News spread like wildfire within the school that Rhys had awakened as an Ascender.Having good looks and being the younger brother of the rising star Violet, Rhys was already a pretty popular figure in school albeit being famously cold and unapproachable.He maintained a very close circle of two male friends and never displayed much attention towards the girls in class which was why despite his good looks he was still single at 18, however, with the news of him awakening as an Ascender, his status within the school elevated dramatically as many surprising events took place at once.Belle Lita, the class beauty who had previously shown only lukewarm interest in Rhys and was famously involved with someone else, openly declared her longstanding affection for him during lunch break, becoming the focal point of even more chatter and sensational drama.Meanwhile, Rhys also found his desk filled with three love letters from other classmates, evidence of sudden, burgeoning interest that he ha

Rhys was absolutely pissed that despite being forced to go on a TV show and waste half his day, the system still expected him to complete the ongoing daily mission, as it did not cut him any slack at all.Not wanting to have his pants drop off on national TV, Rhys had to pull an all-nighter with his workout and had to skip school just so that he could accommodate the TV shoot.Emma was not very thrilled that Rhys had chosen to skip school and wished to take the chauffeur to the film village where the set for the 'Dinnertime With Sunny' TV show was, as it wasn't the safest area to visit.However, she acknowledged his hardwork and determination over the past month and viewed him as a good kid, which was why she allowed him to take just this one day off, so close to his end semester exams.As Rhys reached the film village, he was guided to the set for Dinnertime With Sunny and greeted there by Sunny's assistant who quickly took Rhys to the vanity van to fix his looks.Rhys, who was alrea

Since the interview was not live, there was no immediate backlash for Rhys as it would be a week until it aired on national TV, however, after the things Rhys said on that interview, he felt genuinely afraid to head back home.On the bright side, he had received 5 body strengthening potions that would help improve his physique by leaps and bounds, however, on the downside he now had to face Emma and explain to her as to how after all the kindness she and the guildmaster had shown Rhys, he proceeded to stab them in the back on national TV.On his way back home, Rhys felt genuinely restless and anxious, as he did not feel too good about the things that he said, he had difficulty sitting in one spot and was constantly shuffling on his seat as he racked his brains about how to explain this situation to Emma.He knew better than to reveal the presence of the system to anyone, as he realized that whoever came after his sister might also come after him if they found out that it was him who p

Rhys's life changed drastically after the interview aired on national TV.He was branded as a 'Rebel' and became a polarizing figure wherever he went.At school, he was given hell by his fellow classmates whose dream was to become a Ascender one day.For them, who were indoctrinated as a child to be thankful towards Ascenders, Rhys's views were blasphemous and hence they relentlessly harassed him for it.His desk was stuffed with dog-shit, his water bottle had piss inside of it instead of water and some more rowdy fellows even went as far as to spit on him as he walked through the halls.'Ungrateful cunt''Attention seeking whore''Dickless bitch'These were some of the insults that the men of his class hurled at him, with even Cade and Miles receiving the short end of the stick for being friends with him.The women he rejected now scoffed at him, spreading nasty rumors about his personality that were simply not true.His reputation which was untouchable just a few days ago, became un

Good news came for Rhys in the form that both his friends Miles and Cade underwent their first awakenings on their birthday week itself.From their entire batch, it was only the three of them and a nerdy girl named Layla who underwent first awakening around their birthdays as the rest were either waiting to turn 18 or had not undergone awakening at least in their first few months of turning 18.While technically one could still undergo awakening between ages 18-21, the longer it took for one to awaken the lesser their potential generally was and such talents were mostly undesirable to major guilds.It was around this time that children began to realize that not everyone was created equal as the power dynamics began subtly shifting for the first time in their life.Uptil now, everyone wore a uniform, everyone received the same education, everyone played the same games together and were more or less friendly with one another, however, all that was going to change starting now.The Ascen