Chapter 2:
The forest clearing was silent, save for the faint hum of the golden particles still dissipating from Haruto's last attack. Shinji and Takashi stood frozen, their bodies vibrating with an energy they didn't understand. It felt like their blood had been replaced with liquid lightning.
"Heavenly Grade..." Shinji whispered, staring at his palms as if they belonged to a stranger. "And a hundred of these 'Pin Points' just... popped open?"
Haruto wiped a smudge of dirt from his jacket, looking at them with a mixture of respect and annoyance. "Don't say it like they're bubbles in a soda, kid. Do you have any idea what you're holding inside you right now?"
"Not really," Kenji piped up, leaning in with his usual lack of boundaries. "So, what about more than a hundred? Can I get, like, a hundred and five? Maybe a bonus ten for being a loyal friend?"
Haruto looked at Kenji like he was a bug that had just learned to tell a bad joke. "In the history of the Mantraverse, I have never heard of anyone opening more than a hundred Pin Points. The human vessel has its limits. Think of it like a circuit board—you try to plug in 101, and your soul goes pop."
He cleared his throat, adopting the posture of a weary professor. "Listen up, because I'm only explaining this once. To even touch Ki, you need at least ten Pin Points open. That's the entry fee. From there, the world decides how much of a 'somebody' you are."
The Talent Lecture
Haruto held up a finger. "First, there's your Level. It's the raw number of Pin Points your body can handle."
* Low Level: (10–49) — "The guys who carry the bags."
* Medium Level: (50–80) — "The soldiers who do the dirty work."
* High Level: (81–90) — "The elites."
* Supreme Level: (91–99) — "The geniuses who make everyone else jealous."
* Legend Level: (100) — "You guys. And me. We're the ceiling."
"But," Haruto added, his eyes darkening, "numbers aren't everything. You also have a Talent Grade. This is the quality of the engine. You've got Mortal, Earth, Heavenly, and Special. You lot are Heavenly. That means you're essentially Ferraris."
"So who's the Special Grade?" Riko asked, crossing her arms. "There's always a bigger fish, right?"
"There is only one person I've ever heard of classified as a Godly Talent," Haruto said, his voice dropping to a respectful whisper. "He has a hundred Pin Points, a Special Grade soul, and something called Legendary Comprehension Skill. He's unmatched. He doesn't just use Ki; he speaks its language. Compared to him, we're all just shouting in the dark."
The "Dog Tail" Dispute
Haruto didn't wait for them to process the information. He moved through the rest of the group—Shiro, Riko, and even the goofy Kenji—placing his hand on their foreheads. Each time, a surge of power erupted.
"Unbelievable," Haruto muttered, shaking his hand as if it were burnt. "The whole lot of you... a hundred Pin Points. Heavenly Grade. Are you guys drinking something special in this town? Is it the water?"
"It's the school lunch," Kenji joked, though his knees were shaking from the sheer power now coursing through his legs. "It's mostly mystery meat, but I guess it builds character. I can't wait to show this to Akira! He's gonna flip!"
"Hold it!" Haruto's voice cracked like a whip. "I trusted you and unlocked your gates because you looked like you were about to be eaten by a Shadow Beast. You have to make a promise: never tell anyone. Not your parents, not your teachers, and especially not your government. If the wrong people find out you're a group of 100-Point Heavens, they won't recruit you—they'll dissect you."
Riko bit her lip. "Is this the only way? To have someone like you just... touch us?"
"No," Haruto shook his head. "If a person has the potential, they can open them through complex meditation or ancient rituals. Or, if you're particularly crazy, a Life-and-Death battle. Sometimes, when the Reaper is knocking on your door, your body kicks the gates open just to survive. But most people die before that happens."
The Math of the Heavens
Haruto reached into a spatial pocket—another trick that made the kids' eyes go wide—and pulled out a handful of metallic objects. They looked like high-tech medals, but they hummed with a soft, rhythmic light.
"Take these. They're Badges."
Takashi caught his, squinting at the small digital display on the metal surface. "What are these for? Do we get a scout troop merit for being almost-murdered?"
"Are you deaf?" Kenji barked, shoving his face into Takashi's space. "He said 'Take the Badges.' That means they're important, you clown!"
"Shut up, Kenji," Takashi snapped. "I know they're important. I'm asking what they do."
"They measure your Rank," Haruto interrupted, stopping the fight before it started. "Right now, all of you are at the bottom. Bronze Badge, Green Class, 1st Division, 10%."
Riko looked at her Badge. It was indeed a dull bronze, with a small green meter that looked depressingly empty. "I... I don't understand. Why are there so many words for 'You're a Noob'?"
Haruto sighed, looking up at the sky as if asking for patience. "Okay, look. There are six major Badge Ranks. Think of them like titles:
* Bronze: Warrior
* Silver: Commander
* Golden: King
* Diamond: Emperor
* Black: Sovereign
* White: Divine."
"That's a lot of ranks," Shinji muttered.
"We're not done," Haruto grinned mischievously. "Each Badge has a meter. The color of that meter tells you your Class. It goes from Green (Low) to Red (Supreme), and eventually Fusion (Special). Then you have the Divisions—the meter is divided into eleven parts, from 0 to 10. And finally, the Percentage shows exactly how much Ki you've condensed in that division."
He watched their faces. Shinji looked like he was trying to solve a math problem in a language that didn't exist.
"First comes the Badge," Haruto recited. "Then the Class. Then the Division. Then the Percentage. It's not that hard."
"That literally just flew right through my brain and out the other side," Shinji admitted.
Kenji patted Shinji on the back with mock sympathy. "Say it clearly, Dog Tail. You didn't understand a single word, did you?"
Shinji glared at him. "Did you?"
"No," Kenji said proudly. "But I'm not the one with the 'Dog Tail' nickname."
"I don't have a dog tail nickname!"
"You do now."
Haruto groaned, reaching into his pocket again and pulling out a weathered, leather-bound book. He tossed it at Shinji's chest. "Just take this. Everything is written in here. Read it. Memorize it. Don't lose it. I have things to do, and explaining 'Percentage' to idiots isn't on my schedule today."
The Shadow in the Woods
As the boys continued to bicker and Riko tried to make sense of the Badge's glowing screen, the camera of fate shifted.
Miles away, in a part of the forest where the trees grew crooked and the sunlight seemed to die before it hit the ground, a different kind of power was stirring.
A man stood in a crater of charred earth. He was massive, his muscles bulging beneath a suit of heavy, blackened armor that looked more like a machine than clothing. His eyes were hidden behind a visor that flickered with data.
His name was Tank, and he didn't care about Pin Points or Heavenly Grades. He cared about results.
He knelt, his gauntleted hand brushing aside the dirt to reveal a faint, circular indentation in the stone.
"I know it's here," Tank rumbled, his voice sounding like grinding rocks. "The Ring isn't something that stays hidden forever. And when I find it..."
He looked up toward the direction of the town, his visor flashing red. He could sense it—a sudden, massive surge of Ki awakening. A hundred points. Multiple signatures.
"New players on the board," Tank whispered. A cruel smile spread across his face. "Let's see if they break as easily as the others."
[End of Chapter 2]