2026-10-13 23:10:34Three days after the night watch, the academy announced a surprise ranking test for all first-years.
The notice went up on every board:
Compulsory Ranking Test – Tomorrow Morning
All first-year students must take part.
Results will update official ranks and weekly points.
Failure to appear = automatic rank drop and point loss.
The training field filled with nervous talk. High ranks looked excited. Low ranks looked sick.
Erix sat with Shota, Kael, and Lira under their usual tree after classes.
“This is bad timing,” Kael said. “Your ribs are still healing.”
“I don’t have a choice,” Erix answered. “If I skip it, I lose everything I just earned.”
Lira flipped through her notebook. “The test is usually three parts. Strength, speed, and a short spar. They match you against someone close to your current rank. But sometimes they mix it up on purpose.”
Shota’s face was serious. “Ren will try to get matched with you. Or he’ll pay someone to hurt you during the spar.”
Erix looked down at his hands. The strange hunger had been stronger than ever since the night fight. The heat in his chest came and went like a second pulse. He had not told anyone how close it felt to breaking open.
“I’ll handle it,” he said.
---
The next morning the whole first-year class stood on the main field. Instructors walked between the rows with tablets, assigning partners.
Erix’s name was called with a student he did not know — a quiet D-rank boy named Tomas. Relief lasted only three seconds.
Ren’s name was called next… against Kael.
Ren’s head snapped toward Kael. His smile was thin and ugly.
The first two parts of the test went by in a blur.
Strength test: lifting weighted bars. Erix finished in the lower middle of the F and D ranks. Better than before, but nothing special.
Speed test: short sprints and cone runs. The heat in his chest flared halfway through. His last sprint was faster than he expected. He finished higher than most F-ranks.
Then came the spars.
Students fought in small marked circles. Instructors watched closely. Matches ended when one student stepped out of the circle or could not continue.
Erix versus Tomas was short. Tomas was careful and defensive. Erix used the footwork Lira and Kael had drilled into him. He did not win big, but he stayed in the circle until the instructor called time. A clean draw.
Kael versus Ren was different.
Ren came out aggressive from the first second. He swung hard and fast, trying to overwhelm Kael. Kael blocked and moved, calm as ever. For a while it looked even.
Then Ren changed tactics. He grabbed Kael’s sleeve and pulled him off balance, then drove a knee toward Kael’s stomach. The move was sharp and mean. Kael twisted away, but Ren’s elbow still caught him across the face.
Blood appeared on Kael’s lip.
The instructor stepped in. “Enough. Match over. Ren wins.”
Ren stepped back with his hands raised, looking innocent. “Sorry. Got carried away.”
Kael wiped the blood with the back of his hand and said nothing. His eyes, however, stayed cold.
Erix’s hands curled into fists at his sides.
After the test, the new rankings appeared on the big screen.
Most students stayed where they were. A few moved up. A few dropped.
Erix’s name showed:
Erix Vale – Grade F → Grade E
Level 1
A small rise. The first real one.
Students nearby muttered. Some sounded surprised. Some sounded annoyed.
Ren walked past Erix on the way off the field. His voice was low enough that only Erix heard it.
“Enjoy the E-rank while it lasts. Next time I won’t stop at a lip.”
Erix watched him go.
Later, in the storage building, the group sat in silence for a while.
Kael’s lip was swollen. Shota looked angry. Lira kept glancing at Erix like she was trying to figure something out.
“You moved differently in the speed test,” she finally said. “At the end. Your body looked lighter.”
Erix stared at the floor. “I felt it too. Something inside is changing. I don’t know what it is yet.”
Shota leaned forward. “Whatever it is, Ren already noticed you. He’ll come harder now.”
Erix nodded slowly. The heat in his chest pulsed once, steady and warm.
He had climbed from F to E.
He had watched his friend take a dirty hit because of him.
And he knew the next fight with Ren would not end with an instructor stepping in.
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Chapter 12
The observation started the very next morning.A senior instructor named Voss appeared at Erix’s first class. He was a tall man with grey hair and a calm face that never smiled. He did not speak to Erix. He only sat at the back of the room and wrote notes on a small tablet whenever Erix moved.The same thing happened in the second class. And the third.By lunchtime every student knew Erix was being watched. Whispers followed him through the hallways. Some students stepped away when he passed. Others stared like he might explode.Ren made sure to walk by with his C-rank friends and say, loud enough for people to hear, “Careful. The unstable one is here.”Erix kept his eyes forward and did not answer.In the storage building that afternoon the mood was heavier than usual.“They’re not just watching your power,” Lira said. She had checked the academy rules. “Observation status means they can call you for sudden tests. They can limit your jobs. They can even freeze your points if they dec
Chapter 11
The demonstration field was packed.Every first-year stood in rows. Second-years filled the higher seats. Instructors and three student council members sat at a long table facing the main circle. The morning sun was bright and sharp.Erix stood with the other selected first-years. His name had been called third. Ren stood two places away, calm and smiling. Kael was further down the line, face unreadable.The first two matches were short and clean. A D-rank girl lasted almost a minute against a council member before stepping out. A C-rank boy was finished in twenty seconds.Then the instructor called, “Erix Vale. Enter the circle.”Whispers moved through the crowd. Everyone knew the F-rank who had climbed to E. Everyone had heard something about a strange burst of strength.Erix stepped into the marked circle. His opponent was a second-year student council member named Daren — tall, lean, and ranked B+. His eyes were polite but cold.“Begin,” the instructor said.Daren moved first. He
Chapter 10
The new training started the next morning before the sun was fully up.Erix stood in the storage building with Shota, Kael, and Lira. No climbing drills. No footwork circles. Today the goal was simple and brutal.Make the strange power appear. Then hold it for one extra second.Lira timed everything with her tablet. Shota and Kael took turns pushing Erix in short, hard spars. Every time he got tired enough, the heat in his chest tried to rise. Every time it rose, he had to keep fighting instead of letting it fade.The first hour was failure after failure.The power came in short bursts — two seconds, three seconds — then vanished and left him weaker than before. Once he dropped to his knees and could not stand for almost a minute.“Again,” he said through gritted teeth.They kept going.By the third hour something changed. The heat rose during a spar with Kael. Erix felt the usual flood of strength in his arms. This time he did not swing wildly. He focused on the feeling itself, lik
Chapter 9
Two days later the student exchange practice began.The training field was divided into four large circles. First-year teams of four would face second-year teams in short matches. The rules were simple: stay on your feet, stay inside the circle, and protect your teammates. Winners received points and a small chance at rank movement. Losers received nothing.Erix stood with Shota, Kael, and Lira at the edge of Circle Three. Their opponents were already waiting — four second-year students, all C-rank or higher. They looked confident and a little bored.Ren watched from the sidelines with his new C-rank friends. He did not enter the matches himself. He only watched.The whistle blew.The second-years attacked at once.Shota met the first one head-on. Kael moved to the side and blocked another. Lira stayed close to Erix, eyes sharp.A tall second-year with short brown hair came straight for Erix. He was faster than anyone Erix had faced before. The first punch scraped Erix’s shoulder. The
Chapter 8
The day after the ranking test, Erix woke up to a message on his academy tablet.Point adjustment notice Reason: Review of previous job performance -15 pointsHis seventy points had become fifty-five overnight.He stared at the screen. No further explanation. No name of who ordered the review.Shota read the message over his shoulder and frowned. “That’s not normal. Point reviews need a senior instructor’s approval.”Kael sat up on his bed, lip still slightly swollen. “Ren’s family has connections. Small training company, but they donate equipment every year. Enough to ask for favors.”Erix felt the heat in his chest pulse once. “So he can just take points whenever he wants?”“Not whenever,” Lira said from the doorway. She had arrived early, notebook under her arm. “But he can make small things happen if he pushes the right people. Fifteen points is carefully chosen. Enough to hurt. Not enough to look obvious.”Erix closed the tablet. “Then I need to earn them back before he takes
Chapter 7
Three days after the night watch, the academy announced a surprise ranking test for all first-years.The notice went up on every board:Compulsory Ranking Test – Tomorrow Morning All first-year students must take part. Results will update official ranks and weekly points. Failure to appear = automatic rank drop and point loss.The training field filled with nervous talk. High ranks looked excited. Low ranks looked sick.Erix sat with Shota, Kael, and Lira under their usual tree after classes.“This is bad timing,” Kael said. “Your ribs are still healing.”“I don’t have a choice,” Erix answered. “If I skip it, I lose everything I just earned.”Lira flipped through her notebook. “The test is usually three parts. Strength, speed, and a short spar. They match you against someone close to your current rank. But sometimes they mix it up on purpose.”Shota’s face was serious. “Ren will try to get matched with you. Or he’ll pay someone to hurt you during the spar.”Erix looked down at his
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