Rank-E.
The label followed Kael like a stain that refused to fade.
By the time Awakening Day ended, Ironclad City High had already sorted its winners and failures. Students with Rank-A and above were escorted out through private exits, instructors whispering to them with polite smiles. Rank-Bs were congratulated. Rank-Cs were given advice.
Rank-Ds were ignored.
Rank-Es?
They were remembered.
Kael sat alone at the back of the transport tram, staring out the reinforced window as Ironclad City slid past—towering steel spires, floating rails, districts stacked like layers of a machine. The city looked the same as always.
But he wasn't.
Notifications chimed across the tram as students checked their newly unlocked system panels.
[Ironclad System Initialized]
Rank Confirmed: C+
Beast Affinity: Flame Serpent (Young)
Privileges Unlocked
Laughter followed.
Someone glanced at Kael, then snorted.
"Hey, Dominus. Didn't the system give you anything?"
Kael didn't respond.
Because his system panel was empty.
No rank window.
No beast interface.
No error message.
Nothing.
It was as if the Ironclad System didn't acknowledge his existence at all.
That should have terrified him.
Instead, beneath the quiet hum of the tram, Kael felt it again—that faint, restrained pressure. Like something massive holding its breath inside him.
Dormant.
Waiting.
Ironclad City High's dormitories were divided by rank.
Rank-C and above received private rooms. Rank-D shared. Rank-E… were placed in the auxiliary wing.
An old wing.
Kael stood before his assigned room, its metal door scratched and dulled with age.
Room E-17.
Fitting.
Inside, the room was bare: a bed, a desk, a single cracked screen embedded into the wall. No system terminal. No training console.
He dropped his bag onto the bed and sat down slowly.
Only when the door slid shut did the silence finally press in.
"…Sovereign authority dormant."
The words echoed in his mind.
Kael clenched his fists.
"What are you?" he whispered.
The pressure stirred.
Not enough to speak.
But enough to remind him—
It was listening.
Later that night, Ironclad City slept.
Kael didn't.
As he lay on the narrow bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling, a faint glow flickered in the corner of his vision.
Not blue.
Not white.
Black.
A translucent panel unfolded before his eyes—etched with symbols older than the system's clean geometry.
[Sovereign Interface — Unregistered]
Authority State: Dormant
Recognition Level: Initiate
Kael sucked in a sharp breath.
This wasn't the Ironclad System.
The panel continued to form, slow and deliberate.
Command Type: Inherited Authority
Binding Method: Absolute Recognition
Warning: System Incompatibility Detected
His heart pounded.
"So I really wasn't imagining it…"
The panel dimmed.
Then one final line appeared.
First Directive Pending
Kael swallowed.
Whatever he had awakened—
It wasn't meant to exist.