Chapter 18

Ranking

I first presented my Hunter Tracker, which allowed them to scan my deeds. They were surprised at the number of Humans I killed. Pleased was one emotion that flickered across their faces, but surprise was the greater emotion. How? It was a question probably at the top of their minds. But for my ranking purposes, my Platinum three-star ranking was noteworthy.

Next they had me press my palm to a scanner that felt very familiar to a security palm scanner back on Earth. Only this one supposedly measured the "Energy" within our bodies. Being over 16k as a newcomer just off the boat shocked them beyond anything they could comprehend.

"He's even stronger than the other Kojin that came in earlier."

"What? Let me see. Wow, you're right. The last one was over 8k, but this one is nearly double! How is this possible?"

"The scanner must be broken," said another attendant from another window over. "Use mine."

I pressed my palm to the new scanner and got the exact same result. Which I proudly wore on my face as a smug grin. Hiding my strength has its time and day, but that day is not today. This new attitude made me question when things changed. Before arriving on Draotis, now known as the First Layer, I went from confident to scared to confident again. And as time passed, years really, that confidence only grew as I won each battle. Nevertheless, despite the dangers and pain that were involved, I came out the victor eventually. Even death didn't stop me.

So, am I being too confident? Too smug? Probably. This is only day two in this world, and I'm already feeling like I own the place. Pride cometh before the fall. A passage from the bible that, honestly, might be very relevant right now. I can say again that time will only tell, but that actually seems like poor planning. Yes, I've grown too confident. And these tests, only serve to boost my ego. I'll accept the badge ranking because it'll thwart needless squabbles in the future, but I fear it won't keep the truly powerful off my back or that of my companions. All I probably have done is mark them for greater trouble. Technically, Akoth did that first, but I stepped in and made things worse. Dammit, hindsight.

"Um… please wait here. I need to notify the Guild Master for your badge," Yewway said before rushing off into a backroom.

Moments later, she came back out and asked me to follow her. Once inside the back room, the Guild Master greeted me. "Good day, sir. My name is Harkle." He was a Zabeen, but the nebulous cloud was parted to reveal an actual face. The features of the face were plain. The skin was red, and he had no hair or eyebrows, but otherwise had the same features as a human.

"Hi, I am Ezekiel Conri, but my friends just call me Zeke."

"Nice to meet you, Zeke. Now, if I may, I will restore my biosphere. I can only reveal my real face for so long, you see." Then the clouds drew back over his face, and the many eyes looked at me. If I hadn't seen his real face, I might've been creeped out by the new display. "Zeke, it seems your party is extremely strong. I haven't met the other two yet, but if yours and Akoth's energy levels are as high as our tests suggest, your group is very strong for First Layers."

"Yes, we accomplished many great feats, including wiping out the entirety of the Monster King's forces and the Monster King himself." I didn't bother to say how many Monster Kings I ended up killing in the end. I doubted any of the latter ones were as strong as that very first one anyway."

"Wow, that is quite the accomplishment. We know of the histories of every species within our Coalition, and while many things are vastly different, we all had the same starter Layer rules. That is to say, we all had a version of a Monster King and his elite forces to battle with."

"Makes sense. Did anyone else ever accomplish our feat?"

"None in my lifetime, and I'm almost a thousand years old. However, there are legends from some of our worlds that had one or two that did kill the Monster King but not his entire species," he chuckled. "You're truly fascinating. I also hear you're in possession of a Soul Battery. Is this correct?"

"How did you hear about that? I just came from…"

"Nath's place? Yes, well, we have great communication equipment due to the Tobnob's superior technology from the rest of the First Layer worlds. Nath was on the wire bragging within seconds of you leaving his shop. You'll find much-advanced tech. Although seeing your arm there, I suspect you have far superior tech already."

Previously, I was going to hide that I'm human. It wouldn't be difficult since the System labeled me as a Human Hybrid anyway. But this line of discussion could be a good segway into revealing my truth to a powerful leader in the Coalition and getting him on my side early. It might save me some heartache later, but I needed to ease into it.

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"Yes, well, you see. I am a unique case among the Kojin. I'll tell you the entire story, but I ask only that you hear me out and don't cast judgment until you understand the full story. Can you agree to that?"

"I… yes, I will agree to that since you had the highest rank possible among the Kojin before coming here. But first I want to know, are you a Divine Blessing user? And what about your party?"

I thought about that. I have no problems with revealing my secrets, but should I reveal my party secrets? Usually, I'd say no right away. However, the secret I'm contemplating sharing with a powerful ally that I can tell right now is higher in Energy than me, which means if I am to trust him, I may as well go all in. "Yes, I started off with two Divine Blessings and one Master Blessing. However, due to circumstances when I died and came back, I now have three Soul 2 Blessings. Akoth has a few Divine Blessings, and the rest of my party all have Master Blessings. But they do know the pathway to upgrading them. It is only a matter of time."

"Incredible. To learn such secrets even before stepping foot upon our land. Typically, we help talented people push for Soul 3 by the time we are willing to accept them into the advancement party to cross over. Until I find myself a suitable replacement, I have held off on crossing. But I do hope to cross this next time. We just needed a few more powerful people."

"I understand. Before I tell you my tale, I want to know everything about the Humans."

He cocked an eye or five at that statement. "There are many powerful enemies, the Daemons, for example, but why do you want to know specifically about the Humans?"

"I'll leave that answer for my explanation of my past. But please, indulge me?"

"Very well. Humans are appear similar to Kojin or Aquiraians, when they're able to fully revearse their transformations. In essence, they look like you. But they use a unique version of the System. They use Mana for Energy. And have access to what is known as the Shop. Apparently, they can buy things from this Shop, which includes Skills, Items, Food, and just about anything really. Their Skills are different from your Skills. Kojin Skills are mostly by touch, whereas your Spells are ranged. That isn't true for Humans. They can do either easily enough. It all depends on the type of Skill they take. Some of the most powerful Humans love a Skill called Life Orb. They can create extra lives based on the number of Orbs they can conjure each day. If a user has twelve Orbs, they can come back to life that many times.

"Aside from that, they have a very group mentality. They build armies and move together as one when they decide to advance. Otherwise, they move in large groups called Battalions. Which can have around a hundred members each, with the top ten being elite. Obviously, this makes them very dangerous."

"Seems like the downside would be that they progress slower than other typical Hunter parties."

"You are correct. But while they advance slower, they advance many at the same pace. Every Crossover cycle usually ends up with Us fighting the Scalian Coalition. But when the Terrian Coalition does enter the fray, it is usually a lost cause for us. Only those evil Daemons and their minions tend to be willing to challenge them."

"I sense you're hesitant to tell me something."

"I want to move on for this next Crossover, and obviously, I'm looking for more powerful candidates to push for it. I already have fifteen full parties, all at the Soul 3 point, and we hope to get everyone to Soul 4 within the next four years. However, the Humans are projected to be pushing for the same goal this year. It will be the first time that we also challenge them. And I'm not confident yet."

"Well, I can confidently say that my party wants to push for this Crossover. We were fine on the First Layer to grow rapidly, but also to grow over a long period of time. It was our home. But this place isn't home. And knowing the deadlines, I just can't see us wanting to stay here even longer than four years."

"I'm very glad to hear that. But I think it is time you told me that story."

"Very well. Let me just say that I came from a world that isn't flat. Just as the Sun is round, so too was my world. It was a sphere, and it was located in a universe where space is filled with other planets, Suns, and other non-biological things, like dust clouds. My world was not a part of the Layer System at all. In this world, we didn't have magic, monsters, or even different species of intelligent life. We had animals, but while some were dangerous, they weren't on the level of monsters. My arm is an example of the technology we developed. We could also fly through the air on giant machines called planes.

"One day, a magical red circle opened beneath me, and the next thing I knew, I was in the Kojin homeworld. Not only that, but I was in the Layer of a very confused-looking Monster King." I proceeded to tell him the rest of the story on how I became a Blessing user and that Astra was very much my Energy type. Then I got to the real point of reveal. "Going back to my home world. My world was full of Humans. But not the same Humans as your enemy."

"You're telling me you're human? But not from the same world as those humans."

"Yes, and I'm not even fully Human anymore. I was experimented on and became what is known in my world as a Werewolf. Basically, I can transform into a giant wolf, similar to what the Kojin can do, but my version is far more dangerous. But with that said, I am on the Kojin's side and now this Coalition's side. I have no love for Humans."

"I guess that would explain how you have so many Human kills already on your Hunter Tracker. Nifty equipment, that is. We've never been able to replicate it."

"I heard it was a specialized rune equipment created by a very rare Divine Blessing. It allows the creation of new units, but without that machine first created by a Blessing, it is unlikely to be possible for replication."

"So, I've been told. Well, I will keep your secret. Do not tell anyone else. And should it come out, I'll back you. But I do believe your ability to transform should dissuade most people." Harkle then pulled out a badge and handed it to me. "You're officially a 6-Star Hunter. Congratulations."

"Thank you. My mate and best friend should be coming here soon. Just to let you know, my mate was a princess of Lykaia. She's got an attitude. Good luck," I said while grinning.

He groaned knowing full well the temperments of Lykaians.