specialties.

"Natural recovery is optimal, of course, since it doesn't cost anything and is free of sequelae.

But there are situations where quick recovery is necessary, and there are specialized medicines for that. There are even medicines that could temporarily enhance physical and mental attributes.

They're not cheap, though. Few ascendants are qualified to create consumables useful to other ascendants, hence the inflated prices.

Of course, they won't dare to abuse the demand, lest they find themselves threatened, or even enslaved, since nobody would want to stand up for them."

"Can we use our information-related ability to perform artisanal tasks, sir? Perhaps we could imbue our advantages into talismans to sell?

I never thought we would also need money in ascendant society, just like the regular one."

"You could try. But that is usually an advanced application of an ability and typically consumes many resources.

I could do it if I wanted to, but I could earn significantly more doing other things, like working for the organization or selling information.

Also, having a portable version of your ability would allow malicious people to acquire your traces or even understand your capabilities. Very dangerous."

"Oh, is that so? What a pity."

Jay could only sigh at his situation.

He was an ordinary student with no income in real life, and it seemed like he would still be one even in ascendant society.

The only comfort he had was that the upward mobility in ascendant society seemed to be more accessible compared to the regular one, especially with the latter’s bothersome streamlined processes of acquiring credentials.

"By the way, sir. You mentioned the organization, but what is it exactly?"

Jay was curious about the organization that could keep hundreds of thousands of ascendants in the country in check.

"Oh, right. I was so focused on introducing you to the basics of ascendant society that I forgot to tell you about it.

Our organization is named Kawal, and it encompasses the entire country.

I know what you're thinking. The name means soldier or follower in our official language, so how does it connect to a supervisory organization that holds significant power in our country? It means that we are servants of the country.

Of course, some people want to use its authority for themselves, but nobody has ever succeeded. Not even close. Some of those people, along with their interest groups, were even disposed of by some furious members of Kawal.

Formal members of Kawal have great personal ability and perhaps influence, each having a steadfast dedication to serving the country. Politics is not tolerated in the organization.

Ah, I can see that you're satisfied with that. That is one of the reasons I opted to take you in as a student, to be inducted as a formal member after your internship, seeing that your personality is quite fitting."

"You flatter me, sir. I just think it's good that such an organization exists. But can you be certain that bad apples don't exist in it, sir?"

"Haha. You're comparing a formal ascendant organization to the ones you know.

As I've told you, ascendants have varied means, much more than you can imagine. Monitoring the loyalty of every member is quite trivial for the organization's prized artifact."

"Oh, okay, sir. Is that the same artifact you told me about earlier, sir? Can you tell me more about it?"

Jay was very interested in the seemingly omnipotent artifact and the people who could wield such an artifact.

"Yes, it is the same one. I don't know much about it, honestly. I don't even know its name. I only know that it is jointly operated by four of the most formidable ascendants in our country.

Although I told you that there are no clear divisions between power levels, there are ascendants who have distinguished themselves to be at the apex of their specialty. We refer to them as transcendents.

To give you an inkling of their significance in society, you should know that ascendants from around the world will acknowledge the existence of a country only if it has at least three native transcendents. Think of it as you will."

Jay was increasingly amazed at every piece of information Mr. Arthas revealed, but this latest one was a fascinating fact with many implications.

Perhaps this was how tiny or newly independent countries even existed.

It wasn't about the geographical area or the economy. It wasn't even about its political or cultural significance.

It was actually about its influence in the ascendant world.

"Transcendent, huh." Jay could only mutter in amazement, thinking about what such a word implied.

Even Mr. Arthas spoke about them like they're unreachable legends. Did a newbie like him even have a shot at becoming one?

"I know that look. It's good to have that sort of ambition. Don't lose it."

Arthas had a reminiscent look on his face while he spoke, barely visible in Jay's peripheral vision.

"Is it that difficult, sir?"

"Ah, I'm not discouraging you if that's how you thought I meant.

No one actually knows how to reach that level or what it takes to become one. This is especially so since ascendants have their own unique paths.

I guess you'll have to find out for yourself."

Jay felt that Mr. Arthas' mood had dropped, so he stayed quiet for a while.

Could it be that Mr. Arthas once had the chance to reach that level but lost it somehow?

Or did he have a lover who reached that level and became estranged from him due to their vastly different status?

Or was he someone at that level in the past, but his abilities have regressed significantly?

"Don't overthink it, young man. I'm just in a thoughtful mood, nothing more.

The more you live in the world of ascendants, the more you may think that transcendence seems illusory.

But the unfortunate part is that it exists. It's only that you don't know the path yet."

"Oh, okay, sir."

Jay didn't want to dampen the elder’s mood any longer, so he could only switch to mundane topics for the rest of the ride.