Ch.202Advanced (2)

I have a unique way of describing the power tiers in this world as Low-Mid-High.

The Low tier is like Super Soldiers. The Mid tier resembles typical web novel fantasy characters. And the High tier is comparable to high-power shonen manga characters.

Or you could say it’s a distinctive power balance divided into three beats: Low Power, Normal, and High Power.

This balance of power manifests in this world as authority derived from individuals possessing the strength of entire groups.

For example, the Mid tier, if compared to modern weapons, would be like a tank. Compared to ordinary humans (infantry), they possess incredibly superhuman physical abilities or can wield powerful magic capable of sweeping away entire armies.

Of course, it’s not that there are no countermeasures against them, like large-caliber direct-fire artillery, but these are merely countermeasures in the literal sense.

Even with modern weapons emerging, Mid tier beings maintain their standing. As such, they’ve secured positions of privilege in most cultures, enjoying power derived from their military might.

And for these Mid tier beings, the High tier is truly on another level. Simply put, they are beings of such immense power that each individual can wield influence comparable to an entire nation.

Particularly, High tier beings transcend the level of ordinary “strong ones” to become asymmetric forces that cannot even be confronted by anyone who isn’t also High tier.

Therefore, they occupy a unique position that cannot be compared to any modern weapon. If one were to name something with a similar presence… it would be none other than nuclear weapons.

They can freely exert overwhelming power comparable to nuclear weapons with conscious will. Moreover, they can deploy this power against targets that lack the mutual assured destruction capability of other High tier beings.

To put it bluntly, High tier beings are so overwhelming that their mere possession can change the standards of what constitutes a great power. Because of this, most beings who can exert international influence have risen to the High tier hierarchy.

The Sword Master of the Holy Empire. The Unified Pope and Grand Saint of the Pantheon. The Tower Master of the Magic Tower and the heads of major schools. The King of the Frankish Kingdom. The Headquarters Director of the Adventurer’s Guild. The current Gathering Leader of the Druid Assembly.

Each one is an overwhelming authority figure, rare enough to count on one hand across the western continent. High tier is precisely that power which enables one to become such an authority.

[Kamil! Is, is that true?! High tier! Are you really saying you’re just short of High tier?!!]

That’s why I could fully understand my father’s extreme and radical statement before opening my mouth.

‘Yes, Father. I’m just one step away. That’s all I haven’t crossed yet.’

[Hahaha!! Really, is it really true?! Then, how long will it take…]

‘…At maximum, 10 years. At minimum, probably within 5 years.’

To put it somewhat extremely, High tier status is almost like a means to wield extralegal authority by itself.

It’s a realm where your power is preserved as long as you don’t commit insane acts like massacring thousands of ordinary people in broad daylight, and furthermore, most unreasonable demands are accepted simply because of the reason “they are High tier.”

If you’re a warrior, you can easily turn a country’s entire upper echelon into corpses within days of a war breaking out. If you’re a mage, you can devastate or erase an entire city with a single spell.

That’s why, right after I definitively stated that I would reach the High tier realm within 10 years, my father spoke to me in a voice that anyone could hear was filled with joy.

[Very well, Kamil! Then I withdraw my words! Go forth and achieve whatever you desire!]

My father, who had been indirectly opposing me until just moments ago, showed such a conciliatory attitude because the name “High tier” was enough to shake up the future plans he had carefully laid out.

To be frank, with High tier power, one could demand a princess from the royal family and become a power holder, or even negotiate independence with the Frankish Kingdom, maintaining a feudal relationship while taking control of the surrounding territory.

It’s an unreasonable power that makes the impossible possible. Cross the line, and retired High tiers will come to deal with you personally, but as long as you don’t cross that precarious line, your power-derived authority will be tacitly acknowledged in whatever you do.

[That’s right. Don’t be too hasty, Kamil!]

‘Hahaha… Yes.’

So in this situation where my father spoke with genuine happiness, I awkwardly smiled and raised and lowered my hand a few times while gazing at that vague “line.”

A line so thin it could be compared to a single sheet of paper, yet simultaneously more important than anything else.

※ ※ ※

And now, several weeks have passed since that communication with my father.

The winter cold has completely lifted for about a few weeks now. As I feel the warm spring breeze, I recall the conversation with my father from a few weeks ago…

‘…Hmm.’

Taking a meditative stance that I’ve established as the basic posture in what I’ve named the “Kamil-style” martial arts manual, I concentrate my mind and gaze at the “line” that exists somewhere in my heart.

A boundary of the world without form or shape. A decisive boundary that exists in a non-material realm, separating High tier from Mid tier, comes into my “view.”

A tall and massive boundary. Though it’s just the difference of a single sheet of paper, that one sheet determines and divides the gap, making it by no means a trivial difference.

And as I gazed at this gap… I clearly faced the essence of High tier warriors that I had naturally come to understand recently, and the boundary that allows one to become High tier.

Simply put, High tier beings are those who have solidified their mental images into a clear form.

Because of this, their bodies are treated as small worlds in themselves, possessing a kind of self-completeness and circulating flow.

In other words, their spiritual presence expands from an individual entity to a small space or domain, which naturally affects not only the soul but also the body—a reproduction of tremendous mystery.

Just as the human body is often metaphorically described as a small universe (Space) in mystical perspectives, this space and domain constructed in the inner spiritual realm affects the physical body.

Even magic users who have never trained their bodies can be granted bodies as solid as steel, and phenomena can occur in the body itself due to the influence of the self formed in the mental realm.

Growing larger or smaller in size, changes in physique or skeletal structure are just the basics.

Parts of the body can transform into something else, some mystery can dwell in the body, and in extreme cases, only a small part of the body remains while the rest becomes a different substance.

Mages are even capable of deploying these inner realms into reality in the form of otherworldly manifestations.

Anyway, the minimum condition for High tier is forming this inner realm… and currently, I am in a state so close to that realm that it can be described as “a sheet of paper away.”

The dream world I periodically visit during the process of “predation” is the foundation where that “realm” will take its place, and my spiritual growth and mental maturity to handle the inner realm were completed long ago.

In other words, I’ve achieved the minimum prerequisites for ascending to the High tier realm and made preparations. Having visited that “space” several times, I’ve also developed a sense for forming an inner realm.

So all that remains for me is to freely engrave the form of my self onto this blank canvas, completing my personal world to move on to the next stage…

But this is incredibly difficult to execute, even with theoretical knowledge.

Of course, it’s largely because this isn’t an ability that can progress just by knowing about it, but personally, I find the bigger issue to be the process of clearly fixing this vague abstract world.

It’s like being thrown a single architecture textbook and then being forced to build an entire house with it.

And after being lost in thought for a while, I decided to clear my head and return to reality.

‘…Ah, you were watching.’

Children, probably no more than 8 years old, had been watching me as I manipulated my blade shield in a trance-like state.

Recognizing these children looking at me with bright eyes and smiling innocently, I lightly waved back at them, and then…

‘…Wait a moment.’

Suddenly, an idea about educating these children flashed brilliantly in my mind.