Chapter 265:Ranks.
The observation centre slowly returned to normal after the beast tide, but Silver couldn’t. Even though the immediate danger had passed, his mind remained fixed on the battle he had just witnessed.
He stood near the edge of the defensive perimeter, staring toward the place where the Rank Five beast had fallen. Workers had already begun dismantling parts of the corpse, carefully removing its hide, claws, wings, and other valuable materials while specialized personnel prepared to extract its core.
To everyone around him, it seemed like another dangerous morning that had ended successfully. To Silver, it felt like he had just been shown the true scale of the world.
"Are you going to stand here the whole morning just staring creeply at those poor workers. You’re kind of making them uncomfortable."
Ravenna’s voice came from beside him.
Silver glanced at her.
"They can get used to it. What they’re doing is fascinating. Look I’m nit the only one doing it, there are more people looking. They seem used to the stares."
"Dismantling a dead beast is fascinating. You have some weird idea of interesting."
She crossed her arms and looked toward the distant corpse.
"That beast really got your full attention, didn’t it?"
"Completely especially the it’s fighting styles and the rankings."
Silver remained silent for several seconds before continuing.
"When I first awakened, I thought the difference between ranks was mostly about strength. A stronger body, more powerful abilities, greater soul capacity, things like that, you know; what’s we’re mostly taught. It feels as though every new ranker will eventually get a cultural shock, or whatever it’s called, and most people probably won’t react too well to it. It would have been better if we even got a warning."
Ravenna nodded.
"That isn’t wrong, but you don’t have to negate everything we’ve been taught. This is more of an additional knowledge to what we have been taught, I don’t think they correlated in the sense you’re saying it."
"No, I’m not negating it..." silver’s gaze remained fixed ahead. "But it’s incomplete."
He remembered his battles, then the creature they had just watched die.
"The first four ranks are still somewhat flexible," Silver continued. "A Rank One can kill a Teir Two under the right circumstances. A Rank Two can kill a Teir Three. Even Teir Four beasts can sometimes be defeated by people below them if enough people work together, their abilities counter the beast, or the beast makes mistakes."
Ravenna looked at him.
"But Teir Five?"
Silver slowly shook his head.
"That’s different."
She didn’t disagree. Silver folded his arms.
"That creature wasn’t simply stronger than the Rank Four contractors. It understood what they were doing and that’s just fascinating and scary at the same time, Ravenna."
He remembered the fight.
"Every time they used an ability, it adapted. Every time they tried something twice, it anticipated them. It recognized the formation and tried to attack its weakest point."
Ravenna nodded.
"That’s what Larry said."
"Yeah, but that’s the whole problem. " Silver sighed. "Imagine fighting something that can think like us, but has a body that powerful, it’s like twenty times as big as you."
Ravenna’s expression became serious.
"And abilities."
"Yeah, and has abilities. I had thought I was talented against my peers Ravenna, we both are. But I had this sort of superiority complex especially with the system next to me. Then this things keep happening the hunts where we are completely powerless and then seeing people take down a beast this big was sort of a punch of my growing ego you know."
"Stop saying things like that about yourself."
He chuckled lightly.
"It’s not even about that. I’ve just come to realise I’m just a grain of sand in this world. I don’t stand out much, I’m just there just because. Do you get it, or I’m just saying things. If something ever happens to me, I’ll just be your normal Contractor who died of got lost in one of the zones."
"You’re good Silver stop being so selfish deprecating, you’re minimising a lot of things. And you’re not going to die or go missing. My mom always says don’t let your negative emotions win, they’ll drag you down even when you weren’t meant to be."
Silver chuckled.
"I’ll do that."
The thought was enough to make Silver uncomfortable. A human Rank Five contractor could be terrifying but a Rank Five beast had none of the limitations of human society.
It didn’t need to worry about laws, didn’t need to protect civilians, and didn’t need to hold back because there were people behind it. If it wanted to kill something, it could use every ounce of strength it possessed.
Silver looked down at his hand.
"I understand now why everyone was so serious when they confirmed its rank."
Ravenna smiled faintly.
"Yet they still killed it."
"They had a military base, several Rank Fours, experienced teams, defensive structures, and years of preparation."
Silver shook his head.
"They didn’t overpower it."
Ravenna frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"They controlled it, and the battlefield itself."
He looked back toward the battlefield.
"They couldn’t simply overpower a Teir Five beast. They had to make it move where they wanted, force it to expose openings, block its escape routes, and coordinate attacks until they created one opportunity large enough to kill it."
Ravenna was quiet.
Silver continued.
"That’s the real difference between us and them. Imagine what higher Tiered beasts are like, it gives me goosebumps."
A voice came from behind them.
"Exactly."
They turned. Larry stood several meters away, holding a cup of coffee.
He walked over.
"You’ve understood it faster than most."
Silver raised an eyebrow.
"Most?"
"Most people see a Teir Five beast and think, ’It’s stronger.’ They don’t understand what that actually means."
Larry took a sip.
"From Teir One to Teir Four, strength is still something you can compensate for. Not always, but often. Numbers, equipment, abilities, tactics, terrain, experience. There are many ways to close the gap."
He looked toward the corpse.
"Teir Five changes that."
"Because of intelligence?"
"That’s part of it."
Larry leaned against a nearby railing.
"There’s also the quality of their bodies and energy. Their physical strength, speed, durability, senses, recovery, and control over their abilities all take a massive leap. Even their instincts become sharper."
Silver listened carefully.
"That’s why a Teir Five beast can fight multiple Rank Four contractors at once."
"Yes."
Larry looked at him.
"And don’t assume that means every Rank Five beast will behave the same way."
Silver’s expression changed.
"What do you mean?"
"Some are extremely intelligent. Others are more instinctive. Some are aggressive. Others are cautious. Some understand humans well enough to avoid settlements entirely."
Larry paused.
"And some are arrogant."
Silver immediately thought of the ape.
"The one I fought was driven more by anger and grief. I might have somehow killed it’s offspring."
"Possibly."
Larry smiled faintly.
"You said it was a Teir Five?"
Silver nodded.
"Yes, an Ape beast."
"Then you’re even luckier than I thought."
Ravenna looked at Silver.
Larry continued.
"Teir Five beasts aren’t supposed to be fought casually by people below that level. If one is actively trying to kill you, and you don’t have an overwhelming advantage, your chances are terrible."
Silver didn’t answer.
He remembered the encounter and the terror. At the time, he had been focused on surviving. He hadn’t had the luxury of thinking about ranks, and somehow survived.
Shawn had been the main driving force of their defence. He had to give his respect to the man,he was one of the most talented people Silver was sure he would ever meet.
Silver suddenly felt a strange chill.
"Shawn."
Ravenna looked at him.
"What?"
Silver blinked.
"I just remembered I haven’t contacted Shawn."
Ravenna tilted her head.
"You haven’t?"
"No, he’s gonna be pissed. Why on earth did I forget to call him?"
Silver hesitated.
He had no good answer. The journey had become so hectic that he had completely forgotten. He had simply pushed everything else into the back of his mind.
Silver pulled out his communication device. His thumb hovered over Shawn’s contact. He could call, and it would take seconds, but then he imagined Shawn answering.
"Silver? Where are you?"
Then the inevitable questions.
"How have you been?"
"What are you doing?"
"Have you seen Cruella?"
Silver’s thumb stopped and sighed.