As I continued to stare blankly into the nothingness beyond, first period had finally come to an end. As the bell rang everyone stood up from their seat and started to head towards the exit of the classroom, but I stayed seated as if I were a statue. My thoughts kept jumbling into a chaotic mess. My attribute was worrying. What would happen if people could detect it? I'd rather not think about it. As the last students were already exiting the classroom a sudden knock came from my desk, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Knock.
Knock.
As I looked up I could see a tall man with white strings of hair protruding from his much darker black hair, and near his eyes laid an elegant pair of glasses which insinuated his age and experience.
"Mr. Wilson, it's only your first and yet you're already zoning out in the middle of my lecture."
Hearing those words I tried to apologize.
"I'm terribly sorry for my rude conduct. Moving forward I will try to avoid this disrespectful behavior."
"No need to be so uptight, as long as you understand your mistake."
"Thank you."
"Alright, you better get going or you'll be late to your next period. And make sure you don't zone out tomorrow again."
"Will do."
Having said that, I stood up from my seat and headed out of the classroom. I was pretty happy that the teacher hadn't scolded me too hard.
'Well, all I got was a warning. This teacher seems pretty chill compared to the ones in my old world.'
Thinking about my past school experience, especially some of the altercations I had found myself in with my teachers back home, I started to shiver ever so slightly. It would be better If those moments were left untouched.
I checked my schedule in the corridor outside and found my next class.
Second period: Analysis into Shaper Ranking System. Room 7, West Wing.
I folded the schedule and tucked it deep into my pocket.
I headed toward the West Wing, it was quieter than the East one, the corridors were slightly narrower, and the windows, which gave a view of the courtyard were illuminating the hallway. Room 7 was near the end of the hallway, its tall doors already open before I arrived, I slipped my way inside and took a seat toward the middle of the room this time.
As more students started making their way inside, the seats began to be filled up one by one. This time I tried my best not to zone out, making sure to keep my word to Professor Aldren.
After a few more minutes passed by and everyone settled down in their seats, a voice from the front end of the classroom could be heard. This seemed to garner everyone's attention as students who were previously talking to their friends could now be seen paying attention to were the voice originated.
At the front end of the lecture room, a lady stood, she had her hair tied back into a ponytail. She appeared to be younger than Professor Aldren by a considerable margin, she seemed to be somewhere near her late 20's. As she stood there all she had in hand was a simple notebook and a piece of chalk on her other hand.
She looked to be scanning the room for a moment with an expression that suggested that she was pleased to be here, which in my time at high school was definitely not the default setting for such educators.
"Good morning." She said. "My name is Professor Seran. This course is Analysis Into Shaper Ranking System, and it is arguably the most or at least one of the most important foundational courses you will take here at Solcrest Academy, not because it is the most demanding but because everything else you learn here builds on top of what we will cover in this course." She paused. "So, I would encourage you to treat it accordingly."
Raising the hand with the chalk piece, she turned to face the board.
"The ranking system." She said, writing as she spoke to the class. "There are eight known ranks in total."
She wrote them out one by one, each name appearing beneath the last in clean even letters.
Rank 1 — Novice
Rank 2 — Adept
Rank 3 — Expert
Rank 4 — Master
Rank 5 — Law-Shaper
Rank 6 — World-Shifter
Rank 7 — Essence-Weaver
Rank 8 — Star-Forged
She set the piece of chalk down and turned to face us once more.
"These are the 8 ranks that make up the current ranking system. Although, there have been theories that the ranking system reaches all the way to the 10th rank." Her expression was composed in a matter of fact way. "As of today, the strongest confirmed Shaper in the empire sits at Rank 8. The Star-Forged rank. What lies beyond that is, for now, a matter of academic discussion rather than documented reality."
She let those words settle in.
Then she moved on.
"Now. Within each rank there are three stages of progression. You will hear them be referred to by different names depending on who you ask, but the formal terms used by this academy and by the kingdom's ranking authority are as follows."
She wrote three more words on the board.
Initiate. Intermediate. Pinnacle.
"When you awaken your power for the first time, you enter Rank 1 at the Initiate stage. This is your starting point regardless of the nature of your ability or any attributes you may carry. Everyone begins at Initiate." She began pacing slowly across the front of the room, hands clasped loosely behind her back. "To advance from Initiate to Intermediate within your current rank, two requirements must be met simultaneously. The first requirement is accumulative. You must accumulate the required number of mana fragments for your current rank. The threshold increases at each stage and increases significantly at each rank boundary, so I would encourage you to begin thinking about acquisition early rather than late."
At that moment I heard many pencils scratching against paper, several students around me were writing. I picked up my pen and started doing the same.
"The second requirement is qualitative." She continued. "Knowledge. Specifically, demonstrated mastery of how to wield your ability at its current stage. It is not sufficient to have the fragments and the raw power. You must have understanding to match. The two requirements must be met together. Meeting one without the other will not make you advance."
She paused to let the student's intake the information.
"The same applies to the shift from Intermediate to Pinnacle. Fragments and mastery, both, simultaneously in sync." She turned back to the board and underlined the word Pinnacle. "The Pinnacle stage is where the process changes. Once you have reached Pinnacle within your rank and met the fragment and knowledge requirements to move beyond it, you do not simply advance. You face a trial."
The room went terribly quiet at the mention of the word trial.
"The nature of the trial varies depending on the individual's pathway, the rank in question, and factors that are not always fully predictable in advance. What does not vary is the standard. The trial tests whether you are genuinely ready to carry what the next rank will give you. If you pass with the requirements met, you advance. If you do not, you remain at Pinnacle until you are ready to attempt it again." She looked out at the room evenly. "Trust me, there is no shame in failing a trial. But there is grave consequence in attempting one before you are prepared for it. I would recommend keeping that distinction in mind throughout your time here."
I wrote that down and underlined it twice, less for academic purposes and more because it sounded like the exact type of bull shit the world might want to throw at little ol' innocent me, especially with the attribute I was given.
Professor Seran returned to the board and tapped the list of rank names with the end of her stylus.
"One final note for today." She said, her tone shifting slightly, taking on the tone of someone distinguishing an established fact and an over-the-top hypothesis. "The ten-rank framework is a hypothesis. A well supported one, built on historical analysis and theoretical modelling by some of the top minds in the field. But it remains a hypothesis, because ranks nine and ten have never been documented, only predicted." She looked out at the room. "It is entirely possible that the framework is correct and those ranks exist as described. It is also possible that the ceiling of Shaper potential extends further than ten or sits at a different point entirely. We simply do not know yet."
She set the piece of chalk down on her desk.
"What I can tell you is that based on current understanding, ten ranks are the working model. And the individual who first reaches Rank 9, let alone Rank 10, will rewrite everything we think we know about the capabilities of a shaper."
My pen stopped moving.
Something in the back of my head went very still and then very loud in quick succession.
The one who reaches Rank 10 first.
That's going to be me.
The thought arrived with a confidence that had absolutely no basis in my current reality as a Low Rank 1 Novice who had unlocked his power by convincing a lock to agree with a twig, and I was aware of that, and it did not diminish the thought even slightly.
A slow grin worked its way onto my face before I had even noticed it.
The student sitting to my left gave me a weird glance.
I cleared my throat trying to divert the glance away from and looked back down at my notes.
The rest of the morning passed by in the same way. Leave the class, enter the next period, and pretend to pay attention. Two more periods passed in the same manner, both which covered introductory material.
By the time the bell for lunch rang I had filled several pages of notes, accumulated a second warning about talking during a lecture, and had at least mapped out half of the first-year part of the school.
I once again followed the crowd toward the cafeteria. Following the crowd had gotten me through the day just fine, it really pays off when you have not the slightest idea of where you're going.
The cafeteria was large, long tables were arranged in rows with benches on either side, the serving area running along the entire left wall with stations for different types of food that I made my way along slowly, collecting what looked edible and trying not to visibly react to the things that didn't map onto anything I recognized.
I had almost reached the end of the serving line, tray in hand, when it happened.
It wasn't a sound. It wasn't a vision. It was instinct, a sensation that arrived at the edge of my awareness without warning and planted itself there with a feeling that was impossible to ignore. It came from somewhere behind me and to the left, specific enough that I could have pointed at it without looking.
The Kin Locator.
I had read the description that same morning and understood its significance. A warning if any of your kin are nearby. Another Other Worlder. Someone who was not a being from this world, someone who landed in this world with no map and no warning and ended up in this cafeteria on the same first day of the same academy.
My hand tightened slightly on the edge of the tray.
I kept facing forward for a moment, letting the sensation settle in, making sure I had it right. It didn't waver. Steady and clear, pointing at a fixed location somewhere in the crowd of students behind me.
I turned around slowly.
The cafeteria stretched out in front of me, students filling the tables and moving through the space in the ordinary way of people navigating a meal. Dozens of faces, most of them unfamiliar, all of them carrying the particular energy of first years still figuring out where they fit.
My eyes moved toward the direction the ability was pointing.
Somewhere in this room, sitting among all of these people was someone who was not from this planet.
An alien of sorts.
Someone just like me.