A day had passed since Guild master Lotus asked him to join her guild, and while tempted, he said that he needed to think it over. Some might call him foolish to not immediately accept as it was one of the top guilds in his country, but the only reason she wanted him was for his method. And while she showed him very attractive rewards for doing so, he didn't feel comfortable with it.
"Plus I have a date today."
It wasn't really a date, but he did have to meet up with a girl. If he told someone else about who it was then they wouldn't believe him, as it was one of the newest S ranks, Elizabeth Jacobs.
They were both orphans and, before he was assigned his own apartment a year ago, they lived in the same orphanage. They were both very good friends and, as it turns out, both had extreme luck, just in opposite directions. They kept this friendship through high school and planned to meet each other, regardless of their results, at the central park 5 days after awakening.
He dressed himself well and got there early, they didn't set a time but were to try to get there as early as possible. It was so early that the only other people there were joggers and early shift workers.
He didn't know how busy she was, but believed wholeheartedly that she would show up. She was an S rank now and had an unbelievable amount of training to do, but it was the early stages so she should have a lot of free time.
He didn't know when she would come, and since he couldn't continue to research his skills in public, nor could he practice his method as he was afraid of someone detecting that something was different, his only option to pass the time was to practice his control.
He raised his hand and a white orb of mana appeared, he used very small amounts so his veins did not act up. Then he forced the orb to compress and decompress periodically, growing and shrinking, all while using the same amount of mana. He didn't know how other people practiced control, but he figured that doing it this way should help.
Even with being focused on this, he still kept looking around him to see if he saw her. It wasn't a big park and with him sitting in the middle, he could see any and everybody that entered.
A few hours passed and it was now high noon. At some point in time he graduated from 1 orb to 3 and they shrunk and grew at different times, and while he used more than intended at some points, he kept his mana use in a reasonable range.
Again another few hours passed, and while he was hungry, he didn't want to move and miss her. The thought of her not coming flashed in his mind, but he dismissed it as soon as it appeared. They had been friends before for most of their lives and he didn't think that would change in less than a week.
He moved from 3 orbs to 6 and instead of being on his palm they floated in a circle around him, rotating around him slowly, growing and shrinking in some sort of weird pattern. A few people stopped to look at him for a few seconds, but quickly continued along their way. Seeing someone practice magic may be a wonderful site, but it was by no means rare.
It was now sunset, he had moved up to 10 orbs which was his current limit without exposing his method, and as he was beginning to lose hope, he saw her out of the corner of his eye. But she wasn't alone, around her were 3 other people that were talking and laughing loudly with her as they wandered over in his direction.
When they were about 20 meters away from him, she broke away and walked over to him but stopped 10 meters away.
He was confused as to why she was so far away and was about to say something when he noticed the expression of absolute disgust that came from her 3 companions. One of them might be missing but it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that they were the other S rank students, and to his disappointment the same look was plastered over Elizabeth's face.
She quickly tried to hide it and spoke to him. "Hello Higan, I am here as we had planned." She sounded very monotonous and straightforward, even worse than when speaking to a complete stranger.
'Higan huh' Those who were close to him called him Ray and she refusing to do so sent a loud and clear message.
Continuing she said. "As you might have known I have awakened as an S rank, and while we did plan to hunt together, given your current…. circumstances, I don't think that that is a good idea, for your safety."
She didn't even wait for his response and started to walk away, but when she heard a maniacal laughter coming from behind her, she quickly turned back to him. He was holding his stomach, dying laughing and with the 10 orbs rotating around him it was an interesting site to behold.
"Hahahahahaha, I can't believe my foolishness. 'Oh, just because she is an S rank now, doesn't mean that she would change all that much.' 'Just because I waited here all day, doesn't mean that she isn't going to show up. ''Maybe we can work together even, with the difference in rank'" His eyes were full of tears and although he was laughing like he just heard the funniest joke of his life, it wasn't easy to tell if they were tears of joy or sorrow.
It was understandable, while he was expecting to be despised for his rank, the only person that he was really made contact with was Guild master Lotus who didn't seem to care. He didn't truly understand how bad it would be until his one and only true friend looked at him like he was a dying stray, a sad sight but not enough to care or do anything about it.
He kept laughing until he was interrupted by one of her new friends. He was a rather tall, handsome young man with a sharp jawline, blond hair and blue eyes.
"Hey F rank, learn your fucking place and don't make such a horrid sound around this many S ranks. You should be grateful that she even came here in the first place. If it was up to me we wouldn't be wasting our time giving some trash an explanation." Contrary to his handsome appearance, his tongue was rather vile.
Ray stopped to look at him for a few moments before laughing even harder than before, but this time the one that he assumed was the holy knight didn't even try to talk and just swung a punch at him. But instead of getting his face caved in, he easily dodged it and, with the help of his newly acquired steel skin, shoved his hand straight through his torso, just barely missing his spine.
It may seem like he was overreacting, but a punch from an S rank, especially one from such close range, would kill him instantly, even if it was a newly awakened. As an offensive type, a blow from Knight would not only shatter his skull, his brain matter and blood would be plastered all over the statue behind him. If there was one thing that Ray could easily identify, it was killing intent. That punch was a punch to kill, and as an S rank, no one would ask him any questions.
He quickly pulled his hand out and intended to sever his head but an arrow came flying towards him so he had to dodge, but instead of away, he moved closer to the archer. This one was the hunter and specialized in long ranged combat, so when he appeared next to her, she couldn't react in time and similarly had an arm put through her.
This time a dark bolt of energy came at him from a skinny pale guy dressed in dark clothes and he fell in a similar fashion.
This all happened in the matter of seconds, all while he was still laughing. It happened so fast that Elizabeth didn't even respond until after Wraith was down. Unlike the others, she didn't have the extent of training provided to her new companions and she didn't seek 'employment' like Ray did.
Still laughing, he looked at her and contemplated whether or not to also attack her but decided against it, she may have betrayed him but she was the only one to not directly attack him. He was hurt mentally, not physically.
With a look of shock and horror on her face she watched as he walked away, leaving her new companions bleeding out, into the darkness, still laughing, and still crying.