It had been 3 days, and I had spent my time bringing all of my Stats up to Tier 10. Bringing so many stats up a Tier in that amount of time sounded much more impressive than it actually was though. My Stats had been stuck at the peak of Tier 9 for a long time, because of my [Ornate Chains of Talent] Trait, but after acquiring my Talent my Stats could once again increase. It would take years to increase all of my Stats by one more tier, which meant that all of my Stats were as high as they would be for the foreseeable future. That meant it was time to Rank up.
Ranking up was actually very easy to do once all the requirements were met. When I opened up my Status, a simple message [Rank up] glowed softly off to the side of my Status page.
Previously I had ignored the message, since I wasn’t ready to Rank up, but now I focused on the message with the intent to open it. Immediately another System screen appeared in front of me.
The requirements to Rank up are as follows:
- Increase the Tier of at least 1 Stat since the last Rank up. (Complete)
- Have at least 1 Stat at the same Tier as the Rank going to be advanced to. (Complete)
- Undergo a Tribulation since the last Rank up. (Complete)
Congratulations! You have met all of the requirements and can now Rank up.
After Ranking up, the following will happen:
- All of the lowest Stats in a group will increase by 1 Tier. (Stats increased this way will not advance again for the next 2 Rank ups.)
- All Stats of a Tier lower than 10% of the current Rank will increase by 1 Tier.
- Stat growth exponential decay curve will be reset.
- The focus of the previous Rank will advance by 1.
- A new focus can be chosen. (Cannot choose the same focus as the previous Rank.)
[Be warned that Ranking up will render you unconscious and immobile as your Stats rapidly increase. The time this takes varies depending on the amount of Stats increasing.]
[Proceed with the Rank up? Yes/No (Choosing No will only take you out of this screen. You can come back to this screen at any time.)]
I had definitely achieved all the specified requirements many times over at this point, and it was finally time to Rank up. Without further adieu I selected Yes.
[Affirmative. Now Ranking up.]
My consciousness rapidly faded away, and my body relaxed into a deep sleep.
-Break-
I hate to admit it, but back when I was just a kid, barely 20 years separated from the Mother Tree, I had been overwhelmed by the complexity of the System and all of the different paths one could take. There were Levels, Tiers, Ranks, Titles, Skills, Powers, Magic, The Metaphysical, Evolutions, and so much more.
All of it almost paralyzed me, making me afraid that I wasn’t taking the most optimized path. What if I made a bad choice that had serious consequences in the future? What if I was missing some crucial step that, if not taken, would cripple my future growth? What if I was ignorant of something extremely crucial right in front of me? All these questions and more were rattling around in my little head without any answers.
It wasn’t until much later in my life, after much research and experience, that I came to understand the answer to my questions. There was no singular best path, and the only thing that truly mattered in the end, was progress.
However just because there wasn’t one singular right path didn’t mean that all paths were equal. I remember back to when I had entered a Human city for the first time. I’m blush to admit, but being the rash 80 year old that I was, I had boldly proclaimed my own views on the System within the halls of the library I visited. My bold proclamations drew the attention of a passing scholar, and my horizons were expanded that day.
The Human Scholar introduced to me that my views on the System weren’t the only way to think about things. In fact there were many different schools of thought on what should and shouldn’t be done. One very prominent example of this was the debate of when to Rank up.
In many Human societies it was taught that Ranking up after Tiering up 3 times was the most optimal. However, in other places, it was taught that Ranking up as soon as possible was the most efficient path. And yet in other places still, it was obvious to them that Ranking up shouldn’t be done until after 6 or even 9 Tier ups had been made.
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In all these different schools of thought, which one was right? My young mind had always wanted to find out the answer to these kinds of questions. In the end I have come to the conclusion that it depends on what the end goal is and who was asking.
For those that wanted to increase in base power as fast as possible, Ranking up as soon as possible was the way to go. However, although this path resulted in great power, it lacked a strong Stat foundation that could severely limit an individual.
On the other hand, the more one advanced in Tiers before Ranking up, the slower their rise in power would be. But in exchange this would result in a firm foundation of Stats in the end.
However it’s not like everyone has the time to waste raising stats in a slow and steady fashion. In the case of Humans that live for about 100-160 years old, they usually Tier up 3 times before Ranking up. For some of the shorter-lived Demon species or individuals like the lower caste Aráchni that live less than 50 years, they tend to Rank up as fast as possible.
It’s only for some of the longer lived races like the Aeth, Elves, Celestials, and the higher caste Aráchni, that live for 300-1000 years, that take their time Tiering up their Stats before Ranking up. But even for the longest lived races like my High Elf self, all agreed that Tiering up more than 9 times isn’t worth it unless you’re immortal.
And that’s just one of the debates that are almost always ongoing amongst various scholars and students of the System. There’s no need to mention all of the other disparate categories and schools of thought that fill the world. In the end the System is too multifaceted and complex to only have one right way to do things. Just like how there are many different creatures that occupy a thriving biome, there are many different valid ways to develop in regards to the System.
- An excerpt from Peirama the Outcast’s Study of the System
-Break-
I woke up feeling refreshed in a way that was only possible after a Rank up. My body and mind were strong and clear, my mana cells and mana nebula were energetic and fresh. Everything felt like it was in perfect condition.
As I was enjoying my newly revived being, a System message appeared.
[Rank up successful. Please choose your new focus.]
[Ancestry: (Human; Evolutions: 0) (TechnicMorph; Evolutions: 0)] [Unique Talent: (Collected Potential)]
[Magic Core: (Color: None) (Characteristic: Mana Cell Enhancement: +4)]
[Metaphysical Organs: (Core) (Adaptive Mind) (Fractured Space Channel)]
[Metaphysical Physique: (Body of Artifacts)]
[Magical Physique: (Selective Mana Superconductor)]
[Traits: (Unshackled Ornate Talent) (Enchanting Aptitude) (Mana Sustenance)]
My (Characteristic: Mana Cell Enhancement) wasn’t selectable because it had been the focus of my previous Rank, hence the +4. But other than that, I still hadn’t narrowed down what I wanted this Rank’s focus to be.
I had obviously spent time thinking about this decision previously, but the new additions to the list weren’t present back then. Mainly my Personal Talent and new Trait (Mana Sustenance).
I mean, I’m really tempted to choose my Personal Talent, but at the same time I can already improve that in a more focused and precise way through the Talent itself, so maybe I should hold off on that for now. I can always choose to focus on the next rank anyways.
As for (Mana Sustenance), it’s pretty inefficient at the moment, but with a few enhancements it’ll be a great supplement to my build. The real question is, is it the best thing to focus on right now? And I’m pretty sure the answer to that is… maybe.
I mean, if I can’t get out of this insanely perilous part of the forest, I might not be able to get new food for quite a while. If I focus on (Mana Sustenance) then I could stretch out my food supplies in case I’m stuck here. But I’m fairly certain that I can improve enough to get out of here before food becomes a problem. I mean, there’s still a lot of frozen food in my Internal World.
My biggest issue is that this place seems to degrade magic, and I don’t have enough mana to keep refreshing my concealment spells for long. But if worse comes to worse I can always use some of my saved up mana crystals to get me through the forest. So I think I’ll focus on something else instead of (Mana Sustenance), even though I really like the idea of not having to eat to live.
With the two new options now off the table, I fell back on what I had decided during previous brainstorming sessions. The best candidate for my next focus was, no doubt, my Magical Physique (Selective Mana Superconductor).
With all of my Stats now at Tier 11 after my Rank up, I only needed to get 1 Stat up to Rank 12 before I got a bonus to whatever I focused on, since a bonus came every 3 Tiers. With the bonuses I already had to my (Mana Cell Enhancement), I had 1000% more mana and mana regen in my mana cells, which meant that I could reach the next Tier in just over a month if I focused entirely on raising my mana Cell’s Stats, since the Stat growth exponential decay curve had now been reset.
If I could get a bonus to my (Selective Mana Superconductor) it was only a matter of time before I made it out of this forest. So I nodded my head to reassure myself, and I selected what I wanted to focus on.
[Magical Physique: (Selective Mana Superconductor) has been selected as your next focus.]
I guess all that’s left is to split my mana cells. It’ll be boring, but I would rather not die in this forest. At least I can do it subconsciously now after all these years.