The Heroic Trio were the 3 strongest young generation experts in Toro but the figure who was ranked below them was also very strong. While the number 4 on the Young Heroes Rankings was a bit away from matching up to them, he was still a very influential figure in the nation.
Name: Prince Baraza "The Council"
Origin: Toro Royal Family
Young Hero Ranking: #4
Magic Form: classified
Inborn Power: classified
Inherited Physique: classified
"Why is every important detail classified?" Vitali was shocked to see that the important details in Prince Baraza's entry were all obscured.
All one could learn was his rank, name, and origin but as a prince of Toro, everyone already knew this so it was not new information.
"This is the privileges of the royal family." Although Maisha simply stated the truth, everyone felt that it was a bit unfair.
"So unfair to everyone else!"
As a prince of Toro and one of Bemba's descendants, Baraza's important information was heavily protected. In a way this was also to protect the overall secrets of the royal family. Since his page did not have much information, Fury quickly flipped to the next page and the person on that page left all of them shocked.
Name: "Ice Maiden"
Origin: Mwezi clan of Jemedari tribe
Young Hero Ranking: #5
Magic Form: Frost-Moon Celestial Magic
Inborn Power: Waning Moon
Inherited Physique: Celestial Moon Body
That's right, it was someone from the Mwezi clan of Jemedari tribe. If this did not ring a bell, the Mwezi village was the sister village of the Jua village. As for the overall Mwezi and Jua clans, the two clans had very close relations within the Jemedari tribe. In the Jemedari tribe's mythology, Jua (Sun) and Mwezi (Moon) were said to be two sisters, twins in fact, and the daughters of the tribal ancestor. At the end of the day, while ancestral myths were just myths, they still influenced relationships in the present. The two clans were close through both trade and the many marriage ties between them. Additionally, they even had the same martial arts base, the Sun and Moon Arts.
"Woah! That cold girl is not joking around. Last time I saw her, I could beat her with one finger."
"Braggart, I remember you were defeated in one move."
"Well, all I'm saying is that she was not as strong back then. At least I could scratch the edge of her skirt but now I probably can't even see her figure."
The context of what Jodenia and Mwana were talking about concerned the regular exchanges between the two villages. As both villages were very close together even physically, the two villages had many shared ceremonies and events so the children from Jua village had been to the Mwezi village and vice versa many times. Even the academies including White Rock Academy would arrange talent shows and all manner of competitions between kids from both villages.
While Jodenia had faced the Ice Maiden before and lost, she definitely was not as strong back then. It seemed that in just a year, her strength had skyrocketed to a whole new dimension.
The girl, Ice Maiden, and a few talented individuals from the Mwezi village possessed physical bodies with great superhuman strength, invincible durability, godly agility and speed, as well as the power to manipulate gravity, water, and light! They were basically walking supermen! This was because of their completely insane and overpowered physique inherited from the Celestial Moon Race.
Ironically, the Celestial Moon Race was the weakest of the Celestial Races yet their power still far eclipsed that of humans. It was said that in the distant past, a member of this Moon Race had fallen from the skies and landed in the region occupied by the Mwezi clan. As she was injured, the clan took care of her and nursed her back to health. In the end she did not leave the clan and instead chose to settle there, marry, and have children.
Therefore, while not everyone in the Mwezi clan inherited her physique, in every generation there were a few direct descendants who would inherit her superhuman power.
"It is kind of sad that our Jua clan does not have something like that though there is the 7th class inheritor of the Jemedari tribe who possesses the Sun God Body. If he was from our clan and practiced the Solar Divine Canon of the Sun and Moon arts, what a pride that would be!"
"Don't envy other people to that extent, and what Sun Body or Moon Body, if I wanted to, even I could get on this shitty list." While berating Jodenia, Fury still took the opportunity to heavily praise herself.
"There you go again Fury. Even though I brag here and there, I still cannot compete with you."
Coincidentally, the Jemedari tribesman who was the 7th inheritor of the tribe was also ranked 7th in the Young Heroes Ranking. Apart from him, the others that caught the groups' eye were two new additions to the top 10 that Mwana and the others had never even heard of before this.
Name: Kifo Kisimani "Deathmaster"
Origin: Soul Clan
Rank: #8
Innate Ability: Zombie Virus
Weapon: Hero Slaying Needle
"What a nasty power!" Maisha and Vitali exclaimed at the same time once they saw the person's abilities. As people who focused on life, light, and healing, the two girls felt as if this person was their natural enemy.
This guy was actually born with the power to replicate what the assassin [Plague Master] spent years just to learn and perfect. If the [Plague Master] was still alive today, he would probably slit his own throat if he saw this information (Plague Master is one of the 12 Martyrs of Death who died in Sese Island).
The now deceased assassin had sacrificed everything just to master a trace of the power of the dead and perfect his Zombie Virus and Netherworld Energy attacks. As for Kifo Kisimani, it seemed as if he was born with power over death; a Natural-Born Necromancer!
While the Soul Clan naturally specialized in soul arts, power over the dead was still a supremely difficult endeavor for them. Only those at the pinnacle in their clan even mastered the basics let alone being born with such a power. For that reason, Kifo Kisimani was basically the hope of the Soul clan to rise to new heights.
As for the other new entry in the top 10, they were in the #10 position.
Name: Daima "The Idle Musician"
Origin: Pazuri Music House, Land of Usemi wa Hekima (Land of Wise Sayings)
Rank: #10
Innate Ability: So Near Yet So Far
With the name Daima that translated to "Forever", Daima the Idle Musician was a new entry to the Young Heroes Ranking altogether. She was not even on the list a few months ago yet now she was already in the 10th rank. Further, it seemed as if she had an even crazier inborn ability that could govern the space around her. When compared to Sama Jire who was untouchable due to technical skill, this girl was untouchable in a literal sense due to her spatial manipulation abilities. On top of that, she specialized in 2 complex magic forms of both sound and space.
In fact, if she did not split her time and mind by focusing on 2 Magic Forms, who knows, she might have been in the top 5!
Compared to these perversely talented children on the ranking, no one in the Jua village even touched their shadow apart from maybe Jua Mkata-mwezi who was actually ranked within the top 50 of the official rankings.
Mwana's group even felt some despair set in just from looking at the list. These were their age mates yet the distance was so wide. Apart from Fury who was ever confident, everyone else had a subtle shift in drive desiring to work a bit harder.
'I might not be able to reach their level but I should at least see their back, right?'
With this in mind, Mwana was pumped up once again. He did not fear working hard, his talent was not bad, and he still had some minor hope of at least improving his bloodline problem.
"Although big bro Mkata-mwezi is not that high on the ranking, it is not like he has showcased his entire arsenal and these rankings are always subject to change." Vitali mentioned the obvious observation. Those in charge of deciding the rankings would travel from one region to another while collecting information, observing different martial arts matches and challenges, while sometimes using some divination arts in order to decide on the ranking. Therefore, if you did not showcase your abilities publicly, it was obviously hard to get a high rank.
After finishing their meal, the group walked out of the restaurant while still discussing the booklet. Each of them now had round bellies like well fed cows and they would occasionally scratch their stomachs satisfactorily.
"I am soooo full."
"Although I am also very full, I still would not mind another bite."
For Fury, it was like she had a bottomless pit for a stomach.
"You guys are deviating… but have you noticed that there are barely any 13 year olds on the list with the 14 year olds being basically non-existent?" This was something Vitali had noticed when they went through the list. Everyone in the list was 2 or more years short of the actual age limit for the ranking.
"They are not on the list by design." Mwana answered her in a tone that implied, 'isn't that obvious', while picking at his teeth.
"You are right! Why aren't they counted? I thought the Young Heroes Ranking was for everyone 14 and under?"
"It is but at that age, they have something even greater to prepare for."
"Greater?"
"Right. In fact, those at that age range and from powerful backgrounds are already prepping for Solid Body Casting so that they can become Crystal Warriors and enter the Rising Dragon Rankings! They don't have time to waste going around showcasing their abilities. Otherwise, the list would definitely be greatly shuffled if some of them were on it."
As the group walked out of the restaurant, each of them knew it was time to go their separate ways. Fury was planning to visit some of the town's entertainment scenes while Maisha wanted to get in touch with her mother through the town's communication channels. Everyone else also had their own things to do. After a short moment, Mwana and Kia were once again left by themselves.
However, before Fury left, she told Mwana that they did not have to go to the cloth shop with their aunt Jumatatu on that day as the meet up had been postponed.
"Aunt Jumatatu told us to just enjoy ourselves today."
…
[Top 100 Young Hero Ranking Booklet]
Additional Notes
Apart from two figures, everyone else in the top 10 is of human descent. While some have inhuman physiques or ancestries, they can at most be called Human Hybrids. However, there are still two pure Magical and Spiritual creatures that have managed to compete with the humans:
1. [Parrot] Rank #6
Identity: An Avian Spiritual Animal
Although he can take full human form through mystical transformation arts, he chooses to retain his parrot head and a humanoid body when he transforms.
Weapon: a silver sword shaped like a feather (unknown name)
Affiliation: Silver Eagle Corps – he usually wears a multicolored cloak with the shape of a giant feather and held together by his conferred Silver Eagle Badge. Underneath the multicolored cloak, he wears the standard white Silver Guard uniform with silver armor while leaving his talons (legs and hands) uncovered. He is recognized as one of the youngest to receive the position of an official Silver Guard in the organization's history.
Magic Form: Imitation Magic and Sound Magic
Further, he is also very experienced in Earth Type Metal Magic.
2. [Son of Crow] Rank #9
Identity: High level Magical Creature
He is a mysterious and striking figure so not much is known about him. However, his most outstanding feature is his winged arms which have gigantic feathers extending from his wrist to the elbows and part of his entire arms. When these feathers are extended, his arms transform into beautiful dark purple wings.
Magical Nature: Magic Amplification
His hands have sharp talons that can emit high magic frequencies that allow him to amplify magic.
Apart from these 2, there are other notable non-human characters in the top of the rankings such as [Rabbit Master], a Spiritual Animal and Magic Beast Hybrid. He is recognized as one of the fastest younger generation experts in Toro.
Further, there is even the more impressive [Honey Badger] that ranks 11th on the ranking.
4. [Honey Badger]
Identity: Spiritual Animal
This unassuming and small creature has shown great acts of extreme fearlessness, strength, toughness, and ferocity. Through a fated spiritual encounter, it has climbed from an ordinary animal of low intelligence to a relatively powerful spiritual creature all within the span of 5 years. Even with the intelligence surpassing ordinary humans, it still retains its inhuman fearlessness. Even against the most fearsome experts, it has never cowered. In the jungle, the badger survived and repelled animals such hyenas, lions, and extremely venomous snakes. In the same manner, it is known for even wearing our strong experts in the human world as it is virtually tireless in combat. It is an expert both in the wild and among civilization.