D. God Orginal Chapter 86

“Moving in. You’re moving in?! Isn't that… moving things a bit quickly?” Jiran’s voice squeaked from nervousness.

If she’s here all the time, doesn't that mean Dominus is going to be watching me every second of every day?!

“Oh yes, you’re absolutely correct, Jiran. I can’t believe I didn’t realize it sooner!” Jiran breathed a sigh of relief that Olive was seeing sense for a change.

“We must reward them in some way. You are very thoughtful, Jiran. I like that about you.”

“Sorry, you lost me, Olive. Can you repeat that?”

“I was just saying that you are correct. We must reward the maids for being so diligent and efficient. They are moving my things so quickly, working so hard, sweating out here in the fathers’ heat.”

No! That’s not what I meant at all!

“Olive, that’s not… You know what, nevermind,” Jiran relented with a sigh.

I’m not going to hurt her feelings. Besides, Dominus would probably come swooping in to give her what she wants anyways.

A shiver ran up his spine at the memory of the overbearing father’s aura crushing down on his shoulder while the man whispered into his ear.

Wait a second, I can use this!

“Olive, I’m not sure I’ll be able to rest peacefully with all this commotion.”

“Oh no. You’re absolutely correct. What should we do? There is an infirmary in the palace. Although their beds are not the best, at least you would have a physician to monitor you.”

“Why don’t we go to class instead? It’s not too late to make it back before second wave. I promise to sit quietly and rest. I won’t move a muscle, you can come with me and make sure I take it easy. What do you think?” Jiran gazed at her with pleading eyes.

Puppy dog eyes attack!

Now that’s a real chant. Much better than Burning Finger.

Olive’s brain was putting in overtime as she thought deeply about his plea.

“You promise to come back home as soon as class is done and let me take care of you without resisting?” She bit her lower lip as she finished speaking, a creepy smile barely concealed beneath her pearly white teeth.

Jiran, completely mesmerized, nodded his ascent before thinking.

“Excellent! Shall we depart then, my dear?”

Wait! What did I just agree to?! Who could possibly think straight when a girl’s looking at them like that?

Whatever, it’s a problem for future Jiran, and everyone knows that guy is a schmuck.

Olive giggled under her breath the entire flight back to the academy. For once, her voice sounded nothing like its usual silky velvet. Instead taking on an annoying quality that caused concern for his future wellbeing to blossom in Jiran’s heart.

Who would have thought girls going ‘tee hee hee’ is a universal thing. I wonder what she’s planning that has her so excited. Whatever it is, it can’t be good for me.

They arrived at Professor Saltaath’s class just as second wave hit. The doors shut behind them automatically with a soft click. Olive led the way up the nearest aisle of stairs until they reached the top of the auditorium.

All the nearby benches were occupied but she didn’t hesitate for a moment as she approached a group of students sitting nearest the stairs. A slight jerk of her head was all the warning they got to vacate the bench she had chosen for them.

One of the boys looked at her with a dazed expression, his brain unwilling to look away from her long enough to notice that he was the only one still on the bench. Olive emitted a low and sharp sound like a snake which snapped the boy out of his reverie.

Did she just hiss at him like a cat? Poor kid. I feel you buddy, she’s definitely scary. Consider yourself lucky you don’t have to deal with her father.

Jiran mouthed a silent apology to the boy as he scampered off to rejoin his friends who now occupied a nearby bench with another group.

Olive sat down on the bench with her back straight and her chin high as if she now occupied a throne. She shot Jiran a regal look full of confidence before patting the spot right next to her. Holding back a sigh, he relented and took the indicated seat.

Professor Saltaath stood tall before the central podium. Her bland features and masculine build lent gravity to the stiff tone she used to address her class.

“Today, we shall take a deeper dive into the tiers. Please hold your questions until after the lecture. We have a lot of material to cover,” She gave the class a brief pause while they quieted down before she continued.

“As you all know, each tier represents an exponential increase in power from the previous tiers. This is where we shall begin. The exact growth calculation is unknown. However, it is close enough to a perfect doubling as to be unnecessary of further consideration. Especially for this lecture.

“If we give a base value of 1 mana to a tier one individual, when they reach tier two they would then have 2 mana. At tier three they would double again from 2 mana to 4. If, by some miracle, they ever reached the tenth tier, they would have 1,024.”

Several students who had been unaware of the exact nature of tier scaling gasped in surprise. Jiran merely smiled in excitement thinking of what his mana would be by the time he reached the tenth tier. It certainly would not be a measly one thousand. The red density would make sure of that.

“Additionally, Density reforms our bodies with each tier. This reformation not only allows us to hold a greater quantity of mana, but the quality of each point of mana increases as well. We call this quality, concentration.

“Concentration also increases exponentially on the same doubling curve as quantity. So to reach a true calculation of the power for any tier, you must multiply the two together.

A tier one would have 1 quality and 1 concentration for a total of 1.

A tier two would have 2 quality and 2 concentration for a total of 4.

A tier ten would have 1,024 of each. For a total power of 1,048,576.

While a tier nine would only have a total power of 262,142.

A pin dropping to the floor would have sounded like an explosion in the absolute silence that resounded through the auditorium.

“This is why it is so vital to pick your battles wisely, cadets. Nearly all deaths among soldiers and aspirants of the tiers are from encountering a higher tier beast. In the eyes of a tier six warrior, a tier seven beast moves so quickly as to be invisible and will often kill with a single blow.”

Jiran would never again wonder what a thousand people gulping simultaneously sounded like.

The suddenly tense atmosphere in the room prompted a change in Olive. Jiran glanced at her face to see it scrunched cutely in deep thought. A tingle from his danger sense gave him a foreboding feeling that whatever she was thinking was going to be trouble.

What is she planning now? Whatever it is, I better just go with it. I promised to relax. If I cause a scene, I’d be breaking my promise.

Olive slowly reached out to gently, but firmly, guide Jiran’s head into her lap.

Seriously, why?! Fine, but I’m going to pay you back for this later. She knew I wouldn’t be able to say no. She’s way smarter than I’ve been giving her credit for.

You know what, I don’t even care. Girls make no sense. End of story.

Jiran begrudgingly laid down on the bench with his head resting on her soft thigh.

“He’s using the princess as a lap pillow?!”

“Has he no shame?”

“I’ll kill him and take his place, he doesn’t deserve to live in such luxury!”

“Why wasn’t I born as a bench?”

“Oh my god Molly, shut up!”

Whispers filled the room causing the tension to ratchet even higher before the professor cleared her throat, returning their attention to her lecture.

“Next, we will review the process of tiering. For those seeking the second and third tiers, this is a simple matter of allowing density to reinforce every part of your body. Once that is complete, the tiering can proceed at any time of your choosing.

“It is in the struggle to reach the fourth tier that the vast majority fail. Not only must you consume a significantly larger quantity of density, but that density no longer merely reinforces the body, but must now completely replace your body. A process which we do not fully understand to this day.

“What we do know is that one must personally be responsible for the death of at a minimum, one hundred equal tier beasts. The act of killing then authorizes the absorbed density to proceed with the replacement of the body, which in turn allows the tiering to proceed.

“With each tier beyond the fourth, the number of beasts that must be slain escalates by a factor of ten. One hundred becomes one thousand, which becomes ten thousand, and so on.

“It must also be noted that receiving direct intervention from a higher tier combatant will invalidate the kill. So too will having more than five fighters engaging a beast simultaneously. This is why aspirants of the tiers always hunt in groups of five.

“I do not enjoy crushing the dreams of my students. However, caution must be learned so as to keep casualties to a minimum.

“Once an individual reaches the fourth tier, they will quickly discover that beasts of an equal tier are more powerful than we are. They are faster and stronger, and they have more dangerous natural weapons than anything we can create.

“This reality only exacerbates the difference between tiers. Most aspirants spend years perfecting their coordination and harmony after each tiering, or they risk being wiped out by a single beast.

“Which brings us to the primary cause for the lack of higher tier combatants in the empire.

“A single death in a group that has worked together for years, almost without exception, marks the end of that group of aspirants. Picking up a new member would be suicide. While no single survivor of another group would wish to trust themselves to a party which has lost a member already.

“The second most common loss of aspirants is an ambush from a higher tier beast while hunting. A single tier seven beast could wipe out a hundred sixers. It only takes a single mistake to forever be denied the climbing of the tiers.

“The difficulties only mount as the tiers increase. Additional restrictions and requirements for tiers beyond six are not well documented. However, please rest assured that if any of you reach the end of the sixth tier, a royal will be assigned to you in order to facilitate your further growth.

“Many of you here are still at the third tier where you will likely choose to remain. For as we all know, Madra abhors stagnation. Those of us who reach higher, who chose to ascend beyond the easily attained third tier, we will always be hunted by Madra.

“She will send us beasts of our own tier until one finally claims us. This is the end you must accept if you chose to move beyond. For you will no longer age the same as those below you. It may take a thousand seasons, but eventually, we all become the meal of a beast. You may consider it a certainty.

“It is for these reasons that the empire houses only a thousand individuals at tier six. Less than one hundred remain of those who have passed to tier seven. Those at tier eight can be counted on three hands.”

Jiran watched as her words weighed down on the assembled students. He did not blame them. Against those odds, success was far beyond a long shot.

“Do not lose hope, cadets!” The professor's voice rang out with strength and something else, something dangerous was hidden in her tone that snapped each and every one of them from their dark thoughts.

“A thousand years ago, five individuals rose up beyond all the odds. They climbed tier after bloody tier, leaving a trail of destruction across the land so great that to this day beasts still tremble in fear.

“Our emperors ascended!” She punctuated her words by slamming her foot loudly into the floor.

“They guide us still. It is through their grace, we thrive. Through their protection we build, Through their wisdom the empire grows ever more powerful!”

Jiran watched through his aura as every hunched back in the room stiffened to become ramrod straight. Chins were raised in pride, and fists clenched with renewed faith in the empire’s true strength.

“The floor is now open for questions.”  Can we have questions?