'System, show me my ranking list, please,' Daz requested as he found a wall to lean against.

Mu had taken the stool next to Emma's bed and was now discussing matters related to espers with her.

He was apparently very interested in the topic but had failed to learn anything from the equally clueless Daz.

Mu had learned after a handful of meetings that, like most people, he wasn't very skilled at talking to Madison, one of New Earth's other espers. Speaking to Daz's sister, Rose was practically impossible as well for anyone who wasn't Daz, Madison, or Vanessa since she was so busy.

Of course, Jim was an option but Mu would rather avoid the man since he found him very distasteful to be around after their few brief exchanges in Los Angeles.

Regardless, the system did as Daz had requested.

Confirmed. Displaying the host's ranking list.

Daz's Ranking List

List Rank Reward Tier Reached Lord 1 No.1 Point 2 Top 2 Kill 576 [+334] Top 1,000 Evolution 3 Top 3 Skill Creation 62 [+13] Top 100 City Owner 11 [-2] Top 100 Potential 3 Top 3 King 34 [-60] Top 100

Naturally, Daz had a lot of thoughts.

'Even with over 2-billion merit point's worth on me or in my bank accounts, Father is still ahead of me...' Daz had no idea how the man was managing it and it vexed him how his own ludicrous wealth was, in part, thanks to Davido himself.

'I wonder if I'll ever pass him and claim the top spot...' Other parts of the list bothered him too, naturally.

'I still don't understand why I am number one on the lord list... I had no right getting that and the Godly Base Management - now Godly Universal Management - skill... I can't help but feel that somehow the God of Order pulled some strings to make that happen...' Daz stroked his jaw thoughtfully for a few moments.

'It's his skill, after all. He even upgraded it when I questioned its eligibility as a God-rank skill. Am I also a pawn on his board? Just how many people are picking me up and placing me where they see fit?' Displeasure filled Daz's mind.

However, he quickly shook his head. 'It matters not. I need only to make all of my 'gifts' my own via El Dorado. Whatever plans these otherworldly beings have for me, the gods, Altros, Big Bo, even the system itself... It matters not if I can simply wrestle away their power and make it mine.'

With that conviction made even firmer in his mind than it already was, Daz returned to analysing his ranking list.

'The drop in the kill and the skill creation lists make sense. The only skill I've ever created is Shovel Arts and I have barely killed a thing in over a month. I suspect that will change very soon, but regardless, I have no complaints there,' the reaper thought with a nod.

'As for the king and city owner ranking... To think that while I'm 11th for city owner, I'm only 34th for king... Does that mean my cities are better compared to most but I'm a lacking king?' Daz wondered.

'It does make some sense. A normal feeling of a civilised society free of crime and corruption is sprouting in my cities. I own two mythical ones as well, though both of them are in a state of utter disrepair... I own 4 fully-functional hub cities; Fort Home, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Rocky's Gem Kingdom. I suppose Fort Sky is another reason I'm so highly ranked despite actually owning mostly skeleton cities,' Daz surmised. 'I should implement more laws and reinforce the idea that I am my land's ruler.'

His mind moved towards one of his latest suspicions regarding two lists in particular. 'Evolution and potential... I'm third for both. The 2 people above me... Are they the same 2 people or 4 unique individuals? Can 2 people have legitimately evolved enough times or gotten a powerful enough evolution to surpass me while also having greater potential?'

Daz stroked his jaw as he thought on the matter some more. 'Mu is definitely below me on the evolution list since he's one stage lower than me - an aspect reaper, the Death Reaper race. Crusher's species shares the same rank as mine, SSS-rank... I wonder if she's first or second?'

He made a mental note to ask her. 'I hope it's her, to be honest. If so, then there's only one other monster I have to worry about. Crusher can't be one of the top 2 for the potential ranking as well, can she? I got a free evolution for coming third, so if so, what could she have gotten? I doubt she wouldn't have used it to evolve if she got a similar prize. That's completely different from the fruit she and I own.'

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

More questions without answers flooded the young man's mind. 'Damn. It's at times like these that I wish I had Rose's God-rank skill to guess about things until I was right or ran out of guesses.'

There was another thing of great importance filling his thoughts. 'So I guess it's confirmed that starting lower on a ranking list gets you way more rewards if you can climb it as opposed to starting at the very top,' he concluded.

'Every ranking list where I didn't get a good rank initially has continued to pump out rewards, but, conversely, it is impossible for me to get anything further from the lord list. Ideally, you would want to start at the top 10,000 tier and work your way up to maximize rewards, but that cripples you if that means passing up fantastic opportunities,' Daz thought.

He sighed softly. 'I guess it makes sense. The system wants to reward those who grow and adapt. I wish it was much more straight-forward with information about it and how it worked. The fucking thing knows the history of Earth and will tell you anything about it with a decent access level, but questions about itself and its system are off-limits. You have to figure it all out on your own... Why?'

Regardless of Daz's desire for knowledge, Mu was done talking to Emma and she had stated her want to try resting.

Her body was in a constant state of pain that no amount of drugs could stop, so sleeping was a challenge without being forcefully knocked out.

That process was made much easier if she didn't have guests in her room.

Daz and Mu respected her wishes and left to talk to Master Sorola.

----------------------------------------

The two reapers soon found the middle-aged Ember-wielder sitting on a lawn chair at the edge of the central hub staring southwest.

"See anything of interest?" Daz asked as he controlled Hamson to move behind him so he could sit on its shaft like a makeshift chair.

Making one of the world's most deadly weapons a seat was questionable at best, but, well, there was no one present to actually question him on the matter.

Mu took up a seat on the other side of Master Sorola with his Cloud of Tartarus.

Master Sorola slowly looked at both Mu and Daz with barely open eyes before he reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad.

A small pen was jammed into the bindings of the little thing. He took it out and wrote a reply in English with rather messy handwriting.

'Home,' the reply stated.

'Given that direction and his name on top of his looks...' Daz nodded and said, "Mexico?"

Master Sorola nodded. He put the pen back and then shoved the notepad into his pocket again, clearly intent on not holding a long conversation.

Daz bent over to place his suitcase on the floor and he then opened it before he controlled all 50 of the stored diamond needles.

They danced about in the air beautifully, each one reflecting the setting sun in a mesmerising manner.

"Mu and I intend to fight and kill the Truthians. He, like you, owns Embers. He has a single one useful in battle. I, on the other hand, can control these needles. Nothing can stop my control of them. The ability to do so is mine and mine alone," Daz said.

Master Sorola gave the man more than half his age a deeper look before he shook his head.

"Can you really not help us? It is to my understanding that you can protect. What are your Embers exactly and what can they do? Maybe you could show me their physical representations?" Daz asked with more sincerity in his voice than was normal for him.

Master Sorola sighed as he reached for his notepad once more.

Perhaps an entire minute later, he had written, 'I cannot help. What good would telling you do? If you truly wish to know and will not try to force me to aid you, then I will tell you what Embers I have. I know you possess the power to forcefully find out and I appreciate your sincerity in not immediately doing so.'

"I understand, Master Sorola. Please, tell me what Embers you have and what they are capable of. If you speak the truth, Mu and I won't press the issue," Daz answered.

The only thing worse than a useless ally was a resentful ally. Forcing anyone to do anything would not help him here. That was Daz's very firm belief.

Master Sorola nodded. He flipped the page of his notepad and wrote, 'I learned the Ember of Sorrow on my own as soon as the system came to Earth. I was placed 5th on the Ember ranking. As a result, I was gifted one basic-level Ember and three entry-level Embers. I chose the Ember of Protection for the basic-level Ember. The other three were the Ember of Hunger, the Ember of Acceptance, and the Ember of Sustainability.'

Again, he flipped the used page of the notepad once Daz and Mu had finished reading it and he then spent a few more minutes filling the next page with content.

'The Ember of Protection lets me keep an area of a set distance safe from most threats, however, it consumes a lot of Protection Essence - a scarce material. I can only keep this place safe for another week, maybe two, with the Protection Essence I have built up over my entire life.'

'So he calls it Essence?' Daz thought. 'Mu just calls it the raw form of whatever the Ember embodies like raw suffering.'

'The Ember of Hunger can help me induce or imbibe hunger. It is not very useful as I am not a heavy eater and I despise the feeling of hunger. It also has very limited effects as it is only at the entry-level.'

Daz nodded as he read those words. 'That makes sense. Mu shoulders the emotions he takes, but he can also deal them out? That could be useful... I wonder if he knew about that...'

Daz glanced at his brother and saw a confused look on his face. 'Huh. News to him too, it seems. We need to test if that can be done at range or if he needs physical contact for it like he does when extracting the emotions.'

Master Sorola flipped the notepad again and continued writing.

'The Ember of Acceptance can only do one thing - help me make people accept things. It is simple but very useful.'

'I can see that. Accepting the death of a loved one, accepting that one's skin doesn't make them lesser than you despite its colour, accepting their likely fate at the hands of the Truthians. Very useful,' Daz calculatingly thought.

'The Ember of Sustainability is complex. I am keeping that girl alive with it. I am sustaining her life, but like my Protection Essence, the well is running dry. She has a week, maybe less, left to live. Sustainability Essence is common, but I have taken all of it which New York once held. Keeping her breathing is a costly process, one that I often wonder if it is worthwhile.'

'Does Emma know that? Is she aware that she only has a week left to live?' Daz thought. 'She seemed upset that she was being kept alive... Was a week really such a daunting amount of time for her to face? Is she in that much constant pain or has Master Sorola withheld that information from her?'

'My Ember of Sorrow is the same as my Ember of Hunger - absorption and redistribution. If you are done, I would ask that you leave me alone now. I can only protect this place, nothing more. If I stepped too close to one of those cultists in an attempt to inflict them with one of my Embers then I would be turned to ash just as soon as I made them crave a snack or feel upset. Leave me be.'

Daz frowned but he ultimately nodded his head.

He got off of Hamson and stood in front of the seated middle-aged mute. "When Mu and I defeat these Truthians, would you be willing to come back with us to New Earth, my kingdom?"

Master Sorola narrowed his eyes further - a seemingly impossible task. He didn't move to write on his notepad and just stared at Daz, clearly asking for more information regarding this offer with his gaze.

"I have no guarantees, but with her soul intact, I may be able to save Emma. You are one of Earth's few Ember-wielders. Join me. I will make the very same offer to Emma herself as soon as I have your reply," Daz said with the full majesty of a king.

Master Sorola stared for a few moments later before he grunted and nodded. He then reached for his notepad with his pen and wrote two words.

'Good luck.'