CHAPTER 83: HIGH-RANKERS [1]

Neko-sensei and Kai stood across from each other like warriors about to have a valiant duel.

They were both unarmed, with no weapon in sight except the faint mana that lingered in the atmosphere.

Kai locked his gaze on Neko-sensei, and with a loud thud, their fists collided.

A few seconds later, Kai leapt back, flailing with his hands. "Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Neko-sensei tilted her head a bit. "Why? What happened?"

He stared at his fist that had turned red for a moment, then back at her. "This doesn’t make sense."

"What doesn’t?"

He shook his head as he stared intensely at her. "I ascended one rank, so isn’t my overall strength supposed to be closer to yours?" He paused, his eyes narrowing, then widened suddenly. "No way, are you...?"

Neko-sensei interrupted his words with a faint hiss. "Don’t say it out loud. Me becoming an S-rank is meant to be classified information."

’No way.’ Even though Neko-sensei had confirmed it, Kai couldn’t quite believe that she was on her way to S-rank — since it never happened in his original novel.

What was even more shocking about the feat was the fact that, if it wasn’t for the special requirement needed to enter the rank, she would have already been an S-rank.

Kai’s face was filled with skepticism and subtle concern. "Do you think it is safe for me to spar with you? You are, after all, an almost god-tier figure."

Neko-sensei stared at him, puzzled. "Is that what you are worried about?"

At that moment, Kai couldn’t help but re-evaluate his life.

The whole concept of him sparring with an S-rank was insane to begin with.

But it wasn’t just any S-rank, it was the one that was referred to as the Witch of Hacks, someone who could defeat S-ranks while being an A-rank.

It wasn’t like Kai couldn’t do the same; however, that didn’t mean he could close the gap between himself, a mid-level B-rank, and Neko-sensei, a pseudo-S-rank.

Even if he did use Star of Ruin, which he was sure he wouldn’t, since it would defeat the whole purpose of the spar — he would still lose.

And more than that, he doubted a duel between people of their level would leave the room intact.

At least the entire reconstructed academy would have to be demolished again.

Kai waved his hand and forced out a smile. "Why don’t I show you my stats instead? You can view them if you want, right?"

Neko-sensei had countless cheat skills, and one of her most renowned ones gave her the ability to read the stats of whoever granted her permission.

It sounded like a good ability, until you consider the fact that many people don’t actually give others permission to view their stats, even if it’s a one-time thing.

But for Kai, he not only trusted Neko-sensei, but he also had a lot of things he couldn’t quite grasp in his new stats.

And since the terms didn’t match his knowledge of his story, then it might have been hidden lore that didn’t show up in his novel.

Or worse still, his novel was beginning to rewrite itself.

Neko-sensei, seeing her pupil in deep thought, nodded. "Alright, give me your hand."

Kai raised his hands and placed his palms against hers.

Almost instantly, a system prompt appeared in front of his eyes.

{Do you give Elizabeth Roswell Temporary Access To Your Stats}

Kai mentally answered Yes, and gave Neko-sensei some time to read and process it slightly before pulling his hands away.

Neko-sensei’s face had turned pale, like she had just seen a ghost. Her hand was over her mouth.

She turned to Kai for a bit, then looked back to the empty space. ’What was that?’

Even with her years of teaching and researching, she had never seen stats as bizarre as Kai’s own.

It was something that had never been documented.

But when she considered the fact that it wasn’t the first time — and she didn’t think it would be the last, that he would break historical records, she couldn’t help but relax.

She quickly regained her composure. "Well..." she began, Kai paying close attention to her words. "At this point, I don’t even know what you find strange in there, because most of them looked odd to me. And how do you have more than one talent, and multiple skills that could count as a talent? And what are skills, to begin with?"

She shook her head. Even for her, that was a lot of questions to ask at once, and from Kai’s expression, she knew he also felt the same.

"First thing first, you need to undergo the second awakening ceremony. Only then will you be able to call yourself an Awakened."

Kai raised a brow.

Yet another twist had emerged in the plot.

In the original story, there was no such thing as a second awakening ceremony, there wasn’t even a phenomenon like second awakening.

He didn’t even get what she meant by Awakened.

In THD, there was only one term, and that was mages.

It might have been a lazy move on his part, making all powered individuals — including those with swords and melee weapons — mages, but it was still somewhat effective.

That brought a question to mind.

Was his plot changing? Was someone patching the plot holes he made?

He didn’t know.

Kai still couldn’t quite determine if he was in someone else’s novel or in a streaming series.

But it was whatever, regardless of which of them was the truth, he would still find a way around it and survive.

For that to happen, he needed to understand all the altered rules of the world.

"So, can you explain what this second awakening is?"

Neko-sensei frowned slightly, her brows furrowing. "Didn’t you go to school, Kai?"

He blinked twice. "Huh?"

She shook her head. "Let me rephrase that. Did you attend any form of mage training as a child?"

Kai didn’t know much about his predecessor, so he wasn’t sure what his answer would be.

But judging from the fact that both he and Charlotte were commoners, he could already guess their upbringing and doubted they attended such expensive programs.

Even if they were affordable, just their name would strike fear into those without money.

This was something Kai learned from experience.

When he was broke, every product with an unusually long name, or a very short name, or fancy seminars — these and more struck fear into him.

He then shook his head. "No, not any that I can recall."

Neko-sensei sighed. "Then this is going to be a long conversation."

----

Neko-sensei quickly began to explain everything she could about the second awakening.

Most of the terms were quite easy for him to grasp since they aligned with his original novel, while others not quite as much.

The second awakening, according to Neko-sensei, was a process that all awakened individuals underwent after surpassing the lower stages of awakening.

In total, there were three stages for mages, otherwise known as awakened individuals.

The lower stages which included: E-rank all the way up to C-rank — this were people who were commonly known as mages, then their was the middle stages which began from B-rank to S-rank.

However, according to Meltonia’s law, and the laws of the ancient gods, no one could be recognized as an mid-stage awakened without undergoing their second awakening.

After this ceremony, their energies would evolve, which would give rise to other classes like warriors and archers who used aura, casters and sorcerers who used mana, druids and fairies who used essence, and prana users.

But what shocked Kai the most, was how advancement worked after B-rank.

Through Trials