In this type of society, those who didn't have abilities were seen as disposable people. They were at the bottom of the food chain and were frequently bullied by the strong.

So when Leo said Erix didn't have any ability, the reaction of the group was mixed. 

Some had a disgusted look while some showed no visible reaction at all.

Erix gulped down his saliva and stepped forward towards the test arena with a slightly lowered face to avoid seeing the look on other people's faces. 

However, even with his head low, he could still hear sneer sounds coming from the students standing not too far from their group.

"Who the hell is this filthy trash?."

"I think maybe he is one of those kids that became orphans after the war."

"I won't be surprised if he scores below 50 points, haha."

Ambry also began to laugh and trash-talk Erix. He was already doing it before, but for fear that he might be someone with strong ability, he managed to hold back. But now that he knew he didn't have any ability, he just lashed out at him. 

He said he was the biggest trash he had ever seen and should be dead instead of wasting their time on a test with the obvious result.

There was also Natasha. She didn't utter a word, but it was clear that she was surprised. 

Shota, who obviously came from an influential family, was talking to Erix as though they were friends, making her think Erix was as powerful as him. But now that she knew Erix was just abilityless, she didn't understand why the latter gained Shota's attention.

And the last in the group was Shota. He was surprised at first but then quickly understood why Erix was like that. 

'Was that why he was afraid of me earlier? And come to think of it, maybe it was the reason why he didn't do anything when Ambry was trash-talking him. Oh, poor boy.' He thought while looking at Erix's back as he walked to the test area.

While walking, Erix could hear some mocking laughs coming from the group.

'Just by merely knowing that I'm abilityless, they're already sneering at my back. I guess nothing changed a bit even after joining the military. ' Erix sighed inwardly with a sadistic expression.

Due to how absorbed and discouraged he was from hearing the gossip, he didn't realize when he lost his footing and fell.

'Shit! Even at that, I still needed to focus.' 

He quickly got up and continued walking. Now, he was more cautious of what he stepped on. 

"Wait, he is not only disgusting but foolish also," A student whispered to another.

As Erix reached the test area, Leo said to him.

"Hello, Erix miller. From our record, it said you have no ability, is that correct?" Leo asked for the second thing.

'He knows it already so why rub it on my face like that?'

"Yes sir, that's correct." Erix managed to reply.

Leo reached into his bag and brought out two different elemental ability orbs.

"As per our policy. We will give any student with no ability the option to choose between the two basic abilities. As expected, the elemental ability orb will be only level 1, but it's better than nothing. You may choose between the earth and water ability," Leo said as he showed Erix all 2 ability orbs.

Seeing an ability orb in front of him for the first time, Erix was shocked. He didn't expect something as precious as that.

So without even thinking he stepped forward to accept the water ability for reasons best known to him, but before then, a thought crossed his mind. 

'Wait, why are they giving me this for free? And aren't these two abilities the military's most valuable abilities? Does that mean I will have to stay with them if I learn it?'

As Erix thought, the military indeed had priority over the earth and water ability. It specialized in these elements, so a lot of people in the military had these two abilities. 

And if one wanted to upgrade their water or earth abilities, they needed to join the military because the latter offered a real deal on these two abilities since it had a monopoly over them.

And Erix, even though was an orphan for a long time, had quality time with his parents too. And the thing they had repeatedly told him multiple times until he came to believe it was the principle of symbiosis and equivalent exchange.

Nothing in the world was free, and he knew it very thanks to his parents. He knew the military would never give him an ability without asking for something in return. And since having an ability it was impossible to have another one, he decided to decline the alluring offer. 

Sure the two abilities were one of the strongest abilities in the world, but he wasn't gonna exchange them for his freedom. 

He wasn't ready to serve in the military all his life. And the system seemed to be a real deal so he would have to wait a little longer.

After moments of thought, he finally said, "I'm very thankful for the generous offer, but I must decline. I have no plans of being indebted to the military."

"Wait, what?!" Everybody including Leo exclaimed in shock. Leo was shocked the greatest. In all his years of teaching, he had never had a student who had rejected the ability orbs.

"I said, I won't accept your offer. I don't feel like I need them."

"Why? Are you sure?" Leo was confused, but he needed to continue the test because there were still other students to test after the group.

"I'm sure of it. And again, thanks for your generosity." He even bowed when he said that.

"Fine then, let's see how well you will do in the test," Leo said with a hint of uncertainty. "Begin your test now."

Erix nodded and began to head toward the strength machine and prepared himself.

He then took as much momentum as he could, and punched the red point at the center of the machine.

89

132

303

688

841

The number finally stopped at 841 points. 

Seeing that, everybody began laughing at Erix. After the 'I don't feel like I needed them', he ended up with only 841 points in the strength test.

He then went over to the agility test and there he did a little better. He lasted for 30 seconds. 

Last for the reflex test, he lasted for only 6 seconds.

Seeing his poor result Erix's mood was a little down but he still went back to the group.

And seeing him come back, Shota had a huge smile on his face. At first, he was shocked that Erix had no ability but after seeing him reject the military ability orb, he couldn't help but felt proud of him. Offering free abilities was one of the many ways the military used to secure loyal servants for themselves. When you have accepted their ability, the person would have indeed been chained down his entire life and wouldn't be able to discover the world. Also, taking the ability doesn't stop his bullying, so when he didn't take it, Shota knew that Erix wasn't just any gullible person. 

For Shota, Erix was strong on the inside, and only needed strong backing and good ability.

So when Erix returned to the group, instead of subjecting him to bullying like any other high-level would do, he felt the need to praise him.

"You really did a great job there."

"No need to lie, everyone saw my performance and how poor it was." Erix shrugged, feeling Shota was only trying to make him feel good, and later on crashed it by bullying him.

"Who told you that? Look, not everyone can be able to decline an expensive ability orb. Not even me if I was in your shoes. So for me, you did great compared to any other non-ability users out there." Shota said, gently patting Erix's shoulder.

"Well, if you say so."

While the two were talking, Ambry kept on trash-talking Erix. Not failing once to remind him how useless he was while Natasha just stood by the side, waiting for the result. They waited until everyone was done with their test.

The delay was quite long since everyone went through the three tests

"Alright, everyone." Leo finally said at the end of the test. "Here are your watches. Keep them because you will be needing them in your everyday activities in the academy. And please follow my lead, I will be taking you guys out of here."

Taking the watch and putting it on his wrist, the watch automatically turned on, displaying a number level of 1. He was sad about the level number but what could he do? He proceeded to follow other students who had started moving. He went alone, but Shota was quick to catch up with him.

"Wait Erix, can I see your left palm?" He said, stopping Erix from moving any further without him.

"Why…? Sorry, I mean S-sure," He answered after seeing the number displayed on his wristwatch. Shota was awarded level 6 and a high C-Human rank and that was very intimidating for Erix.

'Shit! I never thought the bullying would start this soon. I indeed miscalculated the odds since here is the military. ' Erix first thought but then he heard Shota speak,

"Don't be scared. I just wanna be friends with you, is there anything wrong with that? No, right? Then allow me to act like one. Show me your palm." And without even waiting for Erix's response, he grabbed his left hand and began to check his wounded palm. 

However, what he saw the next moment left him in shock. 

Earlier, he saw the same palm bleeding but now, it was completely healed up as though nothing happened to it.

"Shota, you have to stop now. Look, people are already throwing dead stares at me. If we are together, others might…"

"Then I will protect you. I will protect you, and I don't give a shit about what others think. If anyone wants to harm you then they will have to go through me first. What do you say?" Shota said with an adamant voice, interrupting Erix.

They continued following Leo who led them to a large portal opening.

"But why would you choose a level one trash like me? That is gonna be a one-sided relationship. I have nothing to give you for protecting me so you better stop." 

"How about accepting my friendship? That will be a good payback for your protection," Shota insinuated with a wily smile.

Erix didn't reply fast, he thought for a while.

'If he keeps pestering me then I can't decline his offer. Even if I do, I'm sure he will bully me non-stop and I'm not ready to be on the bad side of a high level on my first day here. Nevertheless, I'm not falling for his tricks. I will act all friendly with him at first until I figure out an escape route.' 

"You promise not to turn me into your punching human later on? You pretty much know what I'm talking about, right?" Erix finally asked as though he was accepting his offer.

"Yeah, But why would I? I mean, I will never. Not even with any other low levels out there." Shota said. "Does that make us friends then?" 

Shota couldn't hold back the excitement in his voice as he said those words.

"Well, what will I say, yes," Erix said, faking a smile.

"That puts you under my care then," Shota said with a smile.

"Ya, and I will also do my best in helping you in any possible way I can." 

"Haha, you have nothing to worry about." Shota chuckled before entering the ash-colored portal opening, followed closely by Erix who still had a phony smile on his face.

'Shit! I never knew faking a smile was this tiring. '