The steel doors slid apart with a sigh, while Leon Vale walked inside - a place where hopes went to die.
Central Awakening Hall. Flashy tech everywhere. Filled with teens turning seventeen, just sitting there hoping for good DNA news. Screens floating in air showed past lucky ones one by one.
S-Rank, A-Rank - kids treated like heroes, meant to fight creatures oozing out of Eclipse Zones. Some saw them as hope; others just saw weapons shaped by panic.
Leon's throat tightened watching their triumphant faces dissolve into the next batch.
"Batch 847, Chamber Three," a voice announced.
Leon's hands shook as he stepped into the queue. All around, voices buzzed like live wires. A mix of excitement but also fear - same weight. Nobody ignored the numbers.
Most folks - around seventy percent - ended up with E or F grades, just strong enough to push boxes by hand. A quarter hit average scores, stuck doing routine tasks no one else wants. The rest, about five out of a hundred? They rewrote the rules.
Or ruled it.
"Hey, isn't that Leon Vale?" Someone said behind him. "His Dad used to be C-Rank before his core shattered. Wonder if the son inherited anything."
Leon stayed facing forward. Giving attention to teasing just makes it worse - figured that out long back.
The Awakening Chamber stood there - dark stone mixed with metal, a ring glowing soft blue in sharp shapes. In the middle sat the Assessment Pillar. A glass-like tower stretched up, pointing at the roof like it was calling someone out.
His classmates came forward, each in turn. The column lit up - green showed for plants, red popped for fire, then bright blue zapped for lightning. Up above, a giant screen flashed their scores.
D-Rank. Then E-Rank. But when C-Rank showed up, people started muttering - low voices, jealous tones.
Then Leon's turn.
His legs were heavy, dragging as he stepped inside. The room's walls flickered, shifting slightly. Then - no one else around, just him, stuck in his head.
"Place your hand on the pillar."
The crystal felt icy. Just for a second - stillness. But then came a glow moving up his arm. Fire zipped through bloodlines, pooling right in the center of his torso. That deep inner code, the raw pulse turning people into people, flared alive inside him, like it never had before.
The glow from the column faded.
Flickered.
Died completely.
No.
The alarm split the quiet - sharp, loud, like those screams in Leon's dreams. Walls turned see-through quick, shaky. Thousands of eyes locked on him. A giant screen flashed numbers so bright they stung:
NAME: LEON VALE
RANK: F- RANK
CORE TYPE: SHADOW (EMPTY)
ENERGY CAPACITY: 12/1000
COMBAT POTENTIAL: NEGLIGIBLE
Soft sounds moved across the room, much like water does when it spreads.
"F-Rank?"
"Empty Core? That's not even real."
"Might as well be Unawakened."
Leon didn't move, fingers stuck against the stone. Not just a Shadow Core - empty. Most folks never even saw shadow powers; they were odd, uncommon things. Yet this one? Barely there at all. It was like having a jar with cracks, too broken to hold anything worth keeping.
Twelve points from a thousand. Just a glitch in the math. So unlikely it was worse than staying asleep - like failing twice.
"Well, well." The voice dripped smug satisfaction. "Looks like Vale's legacy ends here."
Damian Horne moved through the people like they weren't even there - his B-Rank pin glowing fierce, a tiny blaze shouting out his Flame Core status.
"F-Rank with Empty Core." Damian's voice carried across the sector. "Almost feel bad for you, Vale. Almost. At least scrubbing floors at the energy plant, you can tell people your dad was somebody once."
Laughter spread through the room. Not harsh or mean - it wasn't that sort of moment. Instead, it slipped out easy, without care. Just folks acting like he barely mattered.
Leon looked at Damian. He meant to speak - anything to erase that grin. Yet silence took over, 'cause Damian had a point. An F-Rank with nothing inside? That kind of person didn't shift anything.
They'd been forgotten by everyone around.
"Move along, candidate. You're blocking the queue."
Leon moved forward. Every footfall felt heavy, slow - like pushing through mud. People stepped aside, not out of honor, but because being near someone broken rubbed off.
He saw himself in a shiny metal post. Not different - dark hair still there. Face just as forgettable. Thin frame, thanks to eating hardly anything lately.
Fully just average.
_____________________________________________________________
News says Crimson Moon hits peak in three days. Yet monster trouble's getting worse. Then another vampire spotted - again. Just noise now, like static from a life he's no longer part of.
The trip back got fuzzy. His datapad kept vibrating - messages piling up, ignored. When he finally hit his block, the sun was already dipping, smearing the walls in orange and dark streaks.
The apartment door swung open just as he got close - no need to knock or wait.
"Leon!"
Twin rockets. Lily took hold of his left arm, while Maya seized the right. They spoke together - too fast to follow.
"Did you get good rank?"
"Are you gonna be a hero?"
"Mom made your favorite....."
"We watched but connection cut out...."
Gals, step outside. Ma showed up, drying palms on a cloth tied round her waist. Her gaze lingered, wrinkles near her eyes getting clearer as she looked him over.
She had a feeling. Moms just sense things.
Dad stayed put by the kitchen table, metal fingers tapping low with each bend - proof of the ruin left after that prison escape wrecked not just his power center. His gaze lifted. A spark showed behind his stare, barely holding back the weight dragging him down.
Leon started to speak. Then stopped. What could he say - when every effort felt wasted?
"F-Rank," he finally said. "Empty Shadow Core."
Quiet hurt more than laughter ever could.
Next, Dad got up. He moved across the kitchen fast. Then he grabbed Leon tight - held him close without a word.
"You awakened. That's what matters."
Mom showed up first. After her, the twins came along. Soon enough, Leon found himself wrapped in cozy vibes, laundry soap fumes, and the scent of meals made from scratch. A shift hit his chest - nothing dramatic, just a quiet break beneath the surface.
"We're proud of you," Mom whispered.
Later that evening, once the meal was done, Lily showed up with Maya. Feet dragging on the floor. Quick looks between them - clearly up to something.
We've got a little stash," Maya said, showing the old ceramic cat that'd sat on her shelf forever. Then she broke it apart. Coins tumbled onto his mattress - sad, clattering down like rain.
"847 credits," Lily said solemnly. "We counted."
"Enough for low-grade energy crystal at market," Maya added. "Lady at the stall said they help small cores gather energy faster."
Leon just stood there, frozen. All that cash from birthdays - gone. Coins tucked away after chores? Lost too. Everything they'd scraped together… vanished. Eight hundred forty-seven credits. Not enough to get electricity back on. Won't move him up a single level. Might grab a speck of crystal - tiny as a fingernail.
Yet they'd poured out all their strength.
Thanks." His voice choked up.
That night, Leon stayed up, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Far-off sirens warned about monsters. Patrol drones snapped loudly now and then.
Out there, folks like Damian mapped their rise. With strength behind them, tools at hand, what's ahead shimmered - like a path paved in sunlight.
Leon? 847 credits. No core inside. A duty way beyond his reach.
He pictured his sisters handing over their cash, one by one. Her worn-out grin came to mind - his mom's. His dad's metal fingers moved slow while he talked about old battles in the dark zones, back when things still worked right.
A weight settled in his chest - different from strength. Not quite power. Deeper than that. Vital.
I'll figure it out somehow.
Out beyond his pane, the moon started glowing a soft shade of crimson.
Three days left before the Crimson Moon hits.
Three days before life flipped upside down.
He simply hadn't figured it out at that point.