"I am full," Alex said as patted his belly.
"That's good brat. It's now time to go back to the guild," Zein said as he stood and patted his clothes trying to get rid of the dust on them.
Zein returned the used dishes to his pocket dimension and motioned for Alex to follow him which caused Alex to get off from the ground and use big strides in order to catch up to Zein who had already started walking away in the direction of the guild. Once they arrived at the guild Zein ordered more food and beer just for himself as they sat down at the corner table which Zein was Zein's favourite spot in the guild. As they were waiting for Zein's food a communication magic circle appeared near his ear causing him to move away to a more secluded part of the guild in order to answer the call.
"Zein, once you are done with what you are doing, inform Alex to come to my office," Emilia requested.
"It's okay I will inform him," Zein said as the communication magic circle disappeared from his ear area.
Zein returned to see his food casually waiting for him on the table ready to give him nourishment. Once he sat down and in an instant he finished all the food and the beer causing Alex to be surprised by this when Zein didn't show the slightest bit of tipsiness.
[How is he not drunk? Better yet, how is he not vomiting because chugging all that beer in one go.] Alex thought in fascination.
Just when Zein was about to speak in order to inform Alex of the information he was interrupted by a large gauntlet clad hand landing on his table. Causing Zein and Alex eyes to travel from the gauntlet clad hand and to the face of the owner of the said hand.
"Zein Alphard you didn't forget we have a rematch of our battle coming up?" The man questioned in a deep baritone voice even deeper than that of Zein.
Alex examined the appearance of the man before him and saw he was a middle aged man most likely the same age as Zein. He was bald and had scar travelling from his forehead to his bearded face and his eyes despite being obsidian black had a confident aura that spoke volumes of his power. Alex was cut out from his observation by Zein deciding to speak.
"Hmmm….you said something," Zein questioned feigning ignorance
This statement caused Alex to inwardly chuckle as it was funny to see it aimed at another person who was not him and what made it more funny was the slack jawed expression on the face of the man causing him to tremble in anger. The man after calming himself down realised there was another occupant at the table and settled his gaze upon Alex.
"So Zein, who is the squirt?" The man asked.
"My new apprentice," Zein answered curtly, clearly not wanting to strike up a conversation with the man.
"So what is your name kid?" The man questioned as his tone gradually shifted to a more gentler tone as he is addressing a kid.
"Alex and I am not a kid," Alex said while having an angry glare which made him look more cute if that was possible.
"Such a spirited child. I am Mori," Mori said as he held out his hand for a handshake causing Alex to take the cue causing his hand to be completely engulfed by the gauntlet clad hand.
"I'll deal with you later as I have to report to Emilia. I think you remember what happens if her reports aren't done on time," Zein said, causing Mori's shoulders to stiffen and his expression to pale considerably, something that Alex took note of.
'He also fears Emilia. What has she done to command fear from these powerhouses?' Alex questioned in his thoughts.
"Have a nice day. We will settle this later my rival," Mori said while pointing at Zein before he took his leave.
"That was nerve-wracking," Zein said as he let out a sigh as he gestured for Alex to follow him as he got up from his chair.
Their trip to Emilia's office was done in silence as none of them had nothing to say to each other. They arrived at Emilia's office and Zein gently knocked three times and only entered after they had a reply of 'come in' from Emilia. They entered the office and found Emilia buried in paperwork but she stopped when she saw the people who had entered her office.
"Thank you for bringing him here. I will be incharge of his theory lessons," Emilia said in a cryptic tone while Zein understood the double meaning behind it.
[She wants me to report on the training later.] Zein thought clearly understanding the double meaning of his words.
"Okay I will take my leave," Zein said as he left.
Emilia waved as if she was shooing him away and turned to Alex while adapting a stern no nonsense teacher like aura which caused Alex to be feared for his safety and the fear only increased when he remembered the reactions from Mori and Zein. Emilia went to her desk and picked up a few books which she had earlier picked for the purpose of the lesson.
"First thing I will teach you is about humans and monsters and their power ranking in this world," Emilia said as she used her magic to conjure a hologram projection.
"For human beings there are obviously civilians who are not tailored for war but for us beings who are tailored for war there are two categories, mages and knights. First I start with the mages as I am one of them before we move on to your knight class. Mages are classified into ranks but to simplify it I will use letters to explain," Emilia said as she paused causing the hologram projection to change.
"E -Novice Mage
D -4th Class Mage
C -3rd Class Mage
B -2nd Class Mage
A -1st Class Mage
S - Grandmaster
SS - Supreme Magus
SSS - Progenitor rank Mage," Emilia said while finishing her list of the ranking of mages.
"So Emilia, which rank are you in the mage ranking?" Alex asked the question that was bothering him for sometime now.
"I am a Grandmaster who is slightly closer to the Supreme Magus rank," Emilia said.
[Explains a lot why those guys fear her.] Alex thought while finally getting the answer he was looking for.
"For us mages our magic stems from mana unlike for knights whose magic stems from aura. Now for the knight ranking that you are part of.
E -Novice Knight
D -4th Class Knight
C -3rd Class Knight
B -2nd Class Knight
A -1st Class Knight
S -Paladin
SS -Supreme Paladin
SSS -Progenitor Rank Swordmaster," Emilia said as she decided to move on to the next topic.
"Now for monsters each monster is formidable despite their ranking and even some despite their cute appearance are extremely dangerous," Emilia said, causing the projection to change to show a very cute rabbit.
'That thing is cute, what is it going to do, kill me with its cuteness,' Alex thought as he analyzed the rabbit.
"The thing that I am sure you are thinking is harmless. A few years ago eradicated a small town from the face of the earth making the town seem like it never existed in the first place," Emilia said while the hologram changed to show a crater with rubble in it.
'Nevermind my job is to stay away from that thing,' Alex thought as his expression paled after seeing the damage done by the rabbit that took the meaning of the words cute and dangerous to a whole new level.
"Some monsters like this rabbit have names and a conscience. The name and the rank of this monster is (A+++ rank monster: Rabbi) subjugating it would require a party full of 1st class knights and mages effectively cooperating with each other. The monsters each have rank from E to S. There was once an SS class monster that is said to have destroyed a continent causing the Gods to intervene and destroy it but right now that legend is considered as a myth as it happened a long time and the people from that era are all dead unless there was an immortal in that era," Emilia said.
"Why is the monster ranking stronger as compared to that of humans?" Alex questioned.
"This is because, it is not that easy to measure a monster's strength as you don't know its full arsenal of attacks," Emilia said
"That makes a lot of sense," Alex said after mulling over Emilia's words.
"Tomorrow's theory lesson is on religion and the God's that govern this world," Emilia said, peaking Alex's interest.
'This might give me an insight cause I have a sneaking suspicion concerning those Gods,' Alex thought.
"By the way what rank is Zein?" Alex questioned as it was bothering him.
"In his base form 1st Class Knight but after using all his powers I would put him on the Supreme Paladin level," Emilia said thoughtfully.
"Now let us go meet up with Zein," Emilia said as she opened the door of her office and led Alex to the main hall of the guild where they met an interesting scene.
"You want to fight. Come at me then and don't disappoint me," Zein said while sticking out his hand in the come at me motion.
"This will be interesting," Emilia said as she turned her head in anticipation of the coming fight which caused Alex to also be eager to watch the fight.