Dignity

[Your suit is…]

"Oh… Diamonds, huh?" Takashi grumbled, snatching his letter from the air.

Taking a closer look at his letter, he quickly gave the command for the system to store his item. Interacting with a screen in front of him, he searched for what he already had in his possession.

[Inventory]

[Longsword | 15% STR]

'Alright… Diamonds specializes in arcane magic. My job as a Sword Graduate is to enchant my sword with mana…' he pondered, wielding a broad-bladed longsword. 'I have to…'

A crimson glow leapt from Takashi's eyes.

His blade was quickly enveloped in a thin veil of mana, releasing small bursts of energy. Placing the tip of the blade on the ground, he let out a refreshing sigh.

'Let me see… Status, skill tree, identity card, registered letters… Yes.'

[Hereditary Letters]

[Description: These are letters left by your family. Small ramifications of the special letters distributed by descendants.]

'Among the four families of the Michizane Clan, I feel grateful to be born into the Katayo family!'

[Kagutsuchi's Will]

[Rank: S (Sephiroth)]

[Card Type: K (King)]

[Letter from the Katayo family]

'And to think that the master has access to that letter... It's beautiful. But, what matters to me now is my letter.'

[Kojin Spirit]

[Rank: C (Cataclysmic)]

[Numbering: 5]

'Okay... What's my Rank?'

[Takashi Katayo]

[Affiliation: Michizane Clan]

[Rank: D (Disaster)]

[Potential: 40]

[Level: 1]

'What?! Rank D?!'

That surprise caught him off guard. He was paralyzed. Perhaps there are first generation Sephiras who are stuck in Rank D, but Takashi had awakened as a Disaster…

This put him on a high level compared to everyone else.

Rank F Sephiras are considered to be merely awakened, stronger than ordinary humans, but nothing more. Rank E would entitle them to be a Corporal, responsible for instructing the Virtual Fragments.

However, a Rank D… The strongest of this Rank managed to change the landscape in less than a minute. A small discussion between them was enough to name them as Natural Disasters.

Not surprisingly, he was already on the same level as his inspector Aligierri.

Many give their lives just to climb a few levels, to show themselves a little to the world. Decades of effort and hard work…

Takashi has already awakened in this way. Still, his ego has not taken over.

But what took over him was the dopamine. He was about to freak out - in a good way - after receiving that news. It was the greatest happiness he could have.

With his eyes shining like flames, he said to the air, excited and instigated:

"Show tree of-"

Before Takashi could observe and analyze his skill tree, a commotion caught his attention.

Looking around the clearing, he witnessed a shameful and despicable scene.

"Well, well… What do we have here? A commoner of Hearts suit?" Sterk Van Behemoth sneered.

A group around laughed at the young man on the ground.

"Azbell, isn't it? You're not even good enough to have a pretty face…" Sterk said, crouching down in front of the young man on the ground.

Pulling the boy's face up, he analyzed a common, unremarkable expression.

"Ow… He's angry. See, guys? A mere F-Rank Healer… How detestable!"

Sterk stood up and, in the same second, tried to kick Azbell in the face. However, the boy himself got out of that situation; stopping Sterk's leg with one hand and stepping back.

The pride of the Behemoth family's son was shattered.

"You…" He mumbled, his eyes wide.

His face was taken over by an uncontrollable darkness.

[Sterk Van Behemoth]

[18 years | Diamonds Suit]

[Rank: E (Emerging)]

A dense energy took over Sterk's back, materializing small fangs like those of a snake.

[Python Fangs]

[Skill: Poison]

'Seriously? I just got back and I already have to deal with this detestable guy?' Azbell thought, raising his arm.

[Azbell Gian]

[18 years old | Hearts Suit]

[Rank: F (Feeble)]

A circle of green energy formed, connecting through vertices and edges to form coherent runes. Soon, a bright glow illuminated Azbell's face.

[Arcanum of Salvation]

[Skill: Reduces the effect of mana]

As the two spells were about to be cast…

[Kojin's Avatar]

The blazing flames crashed down between the two aspirants, creating a palpable bonfire that nearly affected both boys. From the center of the causal flames, a longsword cut through the embers and touched Sterk's throat with its hot blade.

"Why don't you try attacking someone of your own standing, huh?" said Takashi, threatening to pierce the noble's skin.

"Haha, I thought you wouldn't intervene, troublemaker!" exclaimed a man in the background, clenching his fists and walking to Takashi's side.

[Eder De Lux]

[19 years old | Naipe Clubs]

[Rank: C (Cataclysmic)]

Compared to other teenagers, Eder was a monster; tall, almost 190cm tall, and quite robust, with a muscular and defined physical structure. A natural and functional bodybuilder.

"What? Do you think I would let that happen near me? A little scene like that?" Takashi said, smiling at Eder. "Hey, idiot. Aren't you going to answer me? Are you just there to threaten me?"

Takashi gave a vibrant, wide-eyed look over Sterk's shoulder.

"Is your ego so fragile that you can't stand a commoner protecting himself? You deserve to be treated…"

"That blade has been around for a long time, don't you think?" said a young man with black eyes and hair.

[North of the North]

[19 years old | Hearts Suit]

[Rank: D (Disaster)]

"Look… There are quite a few interesting Awakened here, huh?" Azbell said, trying to downplay the situation. "Two D-Rank, one C-Rank… How about we avoid that confrontation?"

The young man waved his arms nervously.

Although from the Hearts Suit, Nortikal emanated a dark and intense aura. He was obviously going to the opposite side of holy magic… The three of them starting that fight would be dramatic…

He, as a Rank F, would not be able to counter the strength of a Rank D like Nortikal.

However, luckily for him, Nortikal had no intention of battling whatsoever.

"I agree. Our goal is to fight the Daemons, not start internal clashes and end in disaster…" Nortikal agreed, trying to push Takashi's sword away.

"Honestly, for me… It doesn't matter." Takashi said, pulling out his sword and then thrusting the blade into the ground and resting his arms on the handguard. "But if you're going to talk, you might as well do it. And…"

Takashi's serious tone quickly died.

"You paid with your tongue, you idiot! You showed off so much for the inspector and in the end, you were an E-Rank!"

Eder began to laugh uncontrollably, putting his hand on his stomach to minimize a small sharp pain. Takashi, however, maintained a silly and mocking expression, holding back his own laughter.

Clicking his tongue, Sterk stirred again.

"Oh! That doesn't mean anything! In a year I'll be a D-ranker, just like you, you idiot! Then I'll move up to a C, to a B, to an A… Then I'll put you all under my feet!"

"So what?" Eder said, whimpering with laughter. "It doesn't change the fact that you're only an E-rank right now."

"Aaargh!" Sterk exclaimed, his facial expression contorting.

He clenched his fists and tried to take a step forward, but Nortikal grabbed his right wrist and pulled him back.

"I will kill you all! I will dismember you and burn you!" he shouted as he was dragged away. "You will become demon food!"

"Can you hold him, please?" Nortikal asked an aspirant behind him, who was in his group with Sterk.

After ensuring that his leader would no longer bring trouble to the other aspirants, Nortikal turned to the isolated trio.

"I wish you all the best in this exam. If you can't form a team, remember to go back to the safe zone and ask to leave… But I don't think you'll need to."

"Of course… Aside from our differences, I wish for you to become great Sefiras after this exam. After all, we need people like you on the other side!" Takashi said, turning his longsword into particles and putting it in his inventory.

"Same," said Nortikal, following his group into the woods.

Relaxing his shoulders, Takashi sighed heavily.

Azbell threw himself on the floor, sitting up in relief at his release. But Eder became agitated… He crossed his arms at his waist and asked:

"Nine people were sent here… That means the other forty-five aspirants are spread out across the other sectors. But on top of that, we need to reach the appropriate level to take our assessment missions…" he pondered aloud. "Takashi, Azbell, let's form a trio, shall we?"

"Of course," Takashi said without thinking twice.

"You guys… Are you sure about this?" Azbell said. "I'm an F-Rank… I'll just get in your way."

"And you're just going to be out there all alone?" Takashi retorted, frowning. "F-rank or not, you're still a Sefira. And Sefiras have always been useful, whether weak or strong. We need a healer and support in this group."

"Yes, of course. But hey… What do you plan to do, Takashi?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

Azbell's indecision was completely thrown overboard. The two of them were not willing to leave him alone on that island, especially with a hothead like Sterk walking around.

A satisfied smile spread across the young commoner's face.

"I'll go after my cousin, Izumi," replied young Katayo.

"Izumi? Isn't that the gentleman who holds the reins on the horse?" Eder joked, crossing his arms and staring at Takashi.

"What kind of comparison was that?!" Takashi complained, walking away.

"Yeah, huh. You're the hotheaded one, and he's the cold one… I heard he's always putting you in line when you cross the line."

"But hey! Treating me like an animal is not cool!" he said, pointing his finger at Eder.

"Okay, okay." He removed his companion's hand from his face. "But what if we go after him and he's already formed a whole group?"

Takashi shook his head, saying no.

"He wouldn't do that even if he wanted to. I know he'll save my place."

Searching through the system's options, Azbell soon ran into an impasse of his own.

"So… Where are we going?"

The three aspirants looked at the screens before their eyes.

That was… a good question.