Before having gotten his second class, Owen would've probably tried to seem not threatening, despite having achieved something as impressive as reaching top 1% in progress made in a month. However, he had gotten to see an almost third person perspective of how he had lived his life up until the secondar class test and none of it had made him feel especially proud. So, despite it making him somewhat uncomfortable, he would hold eye contact until the other person broke it.
It was definitely exhausting, but several of the people who seemed like they would latch on to any weakness, eventually turned their attention away from him. Owen took the chance to actually look around the new arena area they were sitting in. It was a large auditorium, with seats that stretched around a stage set in the center. There were five separate rows of seats and each one had large lettering in the sky above it.
Above his own was a title name he recognized, System Prodigy. The next set of seats below them was named, System Genius, followed by System Adept, System Amateur, and the last section was named, System Initiate.
While he couldn't see what each title gave, he could only assume it would be a slightly worse version of his own title at the lower layer. The largest section was set just around the stage and there were millions of people gathered in that area, without there being a title hovering above their area. He could only assume that everyone that didn't have sponsors had ended up down there.
A he scanned around, he saw there were still people staring at him and trying to gauge his power. He wasn't sure if identify would work, but he decided to try it out anyways. As he used his keen eye, he started to get information on the first person, but he felt his farseeing skill activate and suddenly his notifications multiplied. Staring at the notifications in awe, he stared around at each of the people he had gotten information for and it was scary to say the least.
*Brian - Level 89
Serenthia - Level 94
Marcus - Level 99
Abby - Level 99*
As he looked around, more and more people were instantly identified and it was much the same. The lowest leveled person besides himself, that he could at least see, was still more than twenty levels above his own, which was both confusing, but had introduced a problem Owen hadn't been keeping track of. There was still thousands of people in the same tier as he was, but as far as he had known, it was even harder to level up after level fifty, since it was normal to get a 1st grade soul temper. That by itself was a 75% reduction in gained experience, but the other issue was that after fifty, most monsters gave drastically reduced experience compared to earlier on.
The example Xerxes had used was comparing how much experience Owen had gotten from a level 50 monster, as compared to a level 1 monster. A level one would give single digit experience, but a level fifty would give close to around 10,000 experience, before the 75% reduction. However, even with the gap being as large as it was, rather than the increase being even bigger between a level fifty and 100, but rather a level 100 would only give around 19,000 experience, before the reduction.
So, the problem Owen was worried about, was how all of these high leveled people had managed to achieve the most during their month of training. Even if they spent it just grinding monsters, compared to him reaching combat resonance, learning how to use affinities, learning to be a generally better fighter, but last of all gained both a secondary class and more than twenty levels. It was hard for him to mentally compare, even if he knew there was no way to truly compare without digging into their information.
He had prevented himself from looking at stats earlier, because even if he didn't want to look weak, he didn't want to make any enemies. He had tried to look at Xerxes stats and had been rebuffed by something and Xerxes had told him that after reaching a secondary class, it was a lot harder to see information like that. The person had to have both a lower perception than your own, but actively not defending against the prying. Apparently, there was even a way to fully block your information at the later levels, but given they were still early on it was better to try and avoid looking at others stats unless you wanted an enemy for life.
Finally after several minutes of waiting and staring down people several levels above his own, a voice echoed through the auditorium and everyone turned their attention towards the presentation. Owen was surprised to see his replica on the stage getting ready to speak. Knowing the system slightly better now, he knew that more than likely everyone was seeing a version of themselves, but it was still weird for him. He had seen and fought versions of himself enough times, he didn't think he could be blamed for feeling slightly antsy.
*Congratulations to you all for completing the month of training and officially ending the trial period for earth. Upon your return, there will be splashes across the world of different sponsor's creations. Treasures, inheritances, and even titles are available for those willing to test their might in these locations.*
*Over the course of the next five years, there will be several different system events, the first will be a battle for supremacy of earth, the next will be for the galaxy, then the last one will be handling the full induction of your galaxy, before it is introduced to the rest of the multiverse. Be warned, visitors from other universes can still happen during this period of time, though the limit will be that visitors cannot be higher than 25 levels above the highest level individual.*
As soon as the words echoed through the auditorium, a light lit up a man standing not too far from Owen's location. He was far enough away that keen eye couldn't activate, but apparently it didn't have to, as a large name appeared in the sky.
*Malik - Level 127*
Owen gaped and he was certain everyone else around him did as well. Having a level that high was just insane, the only thing Owen could think of was that the man had either an experience focused inheritance, or he had been grinding for levels the entire time since the system was introduced. Otherwise with the 1st grade soul temper, it should've been impossible.
He was also surprised the system had called him out like that. Placing a spotlight on him was almost a guarantee that people were going to try and hunt him down. If the limit was 25 levels above the highest, technically that meant that they could end up with someone above level 150 visiting, but it wasn't limited to one visitor. It made Owen for the first time grateful that he wasn't the highest leveled person, he didn't know if he could handle that kind of stress. But even at this distance, Owen could see the face of the guy was still calm. He even seemed to stare at those looking at him and for a brief moment, Owen was certain that their eyes had met.
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Not wanting to pick a fight, he instinctually turned his attention away, which ended up being perfect timing as the replica of him had started speaking again.
*The first event will last for a year, during this time, every monster killed will award credits. If your guild is fully upgraded during this time, the guild shop will expand and will be permanent after the event ends. The last guild standing at the end of the tournament will lead earth in its fight against the rest of the galaxy in the next event.*
There were a couple things Owen liked and he was happy to see he could still get messages form Myra and Peggy while in this space. Both of them were sending him excited texts in their group chat and Own couldn't help but smile. There would be a lot of bonuses to fully upgrading their guild, but the system had left out some key details and Owen wondered if it was on purpose or not.
Myra had already found out previously that someone could add subsidiary guilds, just so long as the main guild was the highest level. Apparently, she had checked with Ivar, who had said that another way to win was to create a world wide alliance that followed a single guild as subsidiaries. While it had never happened, Owen hoped they could manage to make it work, but he didn't have high hopes. They still needed to refurnish their current guild building, since they hadn't expected this to happen or the world to change as drastically. They had entered a deal for American cash involved, but Owen didn't imagine that the Bower twins would let them off now that dollars wasn't a viable currency.
They chatted back and forth for a while trying to plan how they would gather as many credits as quickly as possible. The rest of what his replica said was mostly things that Owen had already known, until they got to the end. When it had looked like they were going to be teleported back, one last sentence was said before people started getting teleported.
*Gates tier 1 thru tier 10 will begin forming as soon as your arrival on earth. Be wary, only tier 3 gates cannot break.*
Owen stretched his perception to the limit hoping he could hear how long it would take for gates to break, but apparently the system wasn't being that generous. It didn't say anything else as everyone was teleported back to earth.
Owen spent the first seconds extremely confused as the area he appeared at was completely dark and it was extremely hard to breathe. He tried to shift his body, but surprisingly it felt like he had several tones of force holding him in places. He could only be thankful he wasn't being squished, but he wasn't certain how he was supposed to leave wherever he was. His thoughts flashed back to before he had woken up in Xerxes realm and scoffed. There was no way that the system would have teleported him back to being under the pile of collapsed building, right?
Apparently, he was wrong and after a minute or two, he could finally see the sun as a beaming Peggy looked down at him before looking over her shoulder and shouting. "I found him over here!" Even underneath all of the rubble, Owen could feel a blast of power move towards him and he couldn't help but smile as Myra appeared beamed at him while peering down at him. "Can you really not move?" She asked in a teasing tone and Owen smirked before shaking his head helplessly. Even if he had gotten stronger and more durable, he wasn't quite strong enough to move several thousand pounds of stone.
From the angle he was at, he couldn't see what happened, but suddenly the entire mound of rubble that had rested on top of him, suddenly floated into the air by barely an inch, but it was enough for him to quickly shimmy his body enough to break out of the pile. Myra helped by tearing through the stone using her axes. Once Owen was fully released he couldn't help but grin widely as he stared between the two of them, his eyes lingering slightly longer on Myra. Peggy rolled her eyes and made a waving gesture with her hands and Owen rushed forward pulling Myra into a tight bear hug.
In the beginning, it felt like he was going to crack her in half, due to him surprising her, but the moment she regained her composure, she squeezed back. Suddenly, Owen was pretty sure he knew how all of those people, that used to show up in chiropractor videos, felt. Everything began cracking and any power he had had, immediately disappeared and he had to struggle not to pop. She finally released the pressure slightly as a gasp escaped his throat. They was a tense moment were they just sort of stared at each other and Owen had the same wave of memories flood through him and in the most direct he had been in a long time, he pulled her into a kiss.
He heard Peggy groan from off to the side and he smiled slightly as he pulled away. Myra immediately looked away for a moment, a deep flush on her face before she turned back and pulled him into another kiss. Peggy let out an even bigger groan, "You guys are gross, I am going to go find Briar or something." Both Myra and Owen broke apart then and chased Peggy down who started laughing as she tried running away. They all shared a moment in one big bear hug, before Lucas and Briar made their way over.
"We are going to probably try to find the area that Xerxes has transformed." Lucas started and Briar nodded. Owen was only slightly surprised, since he had known Briar had been planning on doing that, the most surprising thing was that Lucas was leaving as well. "I haven't been much help here, though I will hopefully be back in a couple months. I want to at least help once things start to get a little more violent, but Xerxes promised there were going to be some things I wanted and that I should get there as soon as possible."
Owen nodded, but Peggy and Myra got troubled looks on their faces. "Briar, you are planning on leaving as well?" Peggy asked in disbelief and Briar nodded and Peggy frowned. "You really want me to third wheel these guys?" "You could come with," Briar offered, but Peggy shook her head. "I have too many people I want to help look after here, plus someone has to make sure they don't get too carried away." Peggy answered and she threw a sideways glanced at Owen and Myra who both took a half step away from each other.
"So, I guess we will meet up in a couple months?" Owen asked as he grinned at Lucas and Briar. Both grinned back and a part of Owen was still happy that despite not being super close with either of them, they had still formed a kinship after a month of being stuck together. "If we can come back sooner, we will, but I only have a faint idea of where it is, so we will see." Lucas said as he gave Peggy and Myra fist bumps. Briar hugged Myra and Peggy, extending its arms to wrap them both in a tight hug. "i am not sure if I will come back, In order to increase my level, I need to start creating my hive and I promised Xerxes I would only do it on his land, so that I am not a threat to you guys."
Owen let them have their moment and took the chance to pull Lucas to the side. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you out more man, it really sucked losing most of my skills. But if you ever need anything, take this." Owen said, as he handed Lucas one of the messenger items. He had given Lucas his own, but now that he was back with his friends, he could figure out another way to stay in contact with them. He could probably even buy something from the shop that would work the same.
Lucas took it and rolled it around in his hand for a second before pocketing it. "Just message either Peggy or Myra and we will come rushing." Owen added and Lucas smiled. "When I come back, I am going to be even stronger than you are," Lucas replied while grinning. "Then you'll have to rely on me instead of the other way around." Owen nodded seriously and they shook hands. They spent a couple minutes in idle chatter while the others said their goodbyes.
Owen expected them to leave immediately afterwards, but Briar rushed up and gave him a tight hug. "Thank you, you giving me this chance, it means a lot and if you ever need back up, I will come with the full might of my future hive." Owen smiled and hugged them back tightly, before releasing them. "Don't rush back too fast, we never had a chance to spar against each other and I want you to be able to sweep the floor with me."
Peggy and Myra moved to stand closer to Owen as they waved their goodbyes and Briar and Lucas as they started making their way north. After a minutes or so, he turned his attention to their surroundings and was a little relieved, but also slightly disappointed. He had expected more drastic changes, but it was only after Peggy pointed it out that he realized that most major tech was missing. Traffic lights, cars, and he was certain more, was just gone as if it had been ripped from their world.