Truth
For the first time in his life, Ryu was truly speechless.
He kneeled before Sarriel, his mouth partially open as the words he had planned on speaking hung in silence.
One would think that the owner of the First Ranked Heavenly Pupils shouldn't be shocked when meeting someone who was his inferior in every way. But, Ryu didn't think about things like this, nor should anyone, for that matter.
The ranking of the Heavenly Pupils was ultimately reliant on the amount of Fate its predecessors had accumulated over time. What the rankings functionally represented was the likelihood of reaching a certain level of strength rather than an actual strength.
To understand why Ryu didn't have the capital to look down on Sarriel, one only needed to consider a single thing.