Chapter 26 - Ranks

"Miscalculation," Fuller whispered to himself as they stood next to the two eagle-like beasts.

The castle was far behind them, and they had exited the magical barrier blocking them from seeing into Ifrit territory.

"What?" Amari asked, trying to make sense of what the Ifrit said.

"I said miscalculation."

Amari leaned into Fuller's face frowning. "And I asked what exactly was the miscalculation?"

He was pushed back apruptly as Fuller shook his head.

"I never expected his wife's absence. Even though she's more difficult overall, she's still the brain of their operation and his inner voice. He's more difficult when she's not there."

"Still don't get your point," he muttered back, rolling his eyes.

Fuller grabbed him from behind and shook him. Veins popped out of his forehead and his usually calm eyes had turned completely red.

"Don't you get it? The first goal is easily achievable with your current strength, but what about the second one? Any battle-ready professor is as strong as a hundred of that fucking fly we just fought. And I mean real battle powers, not hocus-pocus magic tricks.

"What am I saying, you have a better chance against a hundred of those flies than a single professor. At their level, each professor is a chosen one of the gods they serve and at the very least a Great Mage!"

Oddly enough, the sense of worry Amari knew he should feel from those words never came in the end.

"What is a Great Mage?" he asked calmly.

Fuller sighed, remembering something. "I suppose you don't even know the significance of anything I just said."

"Let me start at the beginning. You see in this world of ours, there are gods. And there are the rest of us. Gods may choose to grant us power if we choose to worship them. Most of us cannot advance further than the Apprentice rank without a god's support. Only those with the god's utmost support can even reach the rank of Great Mage or its Knight equivalent, Great Knight. Do you understand?"

Amari nodded, then chewed his fingernails briefly.

"What are all the ranks if a Great Mage is so remarkable?"

"The mage ranks or levels start from Observer, then on to Apprentice, then Acolyte then Journeyman, Great Mage, Holy Mage, and Divine Mage. Think about the titles for a second. Any random Great Mage is enough to kill you, who is just barely at the Apprentice rank."

Finally, Amari understood where Fuller was coming from.

"All right," he said as he jumped atop the transportation birds without warning, ignoring the blistering heat of his surroundings when he did so.

The Ifrit looked up, his eyes confused. "What?"

"The situation is simple then. I guess I'll just have to reach the level where I can handle a Great Mage easily."

"You're crazy!"

"Come on let's go, Birdy!"

And before Fuller could react, Amari had already zoomed out of sight into the clouds.

"Fucking brat!" He jumped atop his own bird and followed quickly, not wanting to lose sight of Amari.

They raced through the clouds, flying under and above every fluffy white bit they saw and dodging the scalding rays of the sun and chilling winds when they reached a certain height in the beautiful sky.

Amari couldn't care less about that. Why should he have to forfeit his life just because some assshole decided it appropriate for him to do so?

It wasn't fair at all and just because of that, he would prove the stupid Ifrit leader wrong. He would prove Fuller wrong. He would defy all those expectations placed on him, all those stupid prophecies. If it came down to fighting the being that gave him new life, he would do it!

But on the other hand, these discoveries and expectations were a real eye-opener to how the world worked. Gods, deities, and whatever blessed him were, Amari couldn't wait to interact with them more.

And above all, he finally had a clear idea of the path he would take.

[Name: Amari Burrows, Raion'shalang]

[Race: Demon]

[Rank: Lesser Demon (Birth Rank) - Evolvable]

[Species: Variant Incubus- Verbum Daemonimum]

[Class: Wildman (Squire Rank), Orator (Apprentice Rank), Astrologer (Apprentice Rank)]

[Patrons: Borjak the Wild, Kaplen the Orator, Valen the Astrologer]

[Elements: Shadow Element, Dream Element→Nightmare Element, Night Element]

[Attributes]

[STR: 300]

[AGI: 241]

[STA: 200]

[INT: 500]

[Items: Shadow Grimoire (Note: All Shadow-based skills go into the Shadow Grimoire)]

[Skills: Observation (Lvl 7), Words of Power (Lvl 1), Force Fist (Lvl 1), Rush (Lvl 1), Flash Step (Lvl 1), Star Reading (Lvl 1), Wayfaring (Lvl 1), Star Fist (Lvl 1), Star Energy Absorption (Lvl 1), Dreamwalking (Lvl 1), Shadow Grimoire (Four Skills), Basic Dream Manipulation, Basic Nightmare Manipulation, Basic Night Manipulation, Basic Sword Technique].

[SP:200]

[MP: 1000/1000]

[Soul Bonds: Belat the Shadow Dweller Pup (Expand)]

[Titles: Child of the Beasts]

[Remark: Young demon abandoned in every sense of the word but finally has a purpose in life.

'So that's what the improvement in Orator and Astrologer means. I guess I should now assign all my skill points. It would be a waste of time to wait longer.'

Without further thought, he threw 50 points each in Shadow Movement, Words of Power, Flash Step and Dark Tendrils.

Whoosh!

A small injection of energy ran through his veins and his eyes began to glaze over. The reins he'd held onto for so long slipped out of his hands as his muscles relaxed. And the wind seemed to have finally nailed the coffin.

The bird screeched loudly as its rider fell to his death and called out for his companion.

"Falling. Our kin is falling!"

After a few seconds, Fuller caught on to what was going on.

"Shit!"

He exclaimed, jumping out of the bird's saddle.

As soon as the breeze brushed against his body, he lit up in glowing blue flames and shot downward to Amari's location. The air behind him ignited and formed a blazing arc of flames behind him.

However, it was too late.

A loud explosion erupted as the teen's body hit the ground and the entire area turned silent afterward.