"I see, so there will be a martial arts competition right before the Well of Ascension ceremony. Well, if you want me to be honest, Kal, I'd say we absolutely need to participate. It must have something to do with the well of Ascension and its effect on your body. I'm sure the one who gets first place will gain even more strength as a reward when he bathes in the Well of Ascension," commented Aiden.
"Oh, so that's your take on it, I see..." answered Kal, not hiding his worried expression.
"I don't really know why you are so against it, to be frank. Everyone else is in favor of participating. Also, if you are worried about us losing, which would result in a loss of reputation and our strength being exposed to the public, then I'll just say this: WE WON'T LOSE."
Upon hearing Aiden's discourse, Kal asked, "How can you be so confident?" and added, "And... yeah, you are right, this is exactly what I am worried about."
"Well, let me explain to you what I have in mind," said Aiden just before enumerating his points.
"Firstly, I plan on snatching first place in the competition. I know it may come across as arrogance and pride, but I truly am confident that I can win in the end."
"Secondly, since it is not simply me participating but also some of our personally selected members, the obvious choice is to only take the strongest ones, which would assure us higher chances of victory."
"Thirdly, as of right now, it would be utterly stupid to try and attack another region's faction, since no faction is in a stable position right now. It would be too risky, hence why I do not fear for us at all."
"Well, what you say makes sense. I guess it can't be helped then. We shall participate in this martial arts competition."
"Good, go tell the boys of our plan, please. On my side, I shall see that board of yours with the newly added requirements for martial artist ranks."
"Alright then, see you later, Aiden."
"See ya."
Aiden's short, black, abyssal hair spiraled subtly in the air as the wind blew. He put his left hand on his hair to stop their agitation and sighed in confusion. He had lost his way. And as funny as it would sound for someone who is the leader of an almost four-thousand-man army to lose his way around his own place, it should also be acknowledged that Aiden had never had enough time to properly adjust himself to the environmental settings of the castle. He was always training on his own, after all.
Henceforth, Aiden kept walking for a little bit and directly asked for information from the first man he saw. Apparently, the information board with the ranking and requirements for martial artists was at the second main gate, a less crowded area compared to the first main gate. Thanking the man, he made his way there.
Right after arriving at the second main gate of the castle, Aiden looked up at the big stone wall that had a wooden board tethered to it. On it was widely written:
------------------------- | Requirements for Martial Artist Ranks | -------------------------
[Martial Artist Low Rank—Trainee] - Requires: 50 Combat Power - Maturity - Courage - Will to fight.
[Martial Artist Intermediate Rank—Soldier] - Requires: 80 Combat Power - Experienced fighter as a trainee.
[Martial Artist Advanced Rank—Captain] - Requires: 150 Combat Power - Leadership and Knowledge.
[Martial Artist Expert Rank—Instructor] - Requires: 200 Combat Power - Great martial arts knowledge.
[Martial Artist Master Rank—Heavenly Guard] - Requires: 250 Combat Power - Leader's personal guard.
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For more specific information regarding each of these ranks, their duties, and accurate requirements, please check the pinned message in the "Ranks and Jobs" chat room in your system. Visitors who are not members can find additional details in the castle's church straight ahead. Inside, you will find numerous boards explaining everything about our rules, faction system, ranks, jobs, requirements, and application process. Please note that these requirements will only be effective and applied after the first Well of Ascension ceremony.
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Therefore, all members of Heavenly Pandemonium wishing to climb the ranks and hierarchy, gain benefits, and protect civilians and their leader must train hard to grow stronger. Additionally, strength requirements will continually change and increase in difficulty, as everyone will grow stronger after this point. Expect monthly updates on the requirements for each role.
This was all that was written on the board.
The board was insanely huge, with letters large enough to accommodate the wall's size. Aiden felt satisfied with his executive members' work but wanted to know more. Thus, he headed to the church. There, a cluster of scattered people roamed, most of whom looked at Aiden with variously positive expressions, but none of those looks did more than glance at him. Nobody dared to disturb Aiden by talking to him since he seemed so concentrated on his task.
After noticing the boards not so far away, he hastened his pace. Here is what he read:
Ranks and Job Paths:
As a member of Heavenly Pandemonium, if you apply for the rank of martial artist, you will have to show your strength value and will be assigned a rank according to your power level. As a trainee martial artist, your role is to train on your own, as well as to attend official training sessions from higher-level martial artists. You must strive to gain strength to climb up the ranks and be more useful to your faction's people and leader.
If you have chosen to be a martial artist, it is to fight, after all. Fight to protect your loved ones and the weaker non-martial artist people. To become an official soldier, you will need to have attended at least 10 training sessions and have a power level of 80. Each rank is also divided into three sub-tiers (low, mid, and high tier). So, for example, if you've been a captain for 3 months and your strength just reached 175, then you can apply to become a Mid-Tier Captain. This gives you more authority over those with a lower sub-tier rank than you.
However, it is important to note that if you do not uphold your role's duties properly, or do not respect the rules, and make mistakes such as bullying your juniors who are lower ranked than you, then you will be heavily punished and stripped of your rank.
Not only that, but at the trainee, soldier, and captain ranks, you can also have another job alongside this one. Nevertheless, if you want to go higher in the martial artist hierarchy, then you won't have a choice but to focus on martial arts. A captain can train his soldiers and trainees, as well as work as a house builder or a guard. However, an instructor cannot. Moreover, all martial artist ranks above trainees are eligible to go to war and fight against monsters and other humans if they are enemies.
Now onto the captain rank. As a High-Tier soldier, your strength may be nearing or perhaps already exceeding that of the captain's rank requirement. Yet, it is not enough to become one. If you want to be a captain, you need to hold three successful short training sessions and prove your utmost maturity and leadership skills. It is also necessary for the person wanting to apply for captainship to have good martial arts knowledge (so they can properly teach others). This is why, for such a promotion, you will have to be tested multiple times.
The only instance where a soldier may be immediately promoted to captain is if a High-Tier instructor asks for it with good proof of your skills. This measure exists to make the promotion of highly talented and hard-working soldiers faster. This method exists to ensure that those genius martial artists won't have to undergo needless trials and tests, which would simply waste their time.
As for a captain's duties, you must train almost daily a certain number of trainees and soldiers. You can also form an exploration squad and go to the outside world to hunt animals and monsters. This squad system also applies when a captain must lead his team to attack an enemy faction, if it ever happens. Captains, way more than soldiers, also have to respect a certain etiquette. We won't accept crude and disrespectful brats into the captain's division. Manners count as an example to your underlings.
Now for the instructor rank, let's make it fast. An instructor is very similar to a captain, both in his job and conditions: You need maturity, great leadership, a larger knowledge of martial arts, and a lot of combat experience. The few things that differ from a captain is monster combat experience. Indeed, only the High-Tier captains who have defeated at least 200 Mid-Tier monsters and 50 High-Tier monsters by themselves are qualified to become instructors. (Mid-Tier monsters are equal to a soldier's strength, and 50 High-Tier monsters are roughly equal to High-Tier captains.)
When Aiden read those last words, he was caught off guard. 'What do they mean by Mid-Tier and High-Tier monsters, and since when do we have information regarding monsters and their strength level?' he wondered. Thus, Aiden proceeded to ask the people in the church.
"Oh, my leader, it is an honor to help you with this question. You see, we have received information from the god himself about different types of monsters. In fact, we are certain that these monsters will be the ones we fight against after the first Well of Ascension ceremony. Here is the information we have received: their habitats, strengths, what they eat, their temperaments, their specific characteristics, and more," spoke the thin boy proudly in response to Aiden's question.
"Oh, I see now; I didn't know such a thing had occurred. It seems locking myself up in my training room has its inconveniences after all, haha," joked Aiden, making most of the people around him laugh.
"However, I have an additional question. Where can I see the information about those monsters?" added Aiden.
"Oh, about that, you can simply open your system window and go to the new channel monsters' information. It is all the way below the combat section; that is probably why you didn't notice it," answered the thin boy.
"True, I haven't bothered doing a check on the new channels after my return. Shame on me for being lazy. Anyways, thanks a lot for helping me out," replied Aiden.
"You are most welcome, my leader."
It had become a mere formality for Aiden's people to refer to him as "leader," yet he still hadn't gotten used to it. The respect everyone gave him felt oddly undeserved, even though he had gone through hell in his training with the ambition of becoming the strongest in his faction, so he could help protect everyone to the best of his capabilities.
After emptying his mind of worthless thoughts, he bid goodbye to the thin boy who had helped him and waved to the others who had listened as he returned to the information boards.
Aiden read the final information regarding the instructor rank, which he already knew since he had suggested the criteria for most of those ranks during a reunion 20 days ago. What tempted him more were those pieces of information about monsters, and what he saw definitely piqued Aiden's interest.
| Gray-Furred-Wolves |
[Gray-Furred Wolves, which we will most commonly refer to as "Gray-Wolves," are the weakest monsters that will appear in the wild and vicinities. These monsters appear to be very similar to our kind's wolves. Their weight can vary from 40 kilos to 70. Their claws and mouths are obviously extremely powerful, but they have one major difference compared to normal wolves: their physical strength is twice as great. They can also use a skill called "Leap," enabling them to jump long distances and ram their opponents. Overall, their combat power has been reported to be in the range of (50-85).]
| Black-Furred-Wolves |
[Black-Furred Wolves, "Black-Wolves," are above the Gray-Wolves in the monster hierarchy. It is common to see a single, strong Black-Wolf leading a big troop of weaker Gray-Wolves. The Black-Wolves can be over 2 meters long and are also larger due to their increased muscle mass and weight, which ranges between 80 to almost 140 kilos. Moreover, they possess extremely sharp claws that are strong enough to tear apart human flesh and even reinforced wood as easily as a baby would tear a piece of paper. Their numbers may be less than Gray-Wolves, but their combat power, which is in the range of (90-150), is in itself a huge danger.]
| Urilion-Crabs |
[Urilion Crabs are an odd species of monsters to categorize. Their strength can be as low as 30, but an Urilion Crab leader's power can reach up to 80. This peculiarity can be explained by their use of magical force. They possess the "Gravity" attribute or energy. This means that even if their physical strength is usually weaker than that of a Low to Mid-Tier Martial Artist, they still pose a huge threat to the unprepared. Weaker crabs can conjure a short gravity field around them, increasing the gravity up to twice the normal amount, whereas stronger crabs can increase the gravity fivefold. They are also extremely fast despite their weak bodies, and their claws contain a non-deadly poison that can paralyze even strong humans if enough is inflicted.]
| Eden's-Wood-Guardians |
[Eden's Wood Guardians appear as living gigantic trees in humanoid form. Depending on their strength and rank in their hierarchy, an Eden's Guardian's height can reach up to 4 meters, while the weaker ones are mostly around 2 meters tall. Even the smallest ones possess immense strength and great endurance. Their bodies are primarily made of heavy wood, covered with long and thin creepers. These thin, seemingly fragile creepers serve as the Eden's Guardians' main weapon, using their length and sturdiness like a chained scythe. They can pierce through flesh and stone and are very fast and versatile. We do not have information regarding the possibility of cutting down these creepers, but we know the combat power of these monstrosities ranges between 150 and 250.]
Aiden was shocked upon reading all this information, but that shock soon turned into mad excitement.
He wanted to fight them.