Dean already knew what he signed up for when heading over to the institution. He knew that there were going to be a lot of challenges that would make him want nothing more than to quit, but he was mentally prepared for whatever it was.
But looking at Razz, something about the way he spoke made Dean feel a wave of fear creeping over his being. He couldn't help but feel that he was underestimating the intensity of the challenges that he was going to face.
Razz stared at Dean with a smile that was filled with pain. He walked up to Dean, placing his hand on his shoulder as he spoke.
"But not to worry, you have us."
Razz's expression changed back to his smiley self, "not to brag or anything, but I am at the alpha rank."
Sale sighed in exhaustion, like he already predicted what Razz was going to say next.
"While our little stickman over here is at the beta rank," Razz said.
Dean wasn't too surprised at Razz' demonic rank. His physical appearance said a lot on its own. He seemed like a person determined to produce the most perfect version of himself, both physically, and in a demonic way.
Sale seemed simple, mostly quiet, letting Razz do most of the talking. Based on what Razz said, Sale was at the beta rank, which was one rank above Dean, and one rank below Razz.
Dean felt lucky that the two people that he was going to spend an entire year with weren't filled with hostility. If anything, they were going to help him throughout his entire journey, aiding him in every step of the way.
"Are you hungry?" Razz asked Dean.
It was only at that moment that Dean realized the absolute hunger that he was experiencing. His body suddenly felt weak, his legs almost buckled out of tiredness.
Dean hadn't eaten anything since he woke up at home. He spent a large amount of time getting his things ready to head over to the academy, and eventually, he lost track of time. This was why Razz and Sale were barely visible when he initially entered the room.
Dean replied swiftly in desperation, "sure. I'm definitely hungry."
"Good," Razz smiled, "I don't want you getting lean like Sale over here."
"Go to hell," Sale said with a frown.
"We're a demonic race," Razz replied, "I think the better sentence is 'go to heaven' "
The trio left the dorm room, heading out of the building.
Dean felt extremely tired due to the constant usage of his energy to heal himself from the residue celestial energy that raged through his body. He had to keep his healing attribute active to protect his body from tearing apart.
This setback was going to make Dean's training even harder and intense, but he had to push through nonetheless.
They walked through a field under the dim illumination of the moon. The night felt cold, but underneath the darkness, Dean noticed something on Sale's wrist.
It was a yellow band that had a screen that had only one letter displayed on it.
"B"
Dean decided to satisfy his curiosity, "hey…Sale, what's up with the yellow band and the letter?"
Sale turned towards him, his expression was filled with pain as he spoke, "when one comes newly to the institution, they are given a test. This test determines whether you fall into the yellow wristband, the green, or the red wristband category."
"Unfortunately for me, my results weren't outstanding enough, so I got placed into the yellow wristband category. And yes, the yellow wristband is the lowest tier in the institution," Sale added.
Hearing what Sale said about the wristband, Dean now understood why he and the other new students were going to be tested the next day.Their test result was going to determine if they were going to be placed in either the yellow, green, or red wristband group.
Dean looked over at Razz' wrist, and he could see a red band that had the letter "A" written on it. This proved that Razz was on a completely different level compared to the both of them.
From Dean's understanding, red wrist banded students were not only at a high Demonic stage, they were also talented and powerful.
Dean was learning a lot about the system, and based on what he knew, he was going to be a yellow wristbanded student the next day. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to perform poorly.
Revealing his celestial energy wasn't an option, and his demonic energy was still very weak and brittle.
The group walked for a while, eventually reaching a local shop that sold several kinds of junk food. Razz ordered for them in large quantities, while making jokes about Sale needing to eat more to become less lean.
Razz paid for all the expenses without breaking a sweat, which also made Dean believe that he came from a fairly wealthy family.
They all ate and laughed. Razz and Sale told Dean the necessary information he needed to avoid less trouble during his stay in the institution. There were always going to be red bands that looked down on the weaker categories, and Dean needs to steer clear from people like them.
After a while, they left the shop and headed back to the dorm building. Dean settled down and rested with a constant, lingering, foreboding thought in the back of his head.
The next day was going to be the day of his test, the day that determined which category he was going to end up with, the day that determined which prideful student was going to see him as an easy target to bully and manipulate.
Dean didn't know what the full outcome of the day's event was going to be, but it certainly wasn't going to be a glorious tale to tell.
Whatever it was, he was ready to face it head on.