28: Chapter 28 Introduction to Talent! Rank and Level

The midday sunlight filtered through the massive panoramic windows of the elite class classroom, casting warm spots of light.

Most of the students had not yet fully recovered from the heavy history lesson that morning, gathering in small groups to whisper and discuss.

Li Yuan was watching a video with Laya, the two of them leaning against each other, whispering in a very intimate manner.

Just then, a figure arrived with a cool breeze and sat in the empty seat next to them—it was Elia.

Her ice-blue eyes, filled with undisguised curiosity, landed on Li Yuan.

"Li Yuan," Elia's voice remained clear and crisp, "this morning... um, that tactic you used when you sparred with Sai Wei earlier,"

She seemed to be thinking about how to phrase it, her finger tracing patterns on the desk subconsciously, "I'm very interested. How did you come up with it?"

"That's my ultimate move!" Li Yuan raised his head, his tone tinged with a bit of showing off: "Back at Edge No. 7, it was just me and Laya—one healer, and one summoner with no offensive capabilities."

"If it weren't for that move, we wouldn't have made it back."

His words brought Elia's thoughts back to that war-torn, fallen planet.

"Fortunately, we found an underground command post that had plenty of weapons and ammunition," he said, half-jokingly.

"During the constant fighting, we discovered that this baby was tough enough and fast enough that shell explosions didn't affect him."

"Compared to long-range shooting, rushing straight at the bugs with a bomb and blowing it up on their heads was clearly more effective."

Li Yuan's tone was very casual, but Aria felt that the reality must have been much more dangerous, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence.

"And so, that led to the tactic you saw. Come to think of it, it was actually one of the most common methods we used to survive back then," Li Yuan continued, speaking nonchalantly.

Elia listened quietly, the adoration on her beautiful face growing stronger.

She had personally experienced the final moments of Edge No. 7; she had tried to join the battle, but she knew it would have been suicide.

Now, suddenly having two survivors who had returned from the battlefield and hearing the stories of their real experiences, she felt they were heroes.

She took a deep breath and said with admiration: "To be able to come up with such a tactic in that kind of environment, and to survive... you are amazing."

Watching Elia's fangirl expression, Li Yuan thought for a long time but still didn't mention the situation where, after the Zerg Swarm mothership was shot down, the bugs had actually lost their aggression and could be easily avoided.

After all, having a pretty little fangirl was a pretty great thing, and besides, he was the one who shot down the mothership, so what was wrong with bragging a little!

Laya, who was beside him, saw his expression and curled her lip, looking at him with disdain!!

Just then, a gentle and pleasant voice came from the classroom door: "It seems that the students have already started exchanging insights spontaneously; this is a very good phenomenon and is worth encouraging."

A young female Teacher wearing a dark blue academy uniform walked in.

She had a tall and well-proportioned figure, with chestnut-colored curly hair draped over her shoulders, which made her healthy wheat-colored skin look even more radiant.

Her features were bright and elegant, and a pair of amber eyes swept across the room.

"Good afternoon, students. I am Teacher. For the next semester, I will be responsible for teaching you the course 'Introduction to Talents'."

She walked to the center of the podium, her voice gentle and melodious, carrying a natural affinity.

"I believe that after the Awakening Ceremony and the entrance test, everyone has a preliminary understanding of their own talents."

Teacher did not engage in too much small talk, and the holographic screen behind her lit up.

"So, the question we are most concerned about now is undoubtedly: how can we make this innate gift even stronger? However, before we strengthen it, we need to understand talents first."

The screen prominently displayed two eye-catching, light-cast terms: [Tiers] and [Ranks].

"Let's first focus on the intuitive Tiers," Teacher smiled.

"Tiers mainly evaluate the power and range of influence of a talent."

As she explained, a clear tree diagram unfolded on the screen:

"Based on the strategic value a talent can exert in war, we divide it into three main levels," Teacher introduced.

"The first level, Tiers 1-3, is defined as 'Tactical Grade'."

She pointed, and the corresponding area on the screen lit up with blue light.

"The range of influence at this stage is usually within one kilometer, primarily playing a role in squad combat and local conflicts."

"Everyone here is currently at this stage."

She paused, then continued: "According to the Alliance's statistical data over the years, more than 70% of Awakened, especially those of F-D Rank, remain at the Tactical Grade stage for their entire lives."

"Then, Teacher," a boy sitting in the front row raised his hand and asked, "Our academy's graduates should all be able to break through the Tactical Grade bottleneck, right?"

"Of course." Teacher nodded at him approvingly and affirmed: "Our North Star Military Academy aims to cultivate elite forces capable of safeguarding civilization."

"Therefore, the academy's hard requirement for every student's graduation is to step into the 'Battlefield Grade'!"

"Battlefield Grade?" Whispers broke out among the students.

"That's right, 'Battlefield Grade'." Teacher waved her hand again, and the holographic image suddenly changed, displaying a dynamic scene of an interstellar battlefield.

"Tiers 4 to 6 are the 'Battlefield Grade'. At this level, a talent is sufficient to cover a vast area of hundreds of kilometers!"

In the image, a brilliant ice-blue energy swept out, freezing dozens of Bone-eating Skates, which resembled interstellar assault ships, into huge ice sculptures.

This drew gasps of surprise from the students.

Teacher's voice rose: "Imagine, with a single strike, freezing thousands of miles, scouring the ground with thunderstorms, or instantly imbuing a mechanical legion with the 'spirit' for autonomous combat..."

"This kind of power is enough to influence or even turn the tide of a battlefield!"

"And Tier 7 and above," Teacher's voice carried a hint of awe, "is known as 'Strategic Grade'."

"At this level, its range of influence is no longer measured in simple kilometers, but in 'astronomical units'!"

"Affecting ranges of hundreds of millions of kilometers?!" Even Li Yuan was moved by this; it had completely exceeded the limits of his previous imagination!

Teacher looked around at the shocked young faces: "Of course, this range mainly refers to the pillar role in a battlefield."

"The most typical example is the Prey Hub Starport forged by General Chen Tianyu."

"In that battle, the 350,000-kilometer-diameter starport guarded the Prey wormhole hub and slaughtered a Zerg Tide that surged from dozens of surrounding star systems."

The classroom fell into a long silence; everyone was shocked by this power, and a desire to become stronger quietly sprouted.

Teacher changed the subject: "By the way, does any student know how talent ranks are determined?"

"Chen Jingyi, you come from a military family; have your elders introduced it to you?" Teacher looked around and finally chose that quiet-looking girl with long black hair.

"I don't know much, only that S Rank is the threshold for touching the laws." Chen Jingyi did not answer too much.

"That answer hits the point," Teacher affirmed.

"First, everyone must be clear about one point: leveling up is not simply becoming stronger," she emphasized.

"What changes is the nature of the talent itself."

"First, everyone needs to understand what the difference between talents of different ranks actually is."

"Talents from F Rank to D Rank mostly manifest as symbolic abilities," Teacher gave examples.

"For example, a heating talent might only be able to boil a cup of water; a light talent might only be able to illuminate a room."

"Generally speaking, talents at this level are still difficult to stably influence the material world."

"By C Rank, talents begin to manifest the ability to effectively change the properties of matter," she continued.

"For example, you can heat metal to a molten crystalline state, or crush solid rock into molecular-level powder, thereby causing significant changes in the physical properties of matter."

"This is a landmark stage where talents begin to truly intervene in the material world."

"And B Rank," Teacher's gaze swept over Laya, "is a crucial watershed."

"At this level, talents begin to make initial contact with the rules of the universe, thereby producing some very interesting mechanisms."

Looking at Laya, Teacher continued to exclaim: "Laya's Song of Light talent during the entrance test showed us a magical mechanism."

"Every time I see this kind of talent, which seems to be a coincidental combination of the world, it makes one marvel at the wonder of the world."

After marveling at Laya's talent, she returned to the main course: "So, as we continue to explore upwards, A Rank talents begin to formally harness these rules."

"For example, Luo Lan's Heavenly Drive talent utilizes the rules of motion to the extreme."

"And S Rank contains the power to change the rules," Teacher's gaze turned to Elia.

"It can define and rewrite rules, some even involving the more profound category of causality."

"Is there any student willing to share their S Rank talent?"

She looked at Elia, clearly hoping she would share.

The Son of God, whether due to severe injuries or loss of face, did not attend the afternoon class.

Chen Jingyi had already answered a question, so the only remaining S Rank student was Elia.

Not making Teacher wait, Elia stood up excitedly to answer: "My Moon Glow can, while maintaining molecular motion, set a temperature for matter that is below absolute zero, or, while maintaining or even increasing the temperature, terminate molecular motion, thereby producing different effects of freezing or shattering."

Of course, Elia was not a fool; she only described the most basic effects of freezing in her talent.

Listening to Elia's description, Li Yuan's eyes were already spinning like mosquito coils.

Beyond absolute zero? Beyond absolute zero and still molecular motion? No molecular motion and still temperature?

Li Yuan saw that Laya was listening with great interest, so he poked her gently and asked: "Do you understand?"

Laya replied: "Aren't Teacher and Elia telling a story?"

"A very vivid description!" Teacher seemed to see a sparkling gem.

"This is the typical characteristic of S Rank talent manipulating laws! The power of laws often transcends common sense."

She continued, her tone carrying a hint of awe: "As for the higher SS Rank, currently the Alliance has only one clear record: the [Great Prophecy Art] mastered by the Pope of the Holy Alliance."

"It is a terrifying ability that acts upon causality, which can be called 'Words become Law', subverting cause and effect."

"But Teacher, the current talent testing method determines the rank based on the energy fluctuation at the time of awakening, which is different from the essence of the talent," Chen Jingyi interjected.

"That is indeed the case. The current talent testing method does have mismeasurements at S Rank and above, but since there are heaven and earth phenomena when an S Rank is born, basically all S Ranks can be detected," Teacher added.

"As for SS Rank and above, it is said that the heaven and earth phenomena are hidden and only visible to the person involved, but no one has ever verified this."

Li Yuan's heart stirred. Hidden heaven and earth phenomena... did the North Nether Abyss devouring the nebula that he saw count!!

Teacher continued to introduce the methods for talent tier advancement and ranking up: "For tier advancement, there are no shortcuts; the core secret is—use it more and replenish energy."

She changed the subject, her tone becoming objective and realistic: "Of course, I must remind everyone that everyone's talent characteristics and soul aptitude are different, so the speed of tier advancement varies."

"Don't be afraid of being slower than others; just remember that diligence can compensate for clumsiness!"

Her gaze fell back on Elia, her tone filled with amazement: "Our class's student, Elia, broke through to Tier 3 in just one month!!"

"This is also the first in our school's history."

"As for ranking up," Teacher concluded, "according to past case statistics, extreme pressure between life and death is the most common catalyst for inducing talent mutation."

She warned, "But the academy does not encourage everyone to take unnecessary risks, because the price of failure is often death."

"There is still some time this afternoon, I will take everyone to experience the Talent Training Ground!"

Talent Training Ground!! Can my talent be trained?