Hinata stepped into the room, a large hall filled with people, all waiting for the same thing: a chance to become adventurers.
From the chatter around her, it wasn't hard to tell that most of them were first-timers, complete rookies with no prior affiliation to the Guild.
Another reason for the registration fee, she realised, was to stop people like these from skipping ahead. Too many had tried to jump straight to D-rank, the minimum requirement to be considered an adventurer, without ever proving themselves at E or F-rank. The Guild wasn't about to let anyone buy their way into danger.
F-rank was where everyone started. It wasn't really a reflection of strength, more of a placeholder until their true capabilities were evaluated.
Those who showed even the bare minimum of combat potential moved up to E-rank, marking the point where they stopped being trainees and started walking their own path.
But D-rank was the true starting line, the point where an adventurer stepped out of safety and faced the world head-on. Beyond that, each rank demanded more: more power, more skill, more risk.
D+ adventurers were those considered ready to take the C-rank test. C-rank itself represented the standard, competent and reliable, the kind who filled Guild halls everywhere.
C+ was a cut above that, and then came B-Minus, the veterans who had failed the B-rank exam more than once but still outclassed most others in power.
Then there was B-rank, the level most adventurers would never surpass. They were the elites of the Guild, respected and trusted with high-paying, high-risk missions.
B-Plus adventurers were the ones gathering experience and points for the next big leap, the A-rank exam.
A-Minus belonged to those who had faced that trial and failed, yet still possessed power that could not be ignored.
But A-rank itself was a different realm, the pinnacle of human capability. Only a handful across the continents could claim that title, their names spoken with reverence. Some were even hailed as Heroes.
And above them stood the A-Plus adventurers, people who did not just live through history but shaped it.
People like Shizue.
Of course, the ranking between adventurers and monsters was not equal. A D-rank adventurer could not necessarily defeat a D-rank monster such as a direwolf alone. Sometimes it required a full party of D-rank adventurers, or even a C-ranker, to bring down a single beast.
The factors used to rank monsters went far beyond human ranking. Physical strength, defensive capabilities, speed, skills, magicule count, and most importantly intelligence all played a role. Even if two monsters shared the same power, the one with higher intelligence would be far more dangerous. A monster's rank reflected the average combat strength of its species rather than a strict individual comparison.
A sudden voice broke her thoughts.
"So, you're the new birds who think you can fly?"
Hinata turned her head along with everyone else. The tone carried authority and a faint hint of amusement.
Her eyes landed on the two men standing at the front of the hall. The first wore a brown shirt and pants, his black hair cropped short. A long scar ran under his right eye, giving him a stern and intimidating presence.
The other man was an entirely different story.
He was wearing nothing but a pair of boomerang briefs, completely shirtless with his tanned, muscular body on full display.
Even Hinata, who had seen her fair share of strange things since arriving in this world, had to fight the urge to sigh. Around her, the other candidates looked mortified, confused, or just plain uncomfortable.
But the strongest emotion in the room was not embarrassment. It was fear.
The oppressive pressure rolling off the man on stage was enough to make most people's knees shake.
Hinata's eyes narrowed. B-rank, maybe even A, she concluded almost instantly.
Judging someone's exact combat level was difficult, especially when she was still learning to read aura properly. But one thing was certain: this was not someone to mess with.
Aura was one of the many energy types in this world, and one of the most fundamental for combat, especially for humans.
People often used the term "aura" as a catch-all for any kind of energy a being emitted, especially when comparing it to the magicules that flowed through monsters. The two were often mistaken for each other, but they were very different in essence.
While both aura and magicules originated from spiritrons, they behaved in very distinct ways.
Magicules were far more volatile, deeply tied to a creature's innate magic and nature, and could easily be influenced by emotions or willpower.
Aura, on the other hand, was refined spiritual energy that exerted tangible, physical pressure on people and objects.
Every living being released aura naturally, even without trying. It leaked from them constantly, though weakly, like the warmth radiating from a body. But to actually use it effectively in battle required intense training and precise control.
In combat, aura could amplify a person's physical abilities: strength, speed, endurance, even reflexes. The stronger and more refined one's aura, the greater the enhancement. Skilled users could even channel it into their weapons and armour, boosting their performance beyond normal limits.
In practice, this allowed for superhuman feats achieved purely through will and training, without relying on Skills or Magic.
That made aura the best option for most humans and demi-humans, whose magicule reserves were typically far lower than those of monsters. Aura also acted as a magicule-dispelling wave, which made it extremely effective against beings of pure energy. For spiritual life-forms, this was especially dangerous, as prolonged exposure could cause their very existence to destabilise or collapse.
Monsters, however, rarely bothered mastering aura. They could train in it, but given their vast magicule reserves, most saw little reason to. Their natural power allowed them to learn magic and gain Skills far more easily.
It was not that using multiple energy types was impossible; it was mastering them all that proved difficult. Most beings specialised according to their nature, preference, and environment.
Take the Ogre Tribe, for example. Shuna primarily focused on magic manipulation, while Shion honed her Aura Fighting Method.
Hinata, however, planned to master both. After all, only children make choices. Adults take everything. It would be foolish not to, especially when her Usurper Skill could replicate the techniques of those stronger than her.
Even if she could not directly copy them, her Analytic Appraisal allowed her to dissect and understand the underlying principles behind the arts of those weaker than her, letting her recreate and refine them in her own way.
"Since each of you came to join the Subjugation Division, we will be testing your combat ability against a summoned monster," the scar-faced man began, his tone firm and disciplined. He gave a curt nod toward another man entering from the side door, a mage judging by the polished staff in his grip.
"Or you can just fight me instead," interrupted a loud, grinning voice.
The speaker was the half-naked man from earlier, flexing his biceps like he was in some muscle show instead of an exam. Hinata blinked, briefly wondering if she had wandered into Baki by mistake rather than the Tensura world.
"Shut up!" the scar-faced man barked, clearly at the edge of his patience.
The muscle-head only smirked wider. "That's no way to talk to your senior, Mizu," he teased, taking a heavy step forward. His chest visibly swelled, muscles bulging as if flexing by their own will.
Hinata's eyes widened slightly. Wait, is his chest actually pumping up?
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How does homeculus work in tensura? They transfer spiritual body inside it? Don't they fear someone destroying their soul since it's inside it? So what's it actual use?