Lucien paused at the low, earnest voice. Next to him, Jake quickly braced himself, expecting a sarcastic remark or a refusal. But to his surprise, Lucien suppressed his annoyance and responded calmly—almost as if he weren't Lucien O'Connell at all.
"Sure. Let's see."
Zephyr's blank gray eyes lit up instantly, a faint crinkle forming at the corners as he hurriedly held out one of his hands.
"Please do the test."
He felt something wrap around his wrist, followed by a voice from across the table, belonging to the man conducting the test.
"Sir, can you try to release your mana? It's the energy within you. Try to sense it and guide it toward your wrist... I will start the machine connected to the wristband so it can read your wavelength and determine your awakened Esper rank."
Zephyr nodded and closed his eyes, trying to sense it—mana. The energy that fueled all abilities and granted powers to Espers.
But what he felt made him stiffen.
It was as if he were submerged in a vast, deep, endless ocean. He couldn't see, but he could feel it—his energy, stretching far and wide... It was overwhelming.
Do others have this much mana?
Pressing his lips, he concentrated and directed the energy toward his wrist.
Almost instantly, a soft ting echoed from the large machine in the testing room. All eyes, except Zephyr's—who silently prayed he had awakened as a high-ranking Esper—turned to the screen as numbers began to appear. The machine buzzed once, twice.
Yet, it didn't display Zephyr's rank.
The person conducting the test frowned and clicked some buttons on the machine.
"What's going on?"
No sooner had he spoken than the large machine finally whirred to a quiet stop and displayed a single huge English character on its screen—one that shocked a certain someone so much, he shot to his feet.
"Impossible!"
Jake hissed at Lucien's outburst.
"What do you mean 'impossible'?"
His eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
"B-rank is already a good rank. It's just below A and S-rank in the food chain."
Hearing that, Zephyr went rigid.
Only B-rank? He wasn't asking for much—but still, Zephyr had hoped he was at least strong enough to stand by Lucien's side.
But like always, that hope shattered.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips.
"What was I expecting…"
Just as he muttered, a sudden thought struck him—the Gaya system had said it would hide his true rank from the world.
If his rank was showing as B to the world, did that mean he was at least A-rank? But then... there were already plenty of A-ranks and S-ranks around. So why had the Gaya System gone to such lengths to hide his rank? Why, if Zephyr was just an A-rank?
Suddenly, his restless and racing mind conjured up a completely absurd theory, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.
Zephyr quickly shook his head.
No, it couldn't be… His rank couldn't be higher than S-rank… right?
Or could it?
Oh gosh... if this was true—and his mind wasn't just spiraling into utter madness—did that mean he had awakened a rank beyond anything known in this world?