Tendrils

Many would be surprised at what Atticus had just decided to do, and truly, it was a cause for surprise.

The beast was a master rank!

It wasn't about it being 2 sub levels above him; it was the fact that it was an entire rank above him.

Fighting an individual in a higer sub rank and another in a higher rank than you was wholly different from each other.

Each rank increase does more than increase your mana level and power; each increase brings about a qualitative change to the individual's being.

And this was especially apparent in higher ranks like master rank.

It was exactly because of the apparent difference in strength that Atticus had been found out so easily even when he was using the ethereal cloak art to move.

But as if reading his mind, before Atticus could react, an intense black veil suddenly burst out from underneath him, his whole form immediately enveloped in an inky blackness.

....