Eugene was deep in the middle of a peaceful sleep when his phone suddenly blared to life on the night stand. Startled, he jolted upright so fast he tangled himself in his blanket and tumbled right out of bed with a thud. Groaning, he fumbled for the phone, pressing it to his ear.
Arnold's voice thundered from the other end. "Eugene, didn't I tell you to be here at 5 a.m. sharp? Then why are you still in bed?"
Eugene froze, his eyes darting to the clock on his desk. His stomach dropped. He was late.
"Five minutes," Arnold's voice growled through the speaker. "If you're not here by then, I'll come get you myself. And trust me—you won't like it."
Eugene scrambled to his feet, already imagining the horror of Arnold dragging him out in front of the whole neighbourhood.
***
Panting hard, Eugene staggered into the gym, every breath burning from the reckless sprint. The room smelled of chalk and iron, sunlight spilling across the floor. Leah was already stretching in a corner, her usual grin lighting up her face.
Arnold squinted at the panting figure before him. "Finally, the genius has decided to grace us with his presence," he said, his voice laced with mockery. Then, letting anger seep through, he barked, "I told you 5 a.m.! You should've been here on time. Now go—ten laps as your punishment."
Eugene froze, more in shock than fear. He couldn't believe this was the same funny neighbourhood uncle he had always known. Right now, Arnold felt more like a drill sergeant than the man he remembered.
Before Eugene could say a word, Arnold barked again, "Get your ass moving!"
Eugene took off around the track, each stride feeling heavier than the last. By the third lap, his lungs were burning and his legs screamed in protest, but Arnold's sharp gaze never wavered. He tried to push himself faster, but fatigue quickly overtook him, stumbling slightly as sweat poured into his eyes.
Eugene collapsed onto the floor, utterly spent after ten gruelling laps. Leah crouched down to his level, catching his ragged breaths, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips—the same one that always managed to annoy him.
"You seem to be enjoying my suffering, huh?" Eugene snapped, his voice tinged with irritation.
"Of course I am," Leah said, grinning. "Where else would I get to watch my genius Eugene get scolded and flat on the floor from exhaustion?"
Eugene stared at her in utter disbelief. "Seriously... you're not even trying to deny it."
"Why would I?" Leah said, still grinning mischievously.
"Enough rest!" Arnold barked again. Eugene sat up straight, all his muscles tensed up at the sound of his voice, ignoring all of Leah's teasing. But Leah... her smirk just wouldn't go away.
"Now, you're an Awakener, so there are some basics you need to learn about our world," Arnold said.
"Basic things... like what?" Eugene tilted his head.
"You need to understand the Awakener world," Arnold said, voice calm but firm. "There's a ranking system, from F all the way to S. And each rank is further divided into early, mid, and perfected stages."
Eugene sank cross legged, trying to focus.
"Ooh... ideal student mode again?" Leah teased smirking.
"What's your problem?" Eugene snapped at her.
"You," she said deadpan. "You always make my life harder by playing all goody-goody."
"That's not my fault," Eugene shot back at her.
Arnold pinched the bridge of his nose. "Both of you. Enough." He turned to Leah. "Leah, this is serious. Please be quite."
Leah pouted, but Eugene just shook his head, quietly amused.
"When an Awakener awakens, their energy is scattered and raw. This stage is called F-rank—like you," Arnold began, his voice calm but firm.
Eugene's brow furrowed. "F-rank?"
"Yes," Arnold said, pacing slowly.
"Once you form a stable core, you move up to E-rank," Arnold continued. "At this stage, awakeners gain aura —the very force that becomes the key to countless techniques. Your energy lasts longer, becomes steadier. You can channel it into basic skills like a Force Shield or body enhancement. But even then, raw strength isn't enough—true mastery comes from refining flow and efficiency."
He paused, letting the weight of his words settle before moving on.
"D-rank is where refinement begins. Your core is solid, your energy and aura flow as one. With practice, you can execute complex techniques and combine multiple skills. Precision and strategy matters more than brute force at this point."
"C-rank and above are where true expertise shows," Arnold said, his tone lowering. "Compression. Mastery. Synchronization. B-ranks can dominate squads. A-ranks are national-level threats. And S-ranks... legends. Rare, dangerous, almost untouchable."
Eugene raised an arm, tilting his head slightly. "Sir... how exactly do you turn all this energy into a core?"
"I was getting to that," Arnold replied, eyes glinting. "We use Force Control for that very purpose."
Eugene's gaze lingered on him for a moment, the words quietly echoing in his mind. Force Control. He didn't fully understand it yet—but somrthing told him, this was where everything would begin.