The Prime Minister''s steps stopped, and he looked at the person who had stopped him.
"Is something wrong?" the Minister asked, clearly confused.
"What about those who haven''t received their ss yet?" asked Professor Kaede.
"Eh?" The Prime Minister looked at the four remaining people who still hadn''t received a ss, including Zack. It seemed like he had really forgotten about them.
"Don’t worry about that. After the banquet, we''ll continue with the ceremony. Let''s go; we don''t want to bete," the Minister said as he tried to move toward the room where the banquet was to be held. However, he was stopped again when someone grabbed his arm.
"The ceremony only takes a few seconds. I''m sure that by the time we get there, the banquet won''t have started yet," Kaede responded, feeling indignant at the Prime Minister''s attitude toward his students.
Despite his age, Zack had experienced many things and understood how the world worked, so there were few things that could spark his anger. Apparently, being kidnapped against his will and sent to fight in a war he had nothing to do with, only to be forgotten when his captors got what they wanted, was one of those things. Who would have thought?
"Eh? But wouldn''t it be good to make His Majesty wait?" the Prime Minister replied as he watched the crowd disperse.
Professor Kaede was about to say something when she was interrupted by someone behind her.
"If that''s the case, how about I continue with the ceremony? After all, with my old bones, it''s normal for me to bete to the celebration."
The Minister turned around, and upon seeing the person speaking, said:
"Are you sure, Archmage? I didn''t want to impose a burden on you."
"Yes, I a—"
"Excellent. Please, apany me. It would be a shame to bete. I''ll leave everything in your hands, Archmage," the Prime Minister said, cutting off the mage before he could finish speaking. He left the room, apanied by Miss Kaede, who seemed intent on staying behind.
After they left, the others fell silent. After all, it was hard to forget that this seemingly normal old man had electrocuted one of them just ten minutes ago. An awkward silence filled the room until the old wizard spoke impatiently:
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
The students reacted and hurried to find out what their ss was. There were only four students left who hadn''t received their ss. Miss Kaede was right; the process was very quick. Twenty secondster, one of the members had received their ss.
<strong>Status</strong>
<strong>Name: Suzumiya Airi</strong>
<strong>Race: Human</strong>
<strong>Age: 18</strong>
<strong>ss: Bard, Level 1</strong>
<strong>Skills:</strong>
<strong>Universal Trantion</strong>
"The Bard ss, a tier-2 ss, is quitemon and uses music to influence the behavior of people around them," the old man exined.
Unlike the Pontiff, the old mage preferred to have more patience and exined the ss in detail. Although they might seem simple at first nce, no ss was entirely harmless.
After hearing the old man''s exnation, the others seemed to have calmed down a bit. Another student approached the old man to find out his ss.
This boy was the only foreigner in the ss, apart from Wendy and Ronald, who were American, and Zack, who was half-Japanese.
Zack''s father was a Japanesewyer who met his mother during an international trial. It was a veryplicated case rted to maritime trade. Zack''s father lost the trial. Afterward, Zack''s parents kept in touch, gradually formed a rtionship, and the rest was history.
The boy ced his hand on the crystal ball, and after it couldn''t shine brighter to reveal his status, it appeared before the eyes of those still in the room.
<strong>Status</strong>
<strong>Name: Austin Ramírez</strong>
<strong>Race: Human</strong>
<strong>Age: 18</strong>
<strong>ss: Fire Mage, Level 1</strong>
<strong>Skills:</strong>
<strong>Universal Trantion</strong>
"Oohhh, is this a tier-2 ss?" asked Austin, satisfied.
Magic sses are extremely rare. Apart from Seto, who had the Sage ss, only two people had acquired a magic ss.
One was a Magic Tailor, a tailor who used magic for their dresses, imbuing them with magical power and granting them special characteristics. The robes of mages were made by people with these sses.
Still, it wasn''t a ss that made magic its primary element.
The other person with a magic ss was a Shaman, someone who invoked the powers of nature spirits to aid them inbat.
When the nobles saw that ss, they reacted as if they had seen a tier-3 ss. Clearly, magic sses are more powerful than others.
"No, it''s a tier-1 ss," said the Archmage, breaking Austin''s dreams of power and grandeur, as many before him had experienced.
"B-but shouldn''t the tier-1 ss be the Mage ss? How is it possible that my ss is tier-1?" the boy asked, hoping that his ss was tier-2. The treatment waspletely different.
"Normally, yes, but there are exceptions where a few individuals have an extraordinary aptitude in a certain field that allows them to modify their ss," the Archmage exined.
"An example would be the tier-1 Shield Warrior ss. This ss shows that the warrior has an unusual aptitude for using shields. People with such sses will have less difficulty advancing their ss to tier-2, acquiring defensive sses like Guardian or Pdin."
Upon hearing that he could level up his ss, the boy asked hopefully, "So I can get the same treatment as the others?"
Zack paid attention to what the Archmage would say next. After all, even if someone had a tier-1 ss, they could still reach higher levels.
The Archmage snorted.
"In your dreams. It''s not that easy. If a person with a tier-1 ss wants to reach tier-2, they not only have to reach level 100 but also have to have a sufficient understanding of the ss they want to achieve. The fastest person to increase their ss rank was a noble''s son who was obsessed with this."
The Archmage paused and asked, "Do you know how long it took that noble to level up his ss with the resources from his territory?"
"Eh? I don’t know, three years?"
"Five years. That’s been the minimum time considered to level up a tier-1 ss to tier-2. This was because he had a mutated ss like yours; a normal person would take 10 years with the same resources. And with each tier, it bes harder. Having a tier-2 ss is already impressive across the continent."
"F-five years?" Hearing the answer, the student deted. The thought of working for five years just to upgrade his ss to the same level as his colleagues filled him with envy.
Zack''splexion turned pale. It took ten years and a multitude of resources to level up a ss. He and his ssmates had been called to fight in the war against the Demon King, but the Archmage had already said that having a tier-2 ss was extraordinary; having a tier-1 ss wasn''t.
Would it really be possible for the kingdom to provide them with resources to level up their ss and not to their own soldiers?@@novelbin@@
It was more likely that people with tier-1 sses would be thrown into battle with barely any preparation, only to be cannon fodder. People with tier-1 sses were probably expendable.
If you don’t have a tier-2 ss, you can only expect to die.
"It''s already great that you have such a ss. Be grateful for what you have," said the Archmage as he moved the crystal ball away from him.
"Who''s next?" he asked.
"Will it be me?"
The ceremony was almost over, and there were almost no students left. Zack didn’t feel the need to be thest, so he volunteered as calmly as possible, though still feeling a bit uneasy.
He ced his hand on the crystal ball and said:
"Status"<hr>
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