Unknown Rankers

Maduro turned toward the girl and she said to the shop owner "Dad, why didn't you just explain to them you don't even know what they wanted" the shop owner snorted and went to the back of the shop leaving the girl to attend to them.

The girl frowned at the shop owner, smiled at Maduro and said "These here are energy crystals; you can use them to store energy and recharge your energy when you're low"

The group's eyes widened and Maduro said "Wow that's amazing. Where do you get them from" the girl replied "Jola's company sells them they are made by Anita"

Bella asked "How?" The girl replied "Anita makes it with her Magic is what I heard, they don't show how though, but they work. Do you want to try them?" And she extended a crystal to them, it was a blue crystal.

Maduro took it and the group watched closely as he put his energy into it. The crystal absorbed his energy and became brighter. He stopped putting energy and the energy stayed in the crystal but he could still feel it, he could still control it, and he absorbed the energy back.

The group members were eager to try so the girl gave them different colored crystals. She explained "The blue crystals can store a lot of energy and it can also release energy fast but it takes a lot of time to store it. Green crystals can store and release energy very fast but it can't store much. I heard there are crystals that can store a lot of energy very fast but release them slowly but no one will buy those so you don't see them. The yellow crystals are balanced; they store a moderate amount of energy and absorb and release at a moderate pace"

She asked "Who do you work for?" Maduro thought for a while and then answered "Mira". The girl squinted she had check there Rank for the thousandth time and her IP still indicated that they were Rank 5 Superior High Humans.

Superiors weren't rare now even she was a superior but high Rank superiors were rare as they were usually people who had high stats before the apocalypse. She knew all the Rank 5s by name and face but she hadn't ever seen a Rank 5 her age, the highest she had seen was a Rank 3, she was just 15, about their age, and she was a Rank 2.

She asked "When did you become Rank 5s" Maduro thought for a while and said "I don't remember". Seeing the confusion on the girl's face, Ife explained "We just arrived at the sanctuary today"

The girl's eyes widened and she said "How come? Where have you been?" Ife answered "Victoria Island" the girl was even more shocked and said "But that place is filled with crazy strong monsters!" Ife nodded and said "It is"

The girl was now far too curious and said "How did you survive? How did you get here?" Ife chuckled at the girl's boiling curiosity and said "What's your name?"

The girl answered "Medara" Ife said "I'm Ife" and introduced the others who were still fascinated with the crystals. Ife then said "We got help from a Rank 5 from the sanctuary; she was also a new comer like us so you may not know her. Her name is Mira". The Medara's confusion worsened, then her expression became sad and she said "Why are you lying to me? If you didn't want me to know where you were from you could have just said that"

A vein bulged on Bella's head; she had been listening to the conversation while checking out the crystals. Ife said "No, I'm not lying, we really are new" Medara nodded in obvious fake belief and Bella snapped, she shouted "Why would you just conclude that we are lying! Do you know all the Rank 5s in the sanctuary?!"

Medara smiled smugly and said "Yes! I know them by name and face and the person you mentioned and you people are not one of them. The person you mentioned hasn't even been a Rank 4, I know the names and faces of all the early Rank 4s and those who are close to being Rank 5 and there was no 'Mira' among them". Bella said "She is a Rank 6 now so you may have got your info wrong".

Medara shook her head in disagreement and said "There are 5 Rank 6s and your 'Mira' isn't one of them" Bella retorted "You don't know because she just came back to the sanctuary now" Medara smugly said "As I said there was never a Mira Rank 4 or Rank 5 and there is no Rank 6 Mira. If there was I would know, I'm not an old woman I read Rankers Weekly"

Ife interrupted the argument with a "What's that?" and Bella looked away, fuming with anger, while Medara answered "It the magazine that talks about top rankers and their lives, where they are, what they miss about the old world, who they have crushes on and other interesting things about them". She went to the back of the store and took some magazines out and showed the group.

The book had colored pages and depicted various rankers and had articles written about them in various forms, interviews and all the other good stuff. Information on Rank 5s like them was only put in the special sections that came once per issue each issue came out once a week. The group enjoyed reading the magazines; it was made for people their age, the various trends and life styles interested them.

Something caught Bella's eye, it was a special section about a Rank 4 who became a Rank 5, Lekan, who discovered aura control and was offering to trade the knowledge for work contracts or en-code. His dojo was called the Pure Aura Dojo and the location was given for those who wanted to learn.

Gbenga asked "Who publishes this?" Medara answered "Only the best company in the sanctuary, Karma Trends and Threads, owned by the best Rank 6 out there, Funmi". Gbenga wanted to say he had just met her but he thought 'That would just make seem like a pathological liar to her'.

Bella showed the group the article about the Pure Aura Dojo, their eyes widened and Bella said "We should check it out". Medara peeked over their shoulders to see what they were looking at and said "Are you interested in learning aura too?"

The group was silent; they didn't know how to answer truthfully in a way that wouldn't make them seem like liars. Medara said "I advise against it, many people our age go to learn from him but I feel that it's better for one to find one's own way to the top rather than selling one's self. And also you're Rank 5 like him, so there's no need for you to seek his help since he isn't that much stronger than you"

Bella put on a creepy smile and said "Would you like to follow us? We could show you something amazing" she was hoping that her friends would show their aura capabilities which would teach Medara that not everything in the world could be learnt on Rankers Weekly.

Medara was creeped out by her smile and said "No thanks". Maduro said to Bella "Stop being such a creep" turned to Medara and said "We just want to check it out. And I know you don't believe us but we're new so these kinds of things are fascinating to us"

Medara nodded, she didn't really believe them but since they were so insistent on being 'new' and were fun to be with and Rank 5s her age, she agreed, maybe they would eventually tell her how they actually became so strong. She told her dad she was leaving, he complained but she left anyway.