"What, Rank 0?" Sezel's face went pale, his heart stuttering, he shot up from his chair. The doctor didn't say anything, he just handed him the device.
It resembled a sleek phone, heavier than it looked, its screen flashing a cold truth:
Spirituality Rank: 0
A wave of despair swept over Sezel's mind, a Rank 0. He looked up at the doctor.
The doctor exhaled, his white coat stark against the room's gray walls. "Even I don't know what that means."
In the whole world, Awakened were distinguished in power by the rankings of how strong their Spirituality Rank is, the weakest being Rank 1 and the strongest being Rank 5, the pinnacle of power. But Rank 0 was something unheard of.
His mind blanked, thoughts spiraling. 'Even Arty is a Rank 1, and I'm… what? Nothing?'
"How... How can that be?" he asked the doctor.
The doctor answered indifferently, "In my whole career I haven't seen anything like a Rank 0 awakening."
He slumped into the chair, the device's edges biting into his palm. His eyes wide open. A Rank 0 awakened Slayer, even less than Rank 1, what kind of cruelty is this. Sezel was awakened as the weakest Slayer known to humankind?
The soldiers escorted him back through the sterile corridors, their boots clicking on the tiled floor. Sezel trailed behind, lost in a haze of despair. 'Why me? Why is this happening to me?'
Despair blanketed his mind, and why not? After all the effort he did, running from death, and finally when he caught the flicker of hope, it turned its back on him. This was fate spitting in his face. A Rank 0 Slayer, lower than the weakest, a nobody even among the Awakened.
The soldiers halted at Raelion's door, standing rigid against the walls. Sezel clutched the device tighter.
He knocked the door and entered, Captain Raelion sat at his desk, chair still, as if he'd been waiting, he stopped the rolling of his chair and locked his gaze on Sezel who walked in with a dark expression.
"Show me the assessment device," he demanded straight to the point. Sezel put the device on the table and slid it towards the captain.
Raelion's eyes widened, a rare crack in his composure. "How can this be?" he whispered, staring as if the device held a ghost.
He stared at Sezel for a heartbeat, his face a monolith. Silence hung heavy in the room. Raelion leaned back, exhaling loudly, and stood. "Well, there's nothing we can do." His tone was final, a door slamming shut.
Sezel knew the truth: a Slayer's rank was fixed at awakening. A Rank 3 stayed Rank 3; a Rank 0… stayed nothing. He nodded, swallowing the bitterness.
He'd never had status in the slums, why expect it now? Food, water, survival — that was enough. Or so he told himself. But a gnawing doubt lingered, would any corporation take a Rank 0? Would this world even want him?
Sezel nodded to the captain. He can't do anything about it. He was not the kind to create a fuss over it. He just accepted it, after all he knew his fate was just shit to start with. He never expected something great, but yeah, this was also unexpected.
Soon, he found himself in another room, with dummies standing in line, and two large cameras pointed directly at him. Behind a glass partition, Raelion stood with a console, monitors flickering. He blew a whistle, the sharp sound jarring Sezel's nerves.
What now? Sezel stared at him, clueless. The captain stared back and sighed, palming his face. "He's hopeless," he muttered.
Looking back up at Sezel, he increased his volume, "Attack the dummies, and try to use spirit energy in any way possible."
Sezel nodded, heart pounding. He faced the dummies, their surfaces scarred from past blows. Spirit Energy… like in the Spirit Realm. He'd used it against the beasts, guided by the mysterious girl's gift. He swung at a dummy, fist grazing its surface, but no power came. For an hour, he tried—punching, kicking, straining until sweat soaked his shirt. The result? Zero. Just like his rank.
He collapsed, gasping, the floor cold against his back. Raelion towered above, exasperation etched in his face. "I guess you need basic education about being a Slayer."
Sezel cursed inwards, 'You fiend, how do you expect me to do anything without knowing anything?'
Sezel failed to use even a bit of spirit energy during his training session, which led them to two possibilities: first is either he lacks the basic knowledge of using spirit energy or he is completely unable to use spirit energy at all.
There was a third option too, that was if he had received a fable and an ability which he doesn't know how to activate, but all the Fabled Awakeners were Rank 3 or above, and Sezel was a Rank 0, let alone Rank 1, the lowest of the category. He was basically underground.
Raelion led him outside, and Sezel squinted, the sun's warmth a shock after the facility's chill.
'How long was I in the Spirit Realm? Days? Weeks?' he wondered, yet the time he spent there only equated to 3 hours in the real world.
The sunlight felt like a fleeting gift, a reminder of a world he'd fought to return to, only to be branded nothing.
They entered another building, its corridors wider. Raelion stopped at a door, its surface marked with more unreadable runes. "In here," he said, pushing it open. Sezel stepped inside, and his breath caught.
A vast classroom stretched before him, rows of desks filled with hundreds of people. Newbie Slayers, young and old, sat together. Their eyes turned to him, some curious, others wary. A class for newbie Slayers?
'He should have done this earlier.' Sezel thought, giving Raelion a cold gaze.