The red dust blown from the dry training field always smelled of iron and ambition. For Grande, it was the sweetest scent in the entire world of Gigantes.
Beneath the blazing sun that polished the stone horns of the Northern Mountains, he swung his wooden sword. It wasn't a real sword - it was too massive and heavy for a ten-year-old boy - but it was a perfect replica of the 'Thunder Splitter', a legendary blade rumored to cleave storm clouds. Every swing was a silent scream from his heart, a promise carved onto the hot wind.
One.
His right shoulder ached, but he ignored it. He knew that pain was only a temporary servant to his coming strength.
Two.
Sweat streamed down his matted hair and stung his eyes, yet he dared not stop to wipe it. He had promised himself: a thousand swings before sundown.
Three.
Other children in the village of Akar Kayu (Root Wood) were busy playing chase by the river or fighting over soul lotus fruits. They called Grande 'The Sword Fool.' His mother, a gentle weaver, pleaded for him to rest. His father, a staunch hunter, merely shook his head, "The boy just wants to be tired."
No one understood. They lived in the dull peace of Akar Kayu, a small pocket protected by the hills. They did not see the real world of Gigantes, the world beyond the borders, where true monsters crawled and power was the only law.
"I will become the Strongest Gigantes," Grande whispered, his voice rough and dry. It wasn't just a dream. It was the destiny he was forging for himself.
Years passed, and a thousand swings a day turned into ten thousand. The wooden sword was replaced by a blunt iron sword, then a sharp steel sword, and finally, a greatsword with a dragon-carved hilt - a weapon far too large for his frame, yet he mastered it.
By the age of seventeen, his muscles were dense and formidable; he was no longer a scrawny teen. His eyes were sharp, seeing through every weakness and doubt. He was Grande, a young man forged by sheer hard work, not by heritage.
The big day arrived: the Destiny Sealing Ceremony.
Every Gigantes who reached this age must kneel before the ancient Monolith of Fate in the centre of the main city, Kota Batu (Stone City). The Monolith was not just a rock; it was a remnant from the Age of Gods, and it housed the Fate Rank System - a cruel mechanism that assigned every individual's role, limit, and future.
In the world of Gigantes, you do not choose your fate; fate chooses you.
Grande stood before the Monolith. His heart pounded, not from fear, but from exhilaration. He had trained, he had suffered, he had sacrificed everything. He knew what would be bestowed upon him: Rank SS, Role: Battle Hero, Ultimate Warrior.
His turn came. Grande stepped forward, his aura thick with an unshakeable self-confidence.
"Grande, son of Kayu. Do you accept the System's confirmation?" the High Priest's voice boomed, formal and emotionless.
"I accept," Grande replied, his voice resonating with a strength rarely heard from a teenager.
He placed his palm on the cool stone surface of the Monolith.
A long moment of silence, and then... Light.
A dim, weak, greenish-white light, like a dying torch. A light entirely different from the bursts of gold and silver received by his peers.
Then, a metallic voice, dry and absolute, echoed in his head, piercing all his joy and ambition, turning them into sharp shards of ice:
[Destiny Sealing Complete.]
[Rank: F (Low Function)]
[Role: CUSTODIAN (Waste Bearer and Transporter)]
[Power Limit: Cannot Learn Combat Skills. Must Obey Orders of Ranks S/A/B/C.]
Amidst a sea of stifled laughter and murmurs of pity, Grande stood rigid, as if struck by the very lightning he dreamed of controlling.
Those words - F (Low Function), CUSTODIAN, Cannot Learn Combat Skills - were not just labels; they were the iron bars caging all his aspirations. Bars installed not by an enemy, but by an unstoppable system.
In the crowd of Gigantes, the laughter and whispers were like sharp needles pricking his skin. Those who received high Ranks - Rank B for Spellcaster, Rank A for Shield Commander - looked at him with condescending pity. That pity was what burned the most.
Grande didn't move. He didn't take his hand off the Monolith, as if he could force the ancient stone to retract its words with the sheer strength of his trained muscles.
"My boy," the High Priest's voice, a soft old man in purple robes, was now gentler, but that gentleness only added to the humiliation. "The System has made its decision. Accept your fate. Every role is important. The Custodian ensures our city is clean..."
"Important?" Grande interrupted, his voice hoarse and raw, as if he hadn't used it in years. He finally pulled his hand away. His palm was wet, not with sweat, but with the cold dew generated by the Monolith. "I swung a sword ten thousand times a day since I was ten years old! I ignored sleep, I refused food, I lived only for strength! And now the System tells me, CUSTODIAN?"
The High Priest sighed, his tone shifting to disappointment. "Power is not the result of swinging, Grande. Power is the result of Fate. And your Fate, as shown by the System, is to clean up waste. Look - Power Limit: Must Obey Orders of Ranks S/A/B/C. These are the rules. We are all subject to the System's rules, from the King down to the Custodian."
Grande's eyes fixed on another Gigantes who had just received their Rank. There was a girl, Lina, who used to be frail and often mocked, now glowing with the light of Rank B as a Master Healer. She had never trained; she only possessed natural talent.
In the world of Gigantes, willpower meant nothing; the System was everything.
Grande looked up, feeling the sky of Kota Batu collapsing onto his shoulders. He remembered every cold morning, every exhausting dusk, every ache in his muscles. All of it was for nothing. His hard training had led him not to the strength he craved, but only to public shame.
"I won't obey it," he said, his voice now firmer. "I don't care about Fate or the System. I will continue to train. I will prove that I can be the strongest, regardless of what this stone commands!"
The crowd's laughter grew louder. It was no longer sympathetic laughter, but cynical mockery. They had seen Gigantes who defied Fate before. Most ended up as starving beggars or were banished to the Wastelands.
"Grande," said a young man named Tyrus who had just received Rank B as a Heavy Shield Guard, his former sparring partner from Akar Kayu. "Don't be foolish. The System is the law of nature. If you defy your Power Limit, the System will drain your life force. Try to lift your sword now, the one you carried just a moment ago."
Grande felt insulted by the challenge. He rushed towards his bag and pulled out his greatsword - the one he jokingly named Fate Breaker - weighing nearly thirty kilograms. He had swung it effortlessly moments ago.
Now, he tried to lift it.
The muscles in his arms strained. His face turned red. He exerted every inch of strength he possessed, but the sword felt as if it had been glued to the ground. It didn't move an inch.
A chill ran through his heart. It wasn't just exhaustion. It was the Power Limit programmed by the Rank F System.
[Power Limit Activated: Maximum Physical Strength Set to Rank F. Combat Equipment Rank C and Above Cannot Be Lifted.]
The metallic voice echoed in his head again, this time not as an announcement, but as a cruel reminder.
Grande's legs gave way, and he fell to his knees before the Monolith. His sword remained on the ground, the cruelest symbol of his defeat.
"See?" Tyrus said, his tone now one of a lesson. "The System has sealed your destiny. You cannot use a sword, you cannot learn magic, and you must obey us. Go home, Grande. Accept your Custodian badge, pick up a broom, and start living in this new world."
That night, in a small, worn-out room in the Custodian quarters, Grande stared at the broom-shaped badge hanging from his neck. It glistened with a dull grey, unlike the gold and silver of his peers.
He had been fighting against the System all along without realizing it. Every sword swing was an attempt to defeat fate, but fate had waited patiently at the finish line.
The Fate Rank System was an invisible fence. It allowed Gigantes to strive, but only within the limits of their Rank. It allowed them to dream, but only within the confines of their role.
Yet, despite the shame and defeat, there was a small spark in Grande's heart. A flame more stubborn than steel.
[Role: CUSTODIAN (Waste Bearer and Transporter)]
"If I cannot be the strongest," Grande thought, tightening his grip until his knuckles turned white, "then I will be the strongest Custodian in all of Gigantes."
"If the System forces me to obey, I will find the loophole. Because, where there are rules, there are exceptions."
He needed to find a way to bypass this Power Limit. And he knew, to find a crack in this ancient system, he had to understand the system.
The next day, Grande, the Rank F Custodian, picked up his first broom. But he didn't see a broom; he saw it as a sword in disguise, waiting for the moment to be swung again.