Chapter 130: Shocking Discovery (3)

He felt a frustrating headache that didn’t even exist. It was just an illusion born of the fact that he didn’t understand the world in which he lived.

When he thought about it carefully, it all made sense. A person with an F-Rank Talent can be stronger than a person with a C-Rank Talent as long as they are at the same level. That’s due to the nature of ME acquisition.

It makes sense, but at the same time it doesn’t. Why would someone with a Rank F Talent be stronger than someone with a Rank C Talent? Because the system is broken!

Maybe that’s why the beasts don’t use ME.

But then, who came up with this flawed system?

And his current problem is serious... because he earns XP like a Rank A.

In other words, before long he’ll be at Rank C or even B. But his strength will be far less than it would be if he had just one Rank C Talent.

He used to think that was a blessing, but now he realized he would die if he ever revealed his true rank.

’Why didn’t anyone tell me this?’ He felt angry.

That academy was clearly useless...

Suddenly, his mood took a terrible nosedive.

His friends, watching from the sidelines, were not only in shock but also trying to figure things out for themselves.

"It’s true..." Erick muttered.

John swallowed hard. "This..."

None of them knew what to say.

"How could there be a mistake like that...? An S-Rank—what advantage does it have, besides its Talent?" John asked.

Erick frowned. "Is there a catch, perhaps?"

"Why would there be a catch?" John hesitated. "Everyone wants more soul talents, but isn’t it stupid to want more of those? You’ll level up fast, but you’ll earn less..."

"Don’t you find it strange, then, that those with high-Rank Talents are the ones who govern us? There must be a catch, right? Otherwise, the rulers would be those with lower-Rank Talents."

John hesitated, but said nothing. Erick was right.

There had to be something.

They both looked at Zaid. He had uncovered this huge gap in how this world’s power worked. If he didn’t know it, no one would.

Zaid, in fact, suspected something.

’The Concepts.’

He immediately went to check his Talent Shop.

He confirmed that all the A- and S-Rank Soul Talents listed there had a clear Concept. However, the Spirit Talents had no Concepts. That made sense, since those were just skills.

However, where do these Concepts come from? And why can’t some talents give birth to a Concept?

’Valia, do you know anything?’

Valia turned inward for a moment before answering him.

’I know a few things,’ she replied.

Zaid was immediately intrigued. ’Tell me everything.’

’Don’t get too excited—I don’t know much. We aren’t human. But I’ve heard about Concepts... it’s not something that comes with the system.’

’You mean...’

’Yes. Actually, many Soul Talents are simply personifications of a Concept. They are born with the person. They are part of their bloodline.’

Zaid’s eyes lit up with understanding.

’The serpent told me it was born with me...’

’Yes. You have that Concept specifically developed, even though it was separated from you, precisely because it’s actually in your blood. If one day you truly lose your dark blood, you’ll have lost all ability to use it,’

Zaid nodded. It was a good thing Zayn had changed the story; otherwise, he would have lost it that day... Something he had to thank his crazy brother for.

’Another thing I know about this is that Concepts predate the system, and the system can’t even interfere with them. Concepts... I don’t know how to put it, but they’re very powerful!’

Zaid was already aware of that. Not only did he have one he’d used recently—and he still didn’t even know what it was—but he’d also been a victim of one for many years, and possibly the entire city had been as well.

However, he couldn’t help but ask, ’How much?’

’I don’t know. But they say it was the result of a Concept that caused the dimensions to merge. No one knows exactly what that Concept is, and if anyone does, they’re not saying.’

Zaid nodded. ’What about the statistics? Why is it so flawed? It doesn’t make sense that someone with a C-Rank Talent could be stronger than someone with an A-Rank Talent.’

Valia laughed. ’Who knows? I can’t even see that system you guys have. However, I once heard that most Awakened people awaken with Rank C talents or lower.’

’Yes. It’s not a hard and fast rule—there have been higher-level awakenings—but it is the most likely outcome. Awakening with Rank F, E, D, or C talents. Most start there. Then, at Rank A, their talents evolve. What does that have to do with anything?’

’Once again, I have no idea. But maybe that’s a clue. About what? You’ll have to figure that out. The person who said it wasn’t ignorant,’ Valia replied.

And before Zaid could speak, she spoke again: ’Who knows? Maybe the System is another Concept? No one knows where it comes from, anyway.’

Zaid frowned and looked pensive.

That last question was strange. Zaid felt as if something had snapped in his ears or inside him. It didn’t hurt at all; perhaps it was just his imagination playing tricks on him after receiving such a shocking answer.

"Don’t look at me like that," Zaid apologized as he looked back at his classmates. "I have no idea why it’s like that, though I do have a clue."

"What’s the clue?" They both asked immediately. They felt a strange sense of urgency.

"Don’t worry about it. You guys don’t have any high-level talents, do you? You won’t need to worry too much about it. If I ever find out the reasons, I’ll let you know."

Though discouraged, they nodded. "All right, Zaid... Now I feel strangely coveted," Erick muttered.

"Let’s rest... I’m exhausted, and I don’t even know what to think right now," said Zaid, and he collapsed onto the ground.

He was so brutally exhausted from such a long battle that he even lost track of time and fell asleep almost immediately. Fortunately, this wasn’t a portal.

An unspecified amount of time later—during which they did nothing but rest, eat, and talk about life, while avoiding at all costs those ridiculous topics related to the system—they finally decided to leave the dungeon.

At some point—probably in a matter of weeks or months—it would once again be filled with monsters. For now, it was almost empty.

The group of three, along with a cat with beautiful fur, left the dungeon.

Outside, it was daytime. The sun shone brightly down on them.

"During the day? I really have no idea how long I’ve been underground," Erick complained.

John agreed. "Sometimes dungeons inside other dungeons have accelerated time as well... Maybe we’ve been here for several days?"

Zaid looked around. Some hunters who had seen him enter were still there; others were gone. So John’s guess was probably correct.