Wontiferus’ Notes #1-The ranking system

Hey. This is Wontiferus Poxim writing. Gigi asked me to do something for his book and I said, ‘why not’. He gave me a list of things he didn’t understand. Like Gigi, I am not an expert in certain areas so I said I will just do what I can for the time being.

One thing I am quite familiar with is the ranking system in Eurasia. First of all is the individual rank. Once someone is born, they are entered into a kind of nursery within the MBP. During childhood and adolescence, (when they reach puberty at around the age of 40), they are monitored. During this period, several subtle tests are carried out. When someone reaches what Eurasia deems as adulthood, at the age of 80, they are given a rank based on the outcomes.

A person’s rank is relative to others in your mage category. An SSS utility farmer type would be the best farmer type that there is. However, it will most likely be much weaker than a C class fire elemental for example. Likewise, my rank is dependent on the other medics in Eurasia. Being one that can be used for offence and defence puts me at quite a high rank.

The ranks are, in ascending order: F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS and SSS. There is also one rank above all: rank R, standing for Regal. This is the supreme ruler of Eurasia. He makes the final call in decisions but in reality he just nods as his underlings do all the hard work. A person’s rank carries with them their whole life. It does not change no matter what.

That’s what they say though. Being in Squadron A allowed me get some extra information. Your rank has pretty much been decided at birth. It turns out that these tests don't mean much in the grand scheme of things.They only change your rank if you develop something during puberty, and even then you only go up or down a rank or two at most. So basically, it depends on how you’re bred in the first place. Get it good and you’re sorted for life. Get it bad and you’re stuck with it for the rest of your life, sort of like Gigi’s face.

Gin’s Edit: 1) could you stop calling me Gigi? And 2) is it possible to not mock me in my own book?

Wo’s Edit: 1) No 2) No

I personally am rank SS. I just say I’m rank A so that people don’t get too intimidated by me. One of the worst feelings is people avoiding you cuz they either are scared of you, as you’re a higher rank, or they ignore you for being one rank lower than them, you get me? It gets so boring, I just asked for a transfer. All mainstream Squadrons are like that. Only SW went and accepted me, although I took the precautions of lying about my rank first. Anyway, I’ll resume on the topic at hand or Gigi will get mad again.

How this continent works is that you need to be enlisted into a Squadron, no matter who you are. All food produce and facilities are provided by these squadrons. The Squadrons receive their resources from the government, which are just the supreme ruler’s lackeys. The government is at the top of the system in Eurasia. All resources that are produced, whether it is food, infrastructure, land etc, are given to the government. They are then distributed between the several Squadrons. Trying to live outside the Squadron system for long is near impossible and believe me, I’ve tried. If I didn’t happen to wander into Gigi’s secret village all those years ago, I might have died.

Anyway, moving on. The thing that all Squadrons in Eurasia look at is a person’s rank. Amongst the 23 ranks, 22 of them are ‘legitimate’ as the MBP likes to call them. You apply for a position and they judge whether you are accepted or not. They make it look like, in the interview, that they take the other details into account but in reality they just look at your rank. Even worse, the lowly Squadrons, will probably not accept you if you are rank E or F. Your rank will take you to your grave living the high life or dying from starvation.

The ‘illegitimate’ Squadron would be Squadron W. They don’t care if you are rank F, you just need to complete the initiation test and you’re in. Essentially, everyone looks down on squadron W. They are seen as the rejects, partly ‘cause they accept Es and Fs, but mostly ‘cause of how individual Squadrons are ranked.

The Squadrons are named based on their rankings. Squadron A is the highest while Squadron W is the lowest. Squadrons can move in rank between the letters, based on achievements. The higher a Squadron is in rank, the more resources and privileges they receive from the government. Hence why Squadron W looks like the worst one. I’m actually surprised they could fit 2000 people in a single Rezah tree. I was given a Rezah home all to myself back in Squadron A. SA’s land is also vast, spanning over several cities. SW on the other hand probably doesn’t own land beyond their tree. They are most likely in the middle of someone else’s property.

Finally, one privilege Squadron’s get is the ability to go to war. Small skirmishes are often assigned to the lower ranked Squadrons while full blown out battles are dealt with by the higher ones. Squadron W doesn’t seem to get that privilege, even to do the smallest of skirmishes. This just leads to a cycle where, ‘cause they haven’t done anything, they don’t get promoted and because they can’t get promoted, they haven’t been given the chance to do anything promotion worthy. However, I believe I can do something to change that. But for now, I think I’ve covered everything I know on ranks within Eurasia. The other Continents may differ.

Gin’s Edit: Thank you Wo for your input, I appreciate it. It would seem that the MBP’s focuses on nature rather than nurture. It’s such a shame that someone with potential will never be recognised by the government. Whatever rank they are given is final, and it’s unlikely they can prove otherwise. I’ve actually met with some really strong people and it came to a surprise that they were labelled as an ‘E’ or an ‘F’. I guess I was also fortunate that SW exists, or I might have just died since no one else would’ve accepted me.

I would like to add that within Squadron W, we have our own ranking system. We don’t discriminate on official rank. We give each other a title, based on the army system originating from the late 2nd millennia Europe (fyi Eurasia used to be two continents: Europe and Asia). The lowest rank is the recruit while the colonel is the highest official member of Squadron W. However, everyone is friendly enough and just call each other by name rather than rank. There are higher ranks but they are sort of given to the government who ultimately decide what happens to us.

We are also separated into battalions with one person being assigned the battalion leader. My battalion’s leader is Alder. Depending on the mission, a battalion is selected and the battalion leader decides the participant. Or at least that’s the theory. We’ve never been given a mission as Wo has stated before and so ultimately, everything we do might just be a pointless farce. But I guess having some sort of system, in the off chance we get one, is welcome. It keeps everyone busy at least.