Rank Evaluation

Hunter Association HQ – One Week Later

The sky was clear, but the atmosphere around the Association's headquarters was anything but calm. Even from the metro station two blocks away, people could see the building buzzing with activity. Drones zipped through the air like hornets. News vans sat parked along the curb. Hunters, both rookies and veterans, loitered near the gates pretending not to stare—but every single one of them knew who was coming.

And when Leon Graves arrived, no one said a word.

They just watched.

The guards at the outer checkpoint stiffened when he passed. One reached for a scanner, hesitated, then stepped aside without a word.

Leon didn't flash his ID.

Didn't need to.

The doors parted for him automatically, glass sliding open as if sensing the pressure that followed him.

Inside, the Hunter Association lobby was just as loud and alive as usual—until the temperature seemed to shift. A few heads turned.

Then more.

The front desk receptionist—busy typing behind a curved holographic display—glanced up.

And froze.

Her jaw dropped open slightly, stylus pausing mid-air.

She blinked, twice.

"…Are you here for something, sir?"

Leon adjusted the strap of his coat and replied without pause, "Rank evaluation."

She stared at him for a beat too long. "Wait—you're the necromancer."

Leon nodded once.

Her fingers hovered over her console, hesitant, almost reverent. She pulled up his file and winced when she saw the rank.

"Still listed as F-Class…" she muttered under her breath. "That's gonna break the system."

She stood abruptly, brushing down her blazer. "I need to notify the director. Immediately."

Her voice trembled slightly, but not from fear—more like disbelief. She tapped her headset.

"Director Wynn? You're going to want to come down here. The necromancer just walked in—yes, that necromancer. He's requesting a formal rank evaluation."

Leon crossed his arms, waiting silently.

Behind him, the whispers began to ripple.

"He's here."

"That's really him?"

"No way that guy's F-Rank…"

The receptionist turned back, gesturing toward the security gate.

"Follow me, Mr. Graves."

Leon stepped forward.

And the entire Association shifted its attention toward him.

The evaluation chamber door slid shut behind Leon with a low mechanical hiss.

Director Wynn stood at the far end, dressed in her usual gray combat coat, a clipboard hovering beside her as she gave Leon a nod of restrained formality.

"So you came," she said. "We weren't sure if you'd show."

Leon said nothing. Just stepped forward onto the center platform as the scanning array locked into place above him.

Director Wynn tapped her wristband.

"Initializing rank protocol."

The platform flared with light—hexagonal sigils expanding outward from Leon's boots in measured pulses. They climbed his legs, scanned through his chest, up through his skull.

Then the lights shifted—turning red, then violet.

An automated voice echoed from the overhead system:

"Warning. Discrepancy detected." "Registered Class: F." "Evaluated Class: Recalculating…"

The air trembled.

Behind the glass, observers murmured. One of them leaned into a mic. "Director, the magic output is climbing again."

Wynn's eyes narrowed. "Let it. Don't interrupt."

Leon exhaled once. Slowly.

The sigils thickened. His shadow began to split behind him, stretching into three points—his Sorcerer, his Warrior, and Bladewraith. Their spiritual traces were so dense they registered as individual mana signatures.

Then—

"Final Classification: Rank S." "Special Note: Unclassified Subsystems Detected. System Integrity... holding."

The lights dimmed.

Silence.

Then Wynn stepped forward, her voice low. "No soul corruption. No backlash. No forced sacrifice."

She looked up at him. "And still… S-Rank."

Leon raised an eyebrow. "That a problem?"

"No," she said, expression unreadable. "It's a mystery."

She waved to the side of the room. A soldier in uniform approached and handed Leon a sleek black card—the new badge every high-tier hunter carried.

[Name: Leon Graves][Class: Necromancer][Designation: S-Rank Hunter][Authorization: All Zones Unlocked][Status: Active]

He took it without a word.

But the moment the scanner verified the card—

The entire Hunter Association building updated its network.

The lobby's main screens blinked. Then glowed with a new banner:

[SYSTEM ALERT: NEW S-RANK REGISTERED][IDENTITY: LEON GRAVES – NECROMANCER]

It spread like a virus.

Terminals buzzed. Guild offices paused their meetings. Reporters turned, eyes wide. Social media boards exploded as the feed rolled live. And outside the headquarters—

Crowds started to gather.

Inside the evaluation center, Director Wynn met his eyes one last time.

"I hope you're ready for what comes next," she said.

Leon gave a faint shrug. "I've been ready."

And then, like before—

He left without another word.

Outside the Association

The glass doors slid open as Leon stepped into the sun.

He walked through the lobby unbothered by the rising volume of whispers. A ripple followed him—shock, awe, disbelief—but none of it touched him.

Outside, security struggled to hold back the flood of media drones.

"Leon Graves! Just one question!"

"What are your thoughts on being the first uncorrupted S-Rank necromancer?"

"Will you join a guild—form one?"

He ignored them all.

The moment he stepped past the last scanner post, a system alert pinged.

[Stat Adjustment Available – General Evolution Slot Still Pending.]

Leon didn't activate it.

Not yet.

A new message hovered below:

[New High-Priority Contract Available – Classification: Unknown]

He closed the interface with a flick.

The world had changed.

But Leon?

Leon was just getting started.

To Be Continued…