Corven found himself in the Infirmary next, gazing at his nephew and best friend's sleeping form.
Cimon looked healthy — He did not look wounded or malnourished in the slightest. His breathing was not even heavy — There was no indication of anything being wrong with him outside his sleeping and unconscious form.
"Just in case…," Corven muttered to himself, willing Night Viperer to transfer from his shadow to Cimon's. "Protect him."
Then, after taking another look at Cimon's unconscious form, Corven turned on his heels, leaving the infirmary, just as a nurse began entering on his way out.
Corven knew he had class; it was barely noon and he knew he had missed three days worth of classes. He should really go there now, maybe even study while doing so… But he had to see something first.
He decided to enter his Shadow Space, where he checked on two shadow clones, who were sitting in meditative position on the ground, cultivating. "So they're still at it, huh," Corven muttered aloud.
Soon after learning the Shadow Clone technique, Corven had learned that anything the clones he made experience, he'd experience as well whenever they become unsummoned or killed/disappear.
He had kept two there, just to test out a theory — Now, it was time to execute said theory, see the results.
Corven willed his two clones disappear. Immediately as they did, Corven felt a rise in his cultivation. He was previously at the mid-level Legacy rank, but he was suddenly propelled to the beginning stages of Peak Legacy rank, pretty much skipping high Legacy rank altogether.
For most, this would have been an impossible achievement. It would normally take one months, sometimes years, to get through a minor level of cultivation, but Corven did it in a matter of weeks. Whether this was because he was a champion of Nyx or a son of Erebus, Corven was not too certain, but he found that cultivating in at night or in dark places boosted his cultivation speed when cultivating, at least by twice the normal speed amount.
'At this rate, I'll reach Demigod rank in a couple more weeks. I may even be able to reach Chaotic rank before the Shadow Conclave during the Winter Solstice,' Corven thought to himself, grinning ear to ear, as he summoned three more Shadow Clones and ordered them to cultivate. 'I'd summon more, but I have to save some in case of an emergency. My limit is 9 clones, or it was. It seems that with every minor cultivation upgrade, my limit increases by three. — I can feel it; I can now summon 12 clones at a time, meaning 9 is how many I can summon in battle.'
Corven made his way to the Shadow Archive, where he wandered around, looking for a new skill to learn. He'd mastered Shadow Clone, Shadow Tendril and Shadow Manipulation already. He was ready to learn some new skills or two to master. He just had to find some first.
And that he did. He found two more skills to practice: Shadow Dome and Shadow Jump. From their description, he learned that Shadow Jump was a Legacy level technique in its base form; it allowed Corven to jump into the shadow of anyone or anything within a 3 mile radius of himself. Meanwhile, Shadow Dome was a Legendary level technique in its base form, that allowed Corven to summon a dome of shadow energy that pretty much cuts enemy power levels inside itself by half, as long as they weren't gods or celestials. and uses that energy it cuts off and steals to power itself, boosting its own durability by however much energy its stolen. It also uses some of this energy to boost Corven's shadow energy by twice the amount of his normal shadow energy levels as well as all physical stats by 3 times their normal amount. While inside this Shadow DOme, his control over Shadow Manipulation increases by 25%. It was essentially an AOE Ultimate skill.
Corven couldn't have been happier finding such skills, even if it would take him longer to master because of its rank. Instead, he had summoned two more clones outside the Shadow Palace and ordered them to practice those two skills before leaving.
Eventually, after Corven made his way out of Shadow Palace and the Shadow Space, he decided to go to class. The class he had that day were Academic-based classes, so he did quite well. Many of the students stayed their distance from him, some of fear, others in respect.
His friends were pretty happy that he had finally awakened. Celeste had expressed her worry over the events that had happened, but Corven comforted her, saying that "it wasn't her fault," and that "what had happened was bound to have happened." Corven urged her to just relax, though he wasn't too certain how much of his words she took to heart. That said, she did take something to heart, as the panic in her eyes did cease a bit after he spoke to her. Marxes stayed silent through the whole ordeal, likely observing Corven and Celeste's interactions, though the relief on his face seeing Corven was hard to miss. And Jabari was jumping up and down on the heel of his feet at seeing Corven out and about, though that seems to be a common behavioral trait of the hyperactive spaz, not that Corven found it disturbing; just amusing.
Eventually, Celeste explained what had happened in his absence; how he had entered the student rankings as being ranked 89 amongst the first years, making Corven the youngest student in the student rankings below the 100 number mark, after beating Klaus Vahnes.
"You're already being dubbed 'One of the Strongest First Years On Campus,' thanks to that dual," Celeste stated. "I still know I can kick your ass. Though, so it's cool. As for now, you are the highest ranking amongst us First Years."
"Celeste ranks next highest," Marxes said, interjecting. "After you went unconscious, she challenged a second year at rank #92, Jake Greens, I believe his name was. Jabari and I also challenged the second years at # 98 and #97 respectively just yesterday."
Corven had not expected this, at least, not entirely. He had a feeling that Celeste and Jabari may do something rash should he have gotten hurt during the duel, but to challenge second years along with Marxes? He had not expected this at all.
He also had not expected them to have done this in three days, especially since he hadn't planned to be unconscious for three days. Still, it was surprising and impressive to Corven that they were able to keep up with him. It filled Corven with a sense of pride, knowing he had capable friends. It meant they were both strong and efficient, which was a good thing in Corven's books.
"I must apologize, however," Marxes said, catching Corven's attention. Suddenly, he noticed Celeste, Jabari and Marxes had a slightly guilty look on their faces.
"What is it?" Corven was puzzled. 'What could they be guilty of?'
"We went ahead to get our Adventurer's License already," explained Celeste. "We told you we were going to go with you, but you didn't wake up, so we had decided to go ahead to get our licenses."
"Oh, it's fine," Corven waved off the apology, not worried about it. "I have a few things to do in the town, anyway, so I will just go by myself and get them done later along with getting my license. It's fine."
"Are you sure?" Celeste asked. "I could go with you if you want."
"Naw, it's alright. And yes, I'm positive," Corven smiled at Celeste comfortingly.
After classes, Corven made his way into town. He had changed out of his uniform and into more comfortable clothes he wore black ripped jeans, a long sleeve grey and black sweater and black leather boots, with his katana sheathed to his hip.
He was looking to purchasing a few things. Namely, a mask and a cloak, maybe something with a passive skill. He had plans he couldn't be caught having his face in should someone ever interfere and recognize him.
He made his way over to a Mysteries Shop at the edge of Lucid Dream Meadows Celeste had told him about. She told him they had various strange and bizarre but valuable items for surprisingly affordable prices… Affordable for the wealthy, anyway. But Corven wasn't too worried about the price of the items he wanted — He was confident he was wealthy enough to purchase them, even if they weren't on bargain.
The Mysteries Shop was a quant building, at least the size of an apartment room, but fit with strange and interesting objects and items. Corven saw a potion that could speed up one's cultivation rate for a specific period of time. He saw a meteor rock that glowed a myriad of different colors and a skull that talked. He saw cultivation pills that had strange effects to them when swallowed such as granting its swallower purple skin or large feet, or some other mutations. Still, despite seeing this, he ignored them all, making his way over to a wall of Masks that hung on it.
Corven saw an Assortment of different masks. Some were cat face designs, others were horned with malicious grins, and Corven even saw an Oni mask that he had to internally admit was impressed with the handmanship of. Corven touched each if them, but only two caught his interest: A panther face mask that could hide cultivation and the Oni mask that could paralyze anyone under Chaotic rank with fear.
He decided to buy them both. As he was about to check out, his eyes caught something. Turning, he made his way over to the apparel end of the shop, where saw a well-worn pair of boots and a worn-looking cloak. Upon tapping them, their information entered Corven's mind. He was slightly amazed by their effects.
The well worn-pair of boots were the Feathered Foot Boots; their effects allowed one to be as silent, swift and as light as a feather. They were a Peak legendary rank item. The other item — the Glider's Cloak — allowed one to pretty much glide through the air as like a bird would — It was a Peak Chaotic Rank item, though damaged slightly, so its efficiency was that of a High Demigod rank item.
Picking both items up as well as 3 storage rings he walked past earlier, Corven made his purchases. After his purchases, Corven stored the items in his shadow and made his way to the Adventurer's Guild.
Upon entering, he saw the receptionist — a glasses wearing, golden haired woman in her mid-twenties. There were various adventurers inside the place, some being not human, others very human. Corven saw a lizard man wearing Special grade gear, walking with a human male, dark of skin, who was also wearing Special grade gear. They were chatting as they stood there, discussing the best way to kill a Fire Lion.
Corven saw, in another corner, a group of well-armored individuals talking discreetly amongst one another. They were discussing something, but Corven didn't care enough to try and decipher what they were talking about. Plus, he was certain they weren't speaking in any language he knew, so he just ignored them, as he made his way to the main counter.
"Little sir, is there something I can help you with? Are you lost? Where are your parents?" the receptionist looked at Corven with an inquisitive gaze.
'Little?' Corven thought to himself, brows twitching in irritation. 'I'm like 5 '10 at 15 years old. If anything, I'm absurdly tall for my age! These bastards... If I kill them right now, would I be in the wrong?' Corven thought for a minute, before shaking his head. 'Nah, I'm never wrong, which means I'm always right. It'd be their fault, obviously….'
"I'm here to get my Adventurer's Licence," was all Corven said with a blank face.
"You? Adventurer's Licence? Aren't you a bit too young?" the receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Child, we don't want to deal with your pranks. Please leave. Adventuring is for cultivators, not kids."
Corven blanched at this response briefly, his eyes narrowing. "But I am a cultivator…".
"Whatever, child," The receptionist was not having it, though. She turned to one of the guards. "Guards, please escort this child out of here. These pranks are getting old."
Two burly men seemed to come out of a corner, cracking their knuckles and trying to look tough.
"Kid, ya heard the lady," said one of the guards. "No more pranks."
"Time to go, kid," said the other, attempting to sound threatening but looking like a fool in Corven's eyes. "You don't want our trouble."
'These idiots are fucking stupid,'Corven began getting annoyed. 'I literally said… You know what? Fuck this shit. Let me show them who the fuck they're messing with.'
"You're both only at the Peak Special rank," Corvene chuckled, startling the two men enough to pause before reaching Corven. "Get out of my way, or I'll force you out of my way."
Silence filled the room, all eyes looking to Corven and the two guards before him. Corven's words left the surrounding environment in stunned silence. No one said a thing. The two guards looked at one another before eyeing Corven and then they laughed. They fucking laughed. And, with them, so did the surrounding warriors in the room.
"'Make us'?" one of the guards said in between laughter. "Yeah, right, and I'm a fucking god."
"A kid, 'make us'?" said the second one, wiping a tear from his eye. "That's funny."
The room soon burst into laughter. Various adventurers chuckled at the absurdity of the situation. Even the receptionist wanted to laugh, resigning instead to smile professionally with the upward curve of her lips.
'These people…,' Corven sighed, even more annoyed.
"Tsk. Fine," Corven muttered, before releasing his Peak Legacy rank aura, making the room heavy and the nearby area hard to breathe in. "I gave you all a chance. You choose wrong."
Most of everyone present were either Special rank or below, outside a few Demigod ranks who had been watching the situation from afar. There were mostly Average rankers, but Corven also saw a few High and Legacy rankers. Most of those below High rank were unable to withstand Corven's aura long and stay conscious. There were even a few at Poor rank who died immediately upon feeling Corven's aura.
"I-Impossible," one of the guardsmen said. "H-how?"
"He must at Legacy rank at least…," stated the other guardsmen in horror. "Maybe high or even peak Legacy rank…".
'Shit, he's a noble,' thought the receptionist, scared for her life. 'That's the only explanation for having such power at such a young age. And I just had to piss him off! Shit!'
"W-we ap-apologize for our actions," stuttered the receptionist, head bowed in respect. "If we had known you were a n-noble…".
Corven waited a few more seconds before letting his aura subside. "Good," he grinned a malicious grin. "Then you don't mind if we get my license then, right?"
'What a monster,' was the thought of those still conscious after feeling Corven's aura.
"O-of course, s-sir, please, follow me," the receptionist tried to get herself together.
As Corven had followed the receptionist to get his license, he was unaware that a spy from Gaetir was present to 'scout' new talents for their house. Well, that is, if 'scout' is substituted for 'abduct' and 'brainwash,' of course. Either way, the scout had seen everything from the corner of the Adventurer's Guild Building.
'I must tell the chieftain of this,' the scout thought, getting up and leaving as fast as he could. 'A new talent this young could bring our house to new heights.'
After taking my photo, and printing my cultivation level, the receptionist explained to Corven the tiers of Adventurer's Guild ranking system.
"There is Blue, Red, Black, Silver, Gold and Platinum," the receptionist explained. "Blue is basically the beginner's level on the Adventurer's ranking. This is where you and all newly registered adventurers start. These are mostly resource gathering and lesser bodyguard missions.
"Red is the next level for adventurers. In this level, there is monster subjugation, escort quests and whatnot.
"Black is for the professionals. These are much more difficult to complete than Red. Its missions can include group or team quests, solo boss raids and higher level monster subjugation.
"The others progressively get harder. Silver is for the next level of champion adventurers. Gold is for the apex of adventurers. And Platinum is for the very tip top of the adventurers, where the most powerful and talented take on the most dangerous of quests.
"We use a 3 x 6 metric system that caps difficulty level at 18," the receptionist explained. "For instance, Blue ranked adventurers such as yourself can comfortably take missions with a difficulty level between 1 and 3. Red ranked adventurers can comfortably take missions with a difficulty level between 4 and 6. Black rankers take mission levels between 7 and 9, while Silver rankers take levels 10 to 12. Gold rankers take mission levels 13 to 15 while Platinum rankers take mission levels between 16 and 18."
"I see," Corven muttered, hand on chin. "So are those of lesser rank able to take on missions levels higher than them? Or are they restricted to their ranking levels as adventurers?"
"Yes and no, kind of," the receptionist answered, tilting her head in thought. "If a Blue ranker wanted to do a mission level at a Red ranker's difficulty, then they would either need a team with someone of higher rank than themselves on it, at least, someone with a high enough rank, anyway.
"It should also be noted that some missions may be much difficult to do solo, so teams and groups are advised, especially the Dungeon Raid missions that require a certain number of participations or to have reached a certain cultivation level.
"Some groups or teams of adventurers form what we call Guild Squads, which are independent squads that are registered as pretty much their own Guilds, taking on Adventurer's Guild missions and dungeons and whatnot, without Adventurer's Guilds' interventions or banners. They are recognized as the top of their classes and are typically led by Silver to Gold rankers, with the very tip top being led by Platinum rankers."