The rest of the day flew by in a haze. While I was not very sure how she did it, Dana ended up surviving just as I had, also receiving rank H.
After we had all teleported back to the arena, Wilson bid us goodbye as he carried the boy's body to his family. I eventually had to go and break the news of my ranking to my own family.
As expected, they loved me no matter what. Still though, the disappointment in their voices could be heard as clear as day.
After everyone had said their goodbyes, we were instructed to group up by rank. I walked shamefully towards a giant banner marked H, accompanied by Dana.
I looked around with jealousy burning inside of me, trying to count the other ranks. There was only one person in the SSS rank. She was beautiful, she had long brunette hair, green eyes and pale skin. I wanted to know her.
There was nobody in the SS rank.
The next group, rank S had five people, Aldin being one of them. This meant that he had risen to the school's most elite in a matter of hours. All of this based on how much someone thought a person was worth, my jealousy intensified.
Rank A had quite a few more people, consisting of about thirty.
Rank B and C came in close together with huge numbers compared to the top groups. I couldnt count the numbers exactly but I would have guessed that they had around one hundred people each.
Rank D and E were the last groups that mattered, having about three hundred each.
As for groups F, G and H, there were probably three thousand among us. This meant that over the course of the day, almost two hundred unlucky kids lost their lives in the test.
For anyone placed in the lower three ranks, it meant instant doom. Those in the upper ranks would all go on to be hunters in some fashion, gain fame, glory or whatever they desired. The rest of us however, would not get the chance. Valuable resources would not be spent on us to become hunters.
We would instead spend our school years training to work in dungeons as porters or clean up crew. There were other fields to choose from but at least with those two would still bring in enough to provide for a good life.
The only way to escape this fate would be to kill monsters and absorb their cores in one's free time. After today, I could see why most didn't choose to go that route.
For one, the abilities of a bottom three were weak and stood no chance against the monsters in the dungeons. Also, from what Helena had told my parents and I, there was barely any free time to speak of at the academy.
In a time where dungeons could be overrun and monsters could break out at any moment, efficiency was everything. Hunters would train to kill monsters while the rest of us would look on with jealousy while preparing for a bleak future.
After a few minutes of standing around, a muscular old man with salt and pepper hair and a trimmed silver beard approached from within the school's compound. He wore a black suit with a baby blue tie and black dress shoes. Everything about this man oozed class, confidence and danger.
As he got to the center of where we all stood he looked each of our groups up and down. Only a passing glance was spared for the lower three ranks, while a brief nod was spent on ranks E through B. All of the A rank students were given a word of praise.
He stopped in front of the S rank students as he spoke "What a marvelous achievement, you should all be very proud of yourselves".
Lastly, he walked to the lone SSS rank girl, she stood there looking shy and out of place, but still very beautiful. I wanted to know her.
The man did not pause in front of her as he had the other groups, this time he outstretched his hand and placed it on her shoulders.
"You shall lead the entirety of a new generation of for human kind. Though the prerequisites will be trying, the rewards for such a burden will be exemplary. You were born to lead, look around you, all of these people will be your loyal compatriots," the man said waving his hand across the field.
The girl said nothing as she took nervous glances at everyone, skimming her eyes across mine for a brief moment.
The man took a few small steps away and cleared his throat as the booming voice sounded off again. "Everyone will now be directed to a dormitory by rank. I expect cleanliness while at my academy, tardiness will not be tolerated, and upper rank students please try and refrain from attacking the lower ranks. While not against the rules, it would be a hassle bury weak before they outlive their use-fullness".
It was then that I realized that the sound wasn't coming from his mouth, it was all in my head which meant that this was part of his ability.
Suddenly I felt a searing pain in my temples as I quickly fell onto the ground. It only lasted about five seconds but for those five seconds, I was wishing for death. I looked over and saw that the students in the other bottom three ranks had also fallen over.
"Let this brief pain serve as an example to all of those weaker than E tank, it is a privilege to attend my academy, abuse those privileges and next time I wont stop until I break your skulls in half". The man spoke inside my head.
"For all of those who matter, please refer to me as Headmaster Roman Hendrickson, dismissed".
As he walked away, I had a feeling that everyone in this damned academy was going to be against me. I needed to become strong enough to fight back. I needed to become strong to defend myself, but deep down I knew that this was not the reason for my jealous zeal. I needed to become stronger for one reason alone.
I wanted to know her.