Your Rank Means Nothing

Ren's legs felt heavy, but he forced himself to move. Running wasn't an option. Riya had already seen him, and she wasn't the type to just let things go.

"Come in," she said with a smooth voice but it carried an edge.

Ren hesitated for a moment, but then, he stepped forward and kept his face blank. The weight of their stares pressed down on him.

The hall was filled with the strongest students in the academy. The firstborns of each noble clan. The best of the best. They had never known struggle, they had never been looked down on, they had never had to claw their way up from nothing. They stood tall, and power radiated from them effortlessly. 

And then there was him.

A nobody from the outskirts.

Silence filled the hall as he walked in. He could feel their eyes on him, the silent question hung in the air. Why is she here?

Riku leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He watched with mild amusement. But Riya was different. She studied him, sharp and focused, like a predator sizing up its next meal.

The tutor stood at the front, watching but said nothing.

Ren knew the rules. Being caught where he didn't belong meant immediate expulsion. If they reported him, it was over.

But he refused to let that fear show.

He straightened his back and met Riya's gaze head-on, and waited.

After a long wait, Riya spoke.

"Who are you?" Her voice was cold and sharp.

Before Ren could answer, another girl stepped forward, 

Her name is Hotaru, from the Yamigumo clan. Her voice was laced with arrogance.

"Isn't it obvious?" She scoffed, flipping her hair as she eyed him like he was dirt under her shoe. "He's a nobody. One of those rats from Class D."

A ripple of murmurs spread through the room. Some nobles exchanged amused looks while others smirked.

But what caught everyone's attention wasn't just her words, it was the fact that she had spoken at all.

Riya didn't associate with just anyone. Outside of the academy, she kept her distance from people. And even here, in the highest-ranking class, she barely acknowledged anyone except Riku. 

Even the firstborns of the noble clans, those who considered themselves the best of the best wouldn't dare strike up a casual conversation with her. To them, just being in the same class as Riya was already a privilege.

Yet, Hotaru had the nerve to speak up in Riya's presence. To interrupt. To chip into her conversation like she had the right. And the reason was because She had something Riya needed.

The potion.

It was no ordinary mixture, it came from the Yamigumo Clan, the only ones skilled in crafting rare and powerful potions. And this particular one was said to enhance dragon essence, and Riya relied on it.

Hotaru, being the firstborn of her father, had access to some of the clan's most prized ingredients. She knew how to make the potion because her father had taught her himself. That alone had given her a rare advantage, an excuse to be near Riya, to talk to her when others wouldn't dare.

But that wasn't enough.

She wanted more.

She wanted to be seen as different from the rest. As someone above them all.

That's why she had jumped in before Riya could even respond. Not to insult Ren, not really. But to prove a point, that she was closer to Riya than anyone else. That her words held weight. That what she said mattered to Riya.

But Riya didn't react. She just tilted her head and watched him.

She was waiting for Ren's mask to crack. For fear to slip into his eyes. For him to realize he didn't belong here, for him to realize that he had made a mistake.

But it never happened.

Ren didn't flinch under their stares. He didn't shift, neither did he lower his gaze, he didn't back down. He stood there like he belonged. Like they weren't worth fearing.

Riya's smirk faded slightly.

Something was off about this one. Class D students usually knew their place. They either groveled or shrank away when faced with the elite. But him? He wasn't doing either. He just stood there steady and unmoved.

Even Riku, who hardly reacted to anything flicked his eyes toward Ren, he was mildly interested.

Riya's voice came again, sharper this time. "What's your name?"

The room fell silent.

Ren didn't hesitate. He didn't waver.

"Ren."

One name. One word. But the way he said it was steady, bold, like a challenge, and this made the air in the room shift.

He was supposed to be afraid. He was supposed to understand what was at stake. Just standing here was a risk, it was a step away from being expelled. But then, he wasn't scared anymore. Not of them. Not of what came next.

Why should he be?

The girl standing before him had killed him once. If anything, they should be the ones afraid.

The second his name left his lips, Riya's breath caught. Her heart slammed against her ribs. For a split second, everything else faded into background noise.

Ren?

Her mind scrambled, digging through memories she had long since buried, no, erased. The boy she had killed. The one who should not exist.

She remembered it clearly. She had watched him die. She had felt his life slip away. And then—

Didn't they say he was gone? That he had reincarnated and had perished again? Then why—

"Riya."

Riku's voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. She flinched, her eyes snapped to him. He was watching her carefully.

"What's wrong?" Riku's voice was calm, but there was something sharp underneath, like he had noticed something he wasn't supposed to.

Riya inhaled. She forced herself to push down the storm in her mind. No. It wasn't possible. The Ren she killed was different. He had power. She had seen it.

But this one? He has nothing. Just a nobody. No magic. No status. Just a stray from the outskirts standing among people who mattered.

Straightening her back, she covered her brief slip with a scoff.

"Nothing. Just… ridiculous," she muttered, shaking her head.

Riku raised a brow. He didn't look convinced, but he let it go. Instead, he turned back to Ren and let out a slow breath, already looking bored.

Riya's eyes darkened as she stepped forward. She stared at Ren like a predator.

"You," she said coldly. "Since you're from Class D, what exactly are you doing wandering into Class A's space?"

There was Silence.

Ren didn't answer. He didn't even blink.

Riya's patience thinned.

"Did you not hear me?" Her voice sharpened. "Or do you think I'm joking?"

The hall was dead quiet. The top students of Class A watched with interest. Some smirked. Others whispered. The tension in the air was thick, yet no one dared to step in.

The tutor stood at the front with his arms crossed, but he didn't interfere.

Riya was the first daughter of the ruling family. 

Riku was the student council president.

Together, they had more authority than even some of the teachers.

Ren still didn't move. His expression didn't change. But the longer he stayed silent, the more Riya's irritation burned.

"Maybe you don't understand where you are," she sneered. 

"This isn't some slum from the outskirts where you can do whatever you want. You're in my territory now. So, I'll ask you one last time, don't you know you're banned from stepping into Class A's premises?"

Ren finally moved.

He took a step forward. His expression was calm, his eyes was steady. But underneath that stillness was something fierce, something unshakable.

"Why shouldn't I be here?" His voice cut through the silence like a blade. "I'm part of this academy, aren't I? Why shouldn't I have access to the same training as everyone else?"

The room went stiff.

Riya's brows twitched. For a moment, just a moment, she was caught off guard.

A slow smirk spread across herface. "You're joking, right?" She folded her arms, her confidence dripped from every word. 

"Do you even realize where you are? I'm in Class A, and you—" she scoffed, tilting her chin up— "are stuck in Class D. In case you haven't figured it out yet, this academy doesn't care about your class. Class A is where the real warriors are trained, the ones who will fight Kurugami."

The room filled with murmurs and chuckles. Some students outright laughed shaking their heads.

But Ren didn't react.

Instead, a small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Something caught between amusement and irritation.

"Sounds like you weren't paying attention when the head of the academy spoke," he said smoothly. His voice was calm, but there was something sharp underneath, something that dared her to argue.

"The only ones who will face Kurugami are those who make it to Class S, no matter where they started. Which means your rank right now doesn't mean anything."

A gasp shot through the hall.

"Did he just—"

"Someone from Class D is talking back to Riya?"

"Is he insane?"

The air grew heavy. The tension was so thick that it felt like the room had shrunk.

Riya's smirk vanished.

For the first time in a long while, she actually stopped to think.

This wasn't just some weakling from Class D.

This was someone bold enough to challenge her.

And that kind of disrespect couldn't go unpunished.