The move from the Tutorial Zone back to the Academy District was like moving from a nightmare into a fake world. The Chaotic Star-War Academy was in the middle of the city, a huge place of white marble and steel that the military used for recruits.
To the thousands of students in the courtyard, this was the most important day of their lives. It was the 97th Annual Awakening Ceremony. This was the time their Astra Soul would be shown, and it would decide if they were Elites or just Dross for the civilian world.
Vahn Ryker stood at the back of the line. He looked very bored. Next to him, Aria was messing with her robes and looking at him. Since they left the forest, he had not said a single word to her. He treated her like she was just a small icon on a status screen.
"You should hide yourself," Aria whispered. She leaned in close to pretend she was checking his energy. "The teachers are looking for the person who killed the boss. There are guards everywhere."
Vahn did not move his head. His 50 Intelligence let him feel the boots of the guards patrolling. Real governments were trying to take control of high level accounts because they wanted resources. If they found out he was an EXP Architect, they would kidnap him before the day was over.
"This is a high risk," Vahn muttered. "Starting concealment protocol."
He opened his menu. He had 10 million EXP. He did not need to level up, he needed to hide. He went into the hidden shop for Architects.
[Purchase Item: Disguise Cloak! Tier: Rare!]
[Cost: 500,000 EXP! Done!]
A blue light went over him, but only he could see it. To anyone else, Vahn Ryker did not look like a strong fighter. He looked like a scrawny loser. His status plate was rewritten by force.
[Status Masked!]
[Fake Class: Magic Apprentice (Rank F)!]
[Fake Stats: All 1!]
"Is that a disguise cloak?" Aria gasped. Her green eyes got big. "Those cost a fortune! How did you get that?"
"Be quiet," Vahn said. "The noise is useless. Look at the stage."
In the middle of the stadium, a woman stood on the podium. She was incredibly beautiful with long red hair that looked like lava. Her eyes were bright red and she looked like she was in charge of everything. She wore the academy uniform, a tight black miniskirt and a top that showed off her amazing and strong body.
"That is Sub-Dean Scarlett," Aria whispered. She sounded very respectful. "She is a Rank 5 God-King! They say she cleared a giant monster rift by herself using only her power aura!"
Vahn looked at Scarlett. He did not see a hot woman or a leader. He saw a Level 50 person with a fire attribute. Her aura was like a volcano, but to him, it was just a pile of data.
"The Awakening Ceremony begins now!" Scarlett's voice was like silk but very loud. "Step forward and find your fate!"
One by one, students went into the Awakening Tank, a glass tube full of blue energy. The results were shown on a giant screen for everyone to see.
"Jacob Reddington! Astra Soul: Blazing Saber! Rank D! Excellent!"
"Rebecca Thorne! Astra Soul: Water! Rank F! Trash!"
People laughed and felt sorry for the F-Rank students as they were taken away. In this world, talent was everything. People at the bottom were just fodder, and people at the top were gods.
Then, a name was called that made everyone go quiet.
"Kael von Valerius!"
A tall blonde kid walked up with a swagger because he was rich and arrogant. He was the cousin of Pierce Valerius. Kael turned and looked at the commoners, and his eyes locked on Vahn. He sneered at him with total disdain.
"Watch me, losers!" Kael yelled. "This is what a real hero looks like!"
He stepped into the tank. The energy turned into bright gold light. The screen flickered because the system could barely calculate his power.
[Result: Astra Soul: Golden Lion!]
[Rank: A!]
[Potential: High Tier!]
The stadium went crazy! Teachers were running forward with contracts because they were greedy. An A-Rank was a chosen one who would be a powerhouse. Kael loved the praise and walked back to the line, stopping right in front of Vahn.
"Hey, trash," Kael said. His voice sounded like he was talking to a bug. "I saw you earlier with your broken knife. I heard you fainted when you saw a Level 1 slime. Why are you even here? To make us laugh?"
Vahn looked at Kael. He analyzed the Golden Lion soul. It looked impressive to the crowd, like a light in a dark room. To Vahn, it was just an old script with a lot of holes in it.
"You are just arrogant because you are stupid," Vahn said calmly. "You are looking at something you cannot understand. Move."
Everyone went silent. No one ever talked back to a Valerius! Aria looked like she wanted to disappear into her clothes.
Kael's face turned bright red. "You trash! How dare you! After this, I am going to break every bone in your body! You will never walk again!"
"You are just making noise," Vahn said.
"Vahn Ryker!" Scarlett's voice yelled.
Vahn ignored Kael and walked to the podium. Students were whispering about him. They remembered him as a weakling and expected another F-Rank failure.
Vahn stepped into the tank. He felt the energy try to read his soul. He did not let it. He used his powers to feed the tank fake data.
[Starting Disguise Protocol!]
[Injecting Fake Data: Magic Apprentice (Rank F)!]
The energy in the tank was very weak. It did not glow gold, it just turned into a pathetic grey color.
[Result: Astra Soul: Magic Apprentice!]
[Rank: F (Lowest Grade)!]
[Status: Trash!]
The whole crowd started laughing! Kael was doubled over and pointing at the screen. Even the teachers looked disappointed.
"A Magic Apprentice?" Kael laughed. "That is not even for fighting! It is a job for cleaning the floors! You really are the king of the losers!"
Vahn stepped out of the tank, and his face did not change. He looked at Aria. She was confused but starting to realize the truth. She knew he killed the boss alone, and she knew the F-Rank was a lie.
He walked back and ignored the people laughing at him. Inside his head, the system was talking to him.
[Hidden Notification!]
[You absorbed 2,000,000 EXP from the tank energy!]
[Total EXP: 11,500,000!]
Sub-Dean Scarlett looked down at Vahn, and her red eyes narrowed. For a second, she felt something cold like the rifts she had cleared. She looked at the F-Rank result and then at the boy who did not care about a thousand people laughing at him.
"That is enough," Scarlett said, but her voice was not as strong. "The ceremony is over. You have one day to get used to your powers. Tomorrow, the Exam begins. Your task is simple. Go to the training grounds and kill one Rank 3 monster. If you win, you stay. If you fail, you die."
The laughter stopped instantly. Everyone was terrified.
"Rank 3? It was always Rank 2!"
"They are sending us to die!"
Vahn did not wait to be dismissed. He turned and started to walk toward the housing sheds. He had less than twenty four hours. A Rank 3 monster was tough but easy to predict. But he did not just want to pass.
He needed to reach Level 10 and evolve his Shadow Blade. He needed to get ready for the big event in twenty nine days.
"They think I am a loser," Vahn thought as he walked through the gates. "They see a Magic Apprentice. I see 11 million points of power. I am going to slap their faces tomorrow."