Tutorial's End

The Comprehensive and Concise Guide to Ranking by Chezly Falthrick

A Summary of Rankings and Their Associated Milestones

Rank 11 - 25 are often refereed to as "the ranker's grind" as the only requirement to progress through ranks is to increase the raw potentia integrated into one's body and soul. Originally, the rank system had them all combined as a single rank, compressing the rank system dramatically.

It was only in the twenty second era that the system was revised to expand this grind into individual official ranks. Previously, beings would refer to someone as a: early, early-mid, mid, mid-late, late, or peek rank eleven. The disparity in personal power between each step wasn't so much quantified as guessed at.

With the advancement of the ranking system, the ranks between eleven and twenty five are much more directly communicable. Though, soul sense is still largely incapable of fully detecting where a ranker is as the composition of a beings' soul doesn't change enough for an outside entity to measure well.

Rank eleven is when most beings decide to invest in a rank-analysis module. There are several, personally I suggest 'Personal Advancement Detection and Analysis System', or PADAS for short. Check out my affiliate link here!

Slyth

Teleportation Departure Hub, Vesheen City, Shee

Standing behind Willow as she cheerily wished her friends goodbye, Slyth once again wondered how exactly he'd ended up following this girl around.

He'd gone to the alchemist fields in the hope he'd be able to find a new alchemist who he could assist outside of an official faction contract. When he saw the group who was partially responsible for him losing his previous position; he'd approached on a whim, having nothing better to do.

Finding the pretty human who he'd run into was in the middle of an apparent workout circuit while her friends argued and threw spells and alchemical regents at something on the ground, he'd been equal parts confused and intrigued. Renting space at the alchemist's field wasn't exactly cheap, and they'd apparently done so without much of a concept of what they wanted to accomplish.

So, he'd asked if they wanted help. The offer had come more from a desire to learn what this chaotic group was doing than anything else. Any alchemist worth their infernal powder would have brushed him off, or told him to get lost, before accepting a stranger's involvement in a personal project.

Willow, on the other hand had taken his offer at face value and immediately accepted help. After having the situation with the weird pink blob explained his interest had rapidly shifted up from mere curiosity to a true desire to help uncover its secrets. Later that same day, he'd finally learned said blob, who was now an animated and incredibly life-like miniature pink woman, was an honest-to-gods multiverse guide rewarded from a rift.

The revelation by itself would have been enough to capture his interest and pique his desire to remain with the group. Beyond that, he'd being knocked unconscious after a very sudden and weird interview with an enforcer followed by the worst pain he'd ever experienced. Normally, being caught in the crossfire between two unknowns would have convinced him to leave, interesting mystery or no.

However, Willow had gone to great lengths to heal not only her friends, but himself as well. At least, she'd paid Ackle for an elixir to repair his soul when she could have taken care of her friends and left him to fend for himself. That left him with a sense of debt, though Willow refused to acknowledge it as she said it was her fault he'd gotten hurt in the first place. Her outlook was… Strange.

There were kind beings, sure, but they would rarely sacrifice their own comfort. If it'd turned out that Willow and her party were actually some faction's elites and the money was like fallen leaves in autumn to them, then it'd make more sense. Instead, it seemed Willow was just short of broke after paying for the elixir. The others had tried to pay her back, but she'd protested and denied all attempts to transfer her funds.

On the other hand, she happily accepted when Luzzi and Ravavka each took turns paying for their rooms at the Shandy's Cups. He'd been planning to leave at that point, feeling as if he'd mooched enough after taking advantage of Ackle for longer than he had really felt comfortable with. He should have lied and said he had a place to stay when Willow asked, but somehow he couldn't find it in himself to lie to her after spending so much time with them.

Reluctantly shaking his head, he'd been shocked when she asked the others to include a room for him too. From the expressions on the other's faces, Slyth knew they were as shocked as he was. Ravavka complained about it, but Luzzi just agreed and paid while he grumbled. The next night, Ravavka paid. Slyth had assumed, based on the Hazzabi's complaining, that would be the end of his freeloading and he'd be out looking for work on the streets. Instead, his UICI had alerted him that his stay at the inn had been extended.

The entire time Slyth had done his best to make himself useful, of course, but the whole situation still felt strange. He'd helped Willow in further developing Piper, giving ideas and thoughts on how the mana imbuement process might be improved. His minor contributions and insights were hardly enough to repay the room and many meals over the last ten days.

Would I have stayed with this group for so long if master Elishe hadn't fired me and driven me out of his home? He wondered for the millionth time. The obvious answer was 'no.' Yet… If he'd been presented the whole ridiculous situation which had lead him here and asked if he would stay with the group, or go off to find work as soon as possible, he'd have taken the second hypothetical option.

Slyth wasn't one to depend on others, he wasn't social by nature, and he disliked not knowing where his next meal would come from. Yet… Here I am.

"Earth to Slyyyyyth…" A small amber-brown hand flashed across his view several times.

Blinking, Slyth pulled himself from his thoughts and focused on Willow, "Sorry… I was just thinking."

"I was gonna guess either that, or not thinking. One of the two." She flashed her teeth, bright white against her darker skin. "Anything interesting in there?" She asked as she reached up to tap his forehead.

Rubbing the spot which felt like it might bruise from that gentle tap - how strong is she, seriously? Rank ten? No, a ranker would probably knock me out with a touch…

"Not really…" He hedged.

"Oh, cool! I love boring thoughts! Do tell!" So saying, she spun him around by the shoulders and looped an arm around his elbow, leading him back into the city. Another thing he'd noticed about her, Willow seemed entirely too comfortable touching people. She clearly had a concept of personal space, as she didn't intrude constantly, but she'd sometimes do things like this and…

"C'mon, don't hold me in suspense! I need a new stash of boring stuff to think about to get to sleep tonight."

"I was just wondering why I'm here… With you, I mean."

"First, thinking of me is never boring!" She nudged his rib with her conveniently - for her - placed elbow. "Second, do you not want to be? I'm sorry, I should have asked what you wanted to do. I tend to get way too focused on my own goals and just kind of assume if others don't want to join they'll say so… I kind of figured if you and the others didn't want to hang out with me while I worked on Piper you'd say something… Fenny used to tell me off for not asking people what they want to do all the time." She sighed deeply, trailing off without elaborating.

"I'm… Not unhappy to be here." He clarified quickly. "It's just out of character for me. My race as a whole are generally not very social. In my tutorial, everyone was nomadic. We moved around the world, constantly on the move, with just our family. We'd meet up with other families from time to time, obviously, otherwise we wouldn't be able to find partners and extend the family…"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Realizing he was getting off topic, Slyth quickly returned to his main point, "Anyway, since leaving the tutorial I've found it hard to adapt. I enjoyed working as an alchemist assistant, as I was able to spend most of my time shut away indoors, with little contact with anyone other than master Elishe. Yet… Since I met you and the others, I've been out exploring city with you all more often than not."

Willow stopped, letting go of him and turning to look up into his face. Her eyebrows were drawn in together, nose pulled up a bit in concern, "I'm sorry, do you want to head back to the inn? We can go now and hang out there, I want to work more on Piper anyway. Really, I don't mean to drag people into doing things they don't want to. It's just…" Her eyes slid to his right, away from his own, "I'm just bad at thinking about others…"

He stared at her for a long minute, feeling his lips twitch as she subtly flicked her eyes back toward his every few seconds to check if he was going to answer. She actually thinks she doesn't think of other people… But also casually supports me and pays for all of my needs, or I guess made her friends do so, without a second thought? Something's not adding up here.

Deciding not to dig into that particular disconnect, he answered the original question, "No, I'm enjoying exploring the city with you. Now that I know about your…" He thought for a moment about how to phrase it, before deciding to take a page out of Willow's own book and pick at her a bit, "…condition… I'll be sure to tell you if I need a break."

Her eyes snapped back, expression shifting from worried to thunderous, "It's not like I'm sick! C'mon, 'condition'?"

"Curse, then?" He prodded with a faux-polite tone. He'd noticed Willow and Ravavka's banter, so he thought she'd be okay with a little bit of joking. Though, he hoped he'd never become as insuferable as the Hazzabi was.

Her eyes widened, "Y'think it could be? Are curses real? Ooooh! Yeah! A witch probably cursed my gram-gram way back and it trickled down to me! The mystery is solved! Hazzah!"

She spun on her heel and waved for him to follow, "C'mon, I've gotta get some SC to pay for our rooms tomorrow. Luzzi paid us up for today, but they only accept same-day bookings for some reason so that's it."

Easily catching up with his longer stride, Slyth watched the crowd around them as the river of people merged and split. The closer they got to the middle of the city, the more hectic it'd be. Curious about her casual declaration, he asked, "You have a plan to earn some money?"

"Yeah! First I'll see if there's some kind of arena like on Motrendi."

"There are, but I don't think you can earn money from them."

"What? Why not?" Willow sounded outraged as she slipped between two large beings who Slyth had to go around.

Once he rejoined her, he explained, "The orcs see combat as a matter of honor. Betting against someone's honor in any way is taboo."

"But the planet isn't owned by the orcs anymore." Willow pointed out.

Slyth shrugged, though it was doubtful she noticed as they made their way through the streets. "Most beings don't know that. In fact, I'd guess we're very much in the minority. Other than government officials and such, I bet almost no one knows."

"Oh… Huh, why do you say that?"

"Well, while some orcs did leave recently, most of the ones running critical infrastructure stayed. Nothing has changed from a day-to-day perspective. Supposedly there were some minor changes which people thought were odd. For example, it's now illegal to say someone is 'barkened' for some reason. No idea why. The law came down, was announced through the city UICI legal-alerts system, and everyone kinda just went on with their lives. Not like that's something people say anyway."

"I wonder what would happen if I said it to someone, if they'd try to arrest me." She sounded a bit too curious.

He decided to head off that line of thought, "Maybe, but I doubt it. You'd probably just get laughed at for using unknown slang."

Taking a turn, Willow lead them off of the main avenue. It seemed she had a destination in mind, so he asked, "So since the arenas won't pay anything, what's your backup plan?"

"I could still try the arena. If it's not a law, but just some cultural thing, I bet there'd be plenty of people willing to ignore the orcs' sensibilities and enjoy a good match with stakes."

"Maybe." Slyth semi-agreed. The biggest issue with her theory was that if most beings still thought O.F.F. was in charge, there was no chance they'd risk the ruling faction's wrath. "But it sounds like that's not where we're going now?"

"Nah, I thought we could visit that fae woman again. She seemed rich, lots of guards and such. She might have a job for me."

"I… See." Slyth knew Willow was interested in talking to Skathareek again, she'd made no secret of that. He was a bit surprised she'd go to her looking for employment, though. "Why do you think she'll have a job?"

"Well…" She hesitated a bit, slowing her steps. He matched her faltering pace. "That's a good question."

Stopping, Willow frowned a bit. "Why do I want to go see her right now so badly?"

Tapping her foot, Willow looked around as if searching for something. After a moment, she shook her head, "Actually, you know what, let's go back to the inn for now. I left Piper there to see what she got up to when we're separated anyway. We can think of a way to earn some cash later."

Although the sudden change of plan was a bit odd, Slyth didn't particularly care. After all, he was still confused as to why she wanted him around. Deciding Willow was unlikely to be offended by the question, he asked, "Willow, would you prefer if I went out and left you to do your own thing? You were worried that you weren't considering what I want to do before, but I'm concerned that I'm intruding… I feel I might be taking advantage of your kindness…"

He trailed off and waited for her answer. It didn't take long, "Huh? Oh, nah, you're good company! A bit quiet, but you're smart and have a lot of the same gaps as I do. I like Luzzi, and Ravavka is… Anyway, it's a little different with them. Like I'm talking to my parents' friends, you know? They've seen it all, done it all, know how everything is supposed to work. It's nice to have someone around who has some of the same things to learn still. You've definitely integrated better and know more about how things are done than me, but your perspective is less like theirs. More fresh, I guess?"

That gave him a lot to consider. It seemed she wasn't even interested in him staying around for his help with Piper… She just wanted company? He smiled at the thought, unexpectedly warmed.

Nuu

Scene Incubator 22, O.F.F. Oversight Post, Desvin

Nuu's steps faltered in his walk down the brightly lit but hauntingly empty corridor as he felt a slight twinge. Drawing continuity mana from one of his new concepts, he sent it through the various books he'd written and stored in his pack. He felt a slight snag on one of them.

Stepping into an opened doorway, he glanced around at the various mechanical machinery on display. Noting the absence of any orcs, he decided this workshop was as good a place as any to stop and check what had happened.

Putting the book on a dusty desk, Nuu sent his continuity mana through it, setting it to search for the error. As soon as it found the passage, the book opened and flipped to the correct page as if by its own free will.

This particular book was one he'd written almost as soon as he'd arrived on Kavlaka. Lady Shivna had provided a few insights and suggestions, but aside from those the work had been entirely his own. Thankfully, the passage which had burned out was mostly inconsequential and its removal hadn't affected the rest of the work.

In this, the experiment he'd conducted with this particular book had already concluded and given him the necessary insights to hone his craft further. It was quite convenient, in fact, that his hypothesis was confirmed. It gave him much more leeway and confidence to write larger arching plots and epic encounters.

In this case, the experiment had been quite simple. Nuu had included a large number of somewhat innocuous passages which would, hopefully, be resisted by their subject at some point. He was unsurprised that this one in particular had broken, as it'd been written to be almost obnoxiously unlikely with little to no reasoning behind it. He'd been very careful and particular in his writing to ensure his ability didn't orchestrate a great many small encounters to gently lead the subject to the scene. This one would be a 'forced' scene with plenty of opportunity to step outside of.

Glancing around one last time to ensure no one was observing, and listening for a moment to verify no O.F.F. patrols were searching for anyone out after quarantine - though he need not be so careful considering none had noticed his presence even after being thoroughly interfered with - Nuu read the passage in full to ensure he understood how it worked and could properly consider the ramifications of its failure and the fact that its failing had no impact on the rest of the work.

Beyond all reason, Willow found herself with a strong desire to seek out a being who she had recently been annoyed by. Her friends' absence removed the distraction which had stayed her hand. Now, she would seek this person out and demand they pay her for her mental anguish. Not a day had gone by that she hadn't considered the miscreant, her mind burning with the intent to settle the score.

Striding through the city without a care, she made her way toward the den of her quarry. Indeed, today would be the day of reckoning. She would break down the door and demand justice for the perceived slight which plagued her quite suddenly and without true cause. Her fists would break the bones of all who stood against her, shattering them to dust until she knew satisfaction.

Tapping the page several times, Nuu wondered whether the passage had failed because he pushed Willow toward actions she wouldn't normally take or if it was because of his strict demand of the scene that there be no real reason for any of the actions she'd take. He emphasized mental anguish, but also specified there was no true cause for her sudden need to demand justice.

The two combined could never result in a series of events which caused a truly justified desire for violence, at least Nuu believed they couldn't. After all, that had been why he wrote it in this manner.

Pulling out a less stylized book, Nuu's research journal, he quickly began jotting his findings down. For one, the backlash from the broken passage had been massively less than previous backlashes. Likely due to only two relatively short paragraphs failing. There were several more tests which should be triggering soon, too, which were of varying lengths.

Hopefully Willow would stumble on relevant events shortly to provide him with additional proof to his many hypothesis. There were also several left for Jonah, Naomi, and even Shivna. Perhaps one of them would resist next, there were some similarly contradictory passages for them.

Should some resist, and others not, it may provide quite a lot of enlightenment regarding the kinds of mental states which tended to resist badly written passages versus those that did not.

Sighing, Nuu regretted he could not see exactly what had happened. That would have provided even more information and allowed him to hone his craft to an even higher degree.

Ah well, back to playing his part in the ghost of Desvin scenario.