Chapter 48: Cores and Ranks II

Desire found out what made the Core different from the rank when he felt something was touching him.

The way it touched him seems like it was calling for him.

'Is it Jarina?' Desire thought as he went back to his own body.

Even though he already erased his body's senses, he could still feel it if something touched or made direct contact with him.

That was why he could tell.

Anyway, Desire opened his eyes, and he immediately saw Jarina standing across from him in the same dress she had on before.

'She's still beautiful.' Desire thought as he witnessed Jarina open her mouth while placing her violet hair behind her ears with her finger.

"Did you find out why Ranks aren't exactly correlated with Cores?" Her voice was somewhat accompanied by interest.

After all, if you consider Desire's achievements in the past few days by this world's standards, Desire is basically a talent that defies even heaven's standards.

It was then.

Desire, who was staring dazedly at Jarina's way, nodded his head hesitantly.

"Well...I did find out, but I don't understand. Cores are what make the mana outside become yours. How come it doesn't really have anything to do with the Rank you have?"

Desire was mesmerized by how the quality that stays in the Core becomes higher, and the quantity that goes in the mana circuit becomes higher as well if ever the Core is upgraded.

However, even if the mana only piles up in the mana circuits of a person, it should still be something that is related to the ranks.

After all, it is owned by the person.

And to Desire's question, Jarina answered coolly while sitting down.

"It's actually simple. The system doesn't recognize Cores."

"Eh?"

"What?"

"The system doesn't recognize Cores?"

Desire...didn't know that. At least, that's not the answer he came up with.

Initially, he thought that the reason why Rank and Cores aren't related is that the mana that increases is actually in the Mana Circuits.

The mana that stays in the core gets its quality upgraded, but the quantity stays the same.

It would have been understandable if the system doesn't recognize the mana in the mana circuits as not part of the mana of the person, but to think that it was actually the Core itself...

"But...why? I mean, how?"

This was Desire's honest question.

The system is something that was given to the humans and monsters, but a human or a monster both have Cores.

It would be weird if the system doesn't recognize something that exists in both creatures.

No...it was unthinkable that the system wouldn't recognize Cores.

And because of his question, Jarina had a smile on her face. This was the first time Desire had a flustered face about something else besides monsters.

Well, she actually wanted Desire to hit something like a wall.

After all, she also didn't know why and how.

"Well, there is a story about why the System doesn't recognize Cores."

Jarina said as she put a finger in her chin as she swayed her body as if she were enjoying this moment thoroughly.

"What is it then? I don't understand, really. It doesn't make sense."

Ranks are what the system places in order to know the power or strength of a creature, place, item, spell, or whatever the hell it is.

It is based on mana.

Cores are what store the mana on a living creature. It gathers the mana outside a person's body, and it converts that No-Attribute mana to the person automatically.

Since Ranks are based on mana, it should be related to Cores.

That was what Desire didn't understand. After all, it really doesn't make sense.

"A Core is something that we, living creatures, have naturally and use to surpass our limits. That is why it gathers mana and makes it our own, and we also purposely use our all to make the Core stronger."

Jarina answered as such without missing a single beat. Her cool demeanor brought forth admiration from Desire.

"However, the system, meaning the Ranks, is given to us by a God because...that God wanted to limit our strength."

"Limit our strength?"

Isn't the system meant to help us recognize ourselves better? Desire thought, but he didn't voice it.

After all, that was how he saw the system since it was there since he was a baby.

It may be something else to Jarina, and it may be something else to another person.

"Yes. This is just a famous story, though. Actually, no one knows the real story. The reigning Gods apparently banned the talk about this."

It was then.

As Desire was extremely curious about the story of a God giving the system to the humans and monsters as a way to limit their strength, he asked Jarina about it.

"Wait. How does the system actually limit our strength?"

Jarina saw the fires being lit up in Desire's eyes, so she immediately thought about it.

"Hmm...how should I say this?"

The room was silent for a minute. It seems Jarina was really thinking about it.

It was only after 5 minutes have passed that she spoke.

"Ranks are so prominent in the world that it is used as a way for determining the strength or power of a person. You know this, right?"

When Jarina asked, Desire nodded his head heavily. He already learned this before, so it was an easy question.

"The System basically tells the power of someone to the God, and when a person is about to ascend to a power that should normally be impossible to attain, a God stops it. Meaning, the Gods doesn't want another Sovereign."

It was then.

The curious eyes of Desire suddenly took a turn, and his eyebrows wiggled slowly at the unknown term.

"Sovereign? What's that?" Desire leaned on his body as he asked curiously.

"Oh, they are at the top of this world. They are basically Gods that are in this world, rather than in Heaven."

Jarina's explanation of Sovereign was rather cloudy or vague, and this made Desire ask again.

"So, they are strong people?"

Jarina nodded her head strongly as if to emphasize the word strong.

"That's right. If you offend one of the reigning Sovereign, not even my father can save you."

Desire was about to ask something about the Sovereigns again but decided not to when Jarina shook her head.

"I also don't know much about this topic. After all, the secrets of the apex are something that a Rank 6 monster cannot pay for."

What Jarina said was reasonable. After all, in the eyes of people standing at the top, a Rank 6 monster is just an ant.

And Desire found this understandable, but he couldn't help but feel a little regret.

Why?

It was because he just felt it. It was so sudden that Desire felt strange about it. No, it wasn't because he didn't get to know more about the Sovereigns and stuff.

Desire was sure of this as he also didn't know why he was feeling regret.

However, because of his Heavenly Demon Trait, he was able to calm down and asked Jarina again.

"Hmm. I see. But what are we going to do now?"

It was then.

Jarina, who was swaying her upper body left and right, suddenly clapped her hands with shocked eyes.

"Ah! That's right; we got too off-topic, didn't we?"

It seems she didn't realize that what they were talking about was something they shouldn't have talked about in the first place.

Normally, Jarina would be suspicious about this. After all, there's no way she would make a mistake like that.

However, because she enjoyed seeing Desire like that, she didn't mind it so much as she continued talking again.

"Now then, the Core is what we will be talking about today. Well, you already know about it, but Core could help you become a much better magician."

Desire nodded his head.

"There are quite a few ways to use your Core efficiently, but the most important one is the use of Magic Cores."

Jarina then proceeded to explain about the various grades of Cores to Desire.

She also told him about his current grade and how amazing it was when Desire jumped from dirty to Pure Blue Core straight.

After all, there was no one else who has done that ever in history.

At least, that was what Jarina knew.

And so, the two talked about the Cores for a long time. They were so focused on their discussion that they didn't notice the eyes staring at them outside the door.

It was Lionel.

"Hmm. Should I let him come with me on that day...?"

His voice as he spoke was worried, unlike his usual fiery self.

He then closed the door and left the room where his daughter and disciple were with a sigh.

As he continued walking, he soon reached outside of the house and saw that the moon has come out.

"Pista, huh..."