The first descendant: My SSS Rank Awakening

Chapter 7

Nobody in the hall could believe what they had just witnessed.

Ron did not possess a magical core anymore. They had all watched his class get dragged out of his body, so how had one punch created that much force?

“That is not possible,” someone finally said.

Prince Edward shot up from his seat, and Elijah rushed towards the broken chairs where Henry had landed.

“How did he do that?” the Prince asked.

Elijah dropped beside his son and tried to lift him. Blood poured from Henry's mouth and stained the front of his expensive clothes.

“There is no way Ron defeated him,” Elijah said.

“We all saw it happen,” a man near the front replied.

“Then you did not understand what you saw!” Elijah snapped.

He helped Henry into a chair and looked around for an explanation that would not destroy everything his family had claimed about Ron.

“My son has only possessed the class for a few hours. He cannot control all of its power yet, so the force of his own attack must have rebounded against him.”

The words tumbled out of Elijah so quickly that even he did not sound convinced, but the crowd accepted them immediately.

“That explains everything.”

“Ron didn't defeat him. Henry defeated himself.”

“It was only an accident.”

Their relief was almost embarrassing. Believing Henry had injured himself was easier than accepting that the classless servant standing before them had defeated their new champion.

Prince Edward's shock also began to fade. The explanation protected more than Henry's pride; it protected the Prince from admitting that he had nearly ordered an innocent boy to his death for entertainment.

“A rebound is possible when an awakened uses a new class without training,” he said, sounding eager to believe it.

The guild master who had wagered three million coins pushed towards the moderator.

“The fight should be declared invalid. Young Master Henry's power malfunctioned, which means Ron did not truly win.”

Ron looked at him. “You were happy to call it a fair fight when you thought I was going to die.”

The guild master opened his mouth but found nothing to say.

The moderator looked towards Prince Edward for permission to announce the winner, but the Prince avoided his eyes. Until someone proved what had happened, Ron's victory and Maria's freedom remained undecided.

Maria stared at Ron from where the guards held her. Tears remained on her face, but for the first time that night, they were not caused by fear.

Only Henry refused to join the crowd's celebration of the new excuse. He sat bent over with one arm wrapped around his stomach, staring at Ron from the corner of his eyes. His face held more fear than pain.

Ron could see that Henry knew the force had not come from his stolen class. None of his father's excuses removed that knowledge from his eyes.

“My son was tired,” Elijah continued, turning towards Prince Edward. “That is the only explanation. His power simply turned against him.”

Before the Prince could respond, the heavy strike of a wooden staff silenced the hall. Every head turned towards the entrance, where an old man stood in a plain black robe, holding a staff that appeared older than the palace itself.

Several guests recognised him immediately, although most had never seen him outside paintings and old recordings. It was Gorgon, the Seer of the city and its oldest living awakener.

Nobody knew his true rank. Some claimed he had surpassed every SS-ranked sorcerer in the kingdom, while others said the ranking machines could no longer measure him.

Stories claimed he had once closed an Underworld breach without assistance and returned without a single wound. Nobody in the hall was foolish enough to test whether those stories were true.

He rarely appeared before anyone. Guild masters, noble families and even powerful awakeners could spend years requesting an audience without receiving an answer.

Yet Gorgon had walked into Prince Edward's celebration without being invited.

The Prince left his raised platform and hurried towards him. “Seer Gorgon, we were not informed that you would be honouring us with your presence.”

Gorgon walked past him without answering, leaving the hall even quieter. Elijah quickly straightened his clothes because there could only be one reason for someone like Gorgon to appear tonight. News of Henry's SSS-ranked class must have reached him.

That thought returned the pride to both father and son. Henry forced himself upright despite the blood at the corner of his mouth, while Elijah approached Gorgon with a welcoming smile.

The nobles surrounding Henry hurried to congratulate him again. Several guild representatives withdrew their earlier complaints about his defeat, hoping Gorgon would remember that they had supported the boy he was supposedly about to choose.

“Great Seer, you arrived at the perfect time. My son has just awakened a class worthy of your personal guidance.”

Gorgon passed him too, leaving Elijah's smile stuck on his face. The Prince, nobles and guild representatives watched in confusion while the old man ignored every important person who tried to greet him and finally stopped in front of Ron, bringing the murmurs back immediately.

“Why is he standing before Ron?”

“Does he not know that Ron's class was taken?”

Gorgon studied Ron for several seconds. His grey eyes paused over Ron's chest, and the First Descendant power moved restlessly inside him as though it recognised the old man. Gorgon gave no sign that he noticed before turning towards the hall.

“I watched the fight.”

Excitement rushed back into Elijah's face, but Henry did not share it. The sweat gathering beneath his hair made it clear that he was not excited about what the Seer had witnessed.

Elijah hurried forward. “That is perfect. Now you can explain that this boy had nothing to do with what happened. My son was exhausted, and his SSS-ranked power rebounded against him.”

He kept speaking, too blinded by pride to notice the anger spreading across Gorgon's face.

The Seer's hand moved once, striking Elijah across the face with enough force to send him stumbling into Henry's chair as shock swept through the hall.

Gorgon lowered his hand and stared at him with disgust.

“Shut your mouth, old man. Your son had nothing to do with what happened. That boy defeated him with one blow. How blind can all of you be not to see it?”