Chapter: 7

As the bus started moving, the passengers gradually settled into their seats. A murmur of conversation filled the air, though a few people still cast peculiar glances at William. Some whispered among themselves, clearly intrigued by him, but William pretended not to notice. He leaned back against his seat, arms crossed, exuding an air of indifference.

Nitish, on the other hand, was unfazed by the attention around William. He had other things on his mind. With a simple thought, he brought up his status bar, a semi-transparent red screen appearing before his eyes.

[ Status ]

Level: 1

Name: Nitish ??????

Class: Riftstalker (Ultimate)

Rank: S

Strength: 28

Endurance: 21

Agility: 56

Magic: 28

Dexterity: 7

[ Abilities ]

🔹 Active Skills:

Phantom Shift – Instantly teleport a short distance, phasing through obstacles.

Time Slip – Reverse personal time by 5 seconds, negating damage or status effects.

Void Edge – A blade of pure spatial energy that can cut through nearly anything.

🔸 Passive Skills:

Dimensional Awareness – Sense distortions in space and track movement through dimensions.

Edge of Reality – Attacks ignore partial physical resistance.

Spatial Adaptation – Improved reaction speed and flexibility in altered space.

Nitish scanned his stats, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. These numbers aren't bad for Level 1, but I wonder how a B-ranker's status bar would compare… He turned to Karl, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Hey, Karl," Nitish began, closing his status screen. "What's so special about dormant rank? Does it really make that much of a difference?"

Karl looked at him for a moment as if trying to gauge how much Nitish actually knew. Then he spoke. "It makes a huge difference. The main thing that gives high-rankers an advantage is their total number of stat points. The higher your rank, the more points you get at each level-up. That alone is a massive gap in power."

Nitish raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Just more points?"

Karl shook his head. "That's just the first part. The second major advantage is skills. High-rankers awaken better abilities compared to low-rankers. Even if two people awaken the exact same skill, the high-ranker's version will be stronger. Their abilities naturally scale better."

Nitish frowned slightly, processing the information. "So, that means no matter how much a lower-rank trains, they'll always be behind a high-ranker?"

"Exactly," Karl confirmed. "And the most important thing—you can't increase your dormant rank. It's permanent."

Nitish's eyes widened. "Wait, what? It doesn't increase at all?"

Karl nodded. "Once your rank is determined, that's it. No matter how strong you get, you'll always be bound by your initial rank."

Nitish exhaled sharply. "Damn… So what's the highest rank?"

"For humans, the highest confirmed ranks are A and B," Karl answered.

Nitish tilted his head. "'For humans'? What does that mean?"

Karl leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "There are monsters ranked higher than A. Those creatures are classified as S-rank beings."

Nitish smirked. "Well, maybe there are S-rank humans too. Maybe they just don't want to reveal themselves."

"Maybe," Karl said with a shrug. "But how would we even know?"

Nitish gave him a mischievous grin. "So, what's your rank?"

Karl puffed out his chest a little. "B."

Nitish smirked. "Oh? Not bad. And what about me? Guess."

Karl narrowed his eyes, studying Nitish for a moment. "You wouldn't be asking if you weren't hiding something. What is it?"

"S," Nitish said, a smug grin spreading across his face.

Karl blinked. "Wait… S? You're serious?"

Nitish nodded, his grin widening.

Karl stared at him, then suddenly burst into laughter. Nitish joined in, and the two laughed loudly, drawing the attention of others.

William, who had been watching them, frowned. "What the hell are you two laughing about?"

"It's nothing," Nitish said dismissively. Then, suddenly, he smirked. "Oh, William, did you notice? Those girls over there have been staring at you for a while now. I think they might be in love with you."

"Really?" William asked eagerly, sitting up straighter. His confidence surged for a moment—until he remembered the kick Nitish had given him earlier. His expression soured. "Well, why wouldn't they? I'm handsome, talented, and have a high rank. Unlike you."

Nitish snorted. "Wait, wait—handsome?"

Karl and Marco, who had been listening in, immediately burst out laughing alongside Nitish.

William scoffed, crossing his arms. "Laugh all you want. It's human nature—when people can't compete with someone, they try to make fun of them instead."

"Bro, you can't even say 'dialogue properly," Nitish teased, still chuckling.

Karl and Marco howled with laughter, and all three of them started making fun of William.

Their laughter continued until the bus came to a stop. The doors hissed open, and an executive in a sharp uniform stepped inside. His voice rang out across the cabin.

"Everyone, step out of the bus and form a line!"

As they exited, the sight before them made many of them freeze.

A massive, glowing gate stood before them, its swirling blue energy illuminating the area.

A low murmur spread through the crowd.

"Is that… a Teleportation Gate?" someone whispered.

"This is my first time seeing one in person," another muttered in awe.

Marco looked around. "Wait, so we're not taking the bus all the way to Soltarin?"

"Of course not," Karl replied. "It would be way too dangerous."

Marco nodded slowly. "Yeah… that makes sense."

The executive's voice boomed over the chatter.

"Everyone, form a line and enter the gate one by one!"

The group moved forward, stepping toward the glowing portal that would take them to their destination.