"What do you think they are all lined up for?" Tom asked, as he stood on tip toe and tried stretching out his neck to see over the two lines in front of him and Alex.
"Don't you ever listen in class?" Alex sighed, " We just went over this yesterday for gods sake!"
"Come on. You expect me to listen to that old crony droll on and on about things everyone knows. I would much rather sleep and have you there to remind me later." Tom's sleazy grin really irritated Alex right at the moment.
"Yeah, yeah..." Alex intoned exasperated by his friend. "This must be the entrance exam. You remember that at least right?"
At this Tom stopped trying to see over the crowd. Stiffly he turned to face Alex. "There is a test?"
A slowly building look of panic was filling his eyes. Oddly enough, his blood seemed to be filling his face at nearly the same rate.
"Yes." Alex chirped snidely, or at least he tried to. His low gravely voice made it sound more like a ball hitting gravel than a proper chirp.
As he watched his friend fill with panic he gave a half-hearted chuckle. "You don't need to worry Tom. They just want to make sure that everyone is at least Rank 1. They have to at least do that, otherwise they couldn't send us on missions later."
As Tom listen to Alex speak he quickly calmed down. "Yeah... y-y-your right, at least that. I mean how could they expect us to go into the deep woods if we weren't at least Rank 1!" Tom was still nervous as he began to speak, but by the end he was back to his boisterous self.
Humans and monsters were ranked in this world.
Their ranks started at Rank 0 and theoretically had no limit on how high they could go. That being said, no one had seen or even heard of a person, or monster for that matter, over Rank 9 in centuries.
The ranks were separated as follows:
Normal humans are Rank 0, so are normal animals.
Rank 1 was reserved for the weakest monsters and humans who had trained hard for many years or had some fortuitous encounter. New Hunters normally start at Rank 1.
Rank 2 is achieved once the normal limits of humans or animals was overcome. This could be through abilities like magic for monsters, or through physical attribute; such as having skin so think that normal humans could not even injure it.
Rank 3 and above were separated by total mana saturation and ones control over mana. This was mainly because mana saturation was a good marker for physical capability. While mana control was extremely important when it came to the strength of abilities.
Most humans could never hope to achieve anything higher thank Rank 1, and even then most never make it. Only those trained or gifted with powerful bodies or quick reflexes could progress. Even then, it was almost unheard of for any non-Spirit Contractor human to reach Rank 2.
Spirit Contractors were special.
Their Spirit Animals could progress in rank naturally through a number of different means. Everything from eating beneficial plants, training/fighting, eating monster cores, to purifying their bloodline could cause their Spirit Animal to Rank up.
Since the contract binds their souls together, a contractor will progress 1 rank behind their Spirit Animal. The only exception to this, was people like Tom and Alex.
By the age of 14 two conditions have been met for nearly all contractors.
The first, is that their Spirit Animal will have matured and will be ready to begin advancing in Rank.
The second condition is that by this time the contractors will have naturally progressed into Rank 1 on some level. This might be in their strength, or speed, but most commonly it was in their mana saturation.
Having a Rank 1 mana saturation had many positive side effects.
It would not only increase their constitution and overall physical attributes to some degree, but would also begin preparing their bodies for when they gained abilities from their Spirit Animal in the future. It would also open up their employment opportunities.
Spirit Contractors were tasked with working for the benefit of the community, but they did not have to all work as hunters.
Being Rank 1 would allow them some control over mana, this meant they were the perfect candidates for careers like Alchemist or Enchanter.
These professions were not exclusively populated by contractors, but the higher ranks were.
At low ranks anyone who could achieve Rank 1 through mana saturation could begin to learn, that is, if they could find a teacher.
In the higher ranks of these fields mana pool and mana control were of paramount importance. As such, being Rank 1 simply did not cut it.
After seeing that Tom calmed down, Alex looked over the top of the crowd to see why there were two lines. It was at times like this, that Alex was happy about his height. He was not gargantuan by adult standards, but by the standard of his age, he might as well be a giant.
"It looks like the line on the left is some sort of mana test." As he absentmindedly told this to Tom he began looking over a strange man in front of the line on the left.
This man was just as tall as Alex, which made his above average for an adult. But unlike Alex he was as thin as a rail.
His black robes hung off of his bony frame like an un-stuffed scare crow. His slicked back, jet black hair gave off the impression that he could not be bothered to comb it properly.
In his thin ink stained hands he held a small silver Y shaped contraption.
"Hello... Alex, can you hear me up there...?" Tom yelled. Alex looked over at Tom with a sheepish smile that seemed to say 'sorry I zoned out there for a minute' as he absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head.
"I said, me and Sylph are going to get in line to get my mana checked. Which line are you joining?" Tom asked, with an impatient tone.
"I think I will come with you." Alex replied slowly. His voice was flat with nearly no inflection at all. It was clear to Tom that Alex was preoccupied by something.
"The person doing the grading seems to be using some strange device." Alex said, as he once again began to look at the thin man.
"What do you mean he is using some strange device? Aren't they just using a mana crystal?" Tom asked, as he once again began to try peering over the crowd.
"No. It seems to be some type of artificial mana reader." Alex remarked absently.
At this moment both boys heard a voice behind them.
"That my friends is the newest invention by professor Keller. Supposedly it can read the mana aura we create much more accurately and give a precise readout." The voice came from a boy that can only be described by the word average. Everything about him screamed average. Except his hair. His hair was a fiery red that seemed to almost billow in the slight breeze.
Tom turned to the stranger questioningly, "why would he go to the trouble to make that. Mana crystals work just fine at low levels. Don't they?"
"Yes that is true. But what about at higher levels." The stranger asked as he raised one brow. "And more so what about at a distance." The red haired boy asked as a grin began to tug at the corner of his mouth.
Alex was struck by the idea. There had been plenty of times when he was out in the wood and he came across strange looking animals. Animals that could have possibly been in the process of turning into monsters, or worse yet already had.
He would always be forced to flee. There was simply no way to know what the rank of a monster was until you began battling it.
Alex stood there quietly contemplating this new revelation. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice the change in the red haired boys expression.
He had originally come over with the intent of meeting some new classmates and sharing some information in good faith.
The red haired boy never expected this giant, muscular class mate to begin openly scowling at him. The small fat one seemed nice enough, but this snow capped mountain of a classmate seemed very angry for some reason.
"What kind of rude man is this!" A small creature shuffled up between the red haired boy and Alex.
Seeing the change in the newcomers expression, and the small porcupine that seemed ready to put it's quills to good use. Tom looked over at Alex.
Tom immediately knew what had happened.
"Hey mount ugly face! Wanna stop scowling for a second so I can at least ask his name?" As Tom said this he kicked Alex's foot, and then turned to face the newcomer.
"Sorry about that. He is harmless." Tom said apologetically. "He is just so big and ugly that when he gets lost in thought, which he often does, he looks like he is about to go off." Tom said mirthfully. "What should we call you friend?"
It took the red haired boy a moment to pull his gaze away from the now stunned giant. "Everyone calls me Red, and this is Penny." He replied gesturing towards the porcupine. "Sorry to say, but your friend sure has a strange habit." Red said as he shook Toms hand with a laugh.
"You are telling me. I cant tell you the number of times I have had to save him from trouble all because he decided to think for a moment." Tom replied exasperatedly as he rolled his eyes.
"Sorry about that." A look of awkward embarrassment on his face. "Honestly, I meant nothing by it." Alex replied with a somber tone.
Penny simply huffed in response. Not willing to be friendly quite yet.
The three boys continued to chat as they lined up for the mana test.