Haiven carries his belongings as he walks through the trees on his way to the Antira Mountains, with Nairs’s words still occupying his mind.
He thinks in confusion:
Ares…
He has always been shrouded in mystery…
His immense talents, which allowed him to reach the Peak Kretar at such a young age !
And the fact that he hid it from everyone.
I only discovered it by chance during one of our private training sessions, when I was about to land a heavy blow on him, forcing him to use Yurvana at the last moment to avoid it.
And when I asked him about it, he tried to evade the subject and asked me to keep it a secret.
Or his swordsmanship abilities, which can almost challenge the supervisor himself!
Abilities that he concealed to an extreme degree, especially during group training.
In addition to his mysterious origin.
It is true that he is officially registered under the Shuan Clan, but for heaven’s sake, what even is the Shuan Clan?!
I have never heard of it!
And even when I looked into it a little, I couldn’t find any information about it!
There is only one explanation for this:
It isn’t even an officially registered clan in the first place!
And that raises two questions.
First, how could a clan that isn’t even registered, and therefore ranks even below the weakest Fifth-Grade Clans, produce such an extraordinary talent?!
And the second question, the more important one:
How could someone from an unofficial clan enter the Last Twilight Academy, which is essentially reserved for the children of noble clans, and where you can barely even see people from Third-Grade Clans?
And it is also true that I haven’t reached the Kretar Peak yet, but my strength is already something that a mere Kretar Peak could never threaten.
Then what kind of threat does Ares pose that made Big Sister so worried that she gave me her own sword?!
He then stops and remains silent for a few moments.
He looks contemplatively toward the sky and continues thinking:
Ares…
Those eyes of yours, radiating a will and ambition that send shivers down one’s spine…
they were what awakened me that day…
But I also know just how much sorrow and brokenness lie deep within those eyes…
Ares…
For heaven and earth…
Who are you?
A short while later, Haiven finally emerges from the forest path, and the mountains come into view.
As he walks toward them, he hears two people talking, and one of them proudly says to the other:
Man, I’ve been a Kretar for a long time, but I also possessed a trace of Blue Agate Yurvana, and it has grown considerably recently.
His friend replies in astonishment:
What?!
Didn’t you have poor efficiency?
The first man replies:
Yes.
The heavens have rewarded my efforts.
I think I’ll become a Hektar someday!
His friend laughs mockingly.
Man, it’s just a trace of Blue Agate Yurvana.
Don’t get carried away with your dreams.
Haiven hears their conversation, and his thoughts begin to stir.
Yurvana…
A memory surfaces in his mind:
Haiven, Ares, and a large group of students are in the classroom.
Their teacher stands before them, holding a staff in his hand and pointing toward several drawings on the board as he speaks:
To begin with, more than half of humanity does not possess Alketra.
And even among those who possess Alketra, more than half either possess an extremely small amount of Alketra…
Or their efficiency is so poor that they are completely incapable of forming an aura, and therefore incapable of developing it into Yurvana.
Only when your efficiency reaches the minimum threshold while possessing an acceptable amount of Alketra are you called an Alketrak.
And their number is less than even a quarter of humanity!
When an Alketrak condenses Alketra, forms an aura, and continuously refines it for relatively long periods of time, the aura will gradually begin to transform, and a trace of Red Emerald Yurvana will begin to appear.
Eventually, a qualitative change will occur, and the aura will completely transform into Red Emerald Yurvana.
At that point, you officially become a Kretar of the Initial Stage.
As for Yurvana, there are four primary ranks:
Kretar.
These are usually soldiers or ordinary members of the clans.
Jotar.
These are generally teachers and department supervisors.
Within the clans, they constitute the main fighting force, and this is the rank at which most Alketra Masters stop.
Hektar.
They are the Marshals of the army and are considered the Generals of the clans.
In fact, many Third-Grade Clans and most Fourth- and Fifth-Grade Clans have a Hektar as their leader.
What distinguishes these clans from one another is the number of Hektars they possess.
Titar.
The peak of the human world.
Within the army, they are known as Grand Marshals.
Their authority extends across the entire kingdom.
Only the noble and royal clans surpass them in authority, to the point that even Second-Grade Noble Clans cannot simply reject their decisions without negotiation or a strong justification.
As for advancing through these ranks, the process is very similar to what I explained at the beginning.
You need to continuously refine your Yurvana using Alketra, and through quantitative accumulation, this will eventually lead to a qualitative change in the Yurvana.
That applies to progressing through the stages within the same rank.
However, to advance from one rank to a higher rank, you must reach the minimum required percentage of the trace.
And the higher the percentage of the trace, the greater your potential will be in the next rank.
In other words, to break through into the Jotar Rank, you need at least fifty percent of the Blue Agate Yurvana trace.
But that is only the minimum.
If your potential is higher and you manage to reach seventy percent of the Blue Agate Yurvana trace, that means greater potential and a higher rate of development within the Jotar Rank.
It also means a higher probability of the Silver Yurvana trace appearing.
Of course, that is after reaching the Jotar Peak…
One of the students asks:
What do you mean by “probability”?
Doesn’t reaching the Jotar Peak mean that after some time, the Silver Yurvana trace will gradually form on its own, allowing you to break through into the Hektar Rank?
The teacher:
What you said is partly correct and partly wrong.
Let me explain.
Reaching the Jotar Peak does not mean that you will automatically obtain the Silver Yurvana trace.
In fact, let me tell you this:
There are countless talents who stopped at the Jotar Peak.
No matter how much they trained, no matter how much they refined their Yurvana, as long as the Silver Yurvana trace never appeared, all their efforts were nothing but a waste of Alketra and time.
Only a few talents from each generation, those possessing exceptional efficiency and abundant Alketra, will have the Silver Yurvana trace appear.
They will then be able to reach Hektar.
And most of them come from the royal and noble clans.
As for the correct part, once the trace appears, that means you are certain to reach the minimum required percentage of the trace and break through into Hektar, even if you possess the weakest potential.
It will only be a matter of time…
Another student interrupts:
Teacher, you said earlier that the higher the percentage of the Blue Agate Yurvana trace when breaking through into Jotar, the greater the potential and the faster the development within the Jotar Rank.
And that it also means a higher probability of the Silver Yurvana trace appearing.
So what would happen if the Blue Yurvana trace reached 100%?
The teacher:
Good question.
In that case, the speed at which they advance and break through the stages would be insane, surpassing their peers by a tremendous margin.
More importantly, there would be a guaranteed chance for the Silver Yurvana trace to appear.
That is because reaching a complete Blue Yurvana trace means that your true potential has already surpassed this rank, and it is merely a matter of time before you reach Hektar.
And even so, the number of people who have possessed such terrifying talent is exceedingly small.
In fact, many of those who reached Titar did not possess talent like that!
Another student asks:
Does that mean there are people who can surpass Titar, or is the Titar Rank the end?
The teacher:
From Kretar to the Titar Peak, this is what we know for certain.
Beyond that, there are many rumors and legends about the existence of a Heavenly Realm and a mysterious rank above Titar.
It is not known for certain whether this rank even exists in the first place.
That is because even the most peerless geniuses, those with overwhelming talents who reached the Titar Peak and even surpassed the natural power of this stage by far, died at ages no older than 170 without showing even the slightest trace of a higher Yurvana.
Even so, the rumors surrounding the existence of that mysterious rank continued to spread fiercely, until they were almost completely disproven after the Nakshura Incident…
It was during this incident that Grand Marshal Hevis Urashi, the revered commander of the army of our glorious kingdom, Aleftar, fell into an enemy trap while carrying out a secret mission on the border of the Kingdom of Demotar.
The enemy had sent twelve Titar, three of whom were at the Peak!!
And in an incident that was the first of its kind in history, Grand Marshal Hevis managed to withstand them through more than one round, and even killed four of them while severely injuring the rest.
One of the three Peak Titar was even facing the threat of death for months afterward!
And although His Lordship Hevis himself suffered extremely severe injuries and was unable to continue the battle…
He could barely survive with his life.
Yet this incident, which shocked the kingdoms, caused Grand Marshal Hevis to be publicly recognized as the master of the Titar Rank—
No, as the master of the human world!!
And ever since that incident, doubts regarding the existence of that mysterious rank have only grown stronger.
Otherwise, how could one explain Grand Marshal Hevis possessing such insane power, capable of confronting twelve Titar while being at the same rank himself?!
Several students comment:
Amazing!!
Lord Hevis really is amazing!!
He killed twelve Titar alone!
How insane!!
He’s the pride of our kingdom!
He’s the pride and master of humanity itself!!
Another student addresses the teacher:
Teacher, you have mentioned words such as “efficiency” and “Alketra” several times.
What is the difference between them in the first place, and what is their relationship with Yurvana?
The teacher:
Alketra is the thing that forms Yurvana.
It is the foundation.
In fact, the different ranks of Yurvana themselves are the measure of the quantity and quality of Alketra you possess.
Of course, the greater the amount of basic Alketra you possess, the longer you can refine your Yurvana, and therefore the faster your progression.
And a greater amount of Alketra also means the ability to fight for longer periods and execute more techniques.
As for efficiency, it means the extent of your ability to control Alketra and bring out its true value.
In other words, suppose there are two people who possess the same Yurvana rank and the same amount of basic Alketra, but the first person has three times the efficiency.
In that case, if both of them use the same technique, the first person’s technique will be three times as powerful.
Or they could do the opposite and use one-third of the amount of Alketra to execute the same technique with the same power as the second person’s.
Of course, techniques are far more complicated than that, but this is merely an example for clarification.
And the matter doesn’t stop there, because a person with higher efficiency can develop their Yurvana faster.
That is because someone with greater efficiency can make better use of their Alketra to refine their Yurvana, and even Yurvana itself adapts faster as efficiency increases.
It doesn’t end there either.
During combat, especially at the higher levels, the greater your efficiency, the greater your ability to control more than one technique at the same time!
Of course, I don’t need to mention that higher efficiency also means a greater ability to refine Vera and cover more paths during combat.
At first, it may seem as though a lack of efficiency can be compensated for with a greater quantity of Alketra.
But the truth is that efficiency is the decisive factor in the true ability of an Alketra Master…
Haiven reaches a hill and begins examining several markings carefully.
It seems I’ve really made it.
Suddenly!
A voice comes from the top of the hill:
I’ve been waiting for you…
Haiven turns toward the source of the voice and is stunned to see Ares standing at the top of the hill, floating in the air, surrounded by a tremendous blue aura.
In his left hand is a sword covered in glowing purple engravings, while an enormous concentration of Alketra gathers around his right hand, forming a purple aura technique in the shape of a circle, with tongues of purple aura rising from it!
The moment Haiven sees Ares in this state, his eyes widen until they nearly burst from their sockets.
He screams inwardly:
Blue Agate Yurvana!!
A true aura of the Jotar Peak!!
He hasn’t even taken the final examination yet!!
Big Sister’s concern was completely justified.
She’s at the Hektar Peak after all!
She must have noticed his true nature beforehand!!
After several moments of silence, Haiven places his hand over half of his face and begins laughing hysterically, to the point that Ares grows suspicious.
Then Haiven stops laughing.
A glowing blue aura begins rising around him as he draws the Krisida Sword from its sheath.
He smiles madly and says:
Amazing, Ares…
Truly amazing…
Keep widening the gap between us.
The stronger you become, the more exciting this will be!
After all, only a Revered Jotar Peak is capable of defeating me!!
Ares narrows his eyes and glares at him sharply.
He speaks firmly:
You’re mistaken, Heir of Akitarao…
You’ve always been mistaken…
A mere Jotar Peak is simply unworthy of my status!
………………………..
Abdelrahman :
A Secret…
A Secret Capable of Turning Everything Upside Down!