People who cultivate mana in their body and climb ranks by getting stronger are called rankers. Anyone who has awakened and started the process of cultivation is commonly termed as Rankers in Grime sphere. Ranks go from F to SSS with F being weak and SSS which is the strongest. You can register as an official ranker when you reach E rank. 40% of the population of Grime sphere consists of rankers.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Gerald, and this is my daughter Meele. We come here for Ms. Martha," the ranker who cast fireballs stated his reason for their arrival.
"Ah! That is my mother," exclaimed Jago.
"Yes, the only person with the name Martha in this village is Jago's mother," said Felina.
"I came here taking on the guild job of procuring herbs. And the herb we need seems to be found in the Elu mountains. We heard Ms. Martha is a regular there and thought of hiring her as our guide."
"In fact, she goes there often. But she has gone to the nearby town of Aswalt to sell her herbs. She might only return tomorrow evening."
"Is that so? Then do you mind if we stay here in this village? Should we get permission from the village chief?" he enquired.
"No sir, you saved us from a disaster, and you will always be warmly welcomed....yes.... yes," said some people who listened to Felina and Gerald's conversation.
Felina thanked Gerald again and again for saving Bowen. Her husband and child are her world. She also invited Gerald and Meele for breakfast the next day.
Soon, news of the wild animal invasion and the appearance of a ranker spread throughout the village. Theodore, who safely returned from guarding duty the next morning, was startled to see his dear son in bandages. He apologized to Felina and her son for not being there for them in that dangerous situation. Bowen assured his father and mother that he was all right. Things soon turned normal for the family and the village.
***Ting, congratulations to the host on completing your first side mission. System alerted Bowen.
REWARDS INCLUDE +1 AGILITY, +1 DP, AND A BEGINNER'S GIFT PACK.
"Hey, you stingy system, I almost died there, and you only gave me one point in agility and DP. I demand a raise," Bowen said, grinding his teeth.
"Sorry host, the rewards are predetermined and cannot be changed according to the difficulty of the mission," said the system with its emotionless voice.
Bowen accepted the reward, cursing the system internally. He clicked on the icon for the beginner's gift pack. It contained two items.
1. Sprit god's pavilion (epic): Tool used to house spirits or souls. The souls housed inside the pavilion can protect and heal the souls without a physical body. The soul will not be affected by natural laws when inside the pavilion. Number of souls that can be housed inside the pavilion: (0/3) The remainder of the host's soul cannot be stored. If the host's soul is destroyed, you will be considered dead in the world of Grime.
2. Nova's breathing technique ( legendary): Novas are ancient beings of the heavens. This breathing technique is a small part of their lost cultivation method. This technique helps to convert impure mana to pure mana and also enhances the quality of the mana vessel. 10% chance to absorb the divine mana used by immortals and gods.
Bowen was stunned to get one epic and one legendary item on his first mission. "It's worth fighting a death battle," he happily thought. "I have to awaken soon to confront my enemies. At that time, Nova's technique will play a crucial role for me to have an upper hand than others. Hmm... I really don't know what I can use the Spirit God Pavilion for. I will spare that for later."
"I am really sorry for the accident, Brother Theo. I am ashamed to call myself the village chief's son," said Bale, who came to pay a visit to the victims.
"Oh no, Sir Bale, it was unexpected." said Theo
"Still... if I were present during the scene, I would have done my best to reduce the number of victims," said Bale, looking down.
"Ha... so what? What could you do if you were present on the scene, huh?" A thin man resembling Bale interjected.
"Brother..."
"Don't call me that with your mouth. What use can an unawakened be against a wild animal?" Dale humiliated Bale in public.
"Then why didn't you come for the rescue, brother? I am sure you were having your beauty sleep when others were running for their lives," Bale got back at him.
"Why should I risk my life for these commoners, huh? It's their duty to work and die for us. Not the other way round."
"YOUUU..." Bale became so angry on hearing his brother. He very well knew how his brother treated common unawakened people as cows and dogs. ["If I had awakened instead of him, I would have done better," thought Bale.]
Dale continued to berate him. "You're useless, Bale. You don't have any power or influence. You're nothing in this world," he sneered.
Bale remained calm. "I don't need power to be a good person. And maybe if you had a little empathy and compassion, you wouldn't treat people like dirt just because they're not awakened," he said.
Dale rolled his eyes. "Save your preaching for someone who cares, Bale. You'll never amount to anything in this world," he retorted.
Bale ignored the humiliating words from his brother and went to see Bowen's condition. He offered a bottle of healing potion to Felina, asking them to accept it as his apology. Dale started shouting when he saw his stupid brother offer a precious potion worth 2 silvers to a peasant. Bowen realized that hierarchy plays a vital role in this world, even among noble families. The strong are respected and given importance to. It was evident from how Dale was announced to inherit the chief's position in the future, even though he had trash behavior. The only reason was that Dale was awakened and Bale was not.
In the afternoon, Bowen laid resting on his bed. It had only been an hour since he drank the sour healing potion, and half of his injuries had already been healed. Bowen was surprised at what a low-grade diluted healing potion could do. Yes, the potion offered by Bale was a very basic one. Concentrated potions cost a lot of silvers, not to mention high-grade ones costing in golds, which were used by royal families.
Bowen wanted to make the most of his time. Just from his first side mission, he realized he was terribly weak. How could he finish his targets if he was so weak that he couldn't even survive in this world? Bowen started to read the detailed description about Nova's breathing technique he got from the beginners' gift pack.
(See next chapter for further details.)