The SSS-Rank System: From Outcast To Overlord
Chapter 30: One, Two, Three, Four, Five... Six Wings?!

Chapter 30: One, Two, Three, Four, Five... Six Wings?!

"I’m going to become a horseman." Elvis had boasted.

The sunny afternoon had roared upon the fields, making them sweaty as they practiced vigorously— like they’d always done before they awakened their talents.

The cousins were barely in their pre-teen years, but they’d already learnt just enough about power and how important it was in a helpless society. And that afternoon as they clashed wooden swords against one another, Elvis had made a determined resolve.

"Tsk." Reyy shook his head in disapproval. "It’s easier said than done."

"I’m serious!" Elvis barked. "I want to become so strong, so that I would be able to help others too."

Reyy dug his sword tip into the dirt, staring with a straight look at Elvis’s naivety. "Fool. Is it until you’re strong before you can become a hero? And don’t you know how contagious power is? It could change you... Not to speak of your petty plans."

Elvis frowned, then formed a mischievous grin. "Is that what you’re scared of, or is it that you’re just simply weak?"

"Shut up!" Reyy swing his sword in the air, towards his cousin. But Elvis was quick to block the attack, his mischievous smile unfading.

"Then prove that you’re not weak. Become a horseman or fight in the future as my sidekick!"

Reyy groaned. "Fine! But I’m still sure you’re never going to be a horseman."

"Let’s bet on it then!" Elvis was feeling quite confident. "Whoever becomes a horseman first...."

"Gets to..."

"Gets to marry Lena!" Elvis had barely finished when he pushed Reyy to the ground with a force propelled by anger.

Before anyone else could say a word, Lena had suddenly appeared in their midst, dragging Elvis’s ears.

"You two are at it again, aren’t you? Haven’t I told you that I’m not interested in marriage?"

Elvis winced and struggled to form words. "Reyy started it!" he held on to Lena’s hands, trying to pull her clipping fingers off his ear.

"Become proud horsemen for all I care, but don’t use me as a reward. Set goals you can actually achieve." Lena let go off Elvis’s ear and made a boastful posture. "You guys won’t even survive your first day in the trials. Thankfully, I would be there to protect you."

"You’re going for the trials too?" Elvis asked with excitement.

"I mean, if my two dumb friends are going to become horsemen, then they’d need someone to watch their backs from time to time."

"Stop that habit of self importance, it doesn’t suit you." Reyy lowered his eyes at her.

"Rude." Lena’s frown immediately faded and what replaced immediately was a reassuring smile. "Don’t worry Reyy, you won’t feel so lonely."

As she moved towards him, her face stiffened, as if trying to stifle the obvious blush that flayed her cheeks. She stretched her hand out to him. "I would protect you too."

* * *

Nothing had changed even after eight years. Not the constant attitude of protectiveness that etched her eyes. Not the way she’d always been Reyy’s saving grace just when he was about to fall.

Lena was the weather. The little, cold droplets of snow that fell into the school even when the sun gleamed fiercely in the spring. Her eyes weren’t glowing, but in it was an endless ice desert, one that could kill of man of confinement if he was ever trapped in there.

Michael felt her aura sway like a ruthless winter breeze over his neck. The rest was the thick lump of ice that arrested his movements, freezing him solid cold to his bones. Her movements inched towards him in a thrill, and every of her steps felt like a level of utter fear arising in him.

Reyy’s aura was an understatement. This... This was aura. It was power that already stopped him even before he could challenge it. It was no surprise that even Reyy had his eyes wide open, a astonished look of familiarity carved on his face.

"Your move ends here, Joker." Lena stood in front of him, staring coldly into his eyes. "It’s over."

Lena’s power may have gotten him inferior for a nanosecond, but Michael did not forget a chuckle. "And who decides that?" He asked.

"Me." Lena reached for his cap and pulled it off, allowing his crimson air to roam freely with the breeze. She nudged a finger on his mask and pulled it down, allowing the already small crowd of students who had gathered to watch— figure him out.

"Impossible." Michael heard admidst them. "Michael... Michael Alastair is t.. The Joker?!"

"Well, he was among my suspects." Another student said with folded arms and a smirk. He seemed to have enjoyed assuming he was a detective.

"I tried to help you by warning you Michael." Lena said with a hint at false sympathy. "It’s too late now."

[WRITER’S LEGACY HAS CHOSEN A NEW CLASS]

[SHIFT(Seraphim)]

[CHOSEN CLASS IS SELECTIVE. ACCEPT/DECLINE]

[CHOSEN CLASS WOULD REPLACE THE ONE IN THE SLOT: NECROMANCY]

Michael’s eyes dug blankly into the interface. A new class? Well he wasn’t expecting that. He had so much been drilled into his interest of defeating the hierarchy that he hadn’t even awaited a new class from the system.

Shape-shifting? If anything, the Seraphim behind it was just Divine enough to be considered a forbidden talent. Seraphims were infamously ruthless, six winged giant creatures that were said in myths to care less about humanity. In the book he had read, "THE ACADEMY’S GENIUS SWORDSMAN," the seraphims had been the reason for the peril of the world, which caused the main character to go back in time to rewrite fate.

Yeah... It was a forbidden talent.

But not that he was terrified to use it. He had used the necromancy talents, even in the presence of a watching crowd. It was only a matter of time before a cuff was sealed around his wrist, dragged into the trunk of a car that led all the way behind eternal bars.

Michael would gladly use this power. He had already begun to hate Lena, and the moment she trotted towards him and exposed his identity, he’d only found reason to hate her more.

"Yes. It’s too late." He finally spoke after a long while of silence. "Too late to hold back now."

[CHOSEN CLASS IS SELECTIVE. ACCEPT/DECLINE]

"Accept."

FLASH! A sudden aggressive outburst followed, one so powerful that it made everyone in the area move a step back, the force cracked through the ice crystals that were firmly wrapped around his body, and from his back, something rose.

Strange dark letterings appeared around Michael’s body, his arms. Back. Legs. They followed one another like it was an absolute hand that actually wrote it. Michael didn’t know the meaning of these words, he didn’t care to. His focus was rather drawn to the outstretched dark crimson colored wings that posed three feet above him.

When his other four wings popped out like eager tails beneath his waistline, the ice shattered completely, breaking into chunk pieces. His middle double went up with his first two wings, trying concurrently to stretch as high as them. The remaining pair just kept a balanced position beneath his waist.

"What in the world is that?" Reyy’s jaw almost dropped from being too astonished. In his eyes where fear obviously lingered, it was easy to tell that he hadn’t pictured this sort of thing before. And with the way Michael’s aura predominantly surpassed Lena’s, it made him shiver.

Reyy now seemed to be the fool. A mere onlooker.

[NEW CLASS ADDED: SHIFT (Seraphim)]

[CLASS DISCONTINUED: NECROMANCY]

Michael could guess that Lena had attempted her best attack strategy, because she constantly shot at him with sharp icicles, tried to freeze him up again in one place. But none of it seemed to be having any effect, that was just the power of a seraphim.

And the way she slowly back away as Michael approached further, it was obvious she could tell that this wasn’t a fight she could win. Infact, it wasn’t a fight at all.

The outcome had already been decided.

"This is not going to get you anywhere." Lena yelled while still moving off from Michael. "Where are your right senses?!"

"Lost." Michael replied, his eyes gleaming so bright, that it lit up his face. "And I stopped looking for it after I realized the true definition of humans; bunch of jerk face assholes who never listens to a shit you have to say until you rebel against them all!"

"You speak like that, but there’s nothing in your backstory except the fact that you were constantly bullied. Why are you making your experiences sound so bitter? It’s disgusting. Considering the fact that there are others who’s been through worse than you have!"

Michael made a quick dash and caught up to her. Before she could react, he had already lifted her off the ground, his bare hands wrapped firmly around her neck as he engulfed her tightly.

His head winced. She’d made him remember, the night on the ship. The blood of his mom. The betraying look of his brother. Those were memories he had lost... Memories he did not want to remember.

"You don’t know the full story." Michael gritted, still gripping unto her neck. "You thought you knew me, and because of that...you used me."

He caught his breath. "I forgive you for that. It’s not your fault after all." He craned his head towards Reyy. "it’s his. Unlike you, he’s unwilling to make corrections for his wrongs, let alone acknowledge them.

He shouldn’t exist."

Michael raised his other hand towards Reyy, and out of it, a wild green light started to form. With the last strength in her, Lena struggled to distract Michael, but she didn’t seem to be having any progress.

"N..no." She managed, her lungs constricted from saying more.

The light beame brighter...

And brighter...

And just when Michael braced for a shot...

Everything stopped... No, everything disappeared... Into a foil of complete black.

"Now, I did not expect to meet a school this disorganized. This looks like more work." A voice sighed in the nothingness, a voice that was immediately recognisable by the sudden display of talent.

Kieran Ferrante, the hero of the void.