Magus Supremacy

"Alright! Now I have seen my rewards and I love them all," Grey said as he strapped the new sword around his waist, a wide grin plastered on his face.

Thalos stood in front of him, eyeing him silently, while Grey found a small pouch. He emptied the case that contained the pills into the pouch before tucking it away somewhere safe.

He did the same with the teleportation stone, though that he left in its case. The disguise ring, however, he tossed to Thalos, motioning for him to wear it.

"You'll be needing that since I'll be heading to the academy and wouldn't want to be carrying a stone statue around," Grey said.

"I'm not a statue, I'm a gargoyle!" Thalos barked in irritation, slipping the ring onto his stone finger.

"I don't see the difference," Grey shrugged without looking up.

"You're lucky I want to serve under you. Otherwise, your head would be rolling on the ground before you even had the chance to breathe," Thalos scowled, still studying the ring, which seemed to fit him perfectly.

"Ooo! Scary," Grey mocked, dramatically flaring his hands in the air before chuckling. "Anyway, you promised to lecture me on the tiers of beasts in this world. Go on, I'm all ears."

Thalos glanced up from admiring the ring, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait! You mean you've never encountered any beast before? No one has explained the different tiers of beasts to you?" Thalos asked in disbelief.

"If I already knew all that, would I be asking you again?" Grey shot back, matching his stare with a raised brow.

"Hold on… are you even from this continent at all?" Thalos asked, his eyes scanning Grey up and down.

"Of course not, you fool!" Grey groaned, dragging his hand down his face. "I woke up in someone's house with no memory, no recollection of who I am… or was. No power, no strength, no family, no friends—nothing."

"Oh! That explains it," Thalos nodded slowly. "Which means my theory about my former master not coming from this continent was right."

"Your former master—who was he? What was he? And what continent did he come from?" Grey pressed, leaning forward.

'If… if I can just get the slightest hint or idea of who the creator of the Aetherian faction was, I might be able to recollect my memories. Maybe even head back home…'

"All I know," Thalos began, "is that he was something called a mage—one who wielded extraordinary abilities, like the one you used against me in our fight. That's all I know. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's because I never questioned him."

"Seriously? You followed someone around for years and you know nothing about him? Not even his name? What kind of aide are you?" Grey's tone was part disbelief, part exasperation.

"I'm a battle aide. And no, I didn't think it was my place to question him. I reckoned that if he wanted me to know, he would have told me without me asking," Thalos replied with a shrug.

Grey sighed and shook his head. "My only lead to knowing where I came from… gone. The only option now is to go back to Aetherian so I can dig harder and find more about him.

Since he founded the Aetherian academy, most of his information should still be there. Maybe the clan leaders would know a lot about him. But would they even listen to a kid?" he muttered under his breath, unaware that Thalos heard every word.

"Although…" Thalos said, snapping Grey out of his thoughts, "there is someone who knows a lot about my master. I think he was the master's most trusted and closest friend. But… I doubt he's still alive. I don't even know how long has passed since my master left me here."

"Who are you talking about? Who knows about your master?" Grey asked, his eyebrow arching as hope and eagerness stirred within him. He leaned forward, his focus locked entirely on Thalos's next words.

"The leader of the Noxarian faction. The most ruthless and demonic faction there is. That is who I'm talking about," Thalos replied without hesitation.

"Noxarian faction?" Grey repeated, feeling his throat go dry as Yami's earlier words came back to him.

{"The last faction lets chaos drive and guide them. The Noxarian faction is more ruthless than any of us. They kill first and then ask questions next."}

'That Noxarian faction?' Grey thought, feeling a chill race down his spine.

"Although," Thalos went on, "I do know how to draw a teleportation circle to take us there. My master showed me the way already. I would need your mana to help activate it though. So… do you want to go now?"

Grey quickly glanced up, chuckling nervously.

'If what Yami said was true, then with my current strength I don't stand a chance against any Noxarian member. I need to be much stronger first, strong enough to protect myself if trouble comes.

And knowing my luck, trouble will come. Just like Finral said—I really am a trouble magnet. For now, I have to focus on getting stronger. And if the faction leader is still alive, I doubt he'd have any reason to meet me yet.'

"I'll pass. For now," Grey finally replied, clenching his hands.

Thalos simply shrugged. "Anyway, back to my initial question—the tiers of beasts?"

"Right!" Thalos snapped his fingers. "To my knowledge, there are eight main ranks and classifications of beasts."

"Which are?" Grey asked, raising an eyebrow.

"First, we have the Mortal beasts, the lowest and weakest type there is. You could take one out easily. Then there are the Spirit-ranked beasts—you could handle those too, judging by your current strength.

Next are the Earth-tiered beasts. You might struggle against one of those a little, but you'd likely still come out on top. After that, we have the Sky-ranked beasts. Those will absolutely tear you to shreds if you try to fight one now," Thalos explained, and Grey nodded along.

"Then we have the Saint-ranked beasts. If you see one, my advice is simple—run. Run as far and as fast as you can. To fight one, you'd need to be at least stage five. Otherwise, you have no chance."

"So that means Yami-sir could deal with this rank," Grey nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't know this 'Yami-sir' you're talking about," Thalos said, puzzled. "But if he's stage five, yes—he could definitely take on a Saint-ranked beast.

The next is the Divine-ranked beast. To deal with one, you'd need to be at least stage seven. That's a job for the vice leaders of the major clans in the faction. After that comes the Primordial-ranked beasts.

They're extremely rare, but when they appear, entire clans can fall. The only way to stop them is if the three leaders of the three major clans personally come forward."

"And the last one?" Grey pressed.

"Those are even rarer than the Primordial-ranked—the Godbeasts. To defeat one, you would need the power of a god. Only a stage ten warrior could hope to challenge one and live to tell the tale," Thalos said with a firm nod.

"My sword—you said it was made from a beast. What rank?" Grey asked, pointing to his waist.

"It was forged from a Divine-ranked beast. That's why I said it would be almost impossible to break," Thalos replied.

Grey grinned. So I got something that valuable without risking my life? This is awesome.

Then a thought struck him. "Wait! If we were to classify your strength, what rank would you be?" he asked, remembering the crushing blows he'd endured from the gargoyle.

"Me?" Thalos grinned, showing his teeth. "I'd be on the level of a Divine-ranked beast… but on the cusp of becoming Primordial."

Grey's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "What?!"

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{A/N}

Hey Magus Legion! Just wanted to make a quick apology to y'all. Sorry but for today, we would only be getting a single chapter due to some issues I'm having right now.

I hope you all can forgive me. Normal updates will resume from tomorrow. I'm sorry.