Chronicles of Forgotten Extra - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: Initiate Rank?

Chapter 62: Initiate Rank?

Clueless to what was happening outside, Alden was sitting inside the lecture hall, his chin propped on one hand, pretending to take notes.

Amyra was missing today.

‘She must have taken a mission.’ Aziel was missing too-off on a mission with his party.

The students who chose missions could skip classes.

But only a few times a week; otherwise, all students would have just kept accepting any missions they found to skip classes.

The class he currently was in was Monster Studies.

Now, normally, he would’ve complained about how boring it was learning about different monster species, their ranks, their strengths.

That was useful stuff but kind of boring.

But today’s topic was interesting.

Racial limits.

Alden found this class quite amusing.

Professor Dorel, who was in charge of this class, was an old man with his hair greyed due to his old age.

His eyes shone with wisdom gained from his experiences.

His face had a calm expression that indicated his gentle demeanor.

He was currently standing at the front of the room.

His voice was slow and deliberate.

Like he was truly enjoying the process of teaching.

“All monsters have racial limits,” the professor said.

“No monster can grow beyond its set potential.

A beast born at Overlord rank will remain an Overlord.

A beast born at Novice rank will remain a Novice.” “But there are exceptions to this rule.” The professor smirked, scanning the class seeing curious expression on all student’s face.

“The Rulers.” “They are a beast that can grow in strength like humans.” Alden leaned forward.

Rulers?

Alden already knew a ruler, the one he had slain in his awakening trial, but he didn’t know anything else.

At that time, he’d thought it was just a cool-sounding name because he’d beaten the trial’s final monster.

Now?

Now, he wasn’t so sure.

There was no mention of anything about rulers in the novel, not even in passing comment.

And yet, here they were.

Monsters that could level up like humans.

Alden rubbed his temples.

He was getting a headache just thinking about it.

This was either a massive plot hole… or a massive problem.

The teacher continued.

“Every species of monster only had a single ruler, which could break through the limitations placed on their potential, and unless the previous ruler died, a new one couldn’t appear.” “They could break through ranks, and they also had greater intelligence than their normal counterparts.” “The most dangerous aspect of a ruler is that they have no limits on potential and can even grow to the highest rank in the world, which is the primordial rank.” The tension in the room nearly tripled.

Primordial rank.

A being at primordial rank is near invisible and can only be killed by someone at the same level, and those beasts could reach that level given enough time.

That sounded… concerning.

“But there is a catch?” The professor raised up a single finger.

“Unlike normal monsters, Rulers start from the bottom.” “Take a dragon, for example,” Dorel went on.

“Normally, a dragon hatches already at Overlord rank, which is their race’s limit.

But a ruler dragon?

It starts from Novice rank and has to work its way up.” Alden frowned.

That sounded both like a massive disadvantage and a terrifying advantage too.

Because if a ruler ever did make it to the top…well let’s just hope they don’t.

“There’s a theory that a Ruler did reach Primordial rank once.” The professor let the information sink in.

“And that’s the reason why most Primordials vanished.” The class went silent, the weight of the revelation pressing down like a mountain.

Alden, meanwhile, was having very unproductive thoughts.

The kind of thoughts that went: So you’re telling me there’s a chance a potentially overpowered, world-ending monster is just vibing somewhere out there, waiting for the right moment to ruin my day?

Professor Dorel let the students panic a little longer before finally exhaling.

“Now, now, before any of you panic,” he said, his voice filled with the mischievousness of a man who had played this kind of prank many times, “You can all relax.” “The Alliance has been hunting Rulers for centuries,” Dorel continued.

“None are allowed to survive long enough to be a problem.” Alliance was the organization that managed the peace in allied species.

It included representatives of allied species.

Alden did not relax.

Because statements like that?

They were always followed by something horrible.

Like, ‘Oops, turns out we missed one.

And oh, look at that, it’s your problem now.’ He forced himself to focus.

There were still too many unanswered questions.

How did rulers even come to exist?

Were they just anomalies, or was there something deeper behind it?

Dorel clapped his hands, snapping Alden out of his thoughts.

“Alright.

That’s enough theorizing for today.” “I will give you your assignment,” the professor continued, “You have to pick any known ruler from history and write a detailed analysis on how they could have become a potential threat if they had lived.” “You can find the records of all important rulers in the library.” Alden sighed.

Fantastic.

Homework about monsters that technically shouldn’t exist.

“Class dismissed,” Dorel said, ignoring the collective sigh of students at the mention of the assignment.

This was the last class for the day, so all students got up, gathering their things to leave.

Alden could hear murmurs about rulers going everywhere.

But he was still seated, lost in his thoughts.

Why were the Rulers never mentioned in the novel?

Did the Association really do a thorough job that not a single one remained?

Or.

There were still some left.

Somewhere.

Waiting to grow stronger but never growing strong enough to be a threat until the end of the novel.

Alden found the latter conclusion more likely, as no matter how thorough the job of the association, it can’t kill every ruler.

He exhaled as he got up, shoving his hands into his pockets.

That was a problem for later.

For now?

He just wanted to get out of this class before someone asked him what he’d learned.

Because the only thing he’d learned today was that he absolutely did not want to meet a Ruler.

________ The next day.

Alden was seated in his training room.

He had been training for the last three hours nonstop.

His remaining two stats had finally entered the next rank.

Now he could finally break through to Initiate Rank.

He didn’t delay it anymore, he quickly put his sword back and sat in a cross-legged position.

He closed his eyes as he focused on his energy core.

Unlike breakthroughs of minor rank, which happen without any conscious efforts, breaking through to major rank requires immense focus.

A person can even fail to break through and may suffer a backlash if he is not careful.

Alden activated his Spirit Domain.

As it helps to increase his senses and could be a great help to feel his core more easily.

He felt his mind clearing up.

His shadow core hummed with dark energy.

He recalled a way to break through and give in his mana tome.

He focused on ambient mana.

The process was similar to the time he had first formed the core.

He had to explode his core.

Alden sighed.

‘Why did this cultivation method insist on turning every step into a torture session?’ He felt annoyed as, unlike his cultivation method, others didn’t need to explode their cores.

Well, at least the protagonist didn’t need to in the novel.

It was just his cultivation that dealt with pain all the time.

Inheritance?

Painful.

Forming a core?

Agonizing.

And now breaking through?

Just another intense torture session.

They should just change the name of the Tome from Eclipse Codex to Suffering Codex.

At least then, it would be honest.

Even as these thoughts were going through his mind, he kept filling his core with mana he absorbed from the surroundings.

It wasn’t difficult for him now.

The reason?

He was Monarch of Mana.

Although the ability was still in the early stage, controlling the mana was second nature to him.

He soon felt his core filled to the brim.

Now comes the hard part.

He let the mana run rampant inside his core while absorbing more ambient mana.

The pain was intense, as it even made his expression wince, but he didn’t let his focus waver from the pain.

He was already used to pain.

Pain and Alden had a long, committed relationship.

He just wished he could break up with it.

‘Was the pain a Yandere with a crush on me or something?

Because it kept clinging on to me even when I tried to push it away.’ Even in this intense moment, Alden’s mind was making intrusive thoughts.

The rampage of his energy within his shadow core stopped.

As all energy became calm… eerily calm.

It was calm before a storm.

Here it comes.

Boom A wave of energy was released by Alden’s core more violently than the rampage before.

Crack A second later, his core finally cracked.

Shattering into small bits before being merged with energy.

The energy was starting to dissipate quickly, but Alden quickly took control of it.

This is the most important part.

He quickly condensed the energy, forging a new, stronger core.

It was even darker than the previous one, and it looked strong too.

As soon as Alden was done, a warmth spread throughout his body… He relaxed his tensed senses.

He had finally broken through to the Initiate Rank.

He opened his eyes.

[THE USER HAS BROKEN THROUGH TO INITIATE RANK.] [SUPREME ABILITY HAS RANKED UP TO F RANK.] [NEW EFFECT OF SWORD OF CHAOS HAS BEEN UNLOCKED SUCCESSFULLY.] Alden looked at the notification in front of him.

His body was covered in a dark black substance.

They were impurities in his body.

He sniffed the air.

Then he immediately regretted it.

“Okay.

Shower first.

Status check later.” _______ Discord Server https://discord.gg/rGEuNFSb CREATORS’ THOUGHTS CrimsonFable Enjoying the story?

Drop a comment or some feedback-I€™d love to hear your thoughts.

And hey, if you feel extra generous, a Gift to support the book would be awesome.

No pressure, though.

Discord Server https://discord.gg/Pu5JUj75VR