Dean found himself walking around the academy with the crowd. After the first lady was done addressing them, they were issued a different instructor that showed them around the necessary places they needed to be aware of.
The institution was a very large city that covered a span of about fifty-four million square feet. Taking the students to every corner of the institution was going to take the entire day, if not more.
Dean took note of the venues that were specified for training, combat, and cultivation.
After several hours of touring, the students were assigned to several dorms with a special key card given to them. They were also provided with necessities like clothes, an official institutional uniform, and other things needed for them to settle down.
Dean looked at the number on his key card, and he could see that his dorm was the 236th dorm.
Now feeling a tad bit of familiarity with the place, he made his way to the male dorm building. After searching for a while, going from floor to floor, he finally found a door that had a tag that matched with the number of his key card.
Dean felt nervous about his new life, and how it was going to be remembered. He wondered if he was going to receive the same level of treatment he got back at home, or if it was going to be worse.
Whatever it was, he was ready for it.
He swiped the key card in the sensor. A green light shone forth from the sensor, indicating the authenticity of the card.
Dean pushed the door slowly, his nerves spiking in accordance. When the door was finally ajar enough, he stepped in the room.
The room was large, large enough to fit a couple of people. There were three beds situated at different sections of the room, three wardrobes, and several equipment around.
The first thing Dean noticed were the two silhouettes that stood at the far end of the room. Dean squinted his eyes, trying to get a good look at the two figures.
"Huh… looks like we've got a new roomie," one of the figures said.
The next second, a clicking sound was heard, followed by a blinding light that illuminated the whole room, brightening up the room.
It took a while for Dean's eyes to adjust to the intensity of the light, but when it did, he could see the entire room even more clearly. Dean could see two boys approaching him.
One of them had dirty blonde hair with broad shoulders and a fairly muscular build. He was tall, slightly taller than average. Something about him made Dean believe that he was definitely a high ranking demon.
The other kid looked fairly normal. He was around Dean's height, being only slightly shorter than him. He had black hair with a lean body. His eyes seemed to have a dark outline underneath it, almost like he didn't sleep much at all.
They both walked towards him, inspecting him intently with a curious gaze.
The dirty blonde muscular boy spoke up, "Hey, I'm Razz, and this stickman beside me is Sale. Welcome to the team."
The black haired kid stared upwards towards Razz with an annoyed look, "I've told you to stop calling that. I'm not a stickman…"
"Ohh please, Sale," Razz chuckled, "you're just one centimeter away from becoming my personal chopstick."
Sale rolled his eyes, not wanting to pay any attention to Razz any further.
Razz turned towards Dean with a beaming smile, "I take you were fortunate enough to get named by your parents?"
"Call me Dean," Dean replied swiftly.
He studied the behavior of both of them and deduced that they were both friendly, but he still couldn't feel completely comfortable around them.
For all he knew, they could be at the alpha rank, which was two whole ranks above him. Dean couldn't help but feel that the moment they knew his demonic rank, their cheery attitude towards him was going to take a complete turn.
But Dean didn't care. He didn't come to the academy to make friends, he came here to grow stronger and have full control over his demonic energy and the celestial energy that now resided inside him.
Razz walked up to Dean, inching closer to him, "so Dean, what's your demonic rank?"
And it was finally time to address the elephant in the room.
Dean paused, unsure of how to answer the question. He didn't expect him to be so eager to find out his demonic rank, and he most definitely didn't want to tell him or anyone about it.
Dean thought about lying, hoping to fool them, but sooner or later, they were going to discover the truth. Lying about his rank was only going to worsen the backlash than not.
"Uhm…" Dean spoke up, "I don't have a rank."
Both Razz and Sale stared at Dean with a confused look. They thought he was joking, but the expression written all over his face was the direct opposite.
"What do you mean by you don't have a stage?" Sale asked, his voice seemed light, which made Dean think that maybe he wasn't at the age of seventeen.
Dean decided to explain his situation, "I was born with an internal core defect. About seventy percent of my core is incomplete, making it impossible for me to increase my demonic rank."
Dean refrained from giving any clue or hint about the presence of a celestial energy in his core. He knew that it was a death sentence for a demon to possess a celestial within them.
Razz' expression softened, now understanding what Dean meant, "that's quite unfortunate. But that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't increase your rank."
"It only means that the process will be slow… very slow… incredibly slow."
Dean was genuinely surprised by the reaction that Razz had. He seemed calm, almost sorry for Dean. Dean had expected a complete change in attitude, but it never happened.
If anything, it seemed like Razz became even more friendly with him.
"But!," Razz said with a bitter smile.
"Your life in this institution… will be a complete hell."