2316, Earth.
The holographic image of a Rank-F Razorcat shrieked and lunged. Adrian moved with calm, focused efficiency, his training staff a blur as he parried and struck, neutralizing the simulation with flawless technique.
His mind analyzed the fight: a necessary drill, but his focus was on the real threats beyond the city walls. The A-Rank behemoths that his parents fought. That was the level of strength he was determined to achieve.
From the observation deck, the instructor's voice boomed. "Flawless technique, Adrian! As expected from the son of the defenders. Let's hope your awakened affinity is just as strong."
Adrian gave a respectful, confident nod. He knew technique was only half the battle.
Later, in the locker room, the air was thick with nervous energy. Adrian's friend, Leo, slumped onto a bench.
"I can't stop thinking about the ceremony," Leo groaned. "I've been reading the forums. Most of the high-rank skill books the Celestial Eleven send back from the universe are for rare, energy-type affinities."
Leo gestured around them. "We'll all get into the Academy, sure, but what then? If I get a common Stone affinity, I'll be placed in the Aegis Division for basic frontline training."
"I'll spend years mastering low-rank skills just to maybe fight an E-Rank monster one day." His voice cracked with frustration.
Adrian clapped a firm hand on his friend's shoulder. "An affinity is just the start," he said, his voice steady and reassuring.
"The Celestial Eleven gave us the skill books as a path, not a destination. It's the will to master those skills that forges a Defender."
"That's what the Academy is for, to give us the real experience books can't teach. If there is no skill book after a stage, just create one yourself."
Leo sighed. "Easy for you to say. Your parents are living legends. You'll get access to their private library of rare skill books."
"My family had to save for a year just to buy the public version of the Rank-D manual from the Organization. And not everyone is a genius to create their own skills."
Adrian sighed, he could not deny it. One must study and comprehend their affinity, deepening their connection to its core concepts, and only then can they create their own skills. Not everyone could do it even if they had all the money in the world.
The one thing money could help with was purchasing the skill books. Each skill had its own rank, and to learn one from a skill book, an Awakened must possess the corresponding affinity.
Mastering a skill of a higher grade than one's current personal Rank was the fastest and most perilous way to advance.
These books contained the codified secrets to wielding mana, turning raw affinity into devastating power, and also allowing one to comprehend their affinity faster. The knowledge within could accelerate understanding by years, sometimes decades.
In the modern world, a person's worth is measured into a single letter. From the common F-Rank foot soldier to the legendary, nation-defending S-Rank, that designation carved your place in society's hierarchy.
This rank depended entirely on what level of skills the user could wield without their body collapsing from the strain. A D-Rank Defender attempting a B-Rank skill would find their mana channels shredded like paper.
The monsters that plague the Wastelands carry their own rankings, a constantly evolving threat that forces humanity to grow stronger or perish. Each beast represented a living benchmark of power.
"My cousin awakened last year," Leo continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Fire affinity, which sounds impressive, right?"
"But he could only afford the basic F-Rank skill book. Now he's stuck throwing firebolts that barely singe a Razorcat's fur."
Adrian replied, "It's not due to an F-Rank skill, Leo. Even an A-Rank skill book could be purchased if one had enough money, but if one thought carefully, skill books are not everything. The Academies were the true heart of human strength, where theory transformed into lethal reality."
A book could provide blueprints, but only a teacher with the same affinity could demonstrate its application in live combat. Only sparring with a rival could forge genuine experience through pain and triumph.
"That's why the dream of every child isn't just to awaken," Adrian said, "but to earn a place in a prestigious academy."
Leo's shoulders sagged. "Easy to say when you're guaranteed a spot at the Academy."
Adrian felt the familiar weight settle on his chest, the burden of being the son of two celebrated A-Rank Defenders. His parents had achieved their rank through decades of mastering countless high-ranking skills on blood-soaked battlefields.
Everyone expected him to follow that crimson path. The pressure had shaped him like a blade on an anvil.
"Tomorrow's the ceremony," Leo muttered, staring at his hands. "Sixteen years old, and everything changes."
The awakening ceremony occurred annually in every district, a ritual that separated children from their futures. Adrian had watched older students return transformed, their eyes holding new depths of power or crushing disappointment.
...
The next day arrived with the kind of morning that carved itself into memory. Adrian's pulse remained steady as he and Leo joined the stream of sixteen-year-olds flowing toward the ceremony hall.
The massive structure loomed before them, its walls embedded with veins of luminescent metal that pulsed like captured starlight. The architecture defied conventional geometry, spiraling upward in impossible curves that seemed to bend space itself.
Inside, the air thrummed with anticipation so thick it felt viscous against Adrian's skin. Hundreds of teenagers clustered in neat rows, their nervous energy creating an electric undercurrent that made his teeth ache.
Above them, the balcony reserved for high-ranking Defenders gleamed like a constellation of power. Adrian's gaze found his parents immediately, their A-Rank insignias caught the hall's ethereal light, throwing prismatic reflections across the walls below.
His mother's posture radiated the controlled violence of a sheathed blade. His father stood with the immutable presence of a mountain that had weathered countless storms. Both watched him with expressions carved from expectation and pride.
The weight of their legacy pressed against his shoulders like gravity from a distant star. Every eye in that balcony had turned toward him, measuring, evaluating, waiting to see if their bloodline would manifest in his awakening.
At the hall's center, the Affinity Crystal dominated the space. A monolithic structure that seemed to devour light rather than reflect it. Its surface rippled with patterns that hurt to perceive directly, as if reality itself bent around its presence.
The proctor, a stern woman whose C-Rank insignia marked her as formidable, began calling names.
"Sarah Chen."
The first name echoed through the hall like a stone dropped into still water. Sarah's legs trembled as she approached the crystal, her footsteps creating tiny percussion beats against the polished floor.
The Affinity Crystal waited, its surface a void that seemed to breathe with malevolent patience. Sarah's palm made contact, and the crystal's interior erupted into cascading ribbons of emerald light.
The screen materialized above the crystal, its display cutting through the hall's tension like a blade. "Healing Affinity, Rank A Potential."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd like wind through wheat. Healing affinities were treasures, their wielders destined for the medical corps where they would mend shattered bodies and broken spirits.
Sarah stumbled back, tears streaming down her face as relief and joy warred for dominance in her expression. Her parents in the observation deck clutched each other, their faces radiant with pride.
"Marcus Wong."
A stocky boy with calloused hands stepped forward. The crystal pulsed with amber fire, its light painting shadows that danced across the walls like living things.
"Earth Affinity, Rank C Potential." Marcus grinned, his relief palpable. Earth wielders formed the backbone of defensive formations, their skills essential for protecting cities from monster incursions.
The ceremony continued its relentless march. Adrian watched each awakening with analytical precision, cataloguing the patterns of light and energy that emerged from the crystal's depths.
"Elena Vasquez." Lightning crackled within the crystal, electric blue serpents that coiled and struck at invisible prey. "Lightning Affinity, Rank B Potential."
"David Kim." Shadows pooled like spilled ink, their darkness so complete it seemed to devour the surrounding light. "Shadow Affinity, Rank B Potential."
Leo's name rang out, and Adrian felt his friend's nervous energy spike like a fever. Leo approached the crystal with measured steps, his breathing controlled despite the sweat beading on his forehead.
The crystal responded with swirling currents of silver and blue, its light flowing like mercury through glass. "Water Affinity, Rank A Potential."
An A Rank Potential indicated that the knowledge humanity possesses now could enable him to master skills to become an A-Rank Defender!
Leo's face exploded into a grin that could have powered the hall's lighting. He caught Adrian's eye and pumped his fist, his earlier fears evaporating like morning mist.
The minutes crawled by with agonizing precision. Each name called brought Adrian closer to his moment of truth, the instant when his potential would be laid bare before the assembled crowd.
"Adrian Blackwood."
The hall's atmosphere shifted, conversations dying as if someone had severed their vocal cords. Every gaze converged on him like searchlights, their collective weight pressing against his shoulders.
Adrian rose from his seat with fluid grace, his movements betraying none of the anticipation that coursed through his veins like molten metal. His parents leaned forward in their balcony seats, their expressions carved from stone and expectation.
The crystal loomed before him, its surface reflecting distorted images of his approach. He could feel the accumulated hopes and fears of everyone present, their emotions creating a psychic pressure that threatened to buckle his knees.
His palm met the crystal's surface, and the world exploded into sensation. The crystal's touch was neither warm nor cold but something beyond temperature, a contact that seemed to reach through his skin and grasp his very essence.
The proctor's hand moved to the activation panel, her fingers hovering over controls that would determine his future. "Beginning affinity scan."
The crystal's interior ignited with power that defied description, its light not merely visible but felt, tasted, experienced with senses he hadn't known he possessed.