F rank beings were the baseline of existence, common mortals with no connection to mana or the deeper energies that the world was made of. An average office worker, a laborer, a civilian, even a soldier or a trained martial artist, all of them belonged to the F rank.
At best, a peak F rank could display extraordinary physical prowess through sheer discipline and training, but they remained bound by human limitations. They could bleed, tire, age, and die like anyone else. They had no access to the hidden layers of the world.
But once someone crossed the threshold into E rank, they became Awakened.
This was the first true step into the supernatural. Their mana pathways unlocked, and their bodies began to resonate with the latent world energies around them, mana, elemental forces, spiritual qi, blood essence, or even divine or abyssal power or any of the numerous world energies.
A D rank was a step higher. Only those beings who were able to condense their preferred world energy into a core can call themselves a D rank and this condensed energy also gave them a huge boost of power.
An Awakened individual could sense and manipulate these forces, albeit crudely at first. They could enhance their bodies, release energy attacks, form barriers, or even interact with beasts and spirits.
Though they still relied heavily on tools, potions, or training aids, they had stepped onto the path of power. E rank beings were no longer just people, they were threats, capable of killing dozens of F ranks with minimal effort.
D rank, however, marked the transformation from energy user to energy wielder. It was not enough to merely sense or absorb energy. To become a true D rank, one had to condense the energy they resonated with into a tangible core, a crystallized manifestation of their affinity.
This core served as the internal wellspring of their power, allowing for explosive growth in strength, speed, durability, and perception. A D rank fire mage might ignite the air with a glance. A D rank blood warrior could regenerate from fatal wounds.
The formation of a core also stabilized their energy, allowing them to use advanced techniques, chain abilities, and begin forming their own signature combat styles.
At D rank, one was no longer just Awakened. They were Transcendent. And once their core began fusing with their body, they would step into C rank and that was when the world would truly begin to fear them.
At this stage, a being could create a domain, an extension of their will, an environmental manipulation of space itself. In this domain, their laws ruled.
Time could bend, gravity could shift, and even reality could fracture if their concept was powerful enough. A peak C rank was no longer someone a kingdom could afford to ignore, they were walking disasters, each one capable of altering the outcome of wars.
In the world of Earth Online, peak C rank was considered to be the highest power one could achieve. Above that, only those who possessed monstrous luck and talent could step into the world of B rank where they formed a true core and merged with their body and soul completely.
It was clear that whatever potion they had consumed wasn’t just some crude level-boosting concoction. It had temporarily refined their control over world energy, stabilized their cores, and forcibly propelled them into a higher state of combat readiness.
It was like someone had hijacked the natural progression system and brute-forced evolution into them through sheer alchemical insanity.
More importantly, normal guild or players would never be able to afford something like this. This was something even the super guilds should have difficulty to obtain, stomach and digest.
The things that had transpired so far was different when compared to this last move. This kind of power is something one uses to conquer a kingdom or a territory, not a small scale battler like this over a city. That too not when the other side had nothing to gain from his loss.
So why were they doing this now?
Damon’s gaze turned serious. It did not matter. This was something that had to be settled one way or the other. He prepared to test out one of these forced C ranks when suddenly the golden masked guy made a move.
To his surprise, he along with a group of these newly minted forced C ranks walked right over to Aurora. "What are you doing here and what did you do to yourself?" The golden masked guy sounded furious as he looked at Aurora from top to bottom with anger in his eyes.

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