Chapter 313: Tier X
’At first, I was human. Then I became a monster... now I’m not even a monster. I’m a mutant... just what the fuck am I?’ Thoughts raced through Dhruv’s mind.
"Does that mean I’m not a monster?" Dhruv asked, confused with so much going on at the same time.
"No... Master, at your core, you are still a monster. But a unique sort. A type of monster that is not a monster from birth," Aurora replied, trying to form her sentence with simple words.
’Man, what the fuck... if I’m a monster... sigh! whatever.’ Instead of understanding, Dhruv was getting more and more confused.
And why wouldn’t he, when in the last ten minutes he had learned more about the cosmos than he had after cosmic evolution? Learning so much information at the same time, he felt his brain frying.
"Master, are you alright?" Looking at his situation, Aurora couldn’t help but ask.
’Yeah! Fine, just going through some existential crises...’ Trying to calm himself, Dhruv joked.
Getting his mind together, he looked toward her and asked, "You were asking how I became a mutant, right?"
"Yes, Master," she replied, a smile appearing on her face.
"Well, it’s not much. With the help of a skill, I fused three monster cores with myself, and boom, I became a monster. It sounds simple but let me tell you it was anything but that..."
"...The process, it was not at all simple," Dhruv muttered, remembering how much agony he had felt during the fusion.
’Skill... fuse three cores with himself. Well, the process is almost the same, but how was he able to fuse the cores with his body? What was the tier of the skill?’
Numerous questions appeared in her mind as Aurora looked at her master.
"Master, if it’s not much, can I ask what’s the tier of the skill that you used to fuse the cores with your body?" She asked.
"I don’t know the tier because there wasn’t anything written after its name. But the name of the skill was [True Fusion]," Dhruv said, remembering how its name had appeared on the status.
"WHAT!? A True Rank skill..." Aurora blurted out, not caring about her etiquette.
’Woahh! Woahhh!! Now what?’ Dhruv was beginning to get tired of all these revelations. Now he couldn’t be bothered to know another big secret of the cosmos.
Still, he couldn’t help but pay attention after all for the first time in their entire conversation, Dhruv saw shock on her face. For some reason, after hearing the rank of the skill she was shaken to her core.
Gulping a mouthful of saliva, Aurora looked at Dhruv and asked, "Are you sure about that, Master? Are you sure there was ’True’ in its name? If it’s not much, can I see the skill?"
"Yeah! I’m pretty sure about the name. And about seeing the skill... No, you can’t see it," Dhruv muttered, knowing full well there was no way of seeing the skill anymore.
"My apologies, Master. I should know better than to ask about another’s status," Aurora quickly replied, knowing full well that no sane being would show their status to others.
"N-No, it’s not like that. Even if I want to, you can’t see the skill..." Somewhat embarrassed by what happened, Dhruv looked at her trying to explain what had happened because of his fusion.
"You see, during my fusion, the skills got fused with me as well, and they disappeared from my status."
After listening to everything, Aurora looked at him and expressed, "If what you said is correct, then... it’s really a ’True Rank’... a skill of Tier X. I still can’t believe it."
"Ohh! Yes, Tier X, that makes sense. W-Wait—what, Tier X, like Tier X-X!? Are you sure about that..." Now it was Dhruv’s turn to be shocked.
"Well, I can be ninety percent certain that it’s of Tier X rank," Aurora muttered, not hiding anything.
Even after hearing that it is only ninety percent, it takes some time for Dhruv to calm down. When he could think properly a hint of disappointment appeared over his face.
"Why ninety percent and hundred percent..." Dhruv asked, still not believing that he had been carrying a skill of Tier X all this time.
"Because we don’t have a record of anyone who has reached Tier X. Forget about seeing... I don’t even think I know someone who has seen or even heard about a breathing Tier X...
Looking at him, She added, "...and this when I’m royalty whose social circle isn’t to be scoffed at,"
"Tier X... are they that rare?" Dhruv asked somewhat surprised by its rarity.
"Rare... just saying rare is such a big understatement that I can’t even describe it," Aurora mentioned, a chuckle escaping her mouth.
"If you don’t have any record of Tier X, then how can you be sure that the skill I have is of Tier X?" Dhruv asked the perfect question.
"Because of its name, Master. We don’t know about Tier X, but one of my ancestors had reached Tier IX and he had left the names of skills from I to IX," she mentioned a proud smile appearing on her face.
’Ohhh! One of her ancestors reached Tier IX... well, isn’t that great...’ Even Dhruv was impressed with his achievement.
He waited in silence while Aurora collected her thoughts, remembering the names of the skills.
"Please keep in mind that these names are generally only applicable to manipulation skills." Before continuing, Aurora mentioned.
"Tiers I, II, and III are called Basic, Advanced, and Master Manipulation respectively. Tier IV is called Perfect Manipulation. At Tier V, it converts into Great Manipulation..."
"At Tier VI, there is a very qualitative and quantitive change in one’s mana. And that’s why it is called Superior Manipulation. At Tier VII, you reach Supreme Manipulation. Tier VIII is called Ultimate Manipulation..."
"And finally tier IX is when you become divine. At tier IX you get Divine Manipulation." Aurora paused.
