"Well, we've gone over ancient history, Essences, hmmm... what's next?..."
Mr. Zi meticulously flipped through a booklet he held. It appeared to be some sort of curriculum of what needs to be taught to the children. His eyes widened as he confirmed what he looked for.
"Ah, next up are Ranks. To Vessels, there are two types of rankings that are very important: "the rank of your essence and the rank of your soul force."
The lights of the classroom flickered off once again and the projector presented a picture of a crystal ball.
"This is called the Clear Soul Amythest, it may look clear like glass but it will change colour based on the soul force injected to it. After this lecture, you children will go to the gymnasium to test the capacity of your soul force," explained Mr. Zi.
"As Vessels, the two most important things are your Essence and soul force. The latter is like chi or life force that is within you. Soul force is essential as it is responsible for bringing out the Essence. Think of it as fuel and your Essences as a car. The more soul force you have the better you are able to utilize the power of your Essences."
Violetta raised her hand politely as the old man finished his sentence.
"Mr. Zi, how does the Clear Soul Amethyst check our soul force and how is it ranked?"
"The Clear Soul Amethyst is a special ore that can absorb soul force humans exert. The colour changes the more soul force is put into it which is the basis of the ranking of soul force. It starts off as clear to signify that there is no soul force within it, then, Black, Beige, Red, Green, Purple, Gold, and finally, Sky Blue. Black Rank signifies low soul force within the user while Sky Blue Rank means that the person has a near-infinite soul force reserve. The people with this rank of soul force doesn't exceed the number of fingers on my hands," answered Mr. Zi.
"While most Vessels usually land somewhere between the Beige and Red Rank, those at the top usually have Green or above as their soul force rank. As students of the prestigious Royal Tea Academy, I'm expecting that most of you will receive above the average rank and some to completely astonish us."
"Heh, I already checked the rank of my soul force back home. I'm a Purple Rank!" boasted Richter to the whole class.
"Whoah!"
The whole class gasped in amazement. Even the princess, Violetta, was amazed. She hasn't checked hers yet and Richter's announcement just made her more excited to go through the ranking test.
Icarus frowned as he watched his crush give attention to someone else. He indeed felt jealous about Richter, however, he already knew someone else that had a stronger Essence and soul force. It was Claude. Apparently, Class Jasmine had already finished their lecture and had their soul force tested the other day. In the test, Claude astounded everyone in the gymnasium when he lit up the Amethyst into a bright gold light.
"Settle down, you kids," sighed Mr. Zi. "You will all eventually get ranked today."
"Now that we understand the basics of soul force and its ranking system, we will move on to Essence Rank."
Out of nowhere, the old man pulled a thick hardcover book that looked no different from a typical school textbook. The cover had depictions of various gods and monsters topped with the title—
"'Essence Databook'. Essence ranking is a bit simpler. There is no need for a test to determine how strong one's Essence is. This book is all you need. Based on historical accounts of their powers combined with the experiences and achievements of their past wielders, our country has set up a tier list where every recorded Essence has been categorized. For Essence ranking, power and rarity are synonymous and both are taken into account. Starting from the weakest, the tiers are as follows: D, D+, C,C+, B, B+, A, A+, S, and SS," clarified Mr. Zi.
The old teacher gestured to Richter to come up to the front of the class. It was clear that he intended to make him the prime example for the class. The young, arrogant boy obliged.
"Richter, search for the name of your Essence, and find out its rank."
"You got it, Mr. Zi," grinned Richter.
He flipped through the thick book which seemed to be set alphabetically. Richter flipped to the "B" section of Essences and immediately found it.
"Now that it is in front of you, why don't you read out your Essence Rank in front of us?" commanded the old man.
"Uhh... Baldr, one of the gods of light as well as justice, representing the Norse Pantheon. Known for his indestructible body and resilience. Rank A+," Richter recited word for word everything he saw inside the little blurb within the page.
"As you all can see, it's that easy to confirm your own Essence Rank. You will all be given a copy of this book at the end of today. Good job, Richter, you have a bright future ahead of you. You may go back to your seat," the old man patted the boy's back.
"Richter really is special, huh?" Violetta smiled at Icarus.
Unaware, Icarus couldn't help but blush a little.
"Well... I'm not surprised, his mom is part of the Astyrea family, they are usually known for having Essences associated with light, judgement, and peace. Claude has the Essence of Lugh which is also a god of light. They truly are cousins. By the way, Claude told me his Essence was S rank which is much better than Richter," explained Icarus. With the mention of Claude, he managed to steer Violetta's focus from Richter.
"Well, that's the end of my lecture," closed Mr. Zi. "All of you get up and head down to the gymnasium. It is time to test all your soul forces. We have a special guest today as well so you all best behave!"
"Great". Icarus thought to himself. He did not have an Essence but he was counting on the soul force rankings. His mother was one of the strongest. There was no way he'd have a lacklustre reserve for soul force. He surmised that if he obtains a high rank on the test, no one will doubt him as a Husk, one without an Essence. He knew he had one and that is was just hiding within him.
No one worried about having a Clear Rank in the class. Less than a percent of the world population lacked the ability to store soul force. Even Husks had soul force. However, for most of them, it was so little that it was probably the culprit to them not being chosen by an Essence.
Icarus had his fingers crossed as he made his way down the gymnasium down with the others. He had to confirm that he had the potential to be powerful. This was his only chance.