"Huff...huff... Say, Ms. Zito, shouldn't I at least get to rest a bit after a whole week of classes?"
Looking at me trying to catch my breath on the wooden floor in the practice room of her apartment, Ms. Zito instantly dismissed my naive thoughts.
"Do you think you have time for that? All of your classmates are already [E]-rank, with Levi and Will even being [D]-rank. How are you supposed to catch up if you don't work hard at least this hard?"
"Fair enough..."
Rankings were a way of categorizing the strength of humans based on how much of the gods' powers they were able to utilize. From the lowly [F]-rank, the lowest of the low, to the [S]-rankers that were almost regarded as gods.
Each and every step of the ranks had a noticeable increase in power, but the farther up the rankings you came, the longer it was to the next step. In other words, an exponential curve where the difficulty to reach the next rank became a lot harder every step of the way.
So, the difference between an [F]-rank like me and an [E]-rank like Astor was infinitely less than the difference between an [A]-ranker and an [S]-ranker. There was still a noticeable difference between the lower ranks, but not even close to that of the higher. Thereby the overly exaggerated reputation that Levi and Will had.
Also, higher-ranked people generally had higher-leveled blessings as well, as all blessings ranged from level 1 to 5. Everyone had an implicit understanding that if your potential was low, it would be hard to make your blessing grow as well.
This, however, wasn't as set in stone as general status rankings. There had been occasions where a [C]-rank had managed to get his blessing all the way up to level 4, which had been an incredible achievement. But generally, this never happened.
An [F]-rank would most likely have his blessing stay at level 1, with it staying at the same for an [E]-rank. Then at [D]-rank most people got to see their blessing increase to level 2. At [C]-rank, it was very mixed, some people got their blessing to level 3 and some didn't. Further up the ranking hill, it only got more and more dependent on the individual, and it was impossible to know if one's blessing would grow or not.
However, although the abilities granted by the gods were generally pretty strong, one could still learn to use their mana and their element manually. Using one's mana in itself was supposedly pretty difficult, but there were a lot of people who had learned one or two null-attribute spells like [Detection] or [Mana Missile].
That being said, when it came to converting your mana and trying to use your element manually, without relying on the abilities you were granted by your blessing, the vast majority didn't even bother to try. Because it was just that difficult to learn.
"Hey! What are you spacing out for?"
Raising my head to look at Ms. Zito, I knew that I had dawdled a bit too long for her to be happy about it. Standing up, I readied myself to continue training, trying to ignore the fact that it was Friday night and trying to repress the image of everyone else going out to have fun.
"Sorry, teacher."
"What are you waiting for? Go again! This time, go slower. Make sure you time the activation just before impact or you will lose a lot of the impact."
So once again, I withdrew my claws and swiped at the dummy she had prepared, this time going very slowly so I could practice the timing of increasing my gravity to a tee.
*Schiiing*
"Too early! Again!"
*Sching!*
"Too late! Again!"
Over and over, I activated my ability while clawing at the dummy, but it didn't take long for me to run out of mana. For some reason, it took a lot more mana to activate my ability like this than normal. So having no idea why that was, I had no choice but to ask.
"Hey, teacher. Why is it that..."
Crossing her arm, she didn't even allow me to finish my sentence before answering the question I hadn't had the time to pose.
"Why you are emptying your mana pool so fast? It's because you are being inefficient. A lot of the mana that you are using is just simply disappearing into the atmosphere. But we will work on that later. For now, it's more important that you get used to using your abilities, efficiency comes later."
"I see."
It did kind of make sense. If I activated my ability while also using my body, wouldn't that inevitably make it harder for my brain to do both, ending up in me not using my gravity with as much precision?
Then, taking her chance while I was resting on the floor, Ms. Zito suddenly changed the topic entirely.
"By the way, as we are going out tomorrow, we also need to get you some new clothes. You can't be walking around in your student uniform outside of the academy, after all."
"Going out? What do you mean?"
"Yea, what do you mean, Dona?"
Lucifer, who had been sitting on the side of the practice room for the entirety of our training made her way into the conversation as well, clearly excited about whatever Dona was talking about.
Raising her brows, the purple-eyed woman looked surprised to see that I had no idea what she was talking about, but still politely explained it to me and Lucifer.
"Because we are going to the freshmen's party at the Sovereign club. So Lucifer, naturally you can't actually come with us in that form."
Waving her hand, the miniature former god clad in her black dress didn't seem to mind it one bit, probably already understanding that there was no way she could go anywhere outside my body without causing trouble. She was just excited to get a change of scenery.
Me, however...
"I don't want to..."
"You don't have a choice. I still have to go as the homeroom teacher and it's a good chance for you to make some connections."
"There's no way I'll be able to make connections! You already know what kind of reputation I have!"
To my response, her eyes sharpened, and I felt like I could see some kind of demonic entity hiding behind her. No, the demonic entity was actually her all along. Because, as you know, she was a demon.
"Then you better start fixing that reputation of yours. Oh, how lucky we are that there will be an event tomorrow when you can get a running start."
"But..."
Suddenly, Ms. Zito sat down on her knees in front of me, her face quickly changing into one of care. The face of a teacher that only wanted the best for her students, and in this case, me.
"Aarick. I understand that you are feeling stressed about everything, but if there is one thing I know about being a demon it is this; If you are ostracizing yourself you will not be able to continue living in a society dominated by humans."
A warm hand landed on my cheek, making it hard to believe this was the same person that had just minutes ago yelled at me and forced me to continue training even to the point where my body felt like breaking down.
"Just... Just give it a chance, okay? I won't force you to stay, but at least go there and try to have a good time."
Unable to stop myself, I could only smile at the silly woman who couldn't hide her true feelings. Although I understood the logic about hiding in plain sight, and how having connections was essential for that, that wasn't the reason why she was forcing me to go.
"You're a weird demon, aren't you, Ms. Zito? But fine, I'll give it a try."
"Good. Then, let's start training again! Also, don't call me weird!"
Out of nowhere, her flip switched again, and it didn't take long until she was screaming at me to force myself to continue training until I imagined even my claws started feeling sore, not to mention the spasming muscles in my arms, chest, and legs.
==========
Lying on the bed I now called my own, in the room that I also now could call my own, it was hard to get a clear picture of how this world truly worked.
'Getting along with humans, huh? Is this why you haven't told her about what will happen in the future, about our plans?'
'-That is so, darling. Don't get me wrong, I don't think Dona's way of thinking is wrong, but ultimately, it will be futile. As things stand, humans and demons will continue to slaughter each other in a never-ending cycle, no matter how good her intentions are.'
'Say, Lucifer... Do you even think I can become strong enough for our plan to work? I know that the power you gave me is incredible, but I can't help but feel...'
'-Don't worry, Aarick. Just give it time. It was merely a week since you woke up to your new life, and there is no rush. I also agree with Dona that you should enjoy your life at the academy while it lasts, and if friends are something that will make your life more enjoyable, I want you to try your best to find some.'
'You are also quite a strange demon, aren't you?'
'-Hey! I'm not a demon! I'm a god!'
'Wasn't it former god?'
'-Just... shut up! Anyway, go to sleep. After all that training you will need it, even more so as you didn't ingest any nutrition today.'
'Yes, yes. Goodnight, Lucifer.
'-Goodnight my darling.'