Chapter 22
"And that is your rank," Tom added with a chuckle.
"This? This is garbage!" Zen shouted in outrage at the rank he was seeing.
And that was because, aside from the clan symbol on the back of his hand, just below it he could see a shimmering letter that was starting to fade away.
The letter 'F.'
"You are officially an F-rank Reaver of the Silverfall Clan," Tom announced, spreading his arms open in a dramatic fashion. The gesture only earned him a glare from Zen, who stared daggers at the B-ranked Reaver.
Tom, noticing the glare, chuckled nervously and quickly dropped his hands.
Zen sighed and shook his head. "I already knew something like this would happen, so no need getting worked up. I'm just a little disappointed though.
I was expecting maybe an E rank or something. But F? Sheesh! Means I'm totally useless and won't ever awaken a Veil. By the way, why is it fading?"
"For your last question, it isn't fading—just hiding itself. When you need to check your rank, just clench your hand tightly and it will shimmer back into existence.
"And also, no need to beat yourself up over your rank. I've seen plenty of Reavers awaken an Essence even though they got a low rank," Tom said, causing Zen's face to light up with a little hope.
"Really?!" Zen asked, leaning forward slightly.
"Nope." Tom added the word with a small, unbothered chuckle before noticing the veins bulging on Zen's head. "Oh, come on! It doesn't matter if you awaken an Essence Veil or not.
If you can manage to climb the ranks, you'll naturally grow stronger. And who knows…" He stood from his seat and turned to leave. "You might just become an S-ranked Reaver even without an Essence, therefore becoming the first there ever was in this world."
"Wrong," Zen said sharply, his voice low but firm. He clenched the blanket so tightly that veins bulged along his forearms. Tom turned back with a raised eyebrow. "What is the highest rank a Reaver can attain?"
"SSS," Tom answered.
"Good. I will attain that rank with or without an Essence Veil. That is my promise to you, Sir Tom," Zen declared with pure determination and grit in his tone.
"Kek. Sure, boy. You do you. Just work hard and maybe, just maybe you might achieve your goals." Tom grinned as he started walking away. "You'll be discharged later in the evening and shown your official room. Then you can start your duties tomorrow." He waved his hand in a lazy farewell.
"Achieve my goals, huh…" Zen muttered, slumping back into bed with a sigh. "Yeah. My main goal is getting back to reality. Let me just get some sle...wait a moment!" He suddenly sat upright, eyes wide, staring at the ceiling.
"I had received a congratulations message before I passed out, right? Let's check it out. Uhm… system, pull up my previous notifications," he said.
{I'm not your damn slave but here you go, you weak ass.}
A message flashed in front of his face before switching.
{Congratulations! You defeated an E-rank beast!}
{Congratulations! D-ranked beast defeated!}
{Congratulations! C-ranked beast defeated!}
{Rewards will be calculated together and sent to you.}
{Calculating…}
{Calculation done: rewards distributed.}
{Rewards received: +50 XP; +5 STR stat; +5 AGI; +3 INT stat; 2 new skills gained.}
"Hmm! Finally got something nice. We'll check the skills later. First, bring up my status screen." Zen leaned back against the pillows, his voice tinged with satisfaction. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a basket of fruit sitting on the table beside him.
Reaching over, he grabbed a bright red apple and bit into it with a loud crunch, savoring the sweetness as the system interface shifted to reveal his status screen.
{Status}
{Name: Zenixx}
{XP: 70/100}
{Level: 1}
{HP: 20/20} {STR: 9}
{AGI: 9} {INT: 8}
{NP: 0}
–––
"Looking good, I guess," Zen said as he opened and closed his fists, testing the feeling. A faint hum of strength pulsed through him, and he could sense the difference. A smile tugged at his lips.
"Who would've thought that, with those pitiful stats from earlier, I'd manage to defeat a C-ranked beast… twice! And now, with these numbers, I'm finally reaching what you might call normal human stats.
"Earlier, I had the stats of, let's say, a newborn. Now, I'm about as strong as a teenager. Feels good." He nodded to himself, rolling his shoulders to test the subtle changes in his body.
"Sure, the growth is slow, but that makes every bit of progress worth it even if I have to go through hell to get them." Zen chuckled softly before taking another bite of his apple and switching the screen.
'Let's see what the skills I got are.'
{New skills added}
{Inventory and Soft Touch}
"Huh? What the hell are these? I mean, I know what inventory is, but Soft Touch? What the hell kind of skill is that?" Zen muttered, careful not to raise his voice too much this time. Still, curiosity pushed him to check both skills one after the other.
{Inventory: This skill allows the host to store whatever object he so chooses and can also take them out with a single thought. Note! You cannot store any living being with this skill. Only objects and tools.}
"Hmm. Helpful, I guess," Zen mused, tapping his chin. "If I grow strong enough, I can have weapons crafted for me, and instead of walking around like some pack mule hauling tons of gear, I can just chuck them into this… pocket dimension thingy."
{Pocket dimension? Are you really that dumb? It's called an inventory, you silly weak host.}
Zen's eye twitched. "If you don't shut your damn mouth, I will shove this apple straight into your motherboard!" he barked, his voice carrying across the room.
A few healers stopped mid-step, turning to look at him.
"Poor kid. The trauma he faced must've made him snap," one whispered.
"Too bad. But that's the harsh reality of being a Reaver," another replied, shaking her head.
{Yeah! Indeed stupid.}
Zen scoffed, jaw tightening. He forced himself to ignore the jab and brought up the second skill.
"Better be something good," he grumbled under his breath.
{Skill name: Soft Touch}
{Rank: E}
{Description: Objects touched by the user lose their physical impact temporarily. They carry no weight, force, or sound. After the effect ends, the object regains its original mass and properties all at once.}
{Time Limit: 1 minute}
"I asked for a damn combat skill, and I get the Midas touch? What is this? Did I tell this damned game I was preparing for a pillow fight?" Zen's voice rose again, his frustration bubbling over.
"Curses!" He hurled the half-eaten apple into the wall with enough force to leave a wet splatter, earning another round of pitying glances from the healers.
'I'm going to sleep,' he thought bitterly as he lay back down, pulling the blanket up to his chin. 'This system is not helping me at all… so I'll just have to take matters into my own damn hands. Tch.'