Chapter 22 - Monster's in your head
In the following weeks Sorin was able to master all the gained skills as he knew them through constant use and training. His stats continued to tick up and now sat maxed out across the board. Unlike last time His spirit rating would not keep going to exceed the 50/50 mark like it had when he first was infused with aether.
With everything maxed out he could control all of his abilities and multitask almost effortlessly. Day after day was a repetitive blur of brutal fights that kept becoming more and more brutal as everyone continued to improve with their weapons. The week before last they allowed the use of aether techniques in the defensive only and last week they went full power using their offensive techniques. Sheth, the black werewolf, became a true terror to behold with his ability to momentarily clone himself for a dual strike, sometimes quad strike that nobody could defend against without use of their aether and even then, only a select few.
This week was very different than any that came before in this training program as they were led to a smaller amphitheater with a projector looking device. "Sit down quickly!" Came a woman's voice.
They all scrambled to find a seat and to figure out what is going on. Sorin looked down at the woman in black and silver Martial robes that were tailored to her. She was around 5'3 - 5'5 with a severe look to her. "I am Major Leanan and I will be teaching you about different types of beasts found throughout the empire that you will possibly face. Though there are thousands upon thousands of different beasts out there we will focus on a couple from each category."
She pressed something on a small controller she had in her hand that operated the projector as a chart came up. Major Leanan began to instruct from the screen while not looking at it as if she had done it a thousand times over.
Classes from Lowest to highest
D - Small beasts that have minimal amount of aether in their cores and present the lowest risk to people and/or habitation. Used for food and/or labor as wells as for parts for potions etc.
C - Medium beast with a low amount of aether in their cores and only present a rare danger to people and/or habitation. These are your scavengers or introverted beasts that have minor venoms/smells for defense. Often used to train new recruits, clan members, elites, nobility, royalty.
B - Large beasts that contain a medium amount of aether in their cores and they present a clear and real danger to people and habitation. Will actively hunt people and destroy things to get at them. These possess minor levels of intelligence. Used to train soldiers and protection clans. Often the desired prey for trained nobility and royalty.
A - Size varies with the type and the large amounts of aether in their cores. These beasts mostly appear near rifts and preferer areas of high concentration of aether. They are extremely intelligent. Usually requires a team to take down. Extremely dangerous to people and habitation. When these appear near civilization, evacuation is always a consideration.
S - Size varies and is usually a rift champion. They contain massive cores with massive amounts of aether. They can wipe out entire teams easily and require true elites to bring them down. These creatures can be any creature that happens to get an influx for aether form the rifts and are allowed to grow. Evacuation is required before any battle with these creatures.
U - Unique beasts. These often-mythical creatures vary in threat rating and power. Not always hostile but possess extreme intelligence and can take on humanoid form. Not to be confused with beastmen and bestwomen who have a humanoid form always. Hostile unique beasts can bring terror to entire regions. Believed to be able to use a system. Do not engage. Requires royal permission to engage.
"As you can see, we have a wide range of categories for each beast that is found in the universe. You will soon be trained to take on both "C" and "B" range beasts in order for the final examination for your assignees." She pressed the button again and the screen changed to a list of beasts and their ranks.
D - Beasts include horses, crabs, fish, cattle, certain birds and insects. Rule: If it can't hurt you easily as a tier 2 it's a Class D beast.
C - Iron horned goat, Razor Boar, Sand Shark, Minor treant, zombie, ghouls. Rule: If it can injure you if you're careless it's a Class C.
B - Elemental Lion, Unicorn, Thunderbird, Revenant, Minor wyverns, Spirits. Rule: If it can kill you if you're careless and hard to defeat without a team it is a Class B.
A - Golems, Sirens, Demons, Drakes, Treants, Wyverns, Wraiths. Rule: If your team cannot beat these beasts and you think you need additional teams it's a Class A
S - Rift champions are always massive and obvious. Depending on creature it may require few or many fighters. Do not engage lightly.
U - Angels (Any) Devils (Any) Dragons, Phoenixes, Nephilim/Demigod. Do Not engage without permission of the emperor.
She continued "This should be pretty straight forward, but this is not the complete list. There is a compendium available in every assignment location and clan hall across the empire that have the complete list of creatures. I do want to mention Class U a bit more. These beasts as mentioned on the first screen can be of any class when it comes to threat or can bypass the chart altogether. However, there are ancient and often transcendent agreements in place that the attack on those creatures can lead to horrific consequences. You cannot harm angels of any choir anyway. The emperor once attempted to kill one and even with all of his might was unable. Depending on the angel you could incur a harsh retribution in many different and unique forms."
Sorin was shocked that they were legit talking about angels. He was a religious man, but never thought that stuff would have any participation in the physical universe. The major continued her lecture. "Moving forward until the final exam of your assignees, you will be taken to the bestial reserve we maintain in this academy to fight monsters at the C and B classes to ensure you are ready for which ever zone you are sent to for the exam. The days of wooden training weapon use here is over. You will be utilizing aether steel weapons and will be assigned the basic armor associated with your assignee's house colors. Even with these upgrades, you can still easily be killed. Be observant and get to the exam. It is rather annoying to replace you conscripts at this stage. Dismissed!"
The 42 conscripts go to their feet and were taken back to the training arena.