Stages and Grades

"I'll join. But I want information." It couldn't hurt to put up some conditions anyways right?

Kaiser didn't immediately reply, he was thinking about something.

"So what is it that you want?" He then asked me.

"I want to know more about the exalted and the military" I told him. I expected him to weigh things a bit longer but unexpectedly...

"Consider it done." He seemed unfazed by my request and even instantly agreed.

"Aren't you too trusting?" I asked with a questioning gaze.

"I can tell you are not the type to go back on your agreements. An ambitious person must also learn to trust those around him" He once more simply responded.

"Sounds like an easy way to die an early death" I shrugged.

"If you live your whole life thinking there is a target on your back you'll only live in fear. You also don't seem to be a bad person" He added. I subconsciously snorted before quickly responding.

"I am no hero either." There was a short period of silence in which we both just looked into each other's eyes. Was he interested in me after all?!

"So where is the information?" I changed the topic.

"Your attitude is ideal for an ethically gray organization. As for your information… I am going to need you to do something for me first." His solemn expression changed to a slight smile as he spoke the last few words.

I visibly frowned in response making my dissatisfaction clear. I obviously wouldn't agree to something like this.

"How about you give me some of it first and then I'll consider it. The condition was to join you after getting the knowledge so any less would be going back on your words" I counter proposed.

This seemed like a more logical approach. Not only that, but I was in desperate need to learn about how to increase my own strength as well as how said strength was measured.

"You don't even want to know what the mission is? and you say I am too trusting hahaha" Kaiser laughed a bit at my expense but I didn't mind it.

"If you truly value me you won't send me to my death, right?" As he easily suppressed me he should be well aware of my level. He shrugged at my words and simply pulled out some files from his desk.

His expression once more turned solemn as he opened up one of them.

"This is some information on your current stage. Look over it a bit." He said after flipping the folder and handing it over to me.

I looked at the file and was surprised to see only a single page. There were also some charts with some data but I couldn't understand them at the moment. So I just began reading. Kaiser simply watched as I did which was admittedly unnerving.

It took me a minute or two to read the page in its entirety. I wouldn't really know as I was too immersed in the new information.

Altered. It is the first stage of exaltation. This stage was split into 10 substages or grades.

An increment in grade transformed directly into physical strength. It was worth mentioning that the leap in strength wasn't all that great. To experience great changes one would need to go up a stage instead.

At the moment, my body was comparable to a peak athlete and a little more. If my grade increased then the little more would essentially be doubled.

Well, that's all fine but... how exactly do you go up a stage?

The determining factor of stage and grade was naturally Mutational energy which was absorbed from waste crystals like the one I acquired from the fly. To absorb it you just have to focus on controlling the energy inside the crystal to enter your own body. Controlling ME is an innate talent of the exalted. Although very limited at the altered stage.

If the document was to be trusted, then my crystal was likely a grade two altered crystal. It would take exactly 10 more of these to go up another stage.

Funnily enough, a single grade two crystal was still not enough for one to directly go up a stage. This was because a lot of the energy was lost when consuming it. It was comparable to how energy was lost in the food chain in my original world.

Which reminds me, what stage were the crystals that were in the waste mines anyways? Were they only grade one? Even if they were, with such a large quantity I'd still be able to easily go up a grade.

A grade three crystal, however, was a different story. One alone would suffice. By this logic, one would easily realize that the required amount is simply multiplied by 10. Then what would happen with a grade four crystal?

You could die. Absorbing too much energy is detrimental. Best case scenario you gain a temporary boost of strength before losing a grade or just resetting your progress in that grade.

All of these numbers were bound to make one go crazy. To make matters worse, this all sounded crazy expensive!

I dropped the papers back on the desk and looked at Kaiser who seemed to be asking me with his gaze if I was satisfied. Which… I was... This small snippet of information was more than enough for now.

The only thing left to do now was to learn more about the exalted and this society. Since these people were working behind the government's back they probably knew a lot about this topic.

"What do I need to do?" I asked him.

"I like your straightforwardness. It's quite simple actually." Kaiser responded before pausing to reveal a wide grin.

"I am going to need you to steal something for me" His words were said with evident glee.

It became plainly obvious that this wasn't something he thought of just now. This was likely something that he wanted to do and I just so happened to be able to help with.

"What exactly?" I didn't really like that he was acting all mysterious though…

Kaiser then looked around suspiciously before leaning ever so slightly closer and said…!

"Only if you do another thing for me" That was what he said...

"..." That was just my outward appearance. Realistically I wanted to yell something at the moment.

For f*cks sake!