“S-Sure?” Sanya was not sure how to reply. Did Talia just think that her question was stupid? She decided to wait. Meanwhile, Talia got off from the bed and erased the orbs of elements with a swipe of her hand. She then stood in the center of the room, facing Sanya.
“Generally, there is a total of 8 levels. Basic, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Master, Grandmaster and Transcendental. Well, Transcendental is a bit special. Only a transcendent can reach this level. So, mortals can at most reach the Grandmaster level. Now, let me show you the different levels and It will make you able to compare with abilities. I will only use close range magic, so don’t worry.”
Talia didn’t want to damage her room, so she decided to restrict the range of her magic to close range. She lightly smiled toward Sanya. Then drops of water started to appear mid-air in front of Talia.
“This is the Basic level.”
Then, The drops of water increased in number and started to form 4 balls of water around the size of a fist. They were levitating without moving in the air. They looked quite harmless.
“Beginner level.”
The balls of water once again to grow in number. There was about 20 or 30 mid-air.
“Intermediate level.”
The amount of water this time doubled and the spheres of water transformed into rings of water, which rotated furiously around Talia. The sound produced reminded Sanya of a chainsaw. The air around Talia seemed so dangerous
“Advanced level.”
Talia’s eyes narrowed as a chilling air were emitted. The air whistled in terror before the raging water. The number of rings hugely increased and another layer was added. There were more than a hundred thin rings. Even more, a few small-sized pellets of compressed water danced around. Talia was still visible through the gaps in the layers. her hair was fluttering because of the wind produced by the movement of the water. Her mouth opened.
“Expert level.”
Sanya felt like the temperature of the room dropped. A white fog was coming out from her mouth each time she breathed out. The rings of water sped up once again tremendously and the number of pellets grew in number. It was like a tempest of thousands sparkling diamonds. The area 1 meter around Talia was like a dead space. Ripples in space caused by the extreme sharpness of the water could be seen everywhere. The wind was so strong that a few objects in Sanya’s room were starting to be attracted to the tempest. However, there were quickly put back to their places by some kind of power
“Master level.”
Sanya was a bit scared looking at the scene. It was like an absolute zone where nothing could be alive. She was sure that nothing on earth could survive in front of this. Then, with a sweep of her hand Talia erased every bit of water. Sanya looked at her mystified. What she saw was incredible. Talia seemed so graceful when she was using magic. Seeing her expression, Talia looked satisfied at Sanya. She heated up the room with a bit of area Fire magic.
“I can go up to the highest stage of the Grandmaster level, but the power will be so powerful that your house will be destroyed, even if it’s close-range magic. There is a big difference between Master level and Grandmaster level. It’s the same difference as G-ranked ability user and S-ranked ability user.”
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Woa...So, what are the equivalents with the ability ranks?” This was the question that Sanya wanted to know the most. She had seen a video of a S-ranked user once, and she felt like they seemed weaker than what she just saw. However, even after seeing both she could not really compare them. Talia pondered a bit and then replied.
“I think G and F ranks are equivalent to Basic level, E to Beginner, D and C to Intermediate, B and early A to Advanced, Late A and S to Expert and strong S to the first stages of Master level. I only fought against Sarah, who is a strong D-ranked ability user, so my predictions might not be so accurate. However, I’m absolutely sure that a S-ranked user can not reach the Grandmaster level. Grandmaster level can be considered as the pinnacle for mortal magicians.”
Sanya wanted to stop being surprised, but she failed. Talia was saying that she was stronger than a S-ranker, who was considered as the strongest humans in the world. But, after having thought a bit, she realized that this was not so impossible. Talia had told her that she destroyed a continent in a fight against the evil being. Even if S-rankers were strong, they could not possibly destroy a continent.
“So, you are an extremely powerful magician, stronger than anything on earth, right?” Now that Sanya saw Talia in action, she was sure that nobody was more powerful than her. She was quite dazed by the realization. However, Talia did not let her the time to digest.
“Well, I should be the strongest being on earth at the moment. Of course, there are a lot of existences that are as good as me in the usage of magic. It’s for this reason that I am not only a magician. By the way, I reached the Grandmaster level in Water, Fire and lightning attributes and the Master level in Earth attribute.” Talia seemed oblivious to Sanya’s feelings.
“....” Sanya looked at her with a deadpan face for a few seconds. The corner of her mouth twitched. Then, she held her forehead with her fingertips and released a sigh. “If you have some other powers, please tell me now”
Talia tilted her head in confusion. Nevertheless, she nodded. “I still have two things to show you.”
As she said this, she held her hand out and space distorted as a sword in a sheath appeared. the sheath and the handle were grey colored and the overall outlines roughly looked like a Japanese sword. However, there were a lot of details showing that this sword didn’t come from earth. First of all, the sheath was made with a kind of grey metal with black lines along the length. The air around the sword seemed strange like it tried to show its presence to those around it. The handle was also made of the grey metal and it didn’t have a guard. There were scratches all over the sword, and the length was a bit more than a meter.
“A sword? Don’t tell me you also fight using a sword?” Sanya thought that using a close range weapon was somewhat too dangerous. You needed to get close to your target to fight, while Talia’s magic seemed perfect to fight close range and even long range.
Hearing her, Talia remained expressionless. “It’s not that I ‘also’ use a sword. It’s that I use a sword as my main weapon. The first thing that I learned was sword arts. My magic is strong, but not stronger than my physical strength. Magic has a big flaw. It uses mana, so if I am in a world without external mana to absorb, I would need to wait until my body recovers by itself. I may have a huge reserve of mana, but it still not enough against some freaks.”
“Your body is stronger than a Grandmaster level magic? Like what, your speed or something like this? Also you learned sword arts?” Sanya saw a Master level magic, which already so overwhelming, and Talia had told her she could go even further with Grandmaster magic. How could a human body surpass this?
Talia looked at her body and also pointed this out. “I know my body doesn’t look like this, but I’m capable of going far faster than the speed of sound in terms of speed. You saw it this morning. I was at around 200 meters from you and the next second I was in front of you. Of course, I was rather slow, otherwise, the floor would have been destroyed. As for my strength, I myself don’t know, but I punched a spaceship once and it was sent flying. Also, I trained in two sword arts. One long range and one close range.”
As she said this, she stretched out two fingers with her free hand. “Sky Slashing Blade and Inferno Sword Art. I reached the Asura level in both, which is the equivalent of the Grandmaster level.”
Sanya frowned slightly hearing this. “How can a sword attack be called a long range attack? The range should be determined by the length of the blade, right?”
“Ah, no that's not it. What I cut is the space fabric. The slash is so fast that it cuts through it. If there is something there when space is cut, then it will also be cut. Well, it's a fairly difficult art to learn. I could show now, but the aftermath shockwaves could be too strong. I really don’t want to damage your room. So, maybe another time, ok? I just wanted to show you the sword that I generally use ” Talia stored her strange sword in her earing
Sanya knew nothing about swords and things like this. Even so, from what she understood Talia main firepower was not magic, but her monstrous physical strength and her sword arts. “Fine by me, I guess. So, what is the….What are you doing?”
Talia was once again on the bed and her shirt disappeared like her armor did. She showed her back to Sanya. She turned her head sideways to see Sanya from the corners of her eyes. Her face was calm, but with a hint of a blush. “‘What’, you ask? I show you the last kind of power that I have. Look at the middle of my back.”