Virginia wiped at the corner of her eye, still trying to steady her breathing.
"No way you actually believed that," she said again, voice breaking into another laugh. "You thought he was just some random genius orphan who was lucky to be awakened?"
Silas leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
"He tried hard to convince me," he replied dryly.
The cackle that followed could've been from a chicken.
Aris didn't move from his slumped position.
His hands were still covering his face.
"It's so over…" he muttered again, voice muffled. "I had a routine. I had a grocery store where i could go without trouble. The cashier lady didn't even look at me twice, It was so perfect."
Virginia blinked, turning to him.
"…Your concern is grocery shopping?"
"You don't understand," Aris groaned. "Do you know what happens when noble brats get recognized? Invitations. Surveillance. Marriage proposals. Duel challenges. Interviews. Old family 'friends...'" his voice trailed off. "I don't even have a manager to take care of that."
He lifted his head slightly, eyes hollow, staring at the two of them with the horror of someone who knew they were doomed.
"I just wanted to buy noodles in peace."
A moment of silence.
Silas snorted, to his own dismay.
Virginia tried not to smile.
Failed spectacularly.
The private room was soundproofed—thick walls, polished table, the Association crest embedded into the far panel. Outside, the building was probably in chaos.
Messages were most likely being passed around, calls made, old alliances sparking with life, and the terrifyingly quiet confirmations between people who had long memories with his family.
"Just how long are you going to sulk for?"
Aris lifted his head further, shooting Silas a glare.
"Sulk?" He huffed. "You think this is about sulking? I just lost my peaceful life and you think I'm sulking!?"
Silas looked at Virginia.
She looked back.
A silent agreement passed between them.
Realisation hit Aris a moment too late. His expression twisted into terror, and he inched backwards, trying to get away from the two demons who was closing the distance with a smile that screamed malice.
If anyone had heard the squeal that Aris let out, most would have thought that someone was being murdered.
Only if they knew.
Tickling was a far worse fate than simple, mundane death.
***
He was still angry at them by the time things had been settled on the outside. The knock on their door had been a godsend for Virginia and Silas, who had somehow instantly clicked, still giggling even when Aris was smacking them, capitalizing on the opportunity to get the hell out of there.
"The specialized sensors have been primed for you my lady." The attendant said to Virginia, then turning to Aris and Silas. "You both can follow me, the primary sensors have also been readied."
Aris gave the lady a quiet nod, matching her pace as he followed her into the test room, Silas trailing behind them.
Rank tests were simple things, well, at least in the surface that was. Awakened were simply required to channel a little bit of mana into a specialized sensor that had been prepped for them ahead of time, and by the quality of the mana that was recorded, they were assigned their rank.
In actual reality, it was a thousand times more complicated than that.
There were a lot of factors to be considered when assigning someone a rank such as; how easily the mana moved for them, the density of energy they exuded, the attribute of their mana, the strength of the will in the mana, the quantity of the mana itself... so on.
These processes had all been streamlined in their era, giving birth to a simpler looking process that could determine the rank of an individual.
Though everyone above high A rank was still required to take a specialised test, which was what Virginia was probably going through right now, which composed of more practical tests, and too many moving parts that Aris didn't want to think about.
It was such a pain to have a high rank, being average was where its all at. Such an easy life awaited those who awakened into an average tier.
Aris hoped that his rank stayed the same.
He let the silence settle around him as he prepared himself for the test, his hand was resting on a large grey sphere that was mounted on top of what looked like a metal seating.
Last time he had tested was six months ago, in which he had been assigned his B rank.
He had a rough idea of what he was going to get this time around.
And there would be no way to hold back either, since the sphere sucked the mana out once the connection was established.
He let out a short breath to steady himself, then willed the mana to flow, careful to not let his attribute seep through as it filled up the sphere.
It hungrily drank on his mana, sending a weird feeling through Aris's spine.
The huge object glowed lightly at first, then growing in intensity until it was painful to the eyes to look at.
A faint hum started coming from the orb.
Then a small pop, and the light faded from within the orb.
"Oh.." He blinked.
There was a small crack in the orb.
Even holding back his attribute, the orb hadn't been strong enough.
"Sorry about the crystal, do i have to take another test to get proper..." His words died in his throat when he realized that the attendant was staring at him in shock, her jaw slack open as she fumbled for the telephone at her table.
She put the receiver to her ears and hurriedly dialed in a number.
Only when she spoke to the phone did Aris finally realize what was happening.
"We have another S rank!"
And just like that, the peaceful life of Aris Ashborne had been scattered into the wind, replaced by unknown variable that he will now come to hate with his very core.