Rain hammered the glass dome of the Grand Awakening Hall like it wanted to drown the ceremony before it began.
Eighteen-year-old Elias Voss stood in line with the others, shivering inside his soaked, threadbare uniform. Around him, sons and daughters of the upper districts gleamed with polished boots and family crests that shimmered under the lights.
Today decided their entire lives.
The Talent Orb, a crystal sphere the size of a carriage wheel, rested at the center of the stage. Once you touched it, it revealed the gift that defined your future: your worth, your job, even who you could marry.
Elias's stomach twisted. His mother had been a D Rank Thermal Regulator. His father had vanished after receiving an F. He prayed the Orb would show anything better.
Behind him, a familiar sneer.
"Nervous, Voss?" Darius Reed grinned, his gold-embroidered collar gleaming. "Don't worry. Maybe you'll get lucky. The Academy needs janitors."
Laughter rippled through the line.
Elias didn't answer. He just stared at the orb and forced his breathing steady. His mother's face flashed in his mind, tired eyes, cracked hands, whispering You'll be different, Elias. You have to be.
The Ceremony Master stepped forward. His voice boomed through the hall.
"Today, the youth of District Seven join the Empire as ranked citizens. Remember, your talent determines your worth, your contribution, and your place."
The room fell silent. Scouts from major corporations leaned forward with recording lenses ready.
"Mira Chen," the Master called.
A girl with sleek black hair approached. She placed her palms on the Orb. It blazed emerald, flooding the hall with light.
"Biokinetic Manipulation. S Rank!"
Applause thundered. Scouts sprinted forward, contracts glowing in their hands. Mira's parents cried with joy.
Then came a string of names, each met with cheers or silence depending on their rank.
B's and C's earned respect. D's earned pity.
Finally, the name Elias dreaded.
"Darius Reed."
Darius strutted to the orb like royalty. Golden light burst forth, dazzling the audience.
"Gravitational Mastery. S Rank!"
The crowd roared. His father, a councilman, laughed proudly. Elias could almost feel the man's eyes sneering at him from the balcony.
Then came the words he'd been dreading.
"Elias Voss."
His pulse spiked. Feet heavy, he walked toward the glowing sphere. Every step echoed through the hall. The Orb looked alive, swirling with trapped lightning. He placed his palms against the cold surface.
Nothing.
A whisper rippled through the audience.
"Is it broken?"
"Maybe he's Untalented…"
The Master frowned. "Try again."
Elias pressed harder. The orb flickered weakly, a dull gray shimmer.
"Energy Perception. F Rank."
The words cut deeper than any blade.
F Rank. The bottom. The trash tier.
Silence blanketed the hall, followed by soft, cruel laughter.
"What a waste."
"They should just deport them to the outer colonies."
"Another leech."
Darius's smirk burned in his vision. "Guess cleaning my toilets isn't far from the truth, huh?"
The Ceremony Master moved on. Elias turned away, numb. No applause. No future. Just the suffocating knowledge that his life had ended before it began.
He left the hall as the crowd erupted for the next student.
Rain poured over him as he wandered through the neon-lit streets. Advertisements glowed across the skyscrapers: Enhance your potential! Rise beyond your rank! Each one stabbed him like a joke he wasn't allowed to laugh at.
His shoes splashed through puddles until he reached the river that split the city, luxury towers on one side, broken slums on the other.
He stared at his reflection, blurred by the rain.
"F Rank," he whispered. "Worthless."
Wind howled across the bridge. The city lights bled into the water. For a moment, he imagined just stepping off and letting it all end. No hunger, no mockery, no hierarchy.
Then something pulsed behind his eyes.
A faint static hum. Cold and sharp.
Words formed in his mind, not heard, but felt.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING]
Elias jerked upright. "What the—?"
[HOST IDENTIFIED: ELIAS VOSS]
[ANALYZING TALENT STRUCTURE]
[ANALYSIS COMPLETE: ENERGY PERCEPTION F RANK DETECTED]
[TRUE ABILITY UNLOCKED: TALENT ASSIMILATION]
Rain hammered harder, as if the sky itself was reacting.
He looked around, empty streets, flickering lamps, but the voice continued, mechanical and calm.
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST. YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE ASSIMILATION SYSTEM. YOU MAY NOW EXTRACT AND ABSORB THE TALENTS OF OTHERS.]
Elias's heart raced. "Absorb… others?" His voice trembled, part fear, part wonder.
[WOULD YOU LIKE A DEMONSTRATION?]
Through the downpour, he could still see the Grand Awakening Hall far across the street, its lights glowing gold, laughter spilling out. Darius and the other elites would be celebrating their bright futures right now.
Elias's lips curved into something between a grin and a snarl.
"Yes," he whispered. "Show me."
[DEMONSTRATION INITIATED.]
A gray shimmer spread from his fingertips, seeping into the air like smoke. Power brushed against his skin, a faint connection forming in the distance. He felt the echo of another presence, like touching a heartbeat that wasn't his.
Then the voice spoke again, cold and clear.
[TARGET LOCKED: DARIUS REED. GRAVITATIONAL SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
[COMMENCING LINK.]
Elias's breath caught.
Somewhere inside the hall, Darius Reed froze mid-celebration as a strange pain ripped through him.
Elias's vision darkened, then flooded with golden light.
He gasped, feeling power crawl through his veins, foreign, immense, intoxicating.
The rain around him slowed… no, stopped. Droplets hung in the air, frozen mid-fall.
Elias stared in awe. The world was still, the river a glass mirror.
He clenched his hand, and the suspended water trembled under invisible weight.
The voice spoke one final time, quieter now.
[ASSIMILATION COMPLETE.]
The power faded. The rain resumed. But Elias was no longer trembling from cold.
He was smiling.