Chapter 74: sses, Cultivation, and old Hegemons


    It turned out that actions truly influenced the avable ss choices. After some hesitation a slender demoness in charge of education started exining the mechanics behind sses, quickly finding her confidence after entering lecturing mode.


    The Ruthless Heavens allow you to start progressing on the path of cultivation starting at the age of 16 for both humans and demons, but it varies between species. Many forces are able to bring up the levels of their young to 25 in a day with various treasures and Nexus Crystals, so preparation before they officially enter the path of cultivation is necessary. An academy prepares the young generation, and help them attain the ss they wish for. Or at least have the most aptitude for, the schoolmistress started to exin.


    If they want to be a Sword Master they will have to arduously train with their sword, and physically train their natural attributes to the peak. If they wish to be a magic user its a bit moreplicated, but essentially they have to study the elements and learn all they can about cosmic energy. Craftsman sses are best gained by apprenticing themselves to someone, she said.


    It was as Zac had assumed. His sses werergely based on his actions, and it was possible to influence the options the System gave. But it seemed unlikely that too good a ss could be attained from just swinging around a sword within the safety of the school.


    What rarity of the sses do the students get this way?


    It depends on the grade of the school. Normally onlymon sses can be attained at an academy, with one or two lucky students out of a thousand getting an umon one. Out in the multi-verse there are far greater academies who have curriculums that can guarantee umon sses, and even give a decent chance for a rare one. She said as her eyes glistened, obviously yearning to visit such a ce.


    Besides, if the youth aplish great things after bing 16 years old, instead of rushing to level 25, they can improve their chances to get a better ss.


    Still, being stuck with amon ss doesnt seem too great, no? Wont it negatively influence their future?


    Gettingmon sses is by far the mostmon starting choice in C-graded to E-graded worlds. sses like Warrior or Swordman have a multitude of well-documented advancements paths. For example it is well known that a Warrior can advance to an E-Graded Umon Champion. It can also advance to E-Graded Umon Captain, then D-Graded Umon General. She exined, getting more and more animated as she started looking at Zac less as an axe-wielding lunatic, and more like a student.


    They wont get as many attribute points or as good skills as someone who gets a Rare or even Epic ss in the start. But the requirements for each advancement is well documented, giving cultivators a clear and unimpeded path of progression. The multi-verse has an endless amount of sses, and only a small part of them is public knowledge. Many promising youths have had their path of progression cut short since they got an unknown rare ss, and wasnt able to progress it.


    Zac found all of this very illuminating, and decided to have this teacher apany him into the mines to keep his education going while he tried to get his pathways repaired.


    If the multi-verse contains endless sses, why did so many of your kind seem to have the same ss? Zac probed, his memories slightly shing with the teachers exnation of the ss system. For example, there had generally been three types of mages; earth, lightning, and fire. But no demon mage seemed to use wind, ice, gravity or any other types.


    The demoness slightly hesitated and looked at Ogras for instructions. He shrugged and continued the exnation himself.


    Its called heritage. He said. The progression paths are public knowledge, but the details are fiercely guarded secrets. Those sses that Alyn mentioned are public knowledge, but the exact method to advance past E-grade is not. n AzhRezak has bought guides that exin the progression to E-grade Umon for over a dozen sses, but only had two clear paths to reach D-rank.


    Buying a full progression path from F to D with all required attributes, Dao-requirements, and hidden requirements is costly enough to set back a D-ranked force quite a bit. So most only have one or two, and they are the foundation of the n. n AzhRezak has the progression path of Lightning Warrior, which evolves into Tempest Warrior, and finally Stormde. Its a mix of lightning magic and ded weapons. Rydel followed this path for example, and only the main branch of our n is allowed to progress this ss path, the demon continued, and Zac immediately remembered the three demons he had killed whose skills contained the ck dreadful lightning.


    The stronger the heritage of a n the greater its prospects. The more and better progression paths, cultivation techniques, hidden Titles, ess to hidden pocket-worlds and unique cultivation resources a force has, the better the heritage is.


    Of course, the stronger heritage you have the more attractive a target you be, and wars are constantly fought across the multi-verse to snatch heritages, Ogras said. The greatest forces in the multi-verse are said to have progression paths all the way to at least B-rank, making their heritage an unimaginable treasure, he finished, with yearning in his eyes talking about those lofty ns.


    And how does cultivation fit into all of this? Zac continued. This was one of the most confusing things for him so far. From Abby it seemed that cultivation was extremely important, but so far he had progressed just fine without being able to cultivate.


    Cultivation has various benefits. First it improves your advancement speed in levels. At a certain point one can forego sleeppletely and instead cultivate, making it possible to ceaselessly progress levels. At low levels it doesnt make arge difference, but at high levels a single level can take a year or more, and at this point the difference starts to show. The schoolmistress Alyn picked up again.


    Secondly, cultivation doesnt only improve levels, it also improves our very foundations. It can improve our very beings over time. Essentially, it can help evolve our races, which is the biggest difference between a cultivator and a mortal. She said.


    Most mortals are forever stuck at F-Grade sses, since they cant afford the means to evolve into E-Rank Race. Advancing the Race is the most basic requirement for any ss advancement, and no matter the Dao enlightenment or titles, without an advanced race you just will not progress. And as mortals progress it bes unimaginably hard to find the treasures to keep their advancement going.


    Finally, cultivators can increase theirbat powerpared to a mortal if they have a suitable cultivation method. Say the cultivator is a Pyromancer ss. If she has a fire-attributed cultivation technique, her attacks will get even fiercer. Conversely, if she use a water-based cultivation technique she might get weaker, or even hurt herself over time.


    Zac finally understood how sses worked in the multi-verse, and was a bit troubled that he seemed to have gone down a harder path. His Rare ss was a boon in the form of giving good skills and extra stats, but it seemed it was far harder to progresspared to the normal sses.


    Even worse, it seemed that getting stronger truly was easier for cultivators. It would be harder and harder to keep his lead it seemed as time went on. At least he had caught a lucky break snatching up a Fruit of Ascension, solving the issue of his race for now. Still, he would have to find new treasures to keep advancing, whereas the cultivators could just, well, cultivate.


    Can a mortal be a cultivator? Zac asked, as that would solve his issues easily. Besides, Abby had said only 10% of the poption of Earth was able to be cultivators, so most earthlings could benefit from turning into cultivators. Alyn seemed to hesitate a bit before answering.


    Perhaps. It is said that mortals will automatically be able to cultivate when they reach a certain power level. But I am not sure whether it is true. Some say it is at C rank, others at B rank. Some say its just a hoax to give mortals false hope. I only know its not possible at D rank or lower. She said. There are a few treasures able to turn a mortal into a cultivator though, but they are so rare they might as well be rumors as well. Alyn then added after some thought.


    Those treasures are real but unfathomably rare. In our homeworld one was put up for auction fifty thousand years ago, and hasnt been seen since. When it arrived it created a bloody storm that impacted the whole world. Besides, getting one of them can be a death trap. There are so many old monsters in the multi-verse that have a grandson or granddaughter who cant cultivate for some reason. They are fine with ughtering a whole country to snatch the treasure for their kin, making it extremely dangerous to own it. Ogras added on.


    There even was an old hegemon who went to war with a ruling family of a B-ranked just to get a supreme treasure which would allow his beloved pet to be a sentient god-beast. Billions of lives were lost because of that stupid mutt. The demon then said, his mouth curving slightly upward.


    What happened? Zac asked intrigued.


    The hegemon essentially destroyed the world and took the treasure. The mutt became a god beast and over tens of thousands of years started to rival even its old master in power. Soon the beast could transform into humanoid form and it had the appearance of a stunning woman. The old master actually fell in love and wanted to marry his old pet, but the god-beast didnt reciprocate his feelings.


    Mad with rage that he was rebuffed after all he had done for her, he immediately tried to kill her. It back-fired spectacrly, and the beast was victorious after an earth-shaking battle. Now she is a hegemon herself and leader of a grand beast world. It is one of the most famous stories about the dangers of owning too valuable treasures Ogras narrated with a sneer, obviously considering the old master a true idiot.


    Zac almostughed out loud when he heard the story, and said a silent prayer for the old master. More importantly, it seemed it was possible for him to be a cultivator in the future. Of course, it seemed impossibly hard, but he had time and a huge amount of Luck. Not wanting to hold up the meeting any longer with this tangent, he changed the subject.


    What about the defenses of the town? The monster hordes areing soon.


    This was what mattered the most to Zac right now. The town needed to be standing at least until he could buy a teleporter or a cosmic ship so he could finally start his search for his family. And if possible he would want to defend Port Atwood from the iing animals, in order to turn his ind both into a sanctuary and bastion.