Chapter 20: RANKING! RANKING! RANKING!
Dax cleared his throat, the sound scraping out like gravel as he finally released the question that had been drowning inside him.
"You said they’re going to check our ranks and stats today..." The words came out heavy, like stones he had been carrying in his chest. If the answer was positive, his mood would sour... no, become even badder, if that word existed.
Naya exhaled a long sigh and arched her back against the chair, strands of hair clinging to her cheek like rebellious ivy until she brushed them away. "Yes," she replied at last, voice edged with reluctant certainty.
"They’re going to announce the stats of every single one of you."
Her answer landed like lead in Dax’s stomach. He wanted his own record hidden, especially the line that marked him as weak-willed, the only one among a hall packed with strong and even average-willed Trinities. And now indeed, he felt badder.
He forced his face into composure, masking the turmoil bubbling beneath, and asked again.
"How then is today a challenge? You said earlier the past contest between us and the Transcended ended before summer. How is today the beginning of another?"
Naya’s tone was steady, almost clinical.
"When a Trans-freaking-cended is called and a Beyonder is called, their stats are compared. The one... or the triarch... with the higher stat is awarded two points."
Clarity flickered across Dax’s face. His eyes lifted toward Madame Liliana, who stood at the dais clutching a scroll-long list in her hand. Peering over her spectacles, she began to call out names.
"Abbay Gibbins. And to follow him, Abigail Fox. Then Array Kickerford."
Three rose. The first, Abbay, a Beyonder; the second, Abigail, Transcended; the third, Array, Veilbound.
Abigail, a blond like their Facet Master, had a pallor like porcelain and a face as round as a full moon. She crossed to her Triarch Head, Anna Stangard, the so-called Tsarina. With a flick of her fingers, With ritualistic grace Anna summoned a pin whose tip glowed blue and gently pricked Abigail’s thumb, drawing a bead of blood.
So also From the Beyonders’ row a tall, dark youth with short-shuffled hair moved forward. Slim and wiry, he walked to their Triarch Head, the towering black man known as Morock Skull; A Honcho to the Beyonders. The man’s smile twisted not into welcome but into a predator’s sneer, creepy to the core, almost nauseating to the Transcended, yet strangely admired by the Beyonders.. Abbay smiled back, thrilled by the darkness of it.
Dax felt a chill. ’Looks like I’ll have to get used to this Beyonder business’, he thought, half-smiling. Here, the oddities that made him an outcast elsewhere were ordinary currency. especially "weird stuff".
Honcho Morock seized Abbay’s thumb. From the depths of his overcoat he drew a pin with a tip glowing red, as if fresh from lava. He licked it, still smiling that wicked smile, then drove it through Abbay’s thumb with brutal precision, the point rupturing skin clear to the bone, and out the back.
A collective "UUUUU!" rose from the Transcended, as though they too felt the pain. Years of initiation had not dulled their horror.
"All you need is just to draw blood, not kill him!" someone shouted from their side, but the Beyonders were unmoved.
Honcho yanked the pin back out with equal force. To Dax’s astonishment, Abbay merely said thank you and beamed, crimson dripping from his thumb.
’Freaking pinch me’, Dax thought. ’Is this what I’m about to go through?’ These people were stirred just as he was, new just as he was, yet they seemed already hardened to it. Was it because, as Naya had said, he’d been chosen late and missed the training before entering the Harness? Or was it simply because he was weak-willed?
Oblivious to his thoughts, the three initiates mounted the slim raised podium before their triarch rolls.
"Place your bleeding thumb on the slot," Madame Liliana instructed.
They obeyed. Red orbs perched on slender rods flared to life, casting a sanguine glow. Harmless beams laced across their bodies, scanning them from head to toe.
The Transcended podium finished first. A screen sprang up with a soft...
ding
Abigail’s portrait flashing beside scrolling script read aloud by an AI voice:
[name: Abigail Fox]
[will: Strong-willed]
[triarch facet: Transcended]
[rank: Kindled]
[rank aspect: Radiant Veil <aspect rank 2>]
[essence gained: Echo Essence]
[echoes: 1/50 (one Parallax Server destroyed +1 rank D beast)]
[bio-line: Incarnate of Erlander]
<Harness successfully passed | Abigail Fox, you are officially initiated into the Transcended facet.>
A wave of clapping swelled from the Transcended benches while the Beyonders hissed and booed.
The rank aspect for the transcended are in this hierarchy: Dawnborne→ Radiant Veil→ Auroral→ Celestian→ Solaris→ Luminarch →Ascendant Halo.
And that of the beyonders are: Duskborne→ shrouded veil→ Noctural→ Netherian→ Umbralis→ Descendrarch→ Abyssal Halo.
Not minding the contrasting names, the aspect ranks are the same for the both triarch facet, So therefore when one wants to compare the both, they just list it as; aspect rank 1 to aspect rank 7.
Bio-lines are like the ancestors from which their wills are inherited. These were the first people that these wills were given to by the twin lord, and they have been passing it down from generations to generations. There are many bio-lines but five are the most famous both in the beyonders, transcended, and veilbounds.
Now just like the beyonders have five well known and strongest bio-lines the transcended too has theirs.
The beyonders five main bio-line are in this hierarchy: Veyrath, Dravok, Zerathis, Kaelvorn, Morvane.
The transcended five main bio-line are in this hierarchy: Aeltheris, Solmyr, Lumivane, Celyndra, Helionth.
Meanwhile, Dax noted the screen didn’t show every detail, but only what mattered for initiation. Like it didn’t show scars, weapons, and all.
Another ding.
Abbay’s screen flared:
[name: Abbay Gibbins]
[will: Average-willed]
"Booooooo!" the Transcended roared, and Abbay’s cheeks darkened.
And somehow Dax felt it too.
’If they booed an averaged will what will they do to me then?... banish me??’ he thought.
[triarch facet: Beyonder]
[rank: Stirred]
[rank aspect: Duskborne <aspect rank 1>]
[essence gained: Mask Essence]
[masks: 1/50 (one Parallax Server destroyed +1 rank D beast)]
[bio-line: Incarnate of Eryandor]
<Harness successfully passed | Abbay Gibbins, you are officially initiated into the Beyonders facet.>
Transcended laughter rolled across the hall; the Beyonders sat silent. Dax leaned toward Naya.
"Why are they cheering like that? Madame Liliana hasn’t said anything."
Naya shook her head, clearly pissed at their already blooming failure.
"Madame Liliana or the Trinity leaders have nothing to do with the challenge. This is between us alone. Clearly the Transcended lady’s stats beat that guy’s, so they’ve earned two points." She exhaled, her beauty doubling even in worry, at least to Dax’s eyes.
"I just hope the others yet to be called will make us proud" she cast a dark stare at Dax,
"including you."
Dax swallowed.
Well, Initiation continued.
Adrian Shwartz of the Beyonders faced Adam Smith of the Transcended, and the Transcended won again.
Brian O’Connor of the Beyonders versus Bakeman Junior of the Transcended; again, the Transcended prevailed.
The long list went on alphabetically with transcended winning all through out
The hall erupted with their cheers, leaving the Beyonders’ faces dull and stranded. Though the Trinity leaders were officially neutral, they seemed to savor the rivalry.
Finally, at last, the Beyonders tasted victory. A young lady stepped forward:
[name: Celindra Veyrath] ← ( name beginning with C alphabet roll)
[triarch facet: Beyonder]
[rank: Stirred]
[rank aspect: Noctural <aspect rank 3> ]
[will: Strong-willed]
[essence gained: Mask Essence]
[masks: 2/50 (Parallax Server destroyed +2 Rank-D beasts)]
[bio-line: Incarnate of Veyrath]
<Harness successfully passed | Celindra Veyrath, you are officially initiated into the Beyonders facet.>
The Beyonders exploded. Cheers rained like thunder, boots stomping the floor until it quaked, their long-suppressed pride bursting out like a storm.
They booed the Transcended back as though they had seized the crown of victory itself, though in truth the scoreboard still favoured the other side. Still, Celindra was the first with a rank aspect higher than Sprout. And also she not only beat her rival she conquered him.
Her opponent, a Transcended boy, whose stats was:
[name: Corren Althis] ← ( name beginning with C alphabet roll)
[triarch facet: Transcended]
[rank: Kindled]
[rank aspect: Dawnborne <aspect rank 1>]
[will: Strong-willed]
[essence gained: Echo Essence]
[echoes: 1/50 (Parallax Server destroyed +1 Rank-D beast)]
[bio-line: Incarnate of Scahnfox]
<Harness successfully passed | Corren Althis, you are officially initiated into the Transcended facet.>
The Beyonders roared again, their first two points claimed.
When at last the hall settled, Madame Liliana resumed the list.
"Darling Lenerd," she called.
A woman with shimmering purple hair rose. True to her name she was a darling indeed. Dax’s eyes locked on her; her face had the delicate symmetry of carved marble yet glowed with warmth.
Her gown of black silk threaded with tiny beads glimmered like a constellation draped over midnight. Every movement of her athletic, hourglass form whispered of coiled strength. Even the light seemed to linger on her curves, reluctant to leave.
If stats were judged by beauty, Dax thought, this girl would win without a contest.
Shortly after she took her place, Madame Liliana bent over the list once more.
"Daxon Smith," she called.
"..."