Zane agreed with Evans. All of Valeria's explanations did not rule out the possibility of someone using the Dream Realm to invade Earth; she just explained that the odds were low. Zane desperately wanted to stop worrying, but he couldn't; his mind wouldn't rest until he found some reassurance.
"It's good that you guys have such a mindset," Valeria praised. "The Astral Cosmos follows the laws of the jungle: the strong prey on the weak. If you are not careful or unlucky, then the fate of your civilization will be enslavement or eradication — maybe both."
Zane frowned after hearing how casually she spoke of destruction and enslavement. Humans on Earth have done countless atrocious things, but our actions paled in comparison to those of these high-level civilizations. "Is there anything we can do? Safety measures that Earth could take?"
Valeria chuckled," What can a bunch of Mage Apprentices do about matters involving an entire civilization?"
"True," Zane smiled wryly. Currently, he couldn't even give a decent explanation of what magic or mana was; it was pointless to worry about the fate of the entire planet.
"No need to feel rejected. With the tower present, you won't have to worry about any other foreign entity intervening in your dimension."
"But we can't just rely on them, can we?" Evans asked.
"You're right, and that's why, when the time is right, they will teach you all about inter-dimensional war, blockade, containment, sealing, and all the skills needed to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of the Astral Cosmos."
Her words reassured everybody, but more than anything, they revealed how weak and pathetic they were. Zane — and even Tom and Nguyen — understood this was not their fault. After all, they have been apprentices for a little over two weeks. Regardless, the feeling of helplessness will not dissipate, no matter how they try to think logically about the situation.
"You said Mage Apprentices aren't enough to handle matters of a civilization. What mana stage is enough?" Evans suddenly asked.
"What do you think?"
"Archmage?"
"An Archmage is a guardian of a civilization, enough for you to be somewhat safe in the Astral Cosmos, and even have a voice. A Grand Mage is enough to influence an entire civilization."
"An Archmage is only enough to be somewhat safe?" Tom Nguyen questioned.
"The horror of the universe is beyond your understanding," Valeria calmly stated.
"That means only a 9-circle Mage is enough to truly be safe?" Zane stated. However, to everyone's horror, Valeria shook her head.
"Not even a 9-ring Supreme Archmage is enough. You need a Sage."
"There is a 10th ring?" Zane immediately asked.
"Sages go beyond the scope of the ring system. They are the beings truly standing at the pinnacle of the Astral Cosmos — the pinnacle of Magic." Valeria explained, her eyes full of longing, respect, and despair.
"A sage," Zane muttered, a hidden smile creeping on his face. As his mother always said: Reach for the stars, and even if you fail, you will at least land on the moon. So, why not make Sagehood his goal? Even if he fails, he might become an Archmage, and even if that fails, he won't have any regret as long as he gave it his all.
"There is something I always wanted to know," Tom Nguyen stated, not wanting to think too long about such a distant concept as the 10th ring. As Valeria said, they were nothing but ringless apprentices.
"How powerful is Demon Lord Shakurri?"
"Don't worry about that," Valeria answered. Her refusal to talk on this topic was swift, her tone leaving no room for negotiation.
"He's in the 7th tier, isn't he?" Zane suddenly said. "Probably on the verge of reaching the 8th tier. The final key is probably the souls of countless Earthlings. That's what Lord Drakken meant in his speech when he talked about ascending to a higher dimension of existence."
The conversation instantly quieted down with all eyes on Valeria.
"Am I right?" Zane continued.
"Your deduction is flawed. For all you know, he could be just 6th tier and about to ascend to the 7th," Valeria calmly stated. Her reaction was calm, revealing no information whatsoever in her beautiful face.
"If that were the case, you could have just told us that," Zane continued. "Your reaction indicates a being that cannot be easily overcome, and in my interaction with the tower's employee in the past few days, they only have such a reaction to 7th-tier beings and above."
Valeria stared at him before sighing: "Like I said, being too smart is not necessarily a good thing."
Tom Nguyen and Evans' faces became pale. Although their knowledge is limited, they even know the significance of the 7th tier. The Meditation Book — which introduced the concept of the Nine Rings to them — spent more than one page praising Achmages. It even boldly stated that it was the pursuit of all mages.
Evans — who has more information because of his family — has also heard about how knights can become 7th-tier True Gods. As such, he knew how important the 7th tier was — it was the dividing line between mortals and Gods, and mortals, in this case, also referred to anyone in the 6th tier and below. A perfect example of this dividing line is the tower staff. There were plenty of Grand Mages and Grand Knights — including more than a dozen 6-ring or 6-stars — but only Lord Drakken held the title of Archmage — an 8-ring Grand Archmage, to be precise.
Zane exhaled deeply. Even if Earth could give birth to an Archmage in such a short period, could they still defeat Demon Lord Shakurri — someone who was on the verge of reaching the 8th-tier? Earth's chances were not looking too good. As such, Zane immediately strengthened his resolve to acquire one of the five spots and leave this dimension. Maybe one day, when he becomes a Sage, he can return to salvage Earth's situation.
"How difficult is it to become an Archmage?" he asked.
"Do you really want to know?" Valeria looked him in the eyes.
"I do," Zane nodded firmly.
"Even if the truth might make you despair?"
Evans and Tom Nguyen suddenly paused. They looked at each other, seeing the uncertainty in each other's eyes. Looking back at Valeria, they opened their mouths, but found themselves unable to speak.
"I do," Zane calmly replied. He doesn't like the unknown and uncertainty. The Path of Archmage might be difficult, but many have succeeded, and since they can, he believes he can too. At the very least, he has to try.
"Well, let me put it in terms you could understand," Valeria nodded. "Throughout the Astral Cosmos, there are as many dimensions as there are stars in this dimension."
"So many?" Tom Nguyen gasped. The number of stars in the universe is counted in the sextillion and even septillion.
"Of all those dimensions, only 40% contained life," Valeria continued. "And of that 40%, only about 20% of them have a civilization with extraordinary power."
"That's still billions of dimensions with an Extraordinary Path," Tom Nguyen commented.
"Correct, and of those billions of worlds, only 0.1% of them have given birth to a 7th-tier entity; to be precise, 0.14765%."
"Such a low probability?"
"You think that's the end?" Valeria sneered, her eyes full of a hidden despair that no one had noticed. "Magic is the most perfect Extraordinary Path — one of the few that directly leads to the Sage Realm. As such, the 7th-tier is the most powerful but also the most challenging to achieve. So, of the 0.1% of individuals who have achieved that tier, the number of Archmages is the lowest."
A deafening silence descended on the group.
"What? Already discouraged?" Valeria asked, and Zane only smiled in response; his eyes only shone brighter than before.
"That's the spirit," Valeria praised. She remembered the turmoil she had experienced after learning that truth; it took her a month to wake up and focus. And after becoming a Grand Mage, that number came back to hunt her again.
"Now, go, you've bothered me enough."
"Thank you for indulging us," Zane nodded before leaving with Tom and Evans. A few seconds after their departure, a human mage walked out from the shadows, standing next to Valeria.
"You shouldn't have told them so much," Alerti said with a somber face that made his ordinary-looking face look a bit ugly.
"Didn't they tell us to indulge the High Potential Target? I'm just doing what I'm supposed to," Valeria calmly replied as she continued reading her book.
"While that's true, but you revealed too much," Alerti insisted. "What if you dampen their spirit?"
"If this blow is enough to ruin him, then he had no potential from the start," Valeria casually stated. "Plus, didn't you see his eyes? Those are the eyes of a man with endless ambition and greed. My words will not hinder him. On the contrary, they will drive him even more."
Alerti was silent. "What about the other two? What if they are ruined?"
"As I said, if that's enough to ruin them, then these people had no chance at even becoming Grand Mages," Valeria shook her head. The minimum requirement for the tower to even consider any trainee is the 4th tier. Anyone below that level is considered worthless by the tower, and their fate will be to face the demon legion and become food for them.
"And didn't the tower wish to test Zane's leadership ability? Let's see if he can influence these two."
"You should write a report about today's matter," Alerti stated before disappearing into the shadows. Valeria paused before sighing to herself. A holographic screen manifested before her, and she began writing the report.
"Aren't you worried?" Evans asked Zane as they headed toward the Arcane Section.
"Are you talking about Earth? Well, we are doomed," Zane nodded.
"I'm talking about becoming an Archmage. Aren't you a bit intimidated?"
"Why should I?" Zane calmly replied. "Since others can do it, why can't I?"
"That's a success rate of less than 0.1%," Tom Nguyen said.
"0.1% out of billions is still millions of worlds — not individuals — but entire dimensions with one or more 7th-tier entities," Zane replied. A dimension might have more than one 7th tier, and maybe even more than one 9th tier.
"Since they can do it, why can't Earth do it? With the tower acting as a guide, we will have a clear path ahead of us — that's already half of the battle."
"When you put it that way, it truly doesn't feel like such an insurmountable goal," Tom Nguyen nodded. "The only issue is the short period to do it, but if we can get one of the five spots and leave Earth, there will be plenty of time and opportunity."
"See? You get it."
Evans looked at these two and sighed to himself. "Is this the pride of geniuses? If only I had such an absurd level of confidence."