Orville looked at the Generals with a slight smile.
"I was wondering if perhaps....all the Generals can also give a periodic update about their own progression and advancements.... Or some discoveries they may have made while treading on this path?"
Everyone present raised an eye brow to Orville's suggestion.
All the Generals would occasionally inform the others of their potential discoveries and experiences as they advance to the next Rank, so there really was no need to go out of their way and discuss the same in this important meeting.
But when they thought about the reports that have been made this time around and the actual reason for this meeting , they suddenly understood what Sir Orville was talking about.
Their eyes narrowed even further and most of them clenched their fists as they now understood what he was getting at.
'He wants to know how much stronger we have gotten and..... if we are close to the next rank or not... '
This was what they all thought.
At this point, Orville started speaking again. "Well, since I am the one suggesting it, it's only natural that I go first."
As soon as he said that, the slight smile on his face vanished and got replaced by the dignity of a warrior.... A warrior who has fought countless battles, coming close to death several times.
He spoke, " So, I am the oldest one here and also one of the very first Ascendants that humanity has produced, and I have to say, reaching this mark was not easy.... "
"Well, let's not talk about useless things and get to the matter at hand. I have been at the General Rank for quite some time now, even before Ron reached the General rank and was still at the Commander rank in fact."
What Orville just said was general knowledge among the masses, and especially the Generals. But whenever they will hear it, all the generals with only a single exception, will always start to feel a huge sense of inadequacy.
They were people who ruled over the others of theirs kind and were the pillars of hope for their revival and continued survival. Yet, whenever they will hear about Ron, a boy still in his early twenties, someone who was younger then them by more than a decade, their frustration will always spike.
"Hmmm... And for all the time I have spend being at the General Rank, I can tell that my strength has continued to increase all this while and... "
He took a small pause and said with solemnity.
"And I have now started to sense the next Rank too, the Marshall Rank."
He said but in the next moment, gave a deep sigh. "Sigh, and though I have sensed the rank and can tell there's a chance in reaching it, it's unknown how high those chances exactly are, nor do I know how long would it take."
Orville words may sound weird, but that's how an Ascendant assess his/her own progression in ranks. By sensing it. It's weird to put it to words but it can be explained with an example of a marathon.
Supposedly, when an athlete starts a marathon, he knew he had a long way to go but not exactly how long and just keeps moving further.
When going further there's a chance he will fall mid way, without even seeing the finish line. In this case of an Ascendant, this would mean he wasn't even able to sense the next rank.
In another scenario, let's say the athlete reach a certain mark and now the finish line is within his sight and he has now identified his goal. This would be the case of 'sensing' the next rank, when the line is within your sight.
Now, there are various ways the marathon can play out after the athlete has 'seen' the finishing line.
One, the athlete will continue to advance forward but won't be able to go ahead by much and will fall. Here, the Ascendant was only able to sense the next rank, but not reach it.
Two, the athlete will be self-aware that his stamina and strength will not last and give up. In this case, an Ascendant knew that although he has sensed the next Rank, reaching it is not possible for him.
But it had to be remembered that this comparison is hypothetical and only in place to provide others who will follow the path of an Ascendant a rough understanding of their future. For example, in the above scenario, there are numerous cases when people are simply unaware.
These people are not those who are running from reality, but are truly unaware of their progression. But these stages are only temporary, and with time people will be aware of their progression within rank.
Coming back to the example, their is the last third scenario in which, athlete is sure that he will reach the finishing line, though he might be unaware of the time it would take.
In this whole example, the 'athletes' are Ascendants and the 'marathon' is the journey from one Rank to the other, while 'seeing' refers to the sensing of Rank.
Coming to sensing, it's different from sensing mana or anything else.
It simply means that, you yourself are most aware of your body and it's condition.
No one, no matter how close they are to you, be it you spouse or sex partner, the one who will be the most aware of a person body's state will be the person itself.
That is to say, an Ascendant will be naturally aware of their body's condition and advancements, though their might be exceptions or other factors in place in certain scenarios.
That's how an Ascendant can understand where they currently are and upto where they can hope to achieve.
Orville, after glancing at all the other Generals and seeing their dejected expressions, started sharing some of his experience.
"But I have to say, the more I am traversing this path, the more I concur with Frank's idea of body and mind. As we face more challenges and develop our mind and body, the more we assimilate with this newfound power of Mana and Ascendants. It's like increasing your life's natural order.... Although we are still humans at our roots, our existence seems to have evolved to be a whole new species."
He said in enlightenment.
The others couldn't help but nod at his opinion. They too have felt similar things mentioned by Sir Orville.
Orville concluded his thoughts with the next words. "I believe I have spoken enough. The path of an Ascendant is unique to every individual, and it's on their own to explore it and unravel it's potential."
He sat back down after saying all that. And now, it was time for other Generals to do the same.
Suddenly, the atmosphere that had turned relaxed for a moment, tensed up again. It was clear that everyone was a little hesitant in going ahead.
And at this point, Connor spoke up. "I am still far."
Everyone looked towards him as he elaborated.
"I am also at the General Rank for quite some time now, 7 years to be exact. And although my strength has continued to increase, the Marshall rank still seems distant."
He gave his honest answer.
"M-Me too. I haven't still sensed the next Rank and my combat prowess is also a bit inferior to everyone present."
The one to spoke this time was Sophie and as one would expect, Ryuto immediately followed after her.
"Your talent lies in researching, not combat. Also, you dedicate most of your time to research, not getting enough time for your own training. It didn't affect the rest of us too much because our tasks mission help us train."
" Not to mention, you have only advanced to the General rank merely 2 years back, lowest of everyone present."
He scolded Sophie for putting herself down. Sophie blushed a little and offered a nod with a slight smile on her face. "Yes" She muttered at the same time.
Everyone just watched their interaction with an amused look on their face.
"Cough", Ryuto, sensing everyone's gaze, gave a slight cough before speaking.
"I sensed the Marshall Rank not long ago, but I feel I haven't made much progression since."
He gave his answer.
"My situation is roughly the same. But I feel there's a good chance of reaching the next Rank, though I have no idea on the amount of time it might take."
The one to spoke this time was the braided hair girl who had a tanned skin and toned body, General Nataya of the Veye Bastion stronghold.
She hasn't spoken much since the start of the meeting and still hasn't given her report, and neither will she be giving one.
And the reason for that being that her stronghold was tasked with Monster invigilation and monitoring. She had already given her report on the monsters strange behavior to Ron nearly 3 weeks back and he had taken the matter into his own hands.
At the same time, she's also the most aware of the 'main topic' that Ron is going to talk about at the end. Hence, her seriousness at the start of the meeting.
"My case is also the same. My strength has continued to increase thus far, but the Marshall Rank is still not within reach."
Ria spoke this time.
"The Marshall Rank, huh. It will be fun reaching it but unfortuna- "
"Tch, what incompetence."
A certain White haired and hazel eyed boy interrupted Kenny's words.
"All of you always have only your incompetence to report at these meetings. Can't you all for once report something nice that will be beneficial to our future?"
The one to speak these words was none other than General Nash of the Terra Australis stronghold.
"No, why not just accept your incompetence and retire from your position as the leaders of humanity? It will save everyone's time, won't it?"
He said as a condescending smirk played on his lips.
Ryuto, who was listening everything, turned his head towards Nash and looked at him with cold eyes.
"Nash, don't overstep your limits." He warned as Mana started to leak out from his body.
Nash, unbothered, replied with the same grin plastered on his face.
"Oh, you wanna fight? Come, I would like to see yo-kuhh..!?"
Suddenly, his words stopped mid way, his body slamming to the ground as a collosal amount of mana weighed down on him.
"Huff, Huff" He huffed again and again, having a hard time breathing as he clutched his chest.
Everyone snapped their heads towards the seat of honor as they laid their eyes on Ron's figure.
His eyes were now opened as he looked ahead with a cold look.
"General Nash"
He said without bothering to look at the person in question.
"You said that everyone here is incompetent, right?"
His low voice travelled through the whole room. Everyone held their breath as they looked at the unfolding scene, only Orville had a calm look on his face.
"Then, perhaps you were also talking about me?"