After watching the matches in which all the main cast won, Severin returned to the stand where the low classes were taking their own assessment.
The Academy brutally pit the most powerful in each class against the weakest, or the strongest in a class against the strongest in another class.
They're sending a strong message over. This is the standard. Can you keep up? We won't waste resources on you if you won't be useful.
The more an Etherion user advanced in the advancement stages, the more resources they would need, especially to try raising their potential.
The rank of a Talent Ability can be increased, but for most, it's just a theory of what is possible. There are ways to raise it, but it's so expensive that even the richest of the rich can't take such risks lightly.
Yes, because of the risk involved. It's not certain, and the lower the rank, the more difficult it is—not only for the talent but for the body of the one involved.
Talent Ability is believed to be made up of a lot of things. It's a sum of self, meaning it revolves around the person. The rank is then the amount of Etherion that the person can handle.
The lower the rank, the more resistance the body has and the more difficult it is for the body to accept more Etherion. Such methods have left countless people crippled and rotting in death.
Hence, most of the methods are usually left to the higher ranks, from the C rank to the A, and even then, it's only for the brightest of the lot.
And for most, they can only advance their Talent Ability Rank by one level in the whole of their life, and it's considered a grand achievement.
It's just what their bodies can handle. And for some, they can only make themselves stronger within the same rank.
And it's not something that can be done instantly. It's something that's spread through a lifetime.
So the Academy doesn't really waste time on the low-level students because their place in society is already set.
Severin grimaced slightly when he thought of it. Why can't the author just make things easier for everyone? And most importantly, why wasn't he in a novel where he could easily level up by killing slime?
"...I should have picked one of my favorite novels carefully... but it's not all bad... because I know methods that the current people don't know..."
During the time when the Etherion users still hid in the shadows, when there wasn't that much Etherion to go around, the users of those days had to go through brutal methods to make their bodies more acceptable to the Etherion. It was one of the reasons there was a sudden leap in power when the three-million-year Etherion stone crashed into Earth.
They had tempered their bodies to the utmost.
They had different methods, each more brutal than the other, and Severin might just be one of the very few who knew of their existence.
As the weakest of the weak, Severin could already feel the pain in his bones.
"And the first step is tied to the main event. The great dungeon that will appear... I must get the seed of..."
"Severin, it's your turn!" Derrick shouted.
He blinked once and wiped away all other thoughts except for what he was about to do. His debut. The one before was something to make people aware of his name, but now, they would give him attention.
Ethan Aldrich is a tall guy with a rough face. He has the look of a longtime smoker with heavy shadows under his eyes. He carried a long war hammer casually in his hand.
Severin walked onto the platform where the match was to take place, and immediately he felt countless eyes on him. Everyone knew how it was going to end, but still, they wanted to see the blood and drama that was to follow.
"You," Ethan Aldrich pointed and waved dismissively. "You can start now. If you do it very well, then I will only break your two legs. I'll smash them well for you, and you'll live the rest of your life begging off the street, but you'll still have your life.
"Go on. I still have a lot to do."
There is some kind of tradition that always happens when two unbalanced students are pit together. When the result of the fight is absolutely certain, then the weaker one will grovel on the ground and beg for a light beating.
That was exactly what Ethan was asking for—that Severin should beg and crawl to his satisfaction. But one of the reasons people liked to watch Ethan's matches was because of what he usually did.
He would let his opponent beg in the most humiliating way. He would give them hope that he would go easy on them, dangling carrots in front of them until he crushed them together with their hopes.
Even though a lot of students knew this as well, they still begged him, hoping it would be different for their turn. It never was.
"Ah... what did you say again?" Severin rubbed his chin as if he had been thinking long and was just now paying attention to the person standing in front of him.
Ethan paused. He'd crushed a lot of weaklings—more than he could count—so many that he didn't care for their names or faces. All of them were trash, and it had turned into a routine for him. But at that moment, his gaze sharpened and focused on Severin. "What?"
Severin began to walk towards him. He shrugged. "Repeat what you said, Ethan Aldrich."
Severin barely remembered Ethan Aldrich in the story because the guy ended up as a folder for the MC to power up. The bastard got hold of a more powerful illegal potion and challenged Lucas Dawn—a mistake that left him half-dead and then dead when his family turned their back on him.
Ethan opened his mouth and closed it. Even in his class, there were not that many people who would speak so casually to him and even dare to order him.
Anger colored his face, and his Etherion pressure ripped out like shimmering heat. "Oh? We have a brave rat."