Cultivation on the Calysta continent is not linear.
At the most basic level, for a person who wishes to be a mage, they must create eight spirits. After a person undergoes a mage awakening, they immediately awaken to the first circle, and for every subsequent spirit they create, they increase by one circle, a process they repeat until they break through into the ninth circle, where they are delegated the title of ‘Archmage’
At the most basic level, a person who wishes to be a warrior must learn to refine their mana reinforcement, a process which they repeat until they reach Lord rank. At Lord rank, they must refine both their mana and aura reinforcement skills until they break through into Sovereign.
However, an Archmage and Sovereign that only repeat this process of progressing down a single path of cultivation will be the weakest of their kind.
Of two Mages with the same amount of circles, a Mage that has also reached the Apprentice rank by placing a foot in warrior cultivation will be stronger than a Mage without any warrior cultivation.
A Sovereign with one circle by placing a foot in mage cultivation will possess more mana, and hence more aura, than a Sovereign without any mage cultivation.
Therefore, it is common practice for people to walk both paths of cultivation while specializing in one. The convention for titles is for the number to be used when referring to a mage and multiples of three when referring to a warrior, as indicated below.
Arbitrarily using eighth circle mages as an example,
Eighth circle Sovereign > Eighth circle Lord > Eighth circle Chief > Eighth circle Veteran > Eighth circle Apprentice > Eighth circle Mage
When it comes to warriors, due to the fact that increasing spirits only has the effect of increasing mana and that people are all born with different amounts of mana, the ranks are split by multiples of three circles instead, which is when large increases in mana occur. One to three circles are Low circles, four to six are Mid circles, seven and eight are high circles, and the ninth circle is attached with the prefix of ‘arch-’.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Arbitrarily using Lord ranked warriors as an example,
Arch Lord > High circle Lord > Mid circle Lord > Low circle Lord > Lord
Though clear differences in strength can be established in a straightforward manner when those of the same specialization of cultivation are of different rank in the other form of cultivation, it is less clear when they are of different rank in both forms of cultivation.
It can be unclear even if they are of the same specialization, such as a Seventh circle Chief to a Sixth circle Lord, or a High circle Chief to a Mid circle Lord. Such matchups come down to the skill level of both participants, the same way skill matters when those of the same specialization and rank in both cultivation battles.
Generally, warriors are as strong as mages, thus it can also be unclear when both are of the same rank in both cultivations, but of different specialization, such as a Mid circle Lord to a Fifth circle Lord. However, as a general rule of thumb, a person one rank below in their specialization to another person of the same specialization would be able to match the other person if they were two ranks higher in their secondary cultivation.
At the end of the road of both specializations, they achieve saturation in their vessel. For a mage, this is as an Archmage Sovereign, and for a warrior, it is as an Arch Sovereign.
It goes without saying that the winner between a clash of the strongest of both specializations cannot be determined.
As for what lies beyond a saturated vessel…
The Adventurer’s Guild had made a letter based ranking system to classify monsters, demons and any others who do not strictly conform to the power system of the Calysta continent.
Beyond the letters were ranks that could not be defined by the cultivation of the Calysta continent, and would be defined with examples. The existence of such ranks and examples of such ranks were strictly classified within the highest echelons of the Adventurer’s Guild. The following is an excerpt of the classified document.
G rank - Goblin / First circle Mage
F rank - Wolf / Second circle Mage / Apprentice
E rank - Zombie / Third circle Mage / Apprentice
D rank - Orc / Fourth Circle Mage / Chief
C rank - Werewolf / Fifth circle Mage / Chief
B rank - Ogre / Sixth circle Mage / Low circle Lord
A rank - Arachne / Seventh circle Mage / Mid circle Lord
S rank - Vampire / Eighth circle Mage / High circle Lord
SS rank - Hydra / Archmage / Low circle Sovereign
SSS rank - Leviathan / Archmage Sovereign / Arch Sovereign
Calamity - Empress Seti / Ḥ̵̋̅ͅĘ̶̯̕ ̴̨͕͔͐̿W̷̲̪̥̓̐͗Ā̵͍̳͠T̶̩͓̼͂̈C̶͙̔̔̎ͅH̸̭͚̖͋̾E̴͕͙̳̓͑͐S̷̠̈ ̶͕̘͍̄̏Ḩ̸̯̙̽̂̚E̵͚̿͛ͅ ̴̛̪̞̰͒K̵̠̋N̸̫͔̠͂̒Ó̷̤̰͈W̷̨̎͜S̵̠͓̚͜͝ ̴̤͇̦̐́H̶̥̞̗͌E̸͔͆̕͝ ̴̙͍̬̾W̶̞̰͎̎̉A̶̱̔͗Ţ̸̍͝C̴̜̈͗H̵̪̬̉͋Ȩ̴̏͂S̴͖̱̑͌͠ ̸̘͚̲̀H̷̬̋Ẽ̶͍́ ̷͗̔͜K̴̝͐͗N̸̛͇͉̑̽O̶̼̭̣͐͗W̴͈͙̫̿̌͝Ṣ̴̣͖̾
Catastrophe - Demon Lord / Spirit Queen / Dragon Queen