Back in the tower, Becca and Alex were both spending the time until lunch working on mental resistance. Mrs. Stirling was choosing far less tiring compulsions for them to resist today, as they planned to delve another trial in the evening. Down in the study, Jess and Muhammad were working on improving their Mana Bodies to the Rare standard, although neither expected to succeed before their evening delve.

Anthony was working with his father in the same study, closing in on a Legendary Mana Body and the Achievement that would come with it. Alex would’ve been distracted by excitement for his friend’s impending success, but the compulsions kept on drawing his focus. Funny how that worked out.

Mrs. Stirling, on the other hand, was visibly distracted as she created compulsions for the two of them. While the compulsions never grew too easy, if anything it was the opposite, they didn’t have quite as much variability as when she was focused. This didn’t hurt the quality of the practice too much, but it made a difference.

After only a half hour of training, the compulsions vanished. Alex went from struggling to not pick his nose in front of his girlfriend to staring at his hand with mild disappointment. Mrs. Stirling stood up with a grin on her face,

“He did it!”

The three of them quickly made their way to the study, where Anthony was still reading through his notifications.

“Have you looked at the Race tab, yet, Alex?” Anthony asked. Alex was a bit surprised his friend went to the Race so quickly. That notification had been one of many when Alex had seen it, and he’d forgotten about it amid everything else.

“Haven’t thought about it the last few days. Why do you ask?” Alex replied.

“Most of my notifications are pretty similar to yours,” Anthony replied, “I’m sure a few words are different, and I don’t get access to Hell Mode trials, but otherwise it’s similar.”

That made sense. Notifications weren’t as interesting when you knew what you were going to read.

Anthony’s comment had piqued Alex’s interest. His friend must’ve seen something interesting to ask so quickly. He opened his status and navigated to the Race tab, which was found under the Competition.

Race

The first individual in the Competition to reach Tier 5 will grant their planet an automatic tier upgrade. This upgrade can not exceed Tier 7. Excessive unearned assistance from any individuals not native to your world will result in disqualification.

“Tier 7?” Alex asked. How would any planet manage that many upgrades during the thousand-year Arrival period?

“Apparently it happened once, millions of years ago,” Mrs. Stirling smiled, “Plato says that the planet in question is now one of only a handful of Tier 8 worlds in the Realm.”

That was ridiculous. Alex had been under the impression that Earth was in danger because of its breakneck pace, but if a world had managed to make it to Tier 8 they must have been upgrading even more quickly and handling those upgrades without issue.

“It was so long ago that Plato couldn’t tell us much beyond general information from his mother,” Mr. Stirling stated, “But we know that the rules have changed several times since then. It’s not even worth considering.”

Alex was only half listening at that point, as his eyes were drawn to the name at the top of the list.

* (The Ordained), (Home): Level 175

Well, that went a long way toward explaining why Home was so far ahead in the standings. There was a genuine Tier 4 Pathwalker on the planet, and not a brand new one. Alex’s surprise at the level wasn’t without reason, no other person on the leaderboard had managed to enter Tier 4 after all this time.

David’s level of ninety-nine was far from unique, but his time in reaching it was quite good. Only an individual named Granted Hope from Sanctuary stood in between him and first place.

3. David Alvarez, Earth: Level 99

A quick glance through the names showed that barely a hundred had reached the peak of Tier 3. Alex’s eyes were quickly drawn to Mrs. Stirling as he looked through the list. Her level ninety-nine status was enough to reach 103rd place on the leaderboard, which Alex only noticed so quickly because she was so close to the end of the peak Tier 3s. Only one person was listed underneath her, as the list ended after the 104th spot.

“It shows people who are tied with the top 100?” Alex asked.

“Top fifty,” Mrs. Stirling corrected, “The list has grown steadily longer over the years, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were a thousand of us at level ninety-nine before fifty reach Tier 4.”

“I’m surprised only 104 people have managed to reach level ninety-nine,” Anthony said, “You’d think it would be more.”

“Do you think progressing through Tier 3 is easy?” Mr. Stirling raised an eyebrow, reminding his son that he was one of the unknowable number of Imprinted across the Cluster trying to reach the leaderboard.

“Well, no,” Anthony backtracked, “But there are a hundred thousand planets in the Cluster…”

His father’s frown cracked while Anthony searched for the words to cover his error. His grin made it obvious he had just been teasing his son, “You’re right, but how many planets do you think are still stuck at Tier 0 or Tier 1? Most will never manage to upgrade their world through Achievements.”

“You can worry about the Race if you ever manage to catch up,” Mrs. Stirling said, “For now, let’s get lunch.”

Mr. Stirling surprised everyone by revealing that he’d kept several steaks under stasis in preparation for celebrating milestones the team reached.

Lunch was spent discussing Anthony’s Achievement. He was understandably thrilled and gave a technical description of how the Mana Body came together. The details weren’t overly interesting, the runes were quite different from anything Alex had looked into so he only vaguely followed some parts. Alex listened anyway, just happy to be around for his friend.

If anything, their lunch was significantly underplaying the significance of what Anthony had done. Legendary Achievements were incredibly rare, with only David, Alice, and the Dean known to have them among the city’s population.

It was a reminder of just how incredible Alex’s Achievement was as well. No one had been in the mood to celebrate after he gained it, least of all him, but it gave him seemingly limitless potential. Additionally, his Achievement had led to Anthony’s and had a good chance of leading to powerful Achievements for his other friends. Alex had no interest in detracting from Anthony’s success, but the Hard Mode trials had played a major role in getting him there.

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Alex remembered the details from his notifications after gaining a Unique Achievement. Legendary was the cutoff, a dividing line between something and something else. It was obvious that it had something to do with talent or potential. His first thought was that it was related to whether or not you had the potential to finish the Path, but he didn’t feel like that made sense.

Surely it was possible to complete the Path without Legendary Achievements. What was the point of all the effort expended on others if it wasn't?

He voiced the question, and Mrs. Stirling answered, “We’re still a very young society inside of the realm. Without the help of Tier 5 or even greater teachers, completing the Path will require multiple Legendary or greater Achievements.”

“Why are they so hard to acquire, then? If the Trialbringer wants people to complete the Path, why limit the number so severely?” Alex was under no delusions that Legendary was suddenly a minor Achievement just because Anthony had managed to make it look easy.

“My best guess is that it would be a waste,” Mrs. Stirling sighed, “At your tier, the soul doesn’t react to physical circumstances without sufficient pressure. Once you reach far enough, that limitation is overcome, but there are other obstacles for those at my level and beyond.”

When she said sufficient pressure, that didn’t necessarily mean a situation as dangerous as Anthony’s. Naturally, you couldn’t trick your soul into reacting to faux danger, either. It was still a part of you, after all. The topic wasn’t one the Academy went over in great detail because they didn’t want students to make the choice Anthony did.

It was still talked about, though. Without the important information, it would be quite easy to trick yourself into sticking around at Tier 0 and chasing the incredible rewards a mana type could lead to. A caution-filled lecture halfway through their senior year had made it clear that even nearly dying wouldn’t guarantee you a mana type. They’d explained that a good amount of it seemed to come down to luck.

While he had made it seem almost easy, Anthony was a good example of how difficult it was. Anthony was obviously talented and had used more Guidance than most Tier 0s could ever hope to receive. Even with that, it had taken multiple near-death experiences to gain a mana type, his father’s help to design a Legendary Mana Body, and even more Guidance to inscribe it.

Anthony had cheated every step of the way, twisting nearly impossible-to-repeat circumstances in his favor and getting lucky. If the boar had struck him a foot higher, he might’ve died before Alex could finish it off. If Alex hadn’t been strong enough to disable the berserk ghoul boss quickly, Anthony would’ve died in their third trial.

All of this combined to allow him to gain a mana type in only a few days.

Mrs. Stirling’s statement had been completely reasonable if a bit of a downer. Most of the people present didn’t have Legendary or greater Achievements, and a reminder of the lesser status was hardly pleasant conversation. The chatting stalled for a few seconds, but Becca broke the silence before it could grow too awkward.

“Alex’s Achievement made him a Prodigy. What’s your title, Anthony?” She asked.

“Pathstrider,” Anthony replied, “It’s kinda a boring title.” His disappointment that it wasn’t something more glamorous was pretty obvious. Thinking back to David being referred to as a “Candidate,” Alex got the feeling that the Achievement titles weren’t meant to be particularly impressive. They were just a way for the Trialbringer to separate the talented Pathwalkers.

Striding was a step up from walking, but the title was still an immediate reminder that the Trialbringer apparently didn’t consider Anthony that different from most Pathwalkers. His Achievement was good, but it was far from unique.

Mrs. Stirling smiled at her son’s unenthused tone, “What some unspeakably powerful entity that presides over a realm filled with an impossible number of planets decides to call you doesn’t matter. Legendary Achievements grant rewards and access, that is what matters.”

Anthony was in too good of a mood to let something that minor actually affect him, and the topic moved away from the title he now shared with his mother.

“Have any of you guys narrowed something down for a mana type?” Anthony asked. No one else had his blend of advantages, but the amount of Guidance and stress from repeated trial delves gave them a chance.

“I tried, but no luck with the Lesser Guidance,” Muhammad sighed, “Deng Jing’s Imprinting was fascinating, but I think I got ahead of myself with the nature mana stuff. It’s fairly narrow because the Guidance is so weak, but I’ve gotten the sense I’m looking in the wrong direction.”

“What does that feel like?” Alex asked, “I haven’t tried looking at all.”

Muhammad frowned, “Well, it’s an odd sensation. It’s mainly just getting some familiarity with a type of mana. It’s almost as if my soul is enveloped in that mana, and I get to feel it out. The Trialbringer helps me determine whether or not it fits.”

Anthony winced, “My bad on recommending it, man.”

Muhammad shrugged, not upset with Anthony but also not happy with the result, “I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually.”

Instead of letting the group focus too much on his struggles, Muhammad pushed to the next person, “Becca, how about you?”

“Oh, I haven’t used any Mana Guidance yet.” Becca replied, “I used my Lesser Skill Guidance, but I still have the Achievement rewards. I’m not sure what to ask the Mana Guidance for.”

“We’ve been busy,” Jess agreed, “I haven’t taken the time to figure that out either.”

“The Tier 0 rewards don’t carry over if they go unused,” Alex pointed out, “What have you two been considering?”

“Something that will make me a better defender,” Jess said, “I have the Lesser Guidances to find out if something like metal will work or if I should try for something a bit more abstract.”

“Don’t pigeonhole yourself into the role you chose with your friends years ago,” Mr. Stirling advised, “You need to be open to a change of plans when your mana type comes. I didn’t realize I would be a healer until late into Tier 1.”

Stories like Mr. Stirling’s weren’t particularly uncommon, at least on the scale of people who gained a mana type. It was better to change your plans and adapt to your new power than to just hope you got another one that fit what you wanted better. It wasn’t like most people got mana types for things that they didn’t like, Alex was pretty unique in that regard.

Jess shrugged noncommittally, “We’ll see. I have to start using this Lesser Guidance, so I’ll have a better idea soon.”

Alex knew that while she had no problems at all with her planned role, she wasn’t as passionate about it as he was with swordsmanship or Anthony was with healing. It wouldn’t be a disaster if she ended up going a different route, although the team was already slanted towards flashy heavy hitters if Becca ended up following her plans of becoming a mage.

“I’m hoping to get fire,” Becca stated, “Maybe I’ll use my Lesser Guidance to see if it will work.”

Fire was the most popular mana type for mages who wanted to kill things fast, especially since collateral damage wasn’t an issue in trials. Many Neophytes designed Abilities along those lines, hoping that the inefficient spell would guide them to a mana type that would make it more powerful.

It was less common among Attuned mages since few people had the aptitude for fire they wanted. It tended to go hand in hand with other destructive tendencies that Becca lacked, which made Alex skeptical that she would be one of the city’s fire mages.

It was a conversation they’d had before, and Becca had agreed that it was unlikely to suit her. No one bothered to bring that up, since the Lesser Guidance allowed her to feel out the mana type without wasting a valuable Achievement reward. If it worked, Becca would be set up to become one of the city’s most destructive mages in the future.

“Make sure to funnel Becca Mana Guidance in your next few trials,” Mrs. Stirling said, “That should be your main goal besides increasing Alex’s Capacity.”

Jess nodded, “That’s our plan.”

“Our pace might make that hard,” Alex frowned, “If we’re doing another trial today and two tomorrow it’ll be a lot of work for her to get a Mana Guidance in each trial.

“I’ll be fine,” Becca gave him an annoyed look.

“If need be,” Mr. Stirling stated, “I can help her recover after tomorrow’s first trial. Exhaustion won’t be an issue.”

Alex hadn’t considered that, so he rapidly backpedaled from his doubting stance, “You’re right. I’m sure you’ll manage.” He addressed Becca, who frowned at him but didn’t push the matter. He’d apologize after lunch.

“You’ll be level eight tomorrow night,” Mr. Stirling stated, “At that point, you’ll have to decide if you want to push to Tier 1 or stop to try and prepare for Hell Mode.”

Alex grinned, and the rest of the table seemed to share his excitement. Anthony’s Legendary Achievement had them confident, it was time to speed up.