Hello there, Truedawn here, the author of this novel. I'm pretty sure that this will be the first chapter you'll read before heading into the world of IRAAS, so to avoid future confusion in terms of how strong a being is when compared to another being is, I've decided to make this chapter that explains the realms of power. Of course, you could go ahead and skip this chapter to get into the juicy bits, but do remember that this chapter will always be here for you to come back when you're confused.

And so, let us start explaining the realms of power in this novel. The five major realms in this world are called Existence Levels. From weakest to strongest existence level, in that order, the five existence levels are the following: Inanimate, Pseudo-Animate, Animate, Transcendent, Divinity.

The Inanimate existence level is known as the weakest existence level, but it's also known as the existence level with the greatest potential for improvement. Those that are born at this existence level end up becoming incredibly strong beings in the grand scheme of things. To avoid confusion, an Inanimate is basically an inanimate object, like a stick or a rock, with a soul inside it that allows it to move and improve itself. As to how a soul is obtained, it is either through the whims of Divinity-level beings, or through a long amount of time passing by, a weak soul being born inside the inanimate object.

There are 5 grades in the Inanimate existence level, with these stages being the following:

C-grade Inanimate — The lowest and most common grade for an Inanimate to be at. They can move and attack in a crude manner, with some being blessed with a greater sense of awareness, allowing them to emulate the movements of Inanimates at a higher grade. Of course, that doesn't change the fact that they're incredibly weak.

B-grade Inanimate — The second-lowest grade for an Inanimate to be at. These Inanimates have slightly stronger souls due to the nourishment their evolution gives. This in turn also gives them more abilities and powers that set them apart from normal C-grade Iannimates. Not only that, but after a C-grade Inanimate becomes a B-grade Inanimate, some of them branch out into specialized paths, known as Variants. Of course, the chance of that happening is incredibly rare.

A-grade Inanimate — The middle grade for an Inanimate to be at. Inanimates at this level have more or less found their specializations, with their species being one of two paths: the Branch path or the Sapling path. Of course, some Inanimates are not limited to this path, with some forging a path of their own. But what is most common among the Inanimates at this level are Classes, specializations within specializations. It is at this level would a being find some Inanimates being healers, some being tankers, and some being incredible damage dealers. Also, Inanimates at this level can talk with other Inanimates at a slightly higher level than B-grade Inanimates.

S-grade Inanimate — The second-highest grade for an Inanimate to be at. Inanimates at this level have superbly strong souls amongst Inanimates, allowing them to advance in their Classes, making them even more specialized. There's not much of a difference between an A-grade and an S-grade Inanimate, except for the fact that Inanimates at this level have considerably greater power, greater self-awareness, as well as the ability to converse without much problem with other Inanimates. Of course, their level of speech would still lose out against those blessed with souls by gods.

X-grade Inanimate — The highest possible grade for an Inanimate to be at. Inanimates at this level would surely be leaders of Inanimate alliances, or perhaps beings with a high position in alliances. Their souls are incredibly strong, with Animates yearning to obtain one and transform it into a piece of equipment solely for that reason. Once an Inanimate reaches this level, their paths of power have more or less matured, with the only path left for them to grow stronger being to ascend to a Pseudo-Animate or an Animate through Existence Tribulation.

After an Inanimate undergoes an Existence Tribulation, they can now ascend to one of two existence levels: Pseudo-Animate or Animate. Note that a single stat point for a Pseudo-Animate is equivalent to 1,000 stat points for an Inanimate, while a single stat point for an Animate is equivalent to 100,000 stat points for an Inanimate. But if one considers the growth potential of a being in terms of existence level, a Pseudo-Animate would have the greatest growth potential, with Animates being slightly subpar. Of course, Animates make up this gap in growth potential with Principles (something that wouldn't be mentioned here for now).

Let us head to the Pseudo-Animate existence level first, shall we? The Pseudo-Animate existence level is the existence level least chosen by Inanimates when undergoing an Existence Tribulation, mostly due to the number of resources needed to grow at a faster rate when compared to Animates is exponentially high.

As for their appearances, it varies from spirits of nature to souls stuck within equipment. So far, only six grades of Pseudo-Animates have been mentioned in the novel.

Normal-grade Pseudo-Animate — The lowest grade for a Pseudo-Animate to be at. Even though that is the case, their souls are many times stronger when compared to the strongest X-grade Inanimates. Not only that, but they also have the ability to converse with Inanimates and Animates without a problem, unlike Inanimates and Animates that need to use telepathy to bridge that gap. Most of the time, the species Pseudo-Animates have at this level would follow the path they had in the Inanimate existence level. Of course, there are also rare occurrences of Inanimates transforming into Pseudo-Animates of a different path. Never forget that Pseudo-Animates at this level can easily beat X-grade Inanimates…after they've matured, of course.

Magic-grade Pseudo-Animate — The second lowest grade for a Pseudo-Animate to be at. There's not much of a difference between the Normal-grade and the Magic-grade, other than the fact that Magic-grade Pseudo-Animates will triumph against Normal-grade Pseudo-Animates most of the time.

Grand-grade Pseudo-Animate — The third lowest grade for a Pseudo-Animate to be at. Most Pseudo-Animates at this grade have surely undergone at least one Power Baptism, their power now being equivalent to peak Rank 0 Animates.

Epic-grade Pseudo-Animate — The fourth lowest grade for a Pseudo-Animate to be at. Not much is known about Pseudo-Animates at this level, with the only difference being the fact that their power is significantly stronger than Rank 1 Animates even after undergoing only one Power Baptism.

Legendary-grade Pseudo-Animate — Considered as the rank of demarcation for Pseudo-Animates. Not much is known about Pseudo-Animates at this level.

Transcendent-grade Pseudo-Animate — Considered as the third highest grade for Pseudo-Animates. Not much is known about Pseudo-Animates at this level.

The reason why Pseudo-Animates are said to have the greatest growth potential is because of something called Power Baptisms. Power Baptisms are more or less Existence Tribulations but weaker, increasing the conversion factor of their stat points by 10 per Power Baptism they complete (If a Pseudo-Animate successfully clears one Power Baptism, their conversion factor increases from 1:1,000 to 1:10,000). A Pseudo-Animate that has undergone 2 Power Baptisms is more or less equal to someone at the early Animate ranks…in terms of conversion factor, that is.

The second existence level an Inanimate could choose is the Animate existence level. Most beings in the world of IRAAS are at the Animate existence level…because Animates are composed of living beings, ranging from humans to animals, and even large trees. There are a total of 10 ranks in the Animate existence level, with those ranks being the following:

Rank 0 Animate — The lowest rank for an Animate to be at. In simpler terms, they're humans or any sort of living being that has not mastered their respective Tempering skill yet. In other words, they're just normal humans or other living beings. Of course, there are those blessed with bloodlines, allowing them to be slightly superior when compared to normal humans or other living beings.

Rank 1 Animate — The second-lowest rank for an Animate to be at. Animates at this level have mastered their respective Tempering skills, starting to proceed through the ranks with their Ascension skills. Animates at this rank have found their specializations, being twice as strong as Rank 0 Animates at the very least. Their lifespans are also longer than Rank 0 Animates, with the maximum lifespan for an Animate at this rank being 150 years.

Rank 2 Animate — The third-lowest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 3 Animate — The fourth-lowest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 4 Animate — The fifth-lowest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 5 Animate — Known by Animates as the rank that demarcates great Animates from exemplary Animates. Other than that, not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 6 Animate — The fourth-highest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 7 Animate — The third-highest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 8 Animate — The second-highest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

Rank 9 Animate — The highest rank for an Animate to be at. Not much is known about Animates at this level.

And that's all I'll explain for now. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Tempering skills are skills that do what their names say, temper the body of a Rank 0 Animate in preparation to ascend to Rank 1 Animate. As for Ascension skills, these skills carry Rank 1 Animates up to Rank 9 Animates…in the best case scenario, that is.

With these things being explained, I hope you have an enjoyable read!