CHAPTER 278: BENEFITS HINDERED

All across the academy, holographic screens flickered to life, displaying this month’s top hundred student rankings. While the ones below top hundred had to head to the data hall to check.

Immediately, murmurs erupted as thousands of students rushed forward to see their standing.

"Dammit! No way, I dropped 30 spots?" a mage complained loudly while gripping his hair in frustration.

Next to him, a berserker laughed bitterly, "Be grateful you’re still C-rank. I’ve just dropped from B-rank to C-rank... my incentives are done for."

Elsewhere, happier voices echoed. "Finally made it into A-rank!" a healer cheered while dancing in excitement.

At the dormitory commons, Aria scanned the display anxiously. Relief flooded her face as she found herself comfortably at rank 167.

"Whew," she sighed. "Looks like I’m safe."

Kai casually glanced at his own ranking, giving a satisfied nod when he saw his A-rank status secure.

Selene crossed her arms with her expression impassive as ever.

A faint smirk touched her lips when she saw her name in the 57th position.

She had gone up by a couple of places but just like last month, her name remained on the top 100 rankings.

"Still climbing, huh," she muttered softly with a proud yet composed look.

Danny was biting his nails nervously until Reed slapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Danny, look! You’re at 900 now!" Reed laughed while shaking his friend. "You’re almost B-rank! Just keep grinding, man."

Danny grinned sheepishly with a look of relief. "I’ll push harder next month."

But Reed himself was glowing with pride. He was no longer in the lower B ranks... he had skyrocketed into the low 200s, breaking firmly into A-rank territory.

"Guess who’s getting his own room now!" Reed bragged while flexing dramatically.

"You finally made it, Reed," Aria laughed. "Only took two months and an embarrassing performance at the Legacy competition to push you into training seriously."

"Hey!" Reed protested, but quickly laughed it off. "Whatever it takes."

Rylan who was leaning against the wall, just shrugged calmly. His ranking had remained stable in the B-ranks, nothing remarkable, but he felt satisfied.

Improvement was gradual, after all.

The mood quickly shifted as students noticed something unusual at the very top.

"Hey, hold up..." someone exclaimed. "Look at second place!"

"Second place? Wait, it’s..."

Gasps filled the air, spreading quickly through the crowd. Soon, the news rippled across the entire academy.

"Victor Revenant?"

A silence momentarily settled in, followed by an eruption of disbelief and excitement.

"Victor Revenant is second now?!"

"No way! He jumped from somewhere in the three hundreds all the way up to second?"

"Did you forget already? He literally beat Elyra Vorn last month in the Warrior Legacy weapons competition!"

"Yeah, but I didn’t think that was enough to put him so high!"

As the murmurs swelled into heated discussions, Victor himself stood in front of a large holographic board with his eyes slightly wide in surprise.

"Second?" Victor whispered while staring at his name on the list.

He had expected a significant rise but being placed directly below the number one student—Veyla, the only first-year awakened ranked above Elyra Vorn—was beyond his expectations.

"Does this mean you’re an S-rank now?" Danny asked incredulously while approaching.

Victor furrowed his brows. "I... honestly don’t know."

Around them, speculation ran wild. Everyone knew Elyra had been second place and was an S-ranked warrior. If Victor had displaced her, did that mean he was promoted from B directly to S?

Selene stepped forward with her arms still crossed. "Well, if nothing else, it proves they can’t ignore your achievements anymore. They have to give you an S-rank status, right?"

Rylan shrugged. "The Academy is strict. Jumping directly to S-rank is unprecedented. But if anyone deserves it, it’s Victor."

Victor remained quiet as his mind churned. An S-rank position meant tremendous advantages.

Resources, accommodations, training privileges... all would significantly improve.

However, it would also draw more eyes onto him than ever before, eyes from those he’d rather avoid and from rivals who might see him as a threat but he didn’t mind.

While the students buzzed with excitement over rankings, other activities stirred beneath the academy dome.

The first and second batches were scheduled to embark today on their Outlands Excursion, venturing for the first time beyond the secure, underwater sanctuaries and back onto the war-torn surface world above.

At the edge of the Academy, large floating sphere shaped structures docked to a massive transit hub beneath the domed city.

Hundreds of excited students from Batches A and B gathered there, overseen by strict-faced instructors.

"Remember, you’re not heroes yet!" an instructor barked. "You are trainees! Follow orders precisely. The Outlands are no place for arrogance."

Despite his words, excited chatter still filled the air.

"Man, imagine if we run into some Drakenar. We’ll show them what awakened can do!" boasted one mage confidently.

■■■

■■■

In the distance, far from the ocean and the protective domes of humanity’s surviving strongholds, the land was unrecognizable, twisted beyond comprehension by sinister magic.

The sky was a deep shade of burnt crimson with clouds rippling as if composed of embers.

Craggy mountains thrust themselves violently from the earth with their surfaces marked by glowing fissures that pulsed like veins.

Volcanic ash blanketed the scorched soil, suffocating all signs of nature that once thrived.

Amidst this fiery desolation was a massive stronghold. Its architecture was a grotesque amalgamation of molten stone and crystalized mana, resonating with dark power.

High towers spiraled upwards, encased in blazing red runes that gave off a pulsating light. Yet, despite the impressive size, it was clear that this fortress was but a small piece in the grand reshaping of Earth by one of the three invading magical species.

Inside the depths of the fortress, hidden within a subterranean chamber, stood a figure.

She was a Drakenar, distinguishable by her crimson-scaled skin which was radiant yet intimidating.

A pair of black horns curled gracefully from her head, marking her as one of their elite sorceresses.

Her piercing golden eyes watched intently as she guided streams of red mana from the tips of her clawed fingers, weaving them intricately into a glowing matrix hovering before her.

Around the chamber were hovering human corpses, suspended in mid-air.

These corpses were dressed in tattered Mana Defense Corps uniforms. Their eyes were lifeless, their faces were twisted in silent agony, and their bodies drained of vitality, reduced to nothing more than vessels of mana extraction.

From them, thin threads of dark energy flowed steadily toward the complex magical construct the Drakenar sorceress was carefully forming.

Her slender hands trembled slightly, not from fatigue but from a sense of unease. Her concentration wavered momentarily when footsteps echoed behind her.

"Is it ready yet, Vayla?" came a deep, authoritative voice from the shadows of the chamber entrance.

She glanced back to see a tall male Drakenar stepping into the dim, crimson-lit room.

He wore an intricate armor of dark grey and crimson with a stature that commanded respect and fear among their kind.

His scales were deeper in hue, nearly black and his presence formidable.

"Commander Aiz," she acknowledged softly before returning her attention to the delicate magic. "Almost. The ritual is highly complex; the mana required is greater than we anticipated. Must we truly do this? There are other ways—"

Commander Aiz raised a clawed hand, silencing her gently yet firmly. "We’ve gone over this. If we want our people to have any future in this new world, this must be done. The humans still have strength left in them... in fact, they have strength greater than they should. And we must break it now before it grows."

Vayla’s eyes dimmed slightly in resignation. "Understood, Commander."

Aiz softened briefly before placing a hand on her shoulder. "I know it’s unsettling. But remember why we fight. We have nowhere left to go. This world must become ours fully. Finish quickly, Vayla. Time is running out."

With that, Aiz turned away and left the chamber, leaving Vayla alone amidst the ominous display of dark magic.

She sighed while looking briefly at the human bodies floating around her, before closing her eyes and thrusting her focus back into completing the ritual.

Soon, the intricate formation began glowing more vibrantly, nearing completion, signaling something ominous was near birth.

...

...

Victor Revenant stood in the office of Vice Chancellor Lysandra with his face bearing an excited and hopeful grin.

"So, Vice Chancellor," Victor began with barely contained enthusiasm, "Since I’m now officially second in ranking, does that mean I’ve finally become an S-ranker? And does that also mean I’ll now get all the S-rank perks immediately?"

The Vice Chancellor, who had been silently reviewing documents, sighed deeply before placing down her stylus and meeting his gaze directly.

Her eyes were both amused and weary. "Victor, you’re certainly impressive, I’ll admit. But have you forgotten the punishment you’re still serving?"

Victor blinked rapidly. "Wait, punishment? You’re still holding onto that?"

Lysandra chuckled dryly. "Yes, that little punishment for nearly murdering Derek? You’ve still got almost a full month left of community service."