Rankings

" Ugh..."

I slowly open my eyes to close them again as I sighed exasperatedly.

I am once again inside medical ward after being beaten by Daniel. I don't know if this is gonna be my daily routine.

Class - Medical ward - Class - Medical Ward - Dormatories

This academy is so fucked up.

Sigh...

' I wanna quit.'

..

" How are feeling?"

Evan who was looking out of the window said.

" I am fine. By the way, what time is it?"

" It's 7 pm"

Evan turned around and stood before me.

" I am hungry." I said.

" Let's get going then."

I got up and we headed straight to the cafeteria.

" Evan, I wanted to ask you something."

" Sure."

" Why are you following me around all the day?"

" Shouldn't I?"

How should I put this?

Hmm...

I know he is just looking out for me, but I get the feeling that he is keeping watch over me. Not just him but the entire class.

" The thing is you are the weakest amongst us, so I have to protect you. Otherwise, those bullies might try to hurt you again. You are not the only one though, it's the same case for Snow too."

" Why? "

" She is the weakest amongst us."

Hm? Now this is weird.

" Why? "

" Special circumstances. Ethne is the one who protects her from others. That's why she is working as the vice president."

In other words you don't want to tell me.

" I understand. I have another question."

" Go ahead."

" Why is it that the academy doesn't teach us about different professions like alchemy and blacksmith?"

" The first year of the academy is rather free, they gave us time to hone our basic skills and get adapted to the environment in the academy."

" What if I want to learn them now? "

" There are two ways to learn, first get into the main branch of the Star Verse academy, there they teach about these things from the start and the second is to pass the test to get into 2nd year."

" Wait, do you mean there is another Star Verse academy?"

" Yeah, the main branch of the Star Verse academy is in the Arcana World. The one where we are at, is just a branch of the original. But getting admission into the main academy is impossible for us."

Wow, I didn't know that.

" So how does one get into the main academy? "

" It's pretty simple. It depends on your ranking. "

" Ranking? what? "

" There are Ranking list for every Ascension. From 1st Ascension to 9th Ascension, namely

Iota Ranking - 1st Ascension

Theta Ranking - 2nd Ascension

Eta Ranking - 3rd Ascension

Zeta Ranking - 4th Ascension

Epsilon Ranking - 5th Ranking

Delta Ranking - 6th Ascension

Gamma Ranking - 7th Ascension

Beta Ranking - 8th Ascension

Alpha Ranking - 9th Ascension

Omega Ranking - 10th Ascension

The TOP 100 of the Zeta Ranking list are chosen as the students of the Star Verse academy, of course one can decline the offer if they want. "

" TOP 100, doesn't sound much difficult. But the number of participants.."

" Yes, there are at least a million participants who enter the Ranking but only 10,000 individuals are ranked though."

We arrived at the cafeteria as we discussed many things about Rankings and its rules. We ordered the usual for dinner and chatted a bit about other normal stuff.

" Hey Rudra, do you mind if I ask you something?"

Evan asked in a hesitant tone

" What is it?"

" What is your level?"

" I am level 0 and why are you being such hesitant about it?"

" It's considered as very sensitive information for someone that's why I hesitated to ask you."

" I don't mind such small things."

Evan had a faint smile on his face.

Then he thought for a while and asked.

" Why are you still level 0? I mean you can always hunt mana beasts to raise your level or is there some kind of problem."

" I want to increase my stats as high as I can, so that I can kill beings above my level."

" That's what everyone does at the start. Wait.. don't tell me you haven't done anything to raise your stats."

I nodded my head at his words. His expression changed from his usual calm to a shocked one.

" How can someone be so dumb?"

My mouth twitched at his comment, this guy...

" I can hear you, you bastard."

I let out another sigh and spoke-

" The thing is I lived in the mountains in the outermost region with my master so I don't know much about how the world works."

Evan facepalmed at my bullshitting skill. I know it's pretty dumb, but in all the eastern fantasy novel this trick always works.

" Sigh.... let's leave it at that. I will tell you all the methods to increasing stats."

My attention shifted fully from eating to listening.

" There are 3 methods to increase your stats,

First, eating other beings. It does apply in the case of every being including humans too, but most prefer to eat mana beasts because of their taste. The level of the being you eat must be higher than yours, but keep in mind that repeated consumption of the same type decreases its effect.

Second, to drink the blood of other beings. All the condition and effect of eating applies as it is to drinking blood.

The third method is to consume refined medicine or raw medicinal plant. This method is a bit more dangerous than the other two. The plants absorb more mana than other beings, hence when consumed there is a fear of bursting yourself due to excessive mana."

I kept nodding my head in between to let him know that I am interested to learn more about it.

" Hmm.. so if I have to increase my stats, I need to consume blood or eat meat or medicinal plant."

" That's right."

" I should start it as soon as possible, but.... for that I will need money."

Evan looked relieved at my response.

" That's right, you need to earn money or more specifically points which only work at the academy. You should visit the mission hall opposite to the cafeteria. There you can find mission suitable for your rank, but I doubt you will be able to."

Yeah he is right, I am a level 0 so forget about it.

I need to find another way to earn money.