Sarah led him through security checkpoints—tal detectors, mana scanners, identification verification—and into the building’s interior. They took an elevator down two floors to the basent level.
The testing facility was clinical, white walls, bright lights. And in the center of the room sat the awakening stone.
It was larger than the one Aiden had seen thirteen years ago—maybe two ters tall, carved from black crystal that pulsed faintly with internal light. Runes covered its surface, glowing softly.
"Place your hand on the stone," Sarah instructed, pulling out a tablet to record results. "It will asure your mana core and classify your awakening type and rank."
Aiden approached the stone slowly. His heart pounded, this was the mont of truth.
If the stone didn’t react, his story fell apart. If it showed his real cultivation level, questions would be asked. If it sohow detected Azazel or his dragon bloodline...
*Relax,* Azazel said. *What’s the worst that could happen?*
’We get arrested, interrogated, possibly killed?’
*See? Nothing to worry about.*
"System," Aiden whispered. "This is going to work, right?"
[Trust . Place your hand on the stone.]
Aiden pressed his palm against the black crystal.
For a mont, nothing happened.
Then the stone flared.
Light erupted from its surface—not the brilliant rainbow of a high-tier awakening, but a steady silver glow. The runes blazed brighter, symbols rearranging themselves across the stone’s face.
Sarah’s tablet chid. She looked down at it, her eyebrows rising.
"Well," she said slowly. "You weren’t lying. You’ve awakened."
Aiden exhaled. "What does it say?"
"Ability classification: Body Enhancent. Rank: B."
B-rank. Strong enough to be useful, weak enough not to draw excessive attention.
"B-rank?" Aiden let surprise color his voice. "That’s... that’s high for a first awakening, isn’t it?"
"It’s above average," Sarah confird, still studying her tablet. "Most first-ti awakenings are D or C-rank. B-rank is uncommon but not unheard of." She looked up at him. "Body Enhancent is a solid ability. Increased strength, speed, durability. Good for close combat and dungeon raids, you would make a good tank in a team."
[Well done,] the system said. [B-rank gives you access to higher-tier dungeons where mana density is greater. You’ll need that for absorbing energy as your cultivation advances.]
"So what happens now?" Aiden asked.
"Now you take the combat evaluation. We need to assess your actual fighting capability, not just your mana rank."
She led him to an adjacent room—a large training hall with reinforced walls and floors, holographic projectors lining the ceiling.
"The evaluation is simple," Sarah explained. "We’ll generate simulated monsters at various difficulty levels, defeat them using your abilities. No weapons allowed for initial testing—we need to see your raw capability."
"Understood."
"One more thing." Sarah’s expression turned serious. "These simulations can cause real injuries if you’re not careful. The holograms are backed by force fields that can hit hard. If you need to stop at any point, just say ’yield’ and the system will halt imdiately."
"Got it."
Sarah stepped back to a control console. "Beginning evaluation, starting with E-rank difficulty."
The room dimd. Holographic light coalesced into shapes—three goblin-like creatures, maybe a ter tall, ard with crude weapons.
They charged imdiately.
Aiden didn’t even think. Muscle mory from weeks of combat in the cultivation world took over. He sidestepped the first goblin’s swing, grabbed its arm, and twisted. The holographic creature’s limb broke with a satisfying crack before it dissolved.
The second goblin lunged. Aiden’s palm strike caught it in the chest, enhanced strength sending it flying backward into the wall. It shattered on impact.
The third hesitated. Aiden closed the distance and eliminated it with a single punch.
Three seconds, three kills.
"Increasing difficulty to D-rank," Sarah’s voice ca from the speakers.
Five goblins appeared. Slightly larger and faster.
Aiden moved through them like water. No wasted movents, no hesitation. Each strike landed with precision, each dodge perfectly tid.
’Too easy. I need to make this look harder.’
He let one goblin’s club graze his shoulder—not enough to hurt, just enough to make it look like he was being challenged. Pretended to stumble after another attack and make his breathing heavier than it needed to be.
"C-rank difficulty," Sarah announced.
Now it was two ogre-like creatures. Three ters tall and covered in armor.
Aiden engaged more carefully this ti, letting them press him back, making it look like their strength was giving him trouble. He "struggled" to break through their defenses, took several hits that didn’t actually hurt him, and finally "barely" managed to defeat them after two minutes of staged combat.
He had to sell this, had to look like soone who’d just awakened and had zero combat experience. Soone who was strong but clumsy. Powerful but untrained.
Not a cultivator who’d spent weeks fighting for his life in another world.
"B-rank difficulty."
A single creature appeared. It looked like a fusion of wolf and bear, standing on its hind legs, with claws the size of knives.
This one was actually dangerous—B-rank monsters could kill normal people easily.
But Aiden had killed a dozen B-rank lycans yesterday.
He engaged it carefully, trading blows, letting it corner him a few tis, selling the struggle. After five minutes of "difficult" combat, he finally "managed" to land a decisive blow that took its head off.
The simulation ended and holograms faded.
Aiden stood in the center of the room, breathing heavily—mostly for show—and waited.
Sarah’s voice ca through the speakers. "Evaluation complete. Please exit the training hall."
He walked back to where she stood at the console. Her expression was thoughtful.
"Interesting results, Mr. Jus."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Good. Your raw power is definitely B-rank. But your technique..." She paused. "It’s rough, unrefined. You fight like soone who’s never had formal training."
"Because I haven’t. Until a few days ago, I was just a normal person."
"Exactly. Which makes sense for a reawakening." Sarah made notes on her tablet. "With proper training and dungeon experience, you could easily reach A-rank within a year or two."
She pulled up another form. "Based on your evaluation, I’m certifying you as a C-rank hunter."
"C-rank? But the stone said B-rank."
"The stone asures potential, the certification asures current capability." Sarah’s tone was patient, like she’d explained this a thousand tis. "You have B-rank power, but you lack experience and technique. C-rank certification reflects your actual combat effectiveness right now."
She handed him a small card—his hunter license. It had his photo, na, and rank clearly displayed.
"This gives you legal authority to enter C-rank dungeons and accept C-rank missions. Participate in so dungeon raids, gain experience, and you can return for re-evaluation. Most hunters reach B-rank certification within six months of active duty."
Aiden took the card, feeling the weight of it. "That’s it? I’m officially registered?"
"That’s it. Welco to the Hunter Association, Mr. Jus."
"Thank you."
As Aiden turned to leave, Sarah called out. "One more thing. There’s a mandatory orientation session for new hunters tomorrow at nine AM. Attendance is required. It covers dungeon safety, association regulations, and mission protocols."
"I’ll be there."
"Good. Don’t be late."
Aiden walked out of the Hunter Association headquarters with his new license in hand, still marveling at how smoothly that had gone.
No one had recognized him, no alarms, no enforcers bursting through doors.
He was officially a registered hunter now.
*That was disappointingly peaceful,* Azazel comnted. *I was hoping for at least one murder.*
"Sorry to disappoint."
[Congratulations,] the system said. [You are now legally operating within the hunter system. This provides significant advantages going forward.]
"Like what?"
[Legal access to dungeons for mana absorption, protection under hunter association regulations. The ability to accept missions and earn money. And most importantly—plausible deniability.]
[If Kane’s team ever connects you to the masked vigilante, you can claim you’re a newly registered hunter who happened to help during a dungeon break. Technically not illegal if you register afterward.]
"Clever."
Aiden made his way back to the tube station, his mind already planning next steps.
He needed to start dungeon raids to maintain his cover and to absorb mana to fuel his cultivation. He needed to stay under the radar while getting stronger.
And sowhere in the background, Kane was still hunting for the masked vigilante.
This was going to be a delicate balancing act.
But for now, Aiden had breathing room.
And that was enough.
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