Chapter 81: [81] No Peeking, Valentine
The week passed quickly between classes and training. His daily workouts with Aurora at the gym became a fixed point in his schedule, though he made sure to never show his full capabilities. He’d let her win occasionally—just enough to keep her ego intact while learning her fighting style.
Monday morning brought Professor Valdez’s class on gate monster classification. The temperature in the room hovered just above uncomfortable as she paced before the class, her light blue hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Gates produce monsters," Valdez said. "This isn’t news to any of you. What you might not understand is the hierarchy within these entities."
She tapped the crystal display, bringing up a holographic classification system.
"Like us, monsters have tiers. E through S, with additional gradations within each rank." She pointed to the bottom of the chart. "An E-rank monster from a Tier-1 gate might be handled by a civilian with basic combat training and decent weapons. A D-rank monster requires a hunter, though even an E-rank Awakened could manage it."
"C-rank is where things get dangerous," Valdez continued. "A C-rank monster from a Tier-2 gate is approximately equal to a C-rank hunter. The math isn’t perfect, but it’s a useful rule of thumb—monsters typically outrank hunters the higher the level."
She brought up images of various creatures—some resembling twisted versions of Earth animals, others completely alien.
"B-rank monsters require team approaches unless you’re an A-rank hunter. And A-rank monsters..." Her voice softened slightly. "Those are the ones that kill hunter teams. Even a coordinated A-rank hunter squad can struggle against a single A-rank monster if they’re not prepared."
Kyrie raised his hand. "What about S-rank monsters?"
The room grew noticeably colder. Valdez’s eyes shifted to a pale, icy green.
"S-rank gate monsters are why we have S-rank hunters," she said simply. "When they break, evacuation protocols activate for the surrounding areas. If you ever hear about an S-rank emergence, run the other direction unless you want to die."