We entered the forest and I marveled at all those tree species I had never seen before. There were about four or five different types of trees in that forest, as far as I could tell. Some were tall with a lean trunk, others were smaller and thin, and bigger ones with wide trunks could be seen from time to time. I could see flowers starting to bud on some of them, which told me that the season probably was the equivalent of spring in my old world. The comfortable temperature also helped to confirm that guess.
I walked next to Selva and began conversing with her.
"So, why were you destroying the dome?"
"I wanted to break it to prove my strength. No one has managed to do it before and everyone kept telling me it was impossible. If I could do it, wouldn't that be proof of my prowess? It's the least I can do as the future strongest in the world."
"That makes complete sense. By the way, how old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"Rank 2 at nineteen? That's admirable. Then, what about…"
We continued to travel while I unraveled my curiosity at her. Unfortunately, it didn't work that well. Unlike the kind and gentle Suuru, Selva was impatient and uninterested in most things. Except for basic knowledge, she couldn't provide me with much information. Plus, she quickly grew tired of my incessant questioning and started to respond with short answers or even random grunts. She was mostly interested in things related to ranks, strength, training, and the like. Fortunately, I had a good grasp of these and the conversation flowed better when touching those topics, even though I learned less myself.
Still, I managed to get the most crucial knowledge I needed. We were heading toward a city called Geola, known as a neutral trading city. It was stuck between many warring countries and was selling goods to all of them indiscriminately. it was a place that didn't discriminate against any species and anyone was welcome as long as they behaved according to the law.
As for the reason why that city managed to keep its neutrality, it was because one of the world's powerhouses was its mayor and head of trade. That person was a high-ranked air sorcerer and acted as the city's guardian. They were intimidating enough that the greedy rulers drooling at the city's riches could only tuck their tails between their legs if they frowned their way. Those rulers could only conquer the city in their dreams all the while buying the goods they needed from it to continue their wars at high prices.
This wasn't much different from my previous world. It was common sense that one high-rank fighter was better than a battalion of low-level ones. Selva didn't know how high their rank was because she – and most of the people – were too low ranked to ascertain it, but they were rumored to be over 6 at least, and probably more.
This was good information. I could understand where they came from since starting from rank 7, each rank was a strong wall one had to cross. That was why most normal people stopped at rank 6 in my previous world. Anyone who was rank 7 or more was someone who deserved respect. And then, crossing rank 10, one would become a transcendent, officially registering in the top 1000 of the planet. Of course, it didn't mean there were only 1000 people who crossed over. Depending on the time, there could be less, or more, especially after systematic training became the norm. However, since it generally was around that number, old traditions stayed in place and one would become part of the top 1000 even if they were numbered 1100 or something. The only thing that mattered was to cross the wall of rank 10 to become "rank 11".
Suddenly, two flashes passed by my and Selva's eyes, followed by two sounds, one of metal hitting something hard, and another of something penetrating a dense material behind us.
"Huh?"
Being in the middle of our talk, this took Selva and me completely by surprise. When we looked down, a broken arrow had fallen in front of Selva's feet. A quick look behind us showed another arrow stuck into a tree, still vibrating a little.
The first thought that came to my mind was something stupid.
'Arrows? Who even uses such primitive weapons?'
Then, two more flashes, and one of the arrows hit the side of Selva's head, while the second one got stuck on the same tree behind us, close to the previous arrow.
"Argh!"
Selva put her hand over the place where the arrow hit her, shouting in pain at the strong impact. I could see a trickle of red blood in between her fingers, flowing down the side of her face. I finally understood we were under attack and switched my train of thought, letting my training take over. I scanned the surroundings, an act which quickly proved useless.
Five "creatures" of unknown species showed themselves in front of us, two of them armed with bows and the other three with swords and axes. As far as I could tell, three of them seemed to be female, and two were male. They looked a lot hairier than Selva, with short pointy ears, and fur on several body spots. I immediately checked their ranks and realized they were all rank 1. They were mostly staring warily at me while ignoring Selva, who glared at them hatefully through the pain. The one in front opened its mouth.
"You two! Su…"
Only morons let their enemies talk. Without any movement, I sent a dimensional space divider (aka space cutter) spell in their direction. They didn't react in the least at the silent and almost invisible blade that was rushing toward them. In less than a second, it cut through their bodies, separating them in two around the level of their navel. I canceled the spell as soon as it accomplished its goal, to avoid razing the whole forest, proving that I had indeed mastered it. With looks of complete incomprehension and together with horrible groans of agony, their body parts fell to the ground, their inner organs spilling everywhere to create a grotesque scene. Soon enough, their eyes lost their shine and they died in the pool of their own blood without understanding what killed them.