"We have an SSS-rank student." The words left Cecilia's lips before she even took a breath.
Kael's expression flickered, briefly, but then hardened. "Slow down, child."
Cecilia forced her breath steady, but the urgency remained in her voice. "It's Noah Webb. He just told me now that his true potential isn't FFF. His racial effect as a Dark Dragon masked his true rank at awakening. His real potential… is SSS."
Kael leaned back in his chair, the carved wood creaking. He regarded her with the same look he gave every claim that sounded too wild to entertain. "And you believe him?"
"Yes." Her answer was instant.
"Cecilia." Kael's tone dropped, heavy with weary authority. "That boy has been in the custody of the Investigation Authority for months. Tortured. Broken. Do you not think this is merely delusion? Fantasies stitched together by a fractured mind desperate for importance?"
Her jaw tightened. "The ritual that summoned him—"
Kael sighed. "Not this again."
