Knocking on the door was a slim black haired woman with green eyes. Waiting patiently in her standard guard uniform, she was rather expressionless. After being given permission, she opened the door to what appeared to be an office. Inside the room, behind a wooden desk covered with different colored paper. Calmly sitting at the desk was a middle-aged man. With short brown hair and blue eyes. Looking up with a slightly wary look, he spoke in a deep voice, “What is it this time?”
“Martin was told that there was a robbery. Along with the reports earlier of a suspicious person scouting in the southern forest. The accuser told the soldier that a female around the age of twenty with light blue hair and blue eyes was seen around his property before the robbery. This coincides with reports from earlier of the suspicious person.”
With an exhale, “Why is it that crap builds up so quickly after the first. That useless bastard created a scandal. Then had the audacity to send out a manhunt order. The bastard was behind the murder, let alone, he drove a ten-year-old girl to murder her own father. Then sends thugs after the child afterward. Bad enough, it’s a noble publicly showing the rest of the world he’s an incompetent piece of shit. To then add to my workload about the assailant that helped the mother and daughter escape.”
Not waiting for a break, he continued to vent his frustrations, “Find me that assailant and I will kiss them. Dumbass didn’t even send a description. Are we supposed to track down every single woman on the continent? Now in a place that only sees bar fights, a theft? The thief should have already escaped. What am I supposed to do about it? Was it a serious theft or was it a smaller case?” Pausing, he quickly continued, “No. If it is a smaller one, then you’d handle it yourself. Chances of catching the thief are nearly nonexistent. So I fail to see the relevance.”
Without much of a change in expression, the woman simply waited for the man to stop ranting. Speaking with a pleasantly unbothered tone, “I’ve already sent people to investigate. The item stolen was only a cheap family heirloom. It was valued at under five gold. The problem is that the description matches someone Martin saw coming in last night. Currently, it is believed that she is at the Night Fall Inn.”
Finally, with a look of interest, “Oh? Is she beautiful? Ah, no, you would have started with that if she was. By the fact you’re here now means that you aren’t sure if you can apprehend her yourself. Interesting, you said Martin saw her? Don’t tell me she is Grade C?” First with a look of interest followed by a look of skepticism. Near the end he had the expression of doubt.
This was a normal reaction as beings in this world were put into grades of power. Each level came with different abilities and scales of possible destruction should one try to deal with one. Starting from Grade F leading up to Grade S. To become the captain of security of a settlement one needed to be at least Grade B. This was determined to have enough power to secure the surroundings while being able to handle or hold out if an unexpected situation was to occur.
While each person is different. Graded beings of certain grades share a general amount of power. At Grade C one has the ability to lay waste to a settlement and kill everyone in it so long as they’re not stopped. A settlement can have anywhere from fifty to five hundred people. With the assistance of mana it is possible to do mystical and mysterious things. The world was an extremely wondrous place for things like this.
A prime example of this was Martin. He was only a Grade E, yet he had an old, ancient family bloodline that allowed him to gauge the strength of a person simply by seeing them. It wasn’t absolute, and there were many ways to avoid it or block it out entirely. Only this is if you knew about the ability, as far as being able to even notice he used the ability. One would need to either have knowledge of the ability beforehand or be at Grade A. This was an ability that worked on Arthur, the captain of security of New Beginning. And he was Grade B, without being noticed if he wasn’t on alert.
The only drawback to the ability is that it has limited uses. If the person being inspected was someone like Arthur, then Martin would only receive a very vague perception of dread. If he wasn’t actively using his ability, he wouldn’t even notice it himself. As it takes mana to use, it isn’t something he can use constantly. As for using it on Velma, the Grade C assistant, the ability would give him a more defined yet still slightly vague feeling of dread.
Smirking slightly as she watched Arthur start to get excited, “He said she was only Grade F.” Seeing the confused and disappointed, she smiled more prominently, “Only he said that for a split second when he was staring intently at her, he felt dread no lower than he gets from me.” This was the real reason she brought the case to Arthur. As his assistant she was a Grade C being with her own pride.
Yet if she wasn’t certain she could deal with something herself, she wouldn’t hesitate to call upon the captain for help. As this wasn’t a personal matter but an official case. For a person to appear like a Grade F yet give off even a very short burst of strength lower than Grade C wasn’t a joke. This meant that she was special in one way or another. The world was mysterious, it was better to be safe. If she failed to catch the culprit of a small theft, it would be a permanent black mark on her career.
With renewed interest, Arthur took his jacket off the chair and started to move out of the office. Behind him was Velma, neither of them talked as they walked through the settlement. It was a fairly new settlement, one of many. Being set up to connect the northern Fort George to The Union to the south. Because of this, most of what could be found was small bars or taverns and a few general good shops. All of this was surrounded by a small stone wall that was being fortified.
Coming to a stop in front of a normal looking wooden tavern. On the signboard above the door read, Night Fall Inn. The inn was close to the southern gate. Being of decent quality, it was good enough and cheap enough that most travelers would use the inn if they entered the settlement at night from the south gate. Sharing a look, Velma moved into the inn.
Within a matter of minutes, sounds of a confrontation could be heard inside. Not looking surprised, Arthur continued to stand in front of the inn with his eyes closed. Shortly after, if one listened carefully and ignored the surrounding sounds, it was possible to hear the opening of a window.
At some point in time, a window at the back of the inn had been opened. A lithe, blue haired and blue-eyed, twenty-something year old woman jumped out the window before landing gracefully and quietly on the ground. Before the figure could do anything, she stopped and looked up. At some point in time, a toned brown haired and blue-eyed man was standing in front of her. The woman looked slightly dazed before she stood back up without any resistance.
The first to speak was the man, “The name is Arthur, I am the captain of the security of New Beginning. I would like to ask you to come with me. You’re free to try and escape. That would make things more fun for me.” With a smile, he was staring without moving his gaze from the woman in front of him. In terms of appearance, she could only be described as normal looking. A common face one could find anywhere. And just as quickly forget.
With only a nod, the two moved back to the building Arthur had originally left from. After taking her into custody, he lost all interest and returned to his office. Shortly after all this took place, Velma walked back into Arthur’s office. With a slightly annoyed expression, “Did she resist at all?”
With no change in expression at her entrance or tone, “No, she said and did nothing. Bring the accuser in and let them deal with the rest. I have lost all interest.” True to his word, he seemed to forget about the incident entirely. “Go tell everyone to finish up their investigations and return. I’d like to see that bastard’s face when he gets nothing but backlash for his actions.”
Shortly after, the woman was brought to an interrogation room, seated across the table from an older gentleman. He was clearly getting on in the years. Yet he had no wrinkles, if it wasn’t for the large streaks of gray in his black hair and beard, it would be impossible to tell he was getting on in his years. This could be expected from a graded being. Part of the mysterious powers one receives from mana is a longer life.
Life expectancy is said to be around seventy to ninety. This large variety is due to the living conditions of the person in question. Life was never fair, no matter where one lived. Those with serious injuries in their younger years could maybe reach seventy and die of old age if they’re lucky. While those that live comfortable lives without many injuries could reach ninety and possibly a few more years. Once a normal person became a graded being even the lowest Grade F they could be expected to live to ninety-five to slightly over a hundred years old.
From there life expectancy was prolonged the higher grade one became. It was common knowledge that Grade E could live to hundred-fifty. All the way up to Grade B that was said to be capable of living a staggering one thousand and five hundred years. As for those of the Grade A and Grade S were unknown to the public. It must be said that while it is possible for anyone to become Grade F, it wasn’t the case for those above Grade C.
One grade to the next, it was possible to have a sense of danger. If someone was a single level above you, barred any unexpected abilities it was likely to feel repressed, which explained why the young woman had an uncomfortable expression sitting across from this gentle looking man. He simply studied her with great interest. Unlike the man named Arthur, he didn’t lose interest after seeing her common appearance and sensing the level of her mana.
Finally, the young woman couldn’t take it anymore. Still, before she was about to talk, the gentlemen finally spoke up. His voice was gentle and soft, as if talking to a close loved one, “Tell me, what is your name?” This question was met with complete silence with a furrowed brow. Yet outside this there were no other changes. From the beginning when she heard Velma asking about her at the inn. She didn’t even speak to Arthur, who filled her with an extreme feeling of unease. Nor was she about to talk now when an old man who appeared to be Grade E was asking her questions now.
“Well, that is also fine. We both know you aren’t a thief.” At this, the woman’s expression finally changed to a cold expression, but this didn’t stop the old man from continuing. “It is also fine if you don’t wish to speak to me. Though, there are consequences of all actions. While they might not know, you came from the north. I do, in fact, I know that the manhunt that is currently undergoing is because of you. If I had to guess, I would say you were searching for the mother and child duo.”
When this was said, the room became stiffly quiet, yet if anyone was outside, they would feel the tension currently in the room. One of the many mysteries of mana was the physical manifestations it could bring to the world. While it was rare, it was possible for those that wield mana to lose control of the mana they contain. This is usually caused by emotions running wild. Much like the feeling of extreme dread or hatred. Things that people usually would never do could be done without hesitation in such extreme situations.
Much the same way, mana can be used subconsciously in extreme duress. On the battlefield, it isn’t uncommon for high level generals to cause a large amount of hesitation in an enemy army without moving a single finger. This effect isn’t very powerful, and on the battlefield with bloodlust it is nearly useless and dangerous to allow it to happen. Mana used subconsciously can't tell the difference between friend or foe.
If a normal person that wasn’t a battle hardened soldier was put near a person that has lost control of their emotions, it is possible to be unable to move from suppression. Yet if a person is strong enough, say the same situation yet instead of a Grade F or Grade E being it was a Grade C being. The same person who would simply be suppressed would be knocked unconscious immediately. If not tended to, it could easily lead to death. As the suppression would continue to affect them. Death without a single ability to resist.
It is for this reason, it is highly recommended for graded beings to be tested by the Adventurer’s Guild. Yet unless one is a criminal it is impossible to force the public to the same terms. At best, rewards and advantages can be offered for such actions. One of the scariest existences in this world is hidden monsters. High graded beings that are unknown to the majority of the world. With one wrong move, even royal families have been known to completely disappear overnight. Due to offending a single unknown person.
The most famous among those is Zelna, an extremely attractive woman that is said to be a legendary Grade S being. Before she became a Pirate Queen, she was said to have stayed on land and moved about all the continent. She was in a human territory when a forgotten noble that was known for his perversion caught a glance at her. Believing he tricked another beautiful flower to his castle, he lost his vigilance.
Parading her around for all his friends and associates to witness. While normally this noble knew who he could and who he couldn’t attack. This time because of how docile the flower was, he believed everything was as expected. Because of his usual cautious behavior, he was nearly untouchable, as he completely disposed of past conquests without leaving any evidence behind. Yet what he didn’t know was that Zelna was a monster amongst the legends of the continent.
Being a role model for a considerable amount of women on the continent, she threw the female stereotype to the ground and trampled over it with her actions. As if savoring the taste of the bait, she continued to smile the entire time he paraded her around. To the servants, she looked to be enjoying the situation. Yet this castle was the size of a medium-sized settlement, being able to house well over two hundred guests, and their servants. Which was filled with happiness was turned silent in a matter of seconds.
Simply by releasing her mana she suffocated all the servants into passing out. After that, it is unknown what happened. As none of the servants were higher grade than her. The only ones that could possibly match Zelna were the guests. Yet not a single one tried to help her, therefore she didn’t spare any of them. Without lifting a finger, she released mana to surround the entire compound and turn it into a graveyard.
