Chapter 81: Set of 5 Marks
Unedited*
Lucius nodded... in a way, they were both looking forward to the next official match that would elevate them in rank.
"If I’m lucky, I could jump a few hundred spots in the rankings all the way up to Rank C," he thought.
Although that doesn’t bring any immediate benefits, being a Rank E fighter positioned within the Rank C rankings makes him more attractive to major guilds and the academy’s administration, which works greatly to his advantage.
"Later on, I’ll teach you how to fight on your own, using your skills and magic. If you manage to stand out in the next tournament—and as a Rank E fighter, make it into the Rank D or C rankings—you’ll have many advantages for the future," he said.
"Huh? G-get into Rank C, even though I’m Rank E? T-that’s way too hard!" she exclaimed.
"It is," Lucius admitted. "That’s why I’m aiming for you to make it into Rank D—to try to reach my current rank. That will be enough."
She nodded... She still thought it was too difficult, but if he said so, she would believe him.
"If I had a Rank D Mark, maybe I could..."
"No. That won’t work." Lucius shook his head and cut her off. "Your set of five Marks lays a foundation solid enough for your sixth Mark to be Rank C. Don’t worry about that sixth Mark for now—it’s a waste of time."
"Huh?!" she exclaimed aloud, but quickly covered her mouth when she realized her mistake. She looked around and, after making sure there was nothing and no one there, looked back at Lucius.
But even though she lowered her voice, she was still a little worked up. "H-h-how could I possibly find a Rank C mark for my sixth mark? It’s impossible!"
"It’s not impossible." Lucius laughed and patted her on the head. "Do you know why the first set of five is important?"
"Because they lay the foundation?" she replied, almost as if asking a question herself.
"Yes. And the foundation is the core’s ability to withstand future upgrades. A good foundation usually consists of 2 Rank F Marks and 3 Rank E Marks. But there are Rank F Marks that allow for 3 or even 4 Rank F Marks, as long as there is at least one Rank E Mark that’s good enough."
"Once we’ve met the requirements for the first set of 5, skipping Rank D is the best thing we can do. Rank D spells don’t offer anything that a Rank E spell doesn’t; the only difference is in power. That’s no use to us. Meanwhile, the leap from Rank E to Rank C—both in terms of quantity and quality—far surpasses anything Rank D has to offer."
"That’s why we’ll skip Rank D and go straight to Rank C."
There was a logic behind her words that Clara couldn’t grasp.
Although they had recently taken classes on Mana Marks, they hadn’t gone through anything like this.
For all the teachers, progress must be slow and steady. If it’s Rank E, it’s Rank E. And if it’s supposed to be Rank D, then it must be.
That’s why the idea of skipping ranks had never crossed her mind.
"The teachers don’t recommend it..." She spoke up again.
"That’s why no one ever makes it to Rank S." Lucius shrugged.
It was precisely because of those overly theoretical and less aggressive thoughts that many got stuck at Rank A. Because to advance beyond that rank, you don’t just need more Mana Marks—you need guts.
The guts to face an unprecedented danger—one that could grant them great power.
"Well, that’s why Rank A’s usually just serve as guardians of the lands. They lack guts." He chuckled to himself, unable to voice that thought.
Clara was speechless. She hadn’t expected to hear that from an E-Rank.
However, that E-Rank was Lucius. Someone who, even back in F-Rank, was already on the D-Rank list, very close to C-Rank.
Someone who held the title of Rising Star and who had done impressive things in front of her more than once.
He was Lucius, a very different and strange Low-Rank. Even she didn’t understand... what kind of Low-Rank he was.
But his words made sense. She had confirmed this many times.
While they were talking about that, the Eon returned.
"I found one of those things. It’s in a lake near here. Can you swim?" He walked over and asked Lucius.
"Even though I can swim, it’s not a good idea to go into a lake inside a Great Forest, so forget about it." He looked at Clara. "You’ll have to use your new ability. We have to get that cockroach out of there."
Clara nodded. "Count me in—I hate cockroaches, so I want to kill them all!"
.
By the lake.
"Wow, that thing is huge," Lucius said in surprise.
He’d expected the cockroach to be about 30 to 45 centimeters long based on its rank, but this one was over 1 meter long.
Despite that, it was Rank E.
"Do you think you can freeze that thing down there?"
"I can do it, but I’ll probably miss and just alert it. It’ll come up then, so you’ll have to keep an eye out and not let it get near me," Clara replied, feeling deeply disgusted at the sight of such a huge cockroach.
"All right." Lucius drew his sword and signaled the Eon to stand by. "Attack her with that strange thread as if you were trying to control her. I’ll strike when she’s confused."
"Don’t blame me if I miss. A flying cockroach... isn’t easy to catch."
When Clara saw that the two of them were ready, she approached the lake. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to fight off the urge to vomit.
Then she opened her eyes. They glowed with a distinctive blue hue, and she focused her attention on the area around the cockroach, trying not to look at it.
Immediately, her energy surged. Her magic flowed into her hands, and the new magic she had acquired activated.
[Field of Ice Stakes has been activated.]
Suddenly, a stake rose up from the depths of the lake. It struck the cockroach near its chest, causing it to start swimming.
Alerted to the danger, the cockroach immediately swam upward and found its way to the surface.
Although it was a cockroach with aquatic characteristics, it also had wings, so it was able to fly through the sky and immediately searched for its target with its antennae.
It didn’t take long for the antennae to sense the movement of the mana, allowing it to pinpoint exactly where its target was.
Clara watched as the cockroach turned in midair and looked her straight in the eyes...
Disgust and fear washed over her, so she quickly turned away. "Help me, Lucius!" she screamed.
Lucius was perplexed.
It was just a cockroach, and it didn’t even have much fighting ability—it was one of those with a magnetized body. As long as there’s no metal around, she’ll be fine... Why so scared?
Neither he nor the Aeon could understand it, but seeing Clara run in such fear from that tiny thing spurred them into action.
The Aeon calculated the exact angle and coordinates before firing its Control Thread at her. It wasn’t trying to control her, but rather to unsettle her and momentarily halt her movement.
The cockroach couldn’t see what was coming, but suddenly she felt her body shudder. She froze for a moment.
Just then, Lucius leaped with all his might.
He deftly swung his sword, striking it several times. The cockroach let out a piercing screech, and its body was sent flying back into the lake.
Lucius fell in after it and used the momentum of the fall to drive his sword into the back of its head. The water pressure made it difficult, but the sword still did its job. Both sank beneath the surface and struggled a few more times.
But the moment Lucius felt Clara’s magic take effect on him, he wasn’t afraid to activate his most powerful ability, which allowed him to grab the cockroach by the neck and drown it at the bottom of the lake.
Boaf!
He exhaled all the air he’d been holding in response to the pressure and, without thinking, began to swim back up with the cockroach in his hand—after all, he didn’t want to drown.
Splash!
"Lucius, are you okay?!" Clara shouted when she realized he’d gone so far out.
He turned around and held the cockroach high in the air. "I’m fine!" he said, and swam quickly to the shore so as not to alert the other creatures in the lake.
"There are a few Rank D beasts down here, but they’re asleep. We’d better get out of here as soon as possible," he said.
Clara agreed, but as soon as she saw Lucius carrying the cockroach as if it were nothing, she suddenly looked like she was about to throw up and turned away...
"Can you just remove the mana mark from it and throw it into the water?" she asked, unable to bring herself to look at it.
"Hm?" Lucius looked at the cockroach. "Well, cockroaches don’t fetch a good price on the market, so I suppose so."
He removed the mana mark from it and then threw the cockroach into the water.
With a splash, the cockroach’s body disappeared, and he quickly washed his hand to remove the green blood.
However, just at that moment... he felt a strange sensation run through his body.
"Lucius, it’s them!" the Aeon suddenly exclaimed.
Lucius looked back immediately... Among the trees and the mist, he noticed several shadows moving.
Humanoid shadows—but they weren’t human!