Modern World, in a universe similar to our own.
The golden sun beamed through the window and lit up the dim room.
A young boy around 16 woke up from his dreamy sleep, stretching his highly toned body.
He had tousled black hair which is thick and lustrous, with a strong, handsome, and defined face. His flawless skin and clear black eyes are capable of attracting everyone's attention.
'Buzzz'
At that moment, the youth's communication bracelet's message tone beeped and a 3D holographic image surfaced in front of him.
A beautiful female figure around 20 years of age appeared and spoke in a sweet voice:
"Good Morning, Mr. Gin Reyhart. We are calling from Ranker Divison!"
"Your 'Ranker' exam location has been confirmed. You will soon receive the location of examination on your communication bracelet, and please arrive at the mentioned location tomorrow, before 10:00 AM."
"Have a nice day!"
After the video ended, his communication bracelet returned to normal.
The Communication bracelet is an advanced product in this world with every day to day functions incorporated like calls, entertainments, games, internet, cameras, advanced security for protections, etc.
'Yes! Finally, my ranker examination has been approved. This is my last chance, I have to pass this time without fail.' Gin thought with his fist clenched.
Actually, this is Gin's third and last chance to pass the Ranker's exam. If he fails once again, he can't join the Ranker Division in his entire lifetime.
Ranker Division is a part of the Human Union, while the 'Human Union' is considered as the sovereign and government of the entire Human Territory.
'If only I have awakened my own spirit seal... It's no use crying over spilled milk. I can still join the Ranker Division and get myself a good physique cultivation technique.' Gin sighed.
It has been a month since Gin graduated from high school. He was an outstanding student, obtaining high marks in all subjects, and praised as a rare genius in the combat training class.
His only impediment is, not awakening a spirit seal.
Spirit Seal, something bestowed by heavens so that lower life forms can have a chance to pursue something above them.
There will always be an exception as not everyone is bestowed with a spirit seal.
According to the Human Union's latest report, only 10 – 15 % of the people in the world fail to awake any spirit seal.
Sadly, Gin happens to be in this category who doesn't have or awoken any Spirit Seal.
Most of them will awaken their Spirit Seal before the age of ten while there are some heaven favored, who will awake their spirit seal on their time of birth.
Even without a spirit seal, one can still practice and improve their strength but only to a certain extent.
There are even rumors on the internet, that Human union has high-level techniques capable enough for normal people without a spirit seal to practice.
Likewise, peoples without enough strength and talent can still complete their higher study and join various major organizations or companies, as they wish.
Not everyone in the world pursues strength. For Gin, his dream is to pursue strength, absolute strength.
Gin soon freshened up and came down to prepare his breakfast. His parents lost their lives when they entered an ancient ruin for research and Gin was all alone in his two-story house since he was 10.
His parents worked for the same company and know the risk in their field.
Normally, both of them won't travel at the same time since one of them has to take care of Gin. But on one critical day, the company his parents worked for reached a crucial step.
The company wanted both of his parents to enter a risky area at the same time and the outcome - his parents didn't come out.
One of the main reasons, Gin pursue absolute strength, is because he believes his parents are still alive inside the ruin.
At least, when he's strong enough, he wanted to confirm it himself by venturing into the ruin.
After finishing his breakfast, Gin walked towards his backyard where the training room was located.
Once he entered the training room, he began his practice on the 'Basic True Force' breathing technique which is gifted to everyone in the world by the Human Union.
Even though this is a basic breathing technique, it helps one to lay a solid foundation on their physique.
After finishing his practice on the Basic True force technique, he began his combat training on Hybrid Martial art called 'Burning Skull'.
In this world, Ranker's are highly respected, admired, and influential people.
'Rankers' stage is the basic foundation stage where one will enhance their physical body with the 'essence energy' of heaven and earth and surpass their physique limit.
Rankers are normally divided into different stars by their strength and experience.
A one-star ranker will have a physical strength up to 100 Kg and combined with their martial arts technique, they will be able to draw up to 150 Kg of strength.
Once they surpass the 100 Kg mark, they will be called 2-star Ranker. Like this, every stage of Ranker is divided by 50 Kg of strength difference till 6-star Ranker.
Rankers above 6 stars are called Advanced rankers, who are able to utilize their essence energy in combat using their martial arts. Every regular ranker's dream is to reach this stage.
Gin is currently at the 3-star Ranker level with 200 kg of raw strength.
But recently his increase in strength began to stagnate as if his body reached its limit. Gin also knows the reason, it's because of the lack of spirit seal in his body.
Unlike Gin, people with spirit seal will be able to improve their strength if they have little talent since the spirit seal in their body act as a medium to absorb the essence energy for them.
After practicing his combat technique for a long time, Gin was out of breath and body full of sweat. He could feel that his body wasn't able to absorb any more essence energy.
Gin knows, only by obtaining an advanced technique he can increase his strength. The only easy way to obtain an 'Advanced Ranked breathing technique' is to enter the Ranker Divison.
'I failed last time because of that vile bastard, Syn. I swear, I will pay him back for what he did to me.' Whenever he recalls what happened in his previous ranker's exam, Gin would feel his anger rising.
Gin failed in his first exam mainly due to his lack of experience and strength.
In Ranker's exam, the exam candidates will be paired with a team of Rankers and will be asked to complete the mission with them.
What type of mission will one get, can be said in a single word – luck.
In his first try, Gin's mission was to travel with a 5-member ranker team and acquire a horn of Golden horned rhino, a Rank-6 wild beast.
The wild beasts are evolved creatures of normal animals. They are smart, fierce, and possess terrifying strength and divided into different ranks like humans.
Like humans, once wild beast reaches advanced class their strength will reach an incredible level.
Unfortunately for Gin, on their mission, they met with a Rank-7 beast when they were fighting with a golden-horned rhino.
The team even lost one of its members, thankfully, Gin was able to escape with the help of the team captain.
In his second attempt, he was paired with a lunatic team with their captain named Syn.
Even though they successfully completed the mission, Syn reported to the Ranker division that Gin didn't possess sufficient strength to be a Ranker.
When Gin asked, 'why?'
Syn smirked and explained, that he enjoys seeing the despair and hopelessness in the face of newbie rankers.