One's sin or virtue is a part of them. How it's truly gotten is unknown. Telling someone about it is like giving them a knife and telling them how to kill you. Fortunately for me, no one except the officials heard. But my rank...S, definitely brought eyes towards me.
The light faded as if reluctant to leave. The official kept looking, not at the arkstone or the records they scrabbled, but at me.
I met each gaze without flinching. One by one.
It was a simple truth: the moment you look away, you permit them to look down on you. You grant them dominance.
I grant no such permission.
A whisper rippled through the room. The kind that starts with awe and curdles into envy before the second breath.
"Another S ranker…"
"Did you see that light? That was unnatural."
"Never seen it flare like that…"
"He's dangerous."
"Damn. The Vayne is something else."
The lead official finally spoke, her voice a strange mix of authority and something… softer. Why wouldn't it be soft? She was cautious of me.
"Candidate Lysar Vayne. Confirmed Rank...S. Sin...undetermined."
Undetermined, not because they didn't know my sin. Because they didn't dare to write it down.
Another official leaned in to her, muttering too quietly for most to hear. Most but not me.
"We'll need clearance from Central. He might be one of them."
One of Them. I hate being categorized with anyone. The word hooked itself into me.
I knew the rumors, original Sin and Virtue, were so strong and dangerous they were said to be fragments of something too complex for the human mind to understand. If they thought I was one… good. Let them think it.
They motioned me aside, but not out of the hall. The last two candidates stepped forward. I didn't watch them.
Why would I?
My result had already ended the test for everyone who mattered.
Instead, I studied the Arkstone. The gold-white glow still lingered faintly on its surface. My mark. It would remember me now, the way a mountain remembers the wind that shaped it.
When the final candidate stepped away, the officials dismissed the rest of them with curt nods and quiet instructions. A few glanced at me as they left, fear, curiosity, resentment, all tangled together.
The hall emptied until it was just me, the Arkstone, the other S-ranker, and the officials.
The lead official descended from the podium. Her footsteps echoed, steady, unhurried, and deliberate. She stopped just close enough that I could see the faint lines at the corners of her eyes.
"Lysar Vayne," she said, voice low now. "You don't understand what you've just done."
I tilted my head.
"On the contrary. I've proven what I already knew."
She didn't smile.
"You've painted a target on your back. And some people kill for sport, others for coin… and some simply because you stand taller than they do." She briefly glances at the other S ranked candidate, who was uninterested in her words.
I almost laughed.
"Then let them climb."
Her eyes narrowed, not in anger, but in calculation.
"Report to Central tomorrow. Your training begins at dawn. And if I were you…" She leaned in, just enough that only I could hear the last words. "…I'd watch my back."
I left the hall without looking over my shoulder. Not because I trusted her warning…
But because the day I start watching my back is the day Pride bows to fear.
And that day will never come.
I stepped out and was greeted by the warm radiance of the sun. I found an empty sidewalk seat and sat.
"Time to see what the global system can do."
The global system was a natural concept, like wind and fire. It helps those who have unlocked the ability to use both their conscious and subconscious at a hundred percent each. Leading to two hundred percent brain power.
Well, it still depended on one's intelligence, and not everyone could achieve such a balance.
I focus on simultaneous thinking, it wasn't easy to do, but I could.
[Egowill: Hi, I'm egowill, your ego made manifest. I'll be taking over your subconscious.]
"That's weird. I never knew my ego could manifest. I guess the global system connects differently based on people."
[Egowill: Way to state the obvious. Would you like to connect your subconscious to the global system officially?]
"Sure," I agreed.
[Egowill: SOUL SYNCHRONIZATION 100%]
Essentia Signature Detected…
Name: Lysar Vayne
Sin: PRIDE
Rank: S
Level: Undetermined
Tier: 1
Origin Spark: First-Born Fragment – Class: Crowned
Core Attributes (Ranked from E–S+)
Dominance: S
Willpower: S+
Perception: A+
Adaptability: B
Resilience: A+
Birth Ability: Air
Sub ability: Sound
Essentia Ability Unlocked – [Crown of the Self]
Your presence bends the will of those beneath you. Fear, awe, and obedience bloom in your wake.
Passive: Aura of Supremacy – Nearby enemies suffer reduced morale and focus.
Active: Absolute Command – Issue a verbal command to a target; overwhelming mental resistance required to refuse.
Cooldown: 12 hours.
Mature Weapon Path (Locked) – Requirements unmet.
Note: Weapon will manifest upon facing your first "worthy" adversary.
Sin Growth Conditions – PRIDE
Never yield to public challenge.
Maintain superiority over peers.
Defeat higher-ranked beings without assistance.
Failure Conditions –
Voluntary submission to another.
Publicly admitting weakness without strategic gain.
Special Trait: Undetermined Level
Your power exceeds Arkstone metrics. All further evaluations must be conducted under Central supervision.]
Before I could ask any further questions, an unbearable pain washed over me. It felt like my head was going to split in two.
"Well, power always comes with a cost. I guess I'll have to explore the global system some other time."
I focused on one mind, my conscious state.
"First step to achieve absolute authority achieved. The next step is to visit central and lay dominance."
Essentia was an energy source through which abilities could be manifested. I always thought it improved the ability you were born with, but I was misinformed. I granted you a whole new set of abilities.
I rubbed my face with my hand. I had to get home. People began to stare, and murmurs were increasing.
"I need to get home. This place is getting suffocating."