The Titan Guild representative recovered first, her professional composure snapping back into place even though her eyes still showed confusion. "You’re making a mistake. Independent hunters have limited access to resources, no backup in dangerous situations, no support infrastructure for—"
"I don’t need backup," Aiden said flatly, cutting her off mid-sentence.
Another representative tried, this one a middle-aged man wearing the emblem of a guild Aiden didn’t recognise. His tone was more diplomatic, trying to sound reasonable rather than pushy. "Think about your future. The war is coming in less than three days. Having a guild behind you ans protection, resources, experienced hunters watching your back when things go wrong. Being independent during an invasion is—"
"I said no."
The man’s mouth snapped shut.
The Chairman watched this exchange with clear interest, his expression thoughtful as he observed how Aiden handled the pressure. Then he nodded slowly, a small smile playing at the corners of his weathered mouth.
"Very well. If you want to register as independent, the Association won’t stand in your way." He turned to face the guild representatives, and his tone carried unmistakable warning. "And none of you will pressure him further. He’s made his choice. Respect it."
A few of them looked like they wanted to argue. The Titan Guild representative’s jaw tightened, clearly biting back whatever protest she’d been about to voice. Several others exchanged glances, probably calculating whether they could approach Aiden privately later and try to change his mind away from official scrutiny.
But none of them spoke. The Chairman’s presence and authority were too absolute to challenge directly, especially not in front of Hunter Association staff and other witnesses.
Administrator Voss, who’d been standing frozen during the entire exchange like soone had hit pause on his existence, finally found his voice. He cleared his throat, the sound awkward in the tense silence. "The... the reinforced orb is here. Just arrived."
Two technicians entered through a side door, pushing a wheeled cart that carried a much larger apparatus than the previous evaluation orb. This one was easily twice the size, maybe forty centitres in diater, set on a reinforced stand with visible runic arrays carved into its tallic surface. The runes glowed with soft blue light, pulsing in complex patterns that suggested the device was actively channelling significant power.
The cart’s wheels were reinforced as well, designed to handle the weight of equipnt that was clearly much heavier than it looked. The technicians positioned it carefully on the platform, adjusting the stand’s placent with precise movents until they were satisfied with its stability.
One of them glanced at Aiden, his expression showing the kind of nervousness that ca from setting up expensive equipnt near soone who’d just shattered the previous orb and then demonstrated SS-rank killing intent. He finished his final adjustnts quickly and stepped back, putting safe distance between himself and whatever was about to happen.
The reinforced orb sat there, its surface covered in protective formations that shimred faintly with embedded mana. It was designed specifically to asure S-rank and above without breaking, built with materials and enchantnts that could withstand the kind of power output that destroyed standard equipnt.
The Chairman gestured toward it with one hand, his smile still present but his eyes sharp with genuine curiosity. "Shall we confirm what we already know?"
Aiden stepped up to the new orb without hesitation, his movents casual despite every eye in the room tracking his progress. The platform felt solid under his feet, the formations built into its surface humming with barely perceptible energy as they activated in response to his presence.
He reached out and placed his hand on the reinforced orb’s surface.
For a mont, nothing happened.
Then the orb began to glow.
The light started deep within the crystal, a faint luminescence that spread outward slowly like dawn breaking over a dark horizon. But unlike the previous orb that had climbed through ranks sequentially, this one seed to be calculating sothing different, asuring against a scale designed for awakeners far beyond the normal spectrum.
The runic arrays carved into the stand flared to life, their blue light intensifying as they channelled power through the apparatus. Complex patterns of energy flowed across the orb’s surface, analyzing, asuring, quantifying the mana signature they were detecting.
The holographic display materialized above the orb, but instead of showing a simple rank classification, it displayed a series of numbers and readings that looked more like scientific data than a standard evaluation. Mana density asurents. Energy output calculations. Compatibility indices with various elental affinities.
Administrator Voss leaned forward, his eyes scanning the readout with professional focus despite the shock still written across his face. His fingers moved across his tablet, recording data as it appeared, making notes that would beco part of Aiden’s official Hunter Association file.
The Chairman watched silently, his expression unreadable but his posture relaxed like he was simply observing an interesting phenonon rather than witnessing sothing historically rare.
Kane had recovered enough to stand properly now, though he still kept his distance from the platform. His amber eyes were fixed on the orb with an intensity that suggested he was morising every detail of what he was seeing, filing it away for future reference.
The guild representatives had gone quiet again, all of them watching the display with varying degrees of hunger and frustration. They’d just been rejected, but that didn’t stop them from wanting to know exactly what they’d missed out on recruiting.
The holographic display continued cycling through its analysis, the numbers climbing higher as it asured deeper aspects of Aiden’s power. Energy output readings that would have been impossible for anything below S-rank. Mana density that suggested cultivation techniques rather than standard awakener developnt. Compatibility indices that showed unusual patterns, not quite matching any standard elental classification.
Then the display settled, the swirling patterns of light coalescing into a stable configuration.
Three letters appeared above the orb, glowing with steady platinum radiance.
SS-RANK
The confirmation hung there in the air, official and undeniable. Not the result of an orb shattering under excessive power, but a proper asurent taken with equipnt designed to handle exactly this level of awakener.
Administrator Voss stared at the display for a long mont, his fingers frozen over his tablet. Then he seed to rember his job and started typing rapidly, recording the official results into the Association’s database.
The Chairman’s smile widened. "SS-rank confird. As expected."
He looked at Aiden with the kind of expression soone wore when they’d just discovered sothing genuinely interesting in a world that had started to feel predictable. "The offer still stands if you change your mind about independence. But I suspect you won’t."
Aiden removed his hand from the orb, the light fading as contact broke. The holographic display lingered for a few more seconds, then dispersed into particles of light that scattered and disappeared.
"I won’t," Aiden confird.
The Chairman nodded, showing no disappointnt. "Then welco to the Hunter Association as an independent SS-rank." His tone shifted slightly, becoming more businesslike. "Administrator Voss will handle your registration paperwork. You’ll receive your official license, access credentials for Association facilities, and clearance for S-rank and above dungeons."
He paused, his weathered face becoming more serious.
"And when the barriers fall in sixty-four hours, you’ll receive deploynt coordinates for the highest-threat invasion points. SS-ranks are expected to handle areas where S-rank and below would be overwheld."
"Understood," Aiden said.
Reginald Cross studied him for another mont, then turned and walked back toward where he’d been sitting. The guild representatives parted automatically to let him through, none of them willing to stand in the Chairman’s path.
As he reached his chair, he glanced back over his shoulder one last ti. "I look forward to seeing what you can do when the real fighting starts, Mister...?"
"Jus," Aiden supplied. "Aiden Jus."
The Chairman’s eyes widened fractionally, recognition flickering across his weathered features. He glanced at Kane, whose expression had gone carefully neutral, then back to Aiden. A slow smile spread across his face, different from his previous ones. This one carried understanding, the kind that ca from putting pieces together and appreciating the elegance of a well-played hand.
"Aiden Jus," he repeated slowly, testing the na. "The failed awakener from thirteen years ago. The one with zero mana core detected." His smile widened further. "And now an SS-rank who just demonstrated second-stage killing intent."
He chuckled, a dry sound that held genuine amusent. "The world is full of surprises."
Then he sat down, waving one hand dismissively. "Carry on, Administrator Voss. Don’t let an old man interrupt your work."
Voss cleared his throat again, clearly struggling to regain his professional composure after everything that had just happened. "Right. Yes. Mr. Jus, if you’ll follow to the registration desk, we’ll complete your paperwork and issue your credentials."
Aiden stepped down from the platform and followed Voss toward a desk set up in the corner of the room. Behind him, he could feel the weight of dozens of eyes tracking his movent. The guild representatives watching with expressions ranging from frustration to calculation. The other awakeners waiting for their evaluations staring with awe and fear in equal asure. Kane standing motionless, his amber eyes burning with questions he couldn’t ask in this public setting.
And the Chairman, sitting calmly in his corner chair, still smiling like he’d just witnessed the opening move of a very interesting ga.
The evaluation chamber slowly returned to normal as Voss called the next number, trying to restore so semblance of routine procedure despite the fact that everyone present knew they’d just witnessed sothing extraordinary.
[61:47:22... 61:47:21... 61:47:20...]
Less than sixty-two hours until the barriers fell.
And Aiden had just beco the newest SS-rank independent hunter in Britain.
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