2 days after Yuko's return, the Principal called all the Heroes available to the Pocket Dimension. He already told me that he's ready to share his recent predictions and that there will be some revelation that everyone will find baffling.
The task of the Heroes to erase their portal traces was all but finished except those who are still in their Otherworld, doing whatever it is that they're doing there.
Each of them already experienced an attempt by the Invading World to nip the Heroes' growth in the bud. Though none of them succeeded yet, there's already a number of them who were injured and were sent into retreat, losing some of their trusted comrades.
Along with the growing numbers of Corrupted, there were only a few worlds which were the same as the World of Spirits where its denizens were strong enough and united enough to be free from any corruption.
The next day after Yuko's return, Yuko ditched me so she could go and talk to Yumiko. She still feels that Yumiko will continue to restrain herself so she took the task of pulling her and their friendship back to normal. Later that day, they both appeared before me in the Pocket Dimension where I was grinding my Adaptability. They talked it out and they're finally back to that state where they're close enough to be called best friends.
Err… now, they call themselves as sisters because of their special relationship with me. Though I don't know what kind of method Yuko used, at this point, it's better not to ask.
Both of them could be my supply of Flux Energy but yeah, they also needed to train so I wouldn't openly ask them about it knowing that Yuko and Yumiko will voluntarily present themselves just so we could have an excuse to make out.
It's not bad once in a while but we might all get addicted to it and forget to train completely. As much as I want to be that intimate with them, I have to somehow restrict myself for all of us.
"Alright. Everyone is here."
The Principal started after the last student entered the Pocket Dimension.
His eyes scanned through the crowd first before he opened his palms and something like a screen made from energy was projected on top of it.
Yup. He made use of energy and his palm as a projector. His brain was the CPU to make a presentation.
Appearing on the screen was a graph showing the state of each world on the number of Corrupted against the total Population of each world. Though none of the worlds reached 50% yet, the highest there was 30%. And it was the world where the Hero needed to flee just to save himself, leaving some of his trusted comrades.
The graph shown will be the statistics one month from now.
He predicted the growth of Corrupted in each world with his Clairvoyance with the help of the Totem Pole.
It's only been a little over two months since the first Corrupted exposed itself in Yuko's Otherworld so seeing this made the other Heroes' gulp down their saliva due to their shock by seeing that. There's still a number of them who thought the Corrupted wasn't a threat after all.
After waiting for the Heroes to digest the information about their own Otherworld, the screen changed to the view of our own world, the Earth.
After that, numerous articles and images were simultaneously shown to us. Well, this is not his prediction but a collection of old articles that he probably saw and remembered.
I tried to read some of it and they're all cases of sudden disappearance and reappearance. Which means, those were the clues about the other Heroes in other countries. He already revealed this information to me and Yuko probably already has the knowledge about it but most of the students who were still unaware became confused upon seeing it.
"As some of you were already aware of this, I'm showing these to inform those who are still unaware. There were other Heroes that were being summoned to the Otherworlds. Compared to us, they're unorganized."
They couldn't accurately locate those Heroes so they mostly rely on missing cases to investigate.
"What's the point of telling this to us? Are you saying they're our competitor?"
One student asked. This guy looks like a delinquent, but yeah compared to Raiden who's always smiling even when he's smashing barbarians in front of him, this one guy was someone who often acts tough in front of anyone.
"Competitor? Change your mindset about that. We all live in the same world, why will we antagonize each other? They are our allies. They're doing the same thing as you."
The Principal emphasized the word 'allies'. For him, everyone on Earth is under one banner so nationality and political ideology didn't matter for him. Being a Transcendent, the mundane world was probably already trivial for him.
"You said they're unorganized, do you plan to organize it?"
Another student raised her hand and asked a question. This one girl looks like a diligent and studious student. She had a braided ponytail and a black-rimmed glasses. Of course, like any other girls in the class, her beauty is on her own league.
"No. I already informed their countries about them. They will do it."
I still don't know if the other countries know about this school which gathered 30 or 31 of them if they included me. Will their Heroes be as strong as these classmates of mine?
Err... Since he already informed them, he probably uncovered who were those Heroes through his Clairvoyance. By giving them the list of names, the ones responsible for that country will surely track them and gather them in one place.
"Humans are greedy, what if they antagonize everyone using their Heroes?"
Another student asked, it's the guy who lost a comrade, he still bore some kind of injury in his arm. It might be broken bones because of how it was still in a cast.
"Political Ideologies or even Human Greed will succumb to absolute Power. Do you know who's responsible for summoning you?"
If there are no other Transcendents, the Principal could just threaten them with his strength. Even if they tried to scheme behind his back, his Clairvoyance will definitely pick it up.
"The Earth's World's Will?"
Someone from the front answered and that earned him the confirmation from the Principal.
"The Earth's World's Will isn't awakened yet, that's why it could only send you to the Otherworlds who asked for its help. Some of you have close ties to the World's Will of your Otherworlds that's why you're already aware of the Earth's state."
I already had this hunch when I talked to that World's Will of the World of Spirits but seeing the Principal confirming it deepened the mystery about the Earth.
Despite being unawakened, why did those worlds ask it for help? And we as denizens of the Earth have unimaginable growth that none of the natives could compare. If we're also as special as the Earth, then what will be the level of our world when it awakens? Level 3?
"I see. Every summoned Hero was fighting for Earth. That's why they're allies and not competitors."
"That's right. Moreover, it's now time for all of you to know about this. You're all Rank 5 Mortals now and will soon touch upon the ceiling which is Transcendence."
Eh? Why is he talking about Transcendence already? If he talks about it, he will have to reveal that he's a Transcendent. Didn't he tell me to keep it a secret for now? What changed?
Seeing the confused look on my face, The Principal turned to me and said.
"The situation has changed Kuramoto-kun. I need to wake all of you up."
After saying that, he started talking about the Universal Power Level. Though he didn't have the same formula which our system has, he brought out a measuring equipment, from his explanation, it can gauge someone's current Power Level by scanning someone. Though it won't show an accurate numerical value, it will show them their current Universal Rank.
All this time they were basing their strength on their Otherworlds' pathway but with this, everyone will have a uniformed measurement of their strength.
Among all of them, only I showed the measurement of Rank 4 Mortal but even with that, it earned me their most undisguised surprises. They knew I'm the new kid. For me to creep behind their current strength like that, the others finally took me seriously.
If I added 4 more Heroes to my Support List before being scanned by it, the result will surely show as me being a Rank 5 Mortal like them which will surely give them more than just a shock. I'll do that later, I'm more concerned about the change in the situation.
"Now that you've confirmed it, I will now tell you about the Otherworlds and the identity of the Invading World."
The Principal started talking about the Mortal Worlds. He told them that the worlds that summoned them were only Mortal Worlds, where the strongest existence can only reach Rank 5 Mortal unless they become a Transcendent by surpassing the limits of being a Mortal.
The students were all listening in earnest with glittering bright eyes.
"The Invading World as we all know it is a Transcendent World. Their world is called the Dark World. That world consisted of 30 different tribes which were further divided by the Great Ones they were serving. There were 6 Great Ones with each one leading 5 tribes."
"Being a Great One means he or she already reached the highest level one can attain in their world, just like how a Rank 5 Mortal can be the strongest in a Mortal World, each Great One was the strongest Rank 5 Transcendents. As you are now, you're merely an ant compared to them, a Rank 1 Transcendent can crush you even if you pour in everything you had."
The Principal paused for a moment to check everyone's reactions. Everyone including me were still in the process of digesting what he just revealed. The Great Ones which I heard of before were Rank 5 Transcendents, and they're all the strongest in their world. I still don't know the concept of being a Transcendent but to be informed of our enemies to be at that level, it's quite unimaginable.
"The fight to defend your Otherworld will soon be more difficult when the Portals widened enough for them. According to my prediction, two or three months from now, Rank 5 Mortals will be able to pass through those Portals, if they're lucky a Rank 1 Transcendent as well."
Upon hearing the Principal's last sentence, not only the other students but even Yuko and Yumiko were alarmed. Their glittering bright eyes dimmed as they all looked down. Two or three months, that's faster than I imagined.
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