The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion - Chapter 65

Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Ranking System

“Fine,” Damian agreed.

“But I want the contract to be on my conditions. Of course, I won’t be too unfair.”

“Fine by me… you can make up the contract,” Shiru agreed with a broad smile on her face.

Damian rolled his eyes and invoked the [Contract Function] of the system.

The system provided various functions for Awakeners, which they could use anytime and anywhere.

While some required the use of gold, like the [Shop Function] and [Auction Function] to purchase items, other functions, like the [Contract Function], did not require any gold.

[Contract Function activated]

[Name your contractee by their ‘Awakener Title’]

Damian asked Shiru for her Awakener title before saying, “Shiru.”

He wasn’t surprised to learn that her Awakener title was simply her own name.

[Place your conditions]

“Conditions…” Damian thought for a few seconds as he glanced at Shiru, formulating his terms.

“I want Shiru to do everything I ask of her without question, unless it endangers or harms her in any way.”

“Along with her complete loyalty to me, not my faction, she should use her abilities for my benefit anytime I ask.”

“In exchange for these conditions, I will help her grow as an Awakener as long as it doesn’t affect my growth or harm me in any way.”

“She can have the freedom to do anything she wants, provided it doesn’t affect me in any way, and she may leave my faction anytime she desires.

“In case of a breach of the contract, she will lose half of her levels, her system privileges, and she will be exiled.”

With that, Damian clicked the accept button at the bottom. A system message appeared in Shiru’s field of vision.

Shiru read the contract conditions and looked at Damian with a sigh. “Oh boy, you’re thorough, aren’t you? Aren’t the contract breach conditions a little too harsh?”

Losing half her levels and system privileges was akin to being thrown into a wild forest teeming with countless monsters, without any weapons or resources to fend for herself.

It was essentially a death sentence.

Damian had deliberately made the conditions and his side of the service harsh because he hoped this woman would back out once she read his demands.

He didn’t want to be tied down and saw Shiru reconsidering the agreement.

Shiru, however, was not someone who took unnecessary risks.

Maybe that was why she had survived so easily, even though she was stuck in the first tower realm, Solarta.

Her life wasn’t bad there.

She had all the basic needs for survival met, but she was frustrated and furious that she was stuck while everyone else climbed the tower.

Still, she couldn’t complain too much.

Logically, this contract wasn’t worth it.

Shiru had initiated this proposition only because of her innate ability to sense opportunities.

It had shown her that a great opportunity lay with Damian, though she had no idea what kind of opportunity it was, when or where it would come, or in what form.

Moreover, her ability didn’t guarantee how hard it would be to obtain the opportunity.

It only showed the path; she had to work for it.

Her ability improved her intuition, heightened her instincts, and helped her make better decisions, but it didn’t guarantee control over the outcomes of those decisions.

For all she knew, countless obstacles could lie in her path before she finally reaped any rewards.

And yet, her ability told her to accept the contract, even with all the ridiculous, almost non-beneficial conditions.

[You have accepted the conditions]

[You have formed a mutual contract with the contractor known as ‘Infinity’]

…

“Now that we have formed the contract… I want to know, can your ability be used on others?” Damian asked.

“It can… I will do it,” Shiru replied, understanding what he wanted as she used her ability on Damian.

Shiru could use her innate ability on others, but there was a downside.

Using it on someone else meant she couldn’t use it for herself for some time.

As soon as she activated her ability, Damian felt a warm sensation enter his mind. Random words began to appear in his thoughts.

At first, just a couple of words, then more and more, until dozens of words in sets of two flooded his mind.

To Damian, it felt as if these words were being highlighted in his mind, like remembering something long forgotten.

“Woah… this feels weird. I just saw hundreds of words appear in my mind for no reason,” Damian said.

“Hundreds of words, huh?” Shiru nodded with a bitter expression.

Her ability revealed the opportunities available to her.

These opportunities had to be within the realm of her competence, which was why her ability rarely activated; there were nearly no opportunities beneficial enough for her to sense.

When her ability did sense something, it provided hints in the form of words.

A couple of words would enter her mind whenever an opportunity arose.

In the case of Damian, the words she sensed were: blue eyes, dark hair, and a fiery bird.

Shiru was fairly certain the words referred to Damian, though she still wasn’t sure what the “fiery bird” represented.

However, she was confident it was related to him in some way.

For each opportunity, her ability would provide a hint in the form of a few words.

Most of the time, the meaning of these words was difficult to interpret, though she had grown adept at deciphering them over time.

However, the sense of opportunity she got from Damian was the easiest to interpret.

Yet something unusual happened when she used her ability on Damian.

Unlike the usual one or two hints, her ability sent hundreds of words to him.

This meant he had an extraordinary number of opportunities available to him.

It was as if her ability worked better for him, and it wasn’t a good feeling.

“Tell me the first set of words you saw,” Shiru asked after explaining how her ability worked.

“I saw the words ‘power ranking’ and ‘techniques,'” Damian replied.

“I don’t know what ‘techniques’ mean, but I know what power ranking is. It’s another ranking system within Solarta similar to Grade Ranking which ranks you based on your potential.”

“The power ranking, on the other hand, evaluates your battle power among the other Awakeners in Solarta. The higher the ranking, the greater the rewards from the system.”

“How do I start?” Damian asked.

“How about now?” Shiru smiled.

“Since you’ve registered your Awakener title, the ranking systems should now be active. Just open the power ranking, pick a placement you want to challenge, and issue a challenge to the Awakener currently holding that spot.”

Damian quickly opened the system.

—–

[Ranking System]

-Grade Ranking

-Power Ranking

-Quest Ranking

-Tournament Ranking

—–

He clicked on the [Power Ranking], and another prompt appeared:

—–

[Power Ranking]

-Total Positions: 200

-Your Position: None

—–

“There are only 200 positions. To get a placement, you have to challenge someone holding a position. If you beat them, you take their spot, and their rank drops by one,” Shiru explained.

“For example, if you challenge the 1st position and win, you’ll claim the 1st position, and the previous holder will move to 2nd place.”

“From the 100th to the 200th positions, rankings change constantly because most Awakeners in Solarta don’t have what it takes to challenge the top 100 positions, especially the top 50.”

“You can also make bets during battles for positions: gold, techniques, cards, or anything that can be bought or sold, like weapons, techniques, or other items of value,” Shiru continued.

The loser must pay the bet with equivalent or matching materials.

For example, if Damian bets his [Thousand Armor Impale] technique and wins, the loser must pay with a similar technique or something of equal value.

It was a fair system.

Even the battles themselves were conducted under balanced conditions: regardless of the levels of the competing Awakeners, their levels would automatically match each other.

For instance, if Level 111 Damian fought a Level 150 Awakener, that Awakener’s level would be adjusted to Level 111.

Similarly, if Level 111 Damian fought a Level 50 Awakener, Damian’s level would be adjusted to Level 50. The same rules applied to cultivation levels.

However, any stats gained from sources other than leveling remained unchanged, giving Awakeners an edge based on their unique advantages.

Damian looked at Shiru with a mischievous grin.

“Watch me,” he said confidently.

Leaving Shiru bewildered, no doubt imagining Damian doing something ridiculous, he clicked on the system with determination.

He was about to do exactly that.

“Let’s start from the lowest rank and climb my way up,” Damian declared.

[You have challenged the Awakener for the 200th position of the Power Ranking.]

Somewhere in the vast realm of Solarta, a young man suddenly received the system message out of nowhere.

[The Awakener titled ‘Infinity’ has challenged you for the 200th position of the Power Ranking.]

[You will be transported to the Arena of Sol City in 5 seconds.]

“Oh man… I just got this position, and I already have to fight for it,” the man sighed, rolling his eyes.

After five seconds, his figure disappeared.

It wasn’t just the fighters who were transported to the arena.

The moment Damian issued the challenge, a notification appeared in the field of vision of every person in Solarta.

[The Awakener ‘Infinity’ has issued a challenge for the 200th position in the Power Ranking.]

[If you wish to watch the battle, you will be transported to the arena bleachers in 5 seconds.]

Usually, fights for positions between the 100th and 200th ranks didn’t attract much attention, but not this time.

For the first time, the Awakeners of Solarta were about to witness the person rumored to have the most potential in the entire realm.

Naturally, this drew a lot of attention, especially from factions currently in conflict with others and seeking to grow stronger.

For them, the power rankings were another opportunity to recruit powerful Awakeners into their ranks.

Countless people from all over the First Tower Realm, Solarta, appeared in the arena, eager to see what made this individual named ‘Infinity’ so extraordinary.

What kind of abilities could he possibly possess?

Today, they would find out about the person destined to dominate Solarta for years to come.