50. Calamity Star
50. Calamity Star
Students trembling the moment they see me.
Not being able to meet my eyes.
Flinching when they bump into me.
Clearing the way for me.
Along with those little changes.
A peaceful weekend passed.
And I also heard about what had happened back then.
The more I heard, the less funny those base, childish antics seemed, but hearing about Eurasia and Stella's brave actions still made me laugh.
Eurasia had always had backbone in situations like that, but I hadn't expected it from Stella.
To think she'd step up like that even in that situation.
And apparently she'd even tried to use magic.
She said she'd wanted to shove a spell right into Shivria's face somehow, but well.
If she really thought that, my assessment of Stella would go up.
Anyway, for that reason.
Instead of the plan to look over Eurasia's swordsmanship all weekend and work Stella and Pina hard.
We went out and enjoyed the Imperial Capital.
Eurasia, Stella, Pina, and me.
The four of us, all together.
I'd suggested going out because I figured those tender little kids would be struggling after going through something like that.
I hadn't expected them to bounce back so quickly.
And not just that—they were even more excited than usual, running around everywhere without restraint.
We went to the restaurants they wanted to eat at and ate our fill.
Bought what they wanted to buy, saw what they wanted to see, went where they wanted to go.
I paid for everything, of course.
Stella, who'd tried to protect Eurasia, was admirable.
Eurasia, who'd tried to protect Stella, was admirable.
Pina was... well, Pina was a 'friend.'
Anyway, thanks to that, I ended up more exhausted and drained than if I'd trained, and Monday morning found me utterly fatigued.
So tired, in fact, that I put off my morning workout until the next day.
"Oh, my lady! Good morning!"
Despite all that running around, Eurasia greeted me with a glowing face and more energy than usual.
"What the. Did you not sleep?"
Stella also approached with a more polite tone than usual and a relaxed expression.
[Good morning! (smiling squirrel)]
Pina just kept smiling.
Ever since she'd filled out the club application, she'd just been grinning away.
It looked like she'd be vouching for me soon, too.
"Regular classes start today!"
"Yeah. Is today a common subject?"
"Yes! Tomorrow is... an elective... eung..."
Eurasia's schedule and mine were different.
On the day we made our schedules, Eurasia had tried to take the same lectures as me no matter what while we were at the cafe, but I'd scolded her sharply.
I told her she'd come all this way to learn, so she shouldn't waste time on useless things, and she'd pouted and grumbled.
So, our schedules ended up so different that we had no overlapping lectures at all.
"What's with the 'eung'? Put your lip back in. And we can take classes together on Mondays and Wednesdays. We'll eat together too."
"That's... true, but..."
"Look at her. She's already depressed because she has no friends. You're better off than her. Right?"
"Wh-what?! No I'm not? Why would I be depressed? I'm not? Actually, I'm excited? Being with you is exhausting and annoying, so I hate it more? Hah, honestly."
I let out a snicker and, same as always, pressed a macaron into Stella's hand.
"Always watch your mouth, don't act out, and behave."
"Ugh... Stop with that boomer nagging, will you?!"
"Tell me if anything happens."
"Hmph... I won't tell you. Hmph!"
Ah, and if there was one thing that had changed.
When I told her to let me know if anything happened, Stella's reaction had changed.
Before, she'd looked at me with eyes full of distrust. Now she chewed on her pink lips and went 'hmph!' just like she had then.
That 'hmph!' had changed too.
It had gotten a bit more sharp-tongued and coy.
Is she practicing or something?
"...Why, wh-what are you looking at? W-well, for now... I-I'll enjoy the macaron. Th... thanks."
If there was one thing that hadn't changed, it was that she was good at expressing thanks. Diligent, too.
"Heh... yeah. Pay attention in class."
"I'll pay attention even without you telling me."
With a swish, Stella turned her back and shuffled off toward her lecture hall.
Between the strands of Stella's hair, a deep-blue glinting earring stood out.
It was an Artifact that could store Mana.
Not one of those shitty Artifacts she'd been scammed and ripped off with before, but a proper Artifact.
I bought that Artifact over the weekend too.
When I'd tried to give it to her, she'd flat-out refused because she had no money to pay me back, so seeing her wearing it so readily made me smile.
Come to think of it, the hoodie she was wearing, her sneakers, her underwear, her earrings—I had bought all of it.
I should try threatening to take it all back if she doesn't listen to me later.
Her reaction would probably be pretty entertaining.
Chuckling to myself, I resumed walking.
"Let's go in too."
"Yep."
*****
After our homeroom professor Adelia's pointless chatter and a brief homeroom period, the professor who would be giving the lecture entered.
"I am Philaon Campagne, in charge of combat theory among the Signia Class common lectures. Pleased to meet you."
The professor who introduced himself as Philaon swept his leisurely gaze over the lecture hall once, then immediately handed out the lecture materials to the students.
"Since this is our first class, we'll be covering a somewhat light topic today."
Despite his rough appearance, Philaon began the lecture in a relaxed, gentle voice.
"What do you think is the most important thing in combat?"
The students didn't answer.
Philaon nodded as if he'd expected that and continued.
"It could be victory, it could be a weapon, it could be ability, it could be strength. None of those are wrong, but in my opinion, the most important thing in combat is."
Philaon paused briefly and snapped his fingers.
Neat writing rose up behind his back.
Survival.
"It is survival. You win in order to live, you grow stronger in order to live, you take up a weapon in order to live, and you strive in order to live, is that not so?"
You take up a weapon in order to live.
That was something I could deeply, deeply relate to.
I'd practically lived by those words in my Past Life.
But now.
Something, something something... felt strange.
"So, have you ever thought about what matters for the sake of that survival?"
Philaon, who had no way of knowing what was on my mind, waved his hand as if conducting and drew several pictures on the board.
Sword, spear, bow, axe, shield, staff, and so on.
There was no fist among them.
And at the end of it, a familiar word was inscribed.
"Knowing your own level and your opponent's is important."
Tier (位階) and Circle.
"Today, we will take the time to learn the precise concepts of these 'Tiers' and 'Circles.' Please look at the third page of the materials I've distributed."
I carefully turned the pages so they wouldn't tear like last time.
One, two.
Third page.
There, detailed explanations of each Tier were laid out at length.
Tier 1 through Tier 8.
1st Circle through 9th Circle.
Looking at it, the corner of my mouth twitched.
Even after reincarnating, I had of course looked up information about Tiers.
Back then too, I'd worn the same barely-suppressed smile.
Not only was there no such detailed explanation in my time.
The one who organized this concept of Tiers into something easy to understand.
"First, before we get into the explanation. The ones who organized the concept of Tiers were members of the greatest Hero Party that was active 400 years ago—Paulo Humble Frandis and Ronan Luzarak."
Because it was me and Paulo.
"There was no such clear distinction before. At the time, people would examine the changes within themselves and use what they discovered to gauge their Realm. But thanks to those two personally dividing the boundaries and defining the concepts, we today can approach this with great ease. In both practice and theory, we owe them a great deal."
That really was how it worked.
So back then, there were a ton of bastards who acted up without even knowing what level they were at.
And there were even more who acted up while knowing.
At worst, some Tier 3 scrub would lie about being Tier 5 and take on a merchant-caravan escort job. It was a total mess.
I got backstabbed by those kinds of bastards countless times.
The most memorable one was when a guy who'd been called to the front lines claiming to be Tier 7 turned out to be early Tier 6.
We almost all fucking died back then.
After that, Paulo and I put our heads together, retraced the path we'd walked so far, and eventually formalized the concept of Tiers.
However, since both of us were terrible writers, Kaloso and Luna organized the content, and Arisa did the writing.
That was how the concept of Tiers now known throughout the world came to be.
Of course, there were slight differences from what we'd written back then. They'd probably added more precise boundaries and concepts over the past 400 years.
Still, it was pretty damn absurd that something we'd thrown together had become a worldwide standard.
"Now we'll begin the explanation in earnest. First, let's start with Tiers."
Philaon's explanation began.
He gave some grand and sweeping explanation, but that stuff wasn't important.
To put it simply.
Tier 1. The stage where you begin to feel Mana.
Tier 2. The stage where you could accumulate Mana in your body.
Tier 3. The stage where you could control and use Mana.
Tier 4. The stage where your Middle Dantian opened and you could wrap Mana around your body and weapon.
Tier 5. The stage where you could use Aura.
Up to there was the highest Realm an ordinary talent could reach.
From Tier 6 onward was the domain of geniuses that ordinary talents could not reach. Of course, not every genius could reach it either.
It was a Realm you could only barely reach by gaining enlightenment in life-or-death battles or by experiencing so many real fights it was unimaginable.
Tier 6. The stage where you feel and begin to open your Upper Dantian.
You become able to imbue Mana with Intent (意念).
Tier 7. The stage where you open your Upper Dantian and transcend humanity.
Mana transforms into pure Intent, and you become able to manifest your Intent upon the world.
Tier 8. Beyond the manifestation of Intent, you unfold a space of Ideal (理想) made from Intent upon the world.
You become able to use 'Ideal Manifestation (理想顯示).'
That was the explanation of Tiers in the materials.
Next to it was the explanation of Circles, which I didn't know well.
I didn't need to bother remembering it.
Simply put, it was convenient to think of Tier+1 as the equivalent Circle.
Meaning Tier 4 and 5th Circle were similar.
And once you pass a certain Realm, the Circle distinctions become meaningless too.
"Tier 8 and 9th Circle. Up to here is the 'end' of the Tiers and Circles known to the world."
At the word 'end,' I smiled faintly.
"Those of you in the Signia Class will on average fall between Tier 2 and Tier 3. Of course, there will be some who are Tier 1. But you must not become impatient or stray onto a wrong path just because your Tier is low. Those of you seated here are people who can readily surpass Tier 5."
Having finished the explanation of each Tier, Philaon slowly looked around the lecture hall and spoke as if giving a word of advice.
Ding-dong- ding-ding- ding-a-ling-
At the same time, the bell signaling the end of first period rang.
"Well then, we'll stop here for today. Everyone did well from the very first class."
Philaon gave a bow at a perfect angle, like a neatly folded sheet of paper, and exited the lecture hall with the same leisurely steps he'd entered with.
Soon after.
Murmuring spread through the lecture hall that had briefly fallen silent.
Among it all, there was some chatter that caught my ear.
"The Six Pillars are known to be Tier 8 now, right? So what Tier do you think the previous Hero Party was?"
"Obviously Tier 8."
"Come on... but it was 400 years ago. You think they could reach Tier 8 back when there was no system at all?"
"The Hero Party wasn't called that for nothing. They were called Heroes because they could do at least that much, don't you think?"
I'd been about to get up from my seat, but I sat back down and listened to the chatter of the male students talking up front.
"And hey, didn't you hear about that? You know, the speech the Sword Emperor (劒帝) gave at the Liberation Festival before."
"What about it?"
"She said she went and saw the traces of the battle the Hero Party fought in Ge Vihenum. After seeing that, four of the Six Pillars got together and made a guess."
"So?"
"The Puppet Emperor said the Hero Party must have reached the very edge of Tier 8."
"Tier 8 is Tier 8. What's 'the edge of Tier 8'?"
"Doesn't that mean there's something beyond Tier 8?"
"This bastard really has an innocent little brain, huh."
"Heh..."
My small laugh mixed into the noisy lecture hall.
"Tier 8, huh..."
If Luna had heard that, she'd have cursed them out.
If Kaloso had heard that, he'd have collapsed from high blood pressure.
If Arisa had heard that, even she would have gone stone-faced for once.
If Paulo had heard that, he'd have drawn his sword.
If I had heard that, I'd have choked the bastard.
"Accurate, my ass."
I.
We.
*****
-What Tier are we?
-What's this all of a sudden?
-No, what we wrote only goes up to Tier 8. So what Tier are we?
-Hm, now that you mention it, as Ronan says, our Tier can't be measured.
-Indeed. I too can no longer express it in Circles.
-Huh? You can't express it in Circles? Oh, right. Didn't you say before that all of Kaloso's Circles merged together?
-Yes. Now, if I must express it, I suppose I should also speak in terms of Tiers.
-Mm. That's right. You all—no, including myself—we passed Tier 8 long ago. What's been passed down from old times only went up to Tier 8. So then, what are we?
-First of all, we're not some Tier 8 small fry.
-Agreed.
-I agree.
-Right! We're way stronger than Tier 8!
-I think so too.
-Since we can use ■■■■ and ■■, at the very least—
-No. Ronan. Fuck. Can you stop saying that cringeworthy technique name? Even a bunch of hormonal teenagers wouldn't name something like that.
-What...? It's cringey? Paulo and Arisa said they liked it?
-Cool, my ass. It seriously gives me chills every time I hear it. You're pretty damn old, so why are you so lacking in intelligence? Did 'Wrath' knock something loose in your head last time?
-No, that's, not it. Is it really that weird? Kaloso. How's this name? Is it weird?
-...Honestly, I cannot say it's good.
-Really? Then should I change the name?
-No, damn it. Why do you keep trying to slap names on things? Just don't name it.
-No, I mean. If you name it, then when you use it, it's a little, you know, what's it called. Right. It helps with image association. And when someone asks, you know... you sound cool when you answer, too.
-Stop talking bullshit. It's cool even without that. Because, like the Demon King said.
-We're Tier 10.