Heavy Ranking System

The hall buzzed with energy as students lined up waiting for their class assignments.

Ren stood in line. His fists was clenched at his sides. Up ahead, academy officials handed out colored bands, each marking a student's rank.

Red for Class A.

Blue for Class B.

Green for Class C.

Yellow for Class D.

His eyes flicked forward, and then he saw her.

Riya.

She stood tall in another line. Her posture was straight, her presence impossible to ignore. Her long dark hair flowed down her back, and her sharp, cold eyes scanned the crowd.

Then, for a brief moment, they landed on him.

Ren's breath caught.

Memories slammed into him again. Pain, betrayal, the life ripped away from him seventeen years ago.

For a split second, everything else faded. The noise, the hall, the students were gone. All that remained was the ghost of his past and the woman who had stolen it from him.

His pulse pounded in his ears.

Meanwhile, across the hall, Riya frowned. A strange and uneasy feeling crept up her spine as her gaze lingered on the unfamiliar boy. She didn't know why, but something about him unsettled her.

She turned to Riku who was beside her with a low voice. "Do you know who that guy is? And the girl next to him?" She nodded subtly toward Ren and Shiku.

Riku barely spared them a glance before shrugging.

"Probably just some randoms. This academy is filled with people from all over. Why?"

Riya's fingers twitched at her sides. "I don't know. It's just… that guy. He was staring at me. Not just looking, he was staring. Like he knows me. Like he—" Her lips pressed into a thin line. "Like he holds a grudge against me."

Riku sighed. "You're overthinking it again, Riya."

Her brows furrowed. Was she?

Riya had spent her whole life trying to meet their father's expectations, she had always been on edge, always pushing herself to be the best. It made her hyperaware, overly sensitive to everything around her. And yet, more often than not… she was right.

Still, Riku's explanation made sense. This academy, after all, was founded by their family. As descendants of the Dragon Lord, they had connections to the administration, they knew how things worked behind the scenes. The students from the outskirts had no real place here.

The only reason the academy even accepted them was to keep them from protesting against their exclusion from the kingdom's important affairs. They were never meant to thrive. That's why most of them were dumped into Class D, left to waste away with no real training, no real future.

So why did this one feel different? Why did his stare make her skin prickle with unease?

She exhaled sharply, shaking off the thought. Maybe Riku was right. Maybe she was overthinking.

Then, the moment passed. Riya's face gave away nothing as she accepted a red band, Class A. The elites. The strongest. The ones meant to lead.

Ren swallowed hard and stepped forward when his turn came.

A woman barely looked at him as she held out a band.

Yellow.

Class D.

His fingers brushed against the fabric, and a familiar feeling crept over him.

Riya was still watching.

Judging.

Maybe even amused.

Ren gripped the yellow band tightly and turned away, shoving down the uneasy feeling in his gut. A thick book landed in his other hand, a rulebook, a guide to surviving in the academy.

He stared at it for a second before exhaling slowly.

None of it mattered.

Yeah, Class D was the lowest. Yeah, the odds were against him. Yeah, his path was already looking rough.

But at least…

At least he was here.

And for now, that was enough.

In the classroom, he had barely had time to settle in before sleep took him, pulling him into a deep, endless void. 

Darkness wrapped around him, a one that was thick and suffocating. Then, like a ripple breaking the stillness, a figure stepped forward.

Akane.

Her golden eyes burned through the shadows, her expression was sharp with disappointment.

"You look satisfied," she said, her voice was like a blade slicing through the silence.

Ren blinked, still groggy. "Shouldn't I be?"

Akane scoffed. "Proud? Proud that you got accepted into the academy as a nobody? No status, no presence, no significance?"

Ren frowned. "I made it here, didn't I? That counts for something."

"Counts for what?" Akane snapped. The golden mist around her swirled wildly. "You didn't come here to be average, Ren! You didn't come here to be the lowest! You came to rise!"

Ren clenched his hands. "I will prove myself," he said, but even he could hear the hesitation in his voice.

Akane shook her head. "Not like this. You think I'll just hand you the evolving system because you're breathing?" She stepped closer. Her glowing eyes pinned him in place.

"You think the gods care about the weak? You think the title of Dragon Lord is just handed out like some prize? If that were the case, Riya deserves it more than you!"

Ren's mind spun. Riya. The thought of her taking the title, his title made something in him twist violently.

No!

Letting Riya take that position would erase him. It would strip him of everything he was meant to be.

But what could he do? He was in Class D. He was nothing here.

Akane's voice echoed in the darkness. "This academy is full of secrets, Ren. Hidden truths, forgotten power… and Kurugami's followers."

His breath caught.

"You're not just here to train," Akane said. "You're here to fight your way up. To push past every obstacle until you reach Class S, the place where the strongest warriors are. That's where the real training happens, where the clan leaders themselves will teach you.

But more than that, you need loyalists. Warriors who will stand with you when it's time to face Kurugami. You're not just here to get stronger, Ren. You're here to build a force that will fight alongside you."

The shadows around him shattered.

Ren jolted awake, his skin damp with sweat, his heartbeat like a war drum in his chest. Akane's words pounded in his mind.

Rise. Hunt. Track down Kurugami's followers.

And fight his way to Class A.

His mind raced. How? How was he supposed to do all that when just surviving in this academy felt impossible?

Every step felt heavier. Every second, every moment, it was all getting harder.