My phone ran out of battery sometime during the two months, and I figured out why. After it finished charging, I switched the phone on, and it blew up with hundreds of thousands of missed phone calls, text messages, and notifications.

Literally, everyone who has my phone number has attempted to call or text me... and there is a shitton of direct messages on Rankable. Most of the notifications are from my social media.

I contacted Percy, but the line is busy. I leave him a quick message and tell him to contact me the next time he sees my message.

~~~

"Master Wang."

"Disciple."

"I got chicken."

"Good, we can eat while we talk."

I place the food on the floor in front of where Master Wang is sitting on his dojo's floor as I sit down.

"I saw you on the news. It interrupted my show to show you off."

"What show were you watching?"

"I was watching the weather forecast."

"..."

"What level is your martial arts at? Is it A-rank yet?"

"No. I'm one step away. But I haven't got new martial skills yet. The timing wasn't... convenient."

"That's what's wrong with your generation, never doing anything unless it's convenient."

"..."

"But you did good surviving. Rain told me about the reality of where you were. Level 500's, huh? I assume you are at that level now?"

"I am."

"Damn."

"What?"

"God damn." Master Wang shakes his head with seriousness, "I can't send you into rookie tournaments. I waited too long."

"..."

"I cried real tears of joy anytime I thought about you breaking the hot-shot disciples of those old fogies of the Martial Arts Allegiance... There was a recent name change. They are an 'allegiance' now."

"...What level would I need to be considered a Master?"

"Huh? You need to master something first! Being at a high level means nothing if your skills can't back them up!"

"Can you tell me what level you are?" I can try and use my [Scientific Insight+] to check for myself, but I feel that Master Wang would thrash me.

"...I don't really have a level. The system was created during my time. I was a hot-blooded youth 181ish years ago when that god of mana or whoever implemented this 'system' of power we have going on. I never consented, so I never got a fancy window."

"...HUH?"

"Don't be too surprised, disciple. We, humans, had mana centuries before the Collision. We were superhumans. We lived and died without exp points being calculated. Some people couldn't handle the power and exploded as infants, but those people weren't winners."

"I never thought about that before."

"The system is literal training wheels, a crutch. A consolation prize for living through a cataclysmic extinction event. It was supposed to be humanity's boon, but they wanted to be 'fair' to the other sentient races... Don't you pay attention in history class?"

"I don't go to school because you were supposed to teach me things. That was the arrangement."

"I teach you loads."

"You do."

"Every day, I get a notification asking if I want to activate the system. Every day, I ignore it until it goes away. I've been using it as an alarm clock."

"...Can you tell me how strong you are then? Comparatively?"

"Hmm... I'd lose to every member of the First Party, I think. I'm old. Besides that... One on one? I could at least mutually destruct with anyone but a few magic casters. I still have my skills and techniques, but old age weakened my body and lowered my stats, if you will."

"How do you know that if you don't have a window?"

Master Wang punches me on the top of my head. As always, the amount of strength he output maximized pain while minimizing damage.

"I can feel it. I studied the body, my body mostly, but I know anatomy. Age is a weakness. I also studied the system, and the more I know, the more I grow to not regret my decision. It's too inconsistent and strange. Putting exact parameters on the human body is oxymoronic. I have an estimate of my 'stats' even with the discrepancies. I'll spare you a lecture because you had questions, no?"

I think to myself that Master Wang will probably outlive his entire generation by simply waiting out their lifespan.

"Are you the right person to ask about "Advancing" my stats, health, and mana?"

Master Wang hits me again. I rub the spot on my head. I don't attempt to dodge because the last time I did that, he beat me until I couldn't walk. Then had me do leg exercises.

"Didn't I just say I am an expert about systems?"

"No."

"Trust your master."

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Okay."

"Although this system makes things simple for people to gain strength, remember that it's ultimately yours. If it says your strength needs to be higher, the system weakened you and told you to fix the problem it created. You need to claw tooth and nail to reclaim your power... or submit and have the power drip-fed to you."

"..."

"But it is not like you are born with 100% of anything. You can still train yourself to further yourself. I can articulate the relationship between bottlenecks before and after the system later."

"Then what about class advancements? They seem weirdly specific or tedious?"

"If you recall, you don't have control over your first class. I'll admit the branching nature of the system is a notable upside. I guess the system is molding your power to fit whatever description it gives you and requires... payment for the change. Or you need the field experience."

"So someone who would be a fire mage without the system could instead be walked down the path of a water mage?"

"You get your affinities checked when you activate the system, no? If you really wanted to be a water mage after seeing your affinity to fire, if anything, that was your own stupid choice."

"If I never got my system awoken on my eighteenth birthday, would I be like you?"

Master Wang scratches his beard with his oily fingers. He's been devouring the chicken I bought and even ate my portion... And since I eat a lot, that was like thirty pounds of bird.

"No. The system is inherited, I think. My wife has it, so Rain got it. I knew someone who had a child with another person without a system, and the infant exploded. They quickly consented and had another child safely after the grieving period. The fact that you can't interact with it until society deems it okay is another weird inconsistency with the system."

"Don't rich kids get it early?"

"Yeah, but if you tried enough, you could unlock the system at any age alone. I co-wrote a thesis that never saw the light of day... shouldn't have mentioned the unethical dissections."

"Before I go, I want a more steady answer about "Advancing" my stuff."

"Potions? Meditation? Exercise? Reach your threshold and surpass it... I'll write a training regimen to help you. It'll break a few things. Think of it as a present for surviving."

"Gee. Thanks."

"Don't be sarcastic. Oh! Don't forget! Advancing anything is technically unnecessary, like attuning your energies at level 100. But this is the only time you can advance them, so use it or lose it."

"...attuning my energies so early screwed me slightly because I got a strong [Nature] affinity soon after."

"What? Are you going to turn into a druid? A farmer? An elf? Aren't you enjoying the lack of bottlenecks?"

"I don't really know."

"Exactly. Giles is expecting you soon. Be late if you want, but don't be here. I don't want him coming here and messing with my herb garden."

"...I'll see you later."

~~~

I asked Master Giles about the process of becoming a master, and he had an actual answer.

"I assume you wish to know because you want to understand where you stand on this continent... Well, I'll give you the requirements of what it means to be a master. First, you must reach a certain level, five times what the average citizen can achieve, and I believe you've hit that mark."

I nod.

"Then you need at least one S-rank skill related to your class. Or something equivalent. Maybe you can unlock a rare, almost cryptid, Unique rank in a skill. Heh heh.

'I have two...' I think to myself. My [Heal Anything] and my [Promote Piece]. I can use the skill only a certain amount of time, and it grants a tamed beast three thematic skills. It used to only have one charge, but I gained another when the target of the skill (Flash Gordon) evolved.

I guess [Promote Piece] is a tamer skill… or should I be looking for “Master” skills. Am I going to be a taming master, a master master, or some other bullshit.

"There are only two other requirements. Teach and train a student in your trade, whether martial arts, taming beasts, or whatever Master you are trying to become."

"What's the last requirement?"

"You have to tie or best a Master of your same type. If there are no Masters for you to face, then you can skip this step."

"Hmm... What's advancing my stats, etcetera."

"I never had an issue with that, but it's an optional choice."

"Can you tell me all about it?"

"This is something that pops up at level 500. Why this level, I don't know. Maybe it has to do with the fact that A-rank creatures and classes cannot surpass this level. You require an S-rank or higher."

"Is there something higher than an S-rank, ignoring U since that’s special?"

"...I believe the First Party has such a rank. However, I don't have direct confirmation."

"I see."

"If you don't plan on leveling further, don't attempt advancing. It only takes effect after you reach an S-rank class... unless you already have one."

"No. I'm still A rank."

"Did you perhaps start at rank F?"

"No, why do you ask? My starting class was D."

"...although it's one in ten million, if your starting point was an F rank class, and you made it all the way to A rank, your everything would already be 'advanced.' It's the same with tamed beasts. That's why we did the de-evolution ritual on all five of them."

"...Technically, it wasn't 'in order.' They skipped a step and backtracked, not necessarily to the point they skipped but enough to 'match' the required number of evolutions. Can something like that happen to me?"

"No."

"Oh. Why?"

"The 'races' are affected differently by the system, you know that."

'I don't like how dismissive of that possibility he is.'

"Plus, you would have to do it twice. If we use the same logic as the de-evolution ritual, you would have to 'evolve' six times, five if we exclude the last step. F to E, E to D, D to C, C to B, B to A. Level 10, 50, 100, 300, 500. Since you started at 'D,' you only 'evolved' three times, not the required five."

"...I understand. And even if possible, doing it again after the first time would be-."

A sudden memory, a thought from long ago.

"Disciple?"

I fucked up. At level ten, I didn't even bother upgrading my class. I just skipped it. I was in the [Endless Graveyard] for the first time and hunting skeletons for experience. I guess since it was my first time leveling, I went overboard...

And even worse, I skipped my level 300 class change.

But another thought came to mind.

"Master Giles. I got a class at level twenty-five. Not ten."

"...that... Don't lie to your Master."

"..."

"How long ago was that? You should probably look into that anomaly."

"Half a year ago?"

"Level 500 in half a year. I think that's a world record."

"Yippee. Anyway, I'm running out of time. I'm doing multiple interviews today."

"Come to me again before you leave for the Elvish Territories."

"Oh? okay."

'Territories? not 'Lands?' Okay.'

I leave Master Giles' estate and enter in the back of a blacked-out car. I have a driver now. He used to be Free Chains, whom he hired sometime during my absence, but he drives me around instead.

He already has my itinerary for the week, so I don't need to say anything unless we are going off schedule. He swerves onto the road and guns it past the speed limit, slowing down only for speed cameras and patrol cars.

I don't wear a seatbelt anymore. What's the worst that will happen in a car accident? I increase a resistance? I break the car from the inside? Hurt the other passengers with my body?

I'll wear my seatbelt.