《I Want To Have A Yandere》


 Chapter 1: I Don鈥檛 Like My Attitude

    <h4>Chapter 1: I Don''t Like My Attitude</h4>


    "So it''s o-over?" A sweet voice rings in Kaden''s ears as he looks outside the window of the donut shop he''s in with a bored stare. Taking his eyes off of the moving traffic and the walking people outside he looks into the eyes of the girl in front of him. She has long blonde hair that reaches her shoulders and some light red marks on her cheeks as tears stream down them. The tears fall on her white flowery summer dress that reveals her lightly tanned arms and shoulders as the rest of the dress is hidden below the table between them, not that he cared in the least.


    "Yes. I''m sorry it''s not your fault. I just need to work on myself more, I don''t think I''m ready for a rtionship quite yet." Kaden says looking into her eyes with a nk expression as her face is still streaming with tears.


    "I''m going to leave now. I called an uber to take you home safely so you don''t have to walk." Kaden said getting up from the table, not picking up his food or drink since he didn''t order any. Kaden tried getting out of this ufortable situation as fast as possible by moving briskly toward the door.


    Right as he was nearing the door a hand grabbed his shoulders making him shiver, ufortable with being touched. He turned around to see the same girl looking into his eyes with a new sort of fire going as he could see the tears she smeared across her cheek. "Be honest with me, Kaden. Is the real reason you''re breaking up with me is that I''m not enough for you?"


    Kaden stared into her fiery eyes with a nk stare for a moment before taking her hand off. He gently pulled it off with his other hand and then dropped her hand lower so it wouldn''t strain if she wasn''t prepared, "Yes." He responded, immediately turning away and walking out before she can speak.


    Once he was outside the facade was off and he began sprinting through the streets toward his apartment as fast as he could. He was running at a pace that was fast but not too fast so he wouldn''t run into the passing people that were staring at him strangely.


    ''I need to get home.'' Kaden chanted inside his mind as he ran through the streets towards his apartment. His ragged breath was apparent to many bystanders as he passed them. They wondered why he was running so desperately as there was no one behind him but they just chalked it up to being drugs or some mental problem.


    After running for a few minutes Kaden arrived at a towering semi-decent-looking building with a few people entering and exiting it. Kaden then sprinted through the double doors of the building and crossed the carpet of the main floor ignoring the person at the front desk waving to him before luckily enough finding an already open elevator and entering inside immediately pressing the close button.


    ''Please close. Please close. Please close.''


    Eventually, the elevator doors started to close and Kaden let out a sigh of relief and began trying to put himself back together straightening his hair and then fixing his clothes before putting back on a decent-looking face that looked less tired and stressed from the interaction earlier.


    Right as the elevator door was about to close a hand slipped through the closing doors making them reopen. Kaden looked down at the reason for the door reopening seeing a veiny hand with ck fingernail polish on each finger.


    Once the door fully reopened a pale taller girl was revealed wearing all ck clothes which included sweatpants and a hoodie with a ming skull on it. She had long flowing jet-ck hair that reached down to the middle of her back in addition to a gorgeous face that also wore ck lipstick and eyeliner. She also had a wireing out of her pocket leading to her ears which held earbuds that seemed to be ying some high-volume heavy metal which Kaden also enjoyed.


    Instead of trying to strike up a conversation with the girl Kaden immediately moved to the other side of the elevator avoiding the confrontation or potential conversation with the girl wanting to do nothing but go home to his bed.


    -----


    The girl looked up as she entered seeing an average-height dude with ck curly hair that almost covered his sparkling blue eyes. He was wearing a fancier outfit with khaki pants and a button-up blue cored shirt. As she was about to open her mouth to ask him to move over some since they were the only two on the elevator and she didn''t want another guy hitting on her or trying to get her number like thest 5 stores, he moved himself even avoiding eye contact with her as he went to the corner of the elevator.


    ''Well, that''s a first.'' She thought in her mind as she moved to the opposite side of the elevator and asionally peeked at him as the elevator rode upward.


    -----


    ''Phew, seems she doesn''t want to speak either. That''s good.'' Kaden thought inwardly as the elevator started going up the floors of the apartment building.


    Normally the thought of starting a conversation with such a girl would interest Kaden due to her appearance but after what happened earlier the spark of interest he would normally have in such a girl was gone. He just wanted thefort of his own home.


    Once the elevator went up for a few moments the bell dinged inside the elevator signaling the arrival of a destination. Realizing that the number shining on the screen was the number 3 Kaden immediately started walking forward to get off but bumped into something solid like a brick wall.


    "Ow."


    Rubbing his head lightly Kaden looked in the direction of the thing that he hit with his head but all he saw was the color ck.


    "Sorry about that." Kaden heard a voice say above him. Then slowly turning his head up Kaden met eyes with the reason he hit his head. It was the girl beside him in the elevator also trying to get off.

 Chapter 2: Mystery

    <h4>Chapter 2: Mystery</h4>


    "It''s fine don''t worry about it." Kaden stuttered looking back up at the tall girl. After realizing the situation Kaden immediately backed up and stuck his hand out, motioning for her to move forward first.


    "You go ahead first." Kaden said still motioning her to move first.


    "Thank you and sorry again." The girl said taking out one of her earbuds which was still ring music, loud enough for Kaden to hear and even recognize the band ying.


    "Stage presence?" Kaden mumbled under his breath identally as he heard the music.


    The girl then looked up at him surprised by the mumble and paused the loud music, "You know them?" She questioned in an interested tone.


    "Yes I do. Their music is on one of my ylist." Kaden saidughing awkwardly and scratching his head.


    ''WHY DID I HAVE TO MUMBLE THE BAND NAME!'' Kaden shouted inwardly. Mad at the fact he could have already been at his apartment.


    "You don''t seem like the sort to listen to this type of music. Much less a rtively unknown band like Stage Presence." The girl admitted, looking at Kadens outfit up and down once more with a questioning look on her face.


    "Well, you know the saying, appearances can be deceiving. Plus I understand why you think that way after all Stage Presence ended right as it began. The second they started to attain fame they just up and quit for no reason." Kaden sighed, actually disappointed at the bandsck of motivation frowning slightly.


    "PFFT!" Laughter rang inside the elevator as the girl beside Kaden burst outughing making Kadenpletely confused.


    Theugh soon died downpletely making Kaden look at the girl whom was wiping a tear from her eye smearing some of her makeup and holding her stomach with the other questionably.


    "What''s so funny?" Kaden asked genuinely confused.


    The girl looked back up at Kaden seeing hispletely confused expression making her giggle more, contrast to her domineering appearance, "It''s nothing hahaha. Your face just seemed so sad at the fact that the band is gone." She chuckled once more.


    "Is that funny somehow? I might have missed the punch line?" Kaden genuinely asked wondering how such a thing could be funny.


    The girls face slightly changed to a surprised one for a moment before changing into a scared one and finally into a wide smile that she showed to Kaden, "That''s true, I guess I just have a strange sense of humor haha." The girl chuckled a little bit creeping Kaden out a little.


    ''I think I should get out of here.'' Kaden thought nervously looking up at the girl with a smile still stered on her face making Kaden immediately put on one of his own.


    "It seems so haha, thank you for chatting with me but it seems I must go now." Kaden said with a fake smile and energy behind his words. Also checking his phone showing that he was on a time limit for some sort of event.


    Without waiting for the strange girl to answer Kaden walked out of the elevator hurriedly making his way towards his apartment. After taking a left almost sprinting at this point Kaden saw his apartment with the number 03 on it. He took out his keys slightly fumbling them for a moment causing him to take longer than he intended before finally opening his door and entering his apartment.


    -----


    "Ha. Hahahahaha." Muffled giggles ring out in the hallway where Kaden previously was. Standing in front of the apartment door with the number 03 on it, the girl Kaden was just talking to thinks back to the expression he made when talking about the band she was listening to, making her giggle more.


    ''This is bad. I really like his face when he''s sad~'' The girl thinks with a huge creepy smile stered on her face but when she thinks back toter in their conversation when he seemed overly smiley and friendly she frowns deeply, ''I don''t like that pesky mask of his! Wait..... I DIDN''T EVEN GET HIS NAME!'' She screamed inwardly. Putting his facade at the back of her mind, she slightly panics before looking up at the door with the number 03 on it, "Well it seems we''ll be seeing a lot of each other. I''ve taken an interest in you, unlucky for you, neighbor." She whispers under her breath walking one door to the right opening the door with the number 04 on it going inside.


    -----


    Once inside his apartment Kaden let out a tired sigh leaving the lights off and going to his room before throwing his body on the covers immediately covering himself all over not letting a speck of coldness outside the confines of his nket.


    ''Goodness, today has been so stressful.'' He thought lightly.


    ''First I have to turn down the soon to be sweetheart of my new school and then meet a weird girl in the elevatorughing at strange things.'' He continued on inside his mind relishing the feeling of his nket.


    "Ughhhhh." He verbally lets out his frustration, flipping on his side in the bed to pull his phone out and scroll through emails before clicking one to read again for the 100th time.


    Sent to: ****.***@gmail


    From:********


    Hello all new students! We wee you to your first year in your new ability school! Ever since superpowers randomly appeared on the earth all those years ago recing high school with ability school we have weed millions of kids just like you! There are many career paths to choose from in our state of the art facilities that will nurture your abilities to the fullest! On your first day we will let every student take the ability screening test to judge your abilities and what powers you may have! Please meet in the gym at the front of the school! Hope to see you all soon! -Principal Jones


    After Kaden finished reading the email a couple times more a slight smile creeped on his face, "So it''s finally time huh?"

 Chapter 3: New Experience

    <h4>Chapter 3: New Experience</h4>


    Soon after reading the email a few more times Kaden fell into a deep sleep in thefort of his nket.


    *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*


    "HEY BRO! GET UP! I SAID IT''S TIME TO GET UP! YOU BETTER GET UP YOU LAZY SLOTH BEFORE I KICK YOU MYSELF" A voice red inside of Kaden''s ears causing his body to immediately sit straight up from his bed in a panic. Kaden''s eyes looked all around the room trying to find the culprit of the sound before his eyesnded on his phone which was currently lit up and vibrating constantly.


    Dragging himself over to his phone Kaden realized that the sounds were by his phone and that the voice he heard was the prerecorded message Kaden set up for his rm so he didn''t sleep in.


    ''Well that worked like a charm.'' Kaden said sighing in relief that it wasn''t some pyscho trying to wake him up after breaking into his house.


    Getting up from his bed and stretching over dramatically with an added yawn Kaden walked into his bathroom to get ready for his first day at ability school. Putting on his new uniform which was required by all students to wear which was suited with a military grade fabric that could resist the efforts of his grade military weapons since some of the students abilities would shred any type of normal clothing, Kaden looked in the mirror inwardlyplimenting the maker of the uniforms as it was quite nice andfortable to wear despite being such a crazy fabric.


    The uniform was a ck zer with dark grey khaki pants which suited Kadens preferred style of clothing. Despite wearing such bright and somewhat vibrant colors yesterday it was nowhere near his favored clothing option. The only reason he wore such a thing was to match the cafes more bright and bubbly atmosphere. He may be confident in himself but that was no reason to get stared at even more than he already was during the altercation.


    After putting on the uniform neatly and removing all the wrinkles and inconsistences he could Kaden brushed his long curly brown hair to make it not as messy as it usually was. Finally after finishing the rest of his daily chores Kaden grabbed his ckbat bag and walked out of his apartment.


    The travel went much better than he had expected, making it all the way to the school without incident. As masses of kids his age and older walked past him entering the tall iron gates of the school, Kaden took a second to just marvel at the sheer size of the school. The building had multiple floors with students filling all the floors as they could be seen from outside through the windows. Also farther off in the distance and right beside the school Kaden could see multiple of their facilities that had been kindly marked with a sign on the front of the building saying things such as, "Training Rooms", "Research Lab", and even a "Teachers'' Lounge" which was strangely bigger than the rest of the buildings.


    As Kaden was marveling at the size of the buildings and about to walk inside the school a feminine voice invaded his ears, "Hey! Elevator guy!" The voice shouted causing Kaden to turn around in confusion only to be met with the sight of a somewhat familiar face. It was the goth girl from the elevator yesterday.


    ''I thought she was much older than me?'' Kaden thought confused inside of his mind.


    "Fancy seeing you here. Are you a freshman as well?" Kaden said with a light smile on his face.


    The girl looked at him funny for a second then saying, "Yeah it''s my first year here. I didn''t want toe here originally but now I''m kind of excited for the entrance awakening and to see what this ce has to offer." She said looking at the school with a creepy grin on her face.


    "That''s what I-" As Kaden was about to finish his sentence a loud metal sound was heard around the school as holes started forming all over the ce causing lots of students to panic but as Kaden looked around at some of the other students some seemed not worried at all about the situation, so Kaden just waited patiently seeing what was going to happen.


    After the holes in the ground opened for a moment, a pole suddenly shot out of each hole with a loudspeaker attached to each one before a voice came out of it, "All freshman please report to the training gym immediately for the entrance awakening! All freshmen please report to the training gym immediately for the entrance awakening! That''s all, thank you." The voice finished making the poles sink back into the ground and be covered by the ground once more before Kaden could even blink.


    "Wow." Is all Kaden could say even more astonished by the level of technology in this ce.


    -----


    The girl beside Kaden smirked unknowingly to him at his astonished face and thoughtughing to herself, ''That reaction is not terrible either.''


    -----


    Once Kaden came out of his stupor, he turned to the girl beside him and began to bid farewell as he didn''t want to bete, "Well it seems I should go now. I don''t want to bete to the ceremony." He said letting some of his excitement seep out a little.


    "I agree, I don''t want to bete either. Want to head over there together?" The girl asked with a light hopefulness in her eyes.


    After thinking for a moment and seeing no reason not to he agreed to go to the ceremony with the girl and as they were nearing the gym she whispered something to him, "My name is Ashly." The girl said continuing to walk forward.


    "My name is Kaden." He replied putting a slight smirk on Ashly''s face.


    After walking a little longer they arrived at a huge crowd of people funneling inside two open doors for the same reason they were.


    "Wee to the Ability Ceremony!" A man with sses and a suit said with a megaphone as he floated in the air just above the doors into the gym.

 Chapter 4: Emma

    <h4>Chapter 4: Emma</h4>


    After a few minutes of people shuffling inside the building Kaden and Ashly entered and were both once again amazed at the sheer size of the room which they were in. The room was at least the size of half a football field if not more with many different rooms sectioned off inside the building for different types of training but also a huge podium whichid in front of them with possibly thousands of chair in front of it slowly filling up.


    "Wow. This is awesome." Ashly was the one to audibly show her enthusiasm for once.


    "We should probably go find our seats." Kaden said taking Ashly out of her stupor and beginning to walk to the long rows without waiting for her and gaining some considerable distance immediately.


    -----


    After realizing that Kaden wasn''t going to wait on her and was leaving without her Ashly immediatly became annoyed.


    "Hey! Wait up you jerk!" Ashly said angrily chasing Kaden down quickly but after a moment she realize Kaden suddenly stopped moving. No, that was wrong it seemed like someone else was stopping him in his tracks. It was a girl with long blonde hair that reached down far below her shoulders, and she had lightly tanned skin that matched well with her beautiful face.


    ''Maybe she''s an ex that broke up with him. Maybe she will bully him, and he will be sad again maybe even cry~'' She thought to herself shivering in delite. ''Though she is beautiful I wondered how he pulled her off in the first ce.'' She wondered. ''Either way this should be interesting.'' She thought with an evil smile appearing on her face.


    -----


    As for Kaden Ashly''s assumption couldn''t have been farther from the truth. Currently Kaden was standing in front of the girl he made cry yesterday wondering why she was stopping him.


    When he first started walking away and was passing by many filled rows trying to find an open spot for two people he noticed one row that seemed much noisier than the others. At first, he ignored it because he could care less of what''s happening in that row and was more focused on the ceremony ahead but once he heard some of the whispers he couldn''t help but turn his attention slightly towards the area in curiosity.


    "Is she the heiress of the Johnson group?" Someone whispered loudly to another.


    "Wow, she is like an angel~" Someone else cooed with hearts in their eyes.


    Once Kaden fully turned his attention to the row he immediately regretted it when he realized that the heiress that they were speaking of was none other than the girl he turned down yesterday.


    ''She''s an heiress? Who knew.'' He thought to himself quite surprised but made sure to immediately start distancing himself from the row so there was no chance of any sort ofmotion happening. The more Kaden started thinking about her being an heiress the more her other personality made sense.


    "Kaden! Hey over here!" A beautiful voice made Kaden stop dead in his tracks as he started to remove himself from the area and he knew exactly who it was immediately putting on his happiest looking face.


    Turning around Kaden met the face of the girl he turned down yesterday but now instead of tearsing down her face a smile was stered on, "Hi Emma. It seems you got home safely, how are you today?" Kaden asked politely, there was no reason to ask what she was doing here as he already knew she would being to this school as well from some of their previous talks in the past.


    "I did get home safely thank you for the ride and I am well thank you for asking how are you?" She said replying with a smile. To the outside viewer, this conversation might seem normal and almost friendly but to the two of them, they knew what was happening.


    ''What is she nning?'' Kaden thought to himself trying to find the root of her n but couldn''t so he decided to keep going along with the conversation.


    "I''m well thank you but now if you don''t mind I need to lea-"


    "So you gave thedy a ride home you say?" A voice interrupted Kaden mid-sentence as he was speaking and looking to Emma''s left Kaden saw the root of her n.


    It was a guy simr in height to Kaden with dark red spiky hair and a more muscr build giving him a more muscle head vibe and judging by the way he spoke and was carrying himself walking towards Kaden he could tell how much confidence the person had in themselves. Whether that confidence could be backed up or not remains to be seen.


    When the kid got close enough to Kaden he tried to put his hand on his shoulder but Kaden immediately moved out of the way. One of the things Kaden hated the most was being touched without permission, "Actually I got her an uber I have never given her a ride myself as I don''t have a vehicle to drive nor n to take her anywhere in the future." Kaden said distancing himself a little from the guy and peeking at Emma who had a slight smirk on her face.


    Thinking of a new tactic Kaden walked back over whispering in the guy''s ear, "I actually know a way to help you get closer to her if you would like."


    The second these words entered the boy''s ear his face lit up and he put on a stupid grin, "Please do tell good sir." He whispered back in anticipation.


    After hearing his willingness, Kaden whispered some things he learned about Emma that will get him closer to her but the thing he didn''t know was that getting closer to her is thest thing any person wants to do.


    ''This should cause trouble for both Emma and him.'' Kaden thought happily as he whispered more in the kids'' ear making sure to keep his eyes locked with Emma''s as he whispers to him making her face contort in anger for half a second before returning to her fake confused face.

 Chapter 5: Commotion

    <h4>Chapter 5: Commotion</h4>


    After Kaden finished whispering the n inside the guys ear, he turned to face Kaden and gave him a thumbs up, "I will never forget this favor thank you Kaden! Oh I almost forgot to introduce myself my name is Ken." Said Ken giving a slight bow to Kaden then returning to his seat ignoring Emma almostpletely much to her surprise.


    "What did you tell him?" Emma asked with a less friendly smile than before.


    "Oh nothing just giving him a few tips on some guy things. Well it was nice chatting with you so I better get on my way now." Said Kaden turning around to leave but when he turned around the image before him left his jaw slightly open.


    Every single seat that was previously empty of filling was now filled with students with only a few stragglers still walking around hoping for a seat.


    ''That''s not good.'' Kaden internally sighed. He had done the exact opposite of what he nned before. He had even told himself to separate from anywhere near Emma but when she started speaking to him and he saw an opportunity to mess with her he got too caught up in the moment.


    To add salt in the wound right as Kaden was going to search other rows for an open seat a loudspeaker yed throughout the entire gym, "All students be seated within the next 5 minutes the ceremony will begin shortly."


    "Oh it seems you''re in quite the predicament~" Thest voice Kaden wanted to hear right now spoke making him turn back in her direction with a slight hint of annoyance now obviously infiltrating his expression.


    Emma had a wide smile on her face enjoying how the tables had turned in her favor, "Of course I can spare you a seat right beside me as it seems we have some room avable." She said gesturing towards her row where there was indeed another seat avable right next to hers. "That does seem like a good option no?" She continued on staring straight into Kaden''s eyes which still contained a hint of annoyance.


    Right as Kaden was about to answer another voice sounded right behind Emma making her jump in surprise, "Actually make that two seats."


    Standing behind Emma was Ashly whom had a calm expression on her face as she had been watching the scene from the beginning and in truth also got too involved in what was happening not realizing that all the seats were now taken.


    "Who might you be?" Emma asked returning to her previous happy and glowing attitude seeing that there was a new person.


    "Oh, Kaden didn''t tell you about me? How mean of him, I''m actually his new best friend!" Ashly replied walking around Emma and entering her row.


    Emma stood still for a moment dumbfounded at the unexpected words, ''Best friend? Since when does Kaden hang out with people or make new friends in general?'' She thought stumped but then realizing what section Ashly was entering she tried stopping her, "Hey wait there are no more seats avail-" As Emma was about to finish her sentence she looked up slightly and her jaw dropped this time. The seat that she had offered to Kaden was already upied by someone. It was upied none other than Kaden himself and the approaching Ashly then sat down beside him in the seat that was previously Emma''s.


    "Nice work." Kaden said amused giving Ashly a fist bump as she sat down with a smile on her face.


    "I don''t know what you mean I just sat down in the only open seat I saw?" Ashly replied giving a fake look of confusion causing Kaden to muffle augh.


    "Hey! That''s my seat!" Emma uncharacteristically raised her voice stomping over to Ashly in anger standing right in front of her.


    Ashly looked up at her unaffected by her tone and looked at the back of her seat in confusion before turning back to Emma with an innocent face, "I don''t see your name on it? Also please stop causing amotion everyone is staring at you." After these words Kadenughed slightly under his breath even Ken giggled slightly before going back to his neutral stance surveying the situation beside Kaden.


    Emma''s face fumed in anger but right before she was about to break her happy go lucky personality, she looked around her and realized all of the previous stragglers were no more and everyone was staring at her in confusion on what themotion was about causing her to immediately calm down and change back to her normal happy face.


    "I''m sorry for themotion everyone it was my fault it seems I''m in the wrong row." Emma said apologizing to everyone in the room and then walked out of the row walking down the aisle in search of another seat her true thoughts unknown.


    "Heh, that was quite impressive." Kaden said looking at Ashly in a new light with a true smile on his face.


    Ashly looked back at him and realized the genuineness behind the smile and smiled back herself, "Nothing much to it you didn''t seem affected by her anyway, so I just sped up the process."


    As Kaden was about to continue the conversation with a newfound interest in Ashly the loudspeaker rang out once more, "All students please quiet down and face your attention to the front of the room. The ceremony will now begin."


    Immediately anything that Kaden was going to say went out the window as he, Ashly, and Ken if not the whole gym of people went silent as they looked forward at the podium as a tall man walked towards the microphone stand at the middle of the podium, "Wee all students to your first year of ability school. I am excited to wee all you new and bright faces into the chance of a lifetime. Our school currently has the most high-tech facilities this world can currently offer and we''re here to train you to be the best of the best. This journey is not easy and to further that statement to you all let me tell you this. Despite what you may think not a single one of you here today is allowed to enroll in this school yet." Before the man could continue gasps rang throughout the gym.

 Chapter 6: Principal

    <h4>Chapter 6: Principal</h4>


    The room immediately went into an uproar with many people standing up and showing off a gallery of different emotions. Some had fear in their eyes of what was toe to get inside the school, some were crying or had sad expressions because of the sudden blow, and some were even angry yelling profanities and protest over the announcement. Even Kaden had a slight frown on his face while Ashly was looking at Kaden with a smile and Emma was calm having no reaction and having her normal pleasant expression.


    ''It seems she knew about this happening.'' Kaden thought ignoring Ashly''s stare and continuing to watch Emma wondering how strong exactly her family is.


    If this were a normal thing that happened in the academy, then the current crowd of students wouldn''t have such an extreme reaction but in the past the academy worked on a firste first serve basis with of course the outliners such as powerful family''s kids and other kids that had extreme potential. Even then everyone that was epted for the ceremony powerful or not was let inside the school to begin their sses immediately starting the next day.


    Instead of questioning the announcement anymore inside his mind Kaden just paid attention to the tall man at the front waiting for more information.


    "Ahem." The tall person said clearing his throat but it wasn''t just any type of clearing his throat. A green shockwave was sent throughout the room causing everyone that was currently standing to stumble back into their seats and those that were already seated to be quite nauseous.


    ''This is- Quite unpleasant.'' Kaden thought holding his hand on his mouth but still staring straight into the eyes of the tall man.


    -----


    As the man was gazing across the room after sending his shockwave he saw Kaden not bent over in sickness and it seemed the two girls on either side of him were about the same. Seeing this he looked directly into Kaden''s eyes and then the girls giving them a slight smile, ''Impressive.'' He thought to himself.


    -----


    Seeing the tall man''s gaze fall upon him Kaden didn''t look away and even gave back a small smile himself before the tall man looked away once more and addressed the crowd, "Now that you all have calmed down let me continue first with my introduction. My name is John Silver and I am the principal of this school. If any of you have any problems with taking a test to get into my school you may leave now but for those of you who stay I will exin the rules of entry and continue on with our ceremony. You have 5 minutes."


    Immediately the room went up in volume like before. The continued announcement made people forget about being nauseous and begin talking with those around them about what they should do but despite this not a single person got up to leave the building much less even go to the bathroom.


    Right as it seemed like Principal John was going to start speaking again a student towards the front of the rows got up and started walking towards the exit.


    This move surprised many as the whole audience watched them silently leave the ce. The weird thing was that the person was wearing a hoodie tightly over their face so no one saw who they were. Once they reached the exit the person pushed the door open without hesitation and left the building making the door m shut.


    When the door clicked back into ce everyone awoke from their surprise and whispered a little amongst themselves once more before the principal interrupted, "Is that everyone? If so I would like to begin." The principal didn''t even nce twice at the person that walked out which surprised Kaden a little.


    ''I thought the principal of such a ce might be offended if someone walked out over a small challenge.'' He thought to himself.


    Seeing that no one else was leaving the principal put on a smile looking out at all of the eager faces Kaden''s included, "Now that you have decided to stay let me exin to you your test to enter the academy." He said pausing for a moment to let everyone''s anticipation rise before he continued, "After each student has had their Awakening you will split into groups of 5 amongst yourselves. These teams will not be pre-determined so we can not only see your social skills but also see your ability to n and work together. The exam itself will be a simple monster hunt. Nothing out of the ordinary but there of course is a catch while you''re monster hunting there will be 2 other teams with you in your exam and it''s a battle to stay in the academy. Not only will thest team with the least amount of monster kills by the end of the given time be not allowed in the academy but the second ce group will also not be allowed inside the academy. We will keep tally of the monsters you kill with our cameras so there will be no chance for cheating. That''s all for now hope you all have an amazing awakening."


    With that mouthful of a speech out of the way the principal walked down from the podium and exited the building with a few teachers following behind him.


    Pondering over the information carefully Kaden started organizing a n in his head on how to best approach the exam but he realized they didn''t give some key information like terrain or how strong the beast are, ''I suppose we will find out soon enough but the biggest part of nning for this is the result of the awakening. Every person in the world waits for this moment to finally open up their abilities.'' Kaden thought to himself in excitement putting the exam in the back of his mind and paying attention to the front of the room once more to just enjoy this once in a life time experience.


    A smaller teacher walked up to the microphone and spoke, "Now that the announcment of the exam is over, LET THE AWAKENING BEGIN!" He said causing everyone in the room to cheer excitedly.

 Chapter 7: The Awakening Stone

    <h4>Chapter 7: The Awakening Stone</h4>


    Kaden''s heartbeat was beating fast in anticipation of what wasing up.


    ''The Awakening! Finally, it''s time!'' He thought excitedly inside his mind.


    Kaden was not one to get excited over things much less something connected to a school environment, but this was different. The awakening was a once in a lifetime opportunity for everyone in this world no matter who you are.


    Ever since the world changed all those years ago and beasts started roaming the world people at random started awakening powers or otherwise known as a "ss" each supposedly pre-determined by birth. This was fantastic for many people as they would awaken things such as a swordsman ss and in some rare cases someone could get something spectacr like a holy warrior ss which had some of the same aspects as a swordsman ss but with extra features added to it.


    Things such as that lead into the way we differentiate each power that people have such as who has a more valuable ss and who has a less desirable ss. Lucky enough the powers weren''t the only thing toe when the beast arrived. Each person along with their ss was given a "Screen". A screen was a holographic like image that appeared in front of a person at will thatbeled everything to do with their powers and their stats as a person.


    A persons Screen could not be seen by another person unless the owner of the screen gave ess mentally for another to see which is also how people canpare each other''s ss rarity but of course a sses rarity isn''t necessarily everything. Although it can be a huge determining factor for some people in the world who only ept people with a highly rated ss.


    The ranks for a ss go from the rank F- all the way to the currently highest-ss owner "Terror" who currently has a ss potential ranked at SSS+ and their current rank is also the highest of anyonest recorded at SS-. Though they have been gone for a long time now for some mysterious reason. Anyway, the rank that is given once a person awakens is always F- because the ss rank that everyone reads is the potential of the ss which is always in parenthesis beside the current rank. Also, even though there is a potential for a ss it doesn''t mean the person will reach it or even not surpass its potential all of this depends on circumstance that Kaden didn''t have much knowledge of yet.


    Kaden watched as a teacher pulled out what seemed to be a blue type of stone from behind the stage causing many students to gasp in excitement. This wasn''t just any stone this was the awakening stone which is one of the main reasons this school is so sought after. From current knowledge there are only 3 of these stones in the world one of them being owned by America, another by Canada, and the final one being owned by Japan.


    These stones were found in a beast filled cave thousands of feet underground by a team of adventurers led by Terror the highest ranked person in the world. The team was investigating a rising influx of monstersing from the cave located in Canada. At first the Canadians tried to deal with it on their own but after losing many rank A ability users and finally one of their few rank S adventurers they recruited the help of America and Japan which ended up with them getting to the end of the cave and finding the stones inside of a secret cavern towards the bottom of the cave. Since there were three stones and three different countries present it was much easier splitting the shares evenly between them.


    At the time none of these countries knew exactly how powerful a stone it truly was until each country took the stone to a person with an appraisal ss which allowed then to figure out with the use of these stones, they could forcefully awaken someone''s power at will allowing them to have their ss earlier than expected. Though such a stone was something amazing and cherished by both countries there was something about the stone that none of the countries knew untilter.


    Each government did their own series of test with the stone starting with elderly people which resulted in people above 50 not having any reaction and not gaining anything while people between 30 and 50 which were tested gained their dormant sses without any repercussions which excited many.


    Up until this point none of the countries tested the stone on people below 30, that was until Canada had the idea to use the stone on newborn babies and raising them in facilities toter be used as a personal guard of the country and extreme weapons. Though the idea in theory was terrible but still genius the country gained no fruits for itsbor besides piles of dead children inside their country.


    It seemed that if the stone was used upon an infant the baby would have no adverse reaction at first but within the next three days have their veins turn a purple like color with an extreme reaction until finally the veins burst killing the child.


    The Canadians tried to cover their tracks as much as possible by trying to have something show for their efforts. They did this by changing the test subjects age slightly older to see if the effects were different.


    They were wrong.


    One by one the age difference went up from a one-year-old to a two-year-old and so on killing innocent kids and people. That was until they got to the age of 16, defeated and tired the Canadian government finally had some light when they tested a 16-year-old male and after touching the stone he awakened his ss. Not only this after keeping the kid under top surveince for 3 days he had no reaction much less even a single vein turn purple during the entire process.


    Finally after all that blood shed they had results.

 Chapter 8: The Prelude

    <h4>Chapter 8: The Prelude</h4>


    The Canadians work was a huge aplishment for the world knowing that the stones worked on people at the age as early as 16 and they tried to use this to further their spot in the world as leaders in knowledge behind the stone and sses but there was one issue.


    All of the past failed experiments.


    At first no other country really knew what Canada was doing because they kept it under tight wraps but once more and more people started to go missing and even some of the scientist having a mental break down at all the deaths before exposing the whole operation to a neighboring country asking them to put a stop to this.


    The thing was that Japan and the US wanted to know the results of the experiments as well so they didn''t have to kill some of their own. In addition to this they could put all the me on Canada for doing such things but still be able to take that knowledge and use it to their advantage.


    So they did just that. America and Japana including other countries without a stone supported punishing Canada for their horrid experiments and acts towards their own people making the country give 20% of their sales away. 10% being to other countries and the other 10% to those affected in the country and people there in general.


    This was a huge blow to the government itself causing them to stop being active in any terms ofmunication or trade with any other country. To this day they don''t ever let many of their people out or share what they''re up to though every country does have a few spies.


    All in all Canada was punished for what they did with the stone but the stones proved to be a huge part of todays society in the countries that had it including America because the school Kaden was at now had first dibs on using the stone giving every student valuable extra time ahead of their peers at other school to be ustom to their abilities and practice.


    Kaden listened to the excited voices around him as the teacher brought out the stone and it was noticed by everyone that the second the stone was brought out it seemed a few people surrounded the stage on every side in a protective stance. This was a national treasure after all.


    "Can you believe we actually get to see and even use one of the Awakening Stones!" Ken said excitedly looking at the other three with what Kaden thought could be stars in his eyes.


    "Yes this is indeed quite amazing." Kaden said a small twinkle of his own in his eyes which didn''t go unnoticed by the others.


    Ashly leaned in close to Kaden whispering with a smirk her couldn''t see, "Sooo you''re excited about it huh?" She asked.


    Kaden thought that asking such a thing was quite strange and that everyone in this room is obviously excited but none the less he saw no reason not to answer her so her did.


    "Yes I have been waiting for this for a long time. Possibly one of the things I''ve looked forward to the most in my life." Kaden said with the twinkling in his eyes growing with every word he said.


    Hearing such extreme words from Kaden for the first time left Ashly speechless but she wasn''t the only one. Emma looked over at Kaden with her jaw dropped more than Ashly because she had never heard such excited words from Kaden either and she had known him for many years.


    Kaden sat there unknowingly causing them to be surprised because he thought it was just normal to be excited about something like this and nothing else about it.


    When Ashly finallyprehended the good reaction, she got off of Kaden she sat back in her chair with a smile and satisfied look on her face thinking, ''This should satiate me for now~''


    On the other hand Emma was still thinking deeply in the depths of her mind about something concerning Kaden but no one was quite sure what it was and if they did know then everyone in the entire gym would be disturbed besides Kaden.


    From there the group continued to wait until the man that walked to the stage with the Awakening Stone spoke and it didn''t take long as the second he ced the stone on a very expensive looking cloth that was sitting on a marble pedestal he spoke to the audience making everyone go silent, "Hello everyone and wee to your awakening ceremony I''m one of your future teachers Mr. Wright. I won''t numb your ears with a speech or anything further on what I will be teaching as I know this is an important moment for all of you here and don''t expect you to retain anything I tell you based off how half of the people here still have their gaze on the stone and not me."


    The moment this sentence left his lips many people across the gym gulped in nervousness and moved their longing gaze on the stone away and instead payed attention to Mr. Wright that was talking.


    "Thank you. Now let us start the ceremony and let all of you begin your journey as ss Users. First up, Mh Cunningham." Mr. Wright spoke making a person in the front stand up and start making their way towards the stage nervously as everyone here had their gazes drilled onto her in excitement.


    Once the girl made it up to the stage Mr. Wright walked over towards her since he saw her shaking and lead her towards the stone before saying loud enough for everyone to hear somehow, "Now touch the stone and your ss will be given."


    Hearing the request, the girl looked hesitantly at the rock before letting her shaking forward and cing her palm on the stone. Nothing happened for a moment but after about 10 seconds a blinding blue light filled the room making everyone flinch except the teachers at the front who just turned away and the girl who seemspletely unaffected or aware of the current light.


    Silence filled the room for a moment as the light died down and the girl picked up her hand and began staring into nothingness. This went on for a few moment before she said something that caused everyone to cheer, "I g-got an archer ss." She stuttered with happiness in her voice.


    The Awakening Had Begun.

 Chapter 9: Hot Headed

    <h4>Chapter 9: Hot Headed</h4>


    Kaden was now leaning slightly forward in what many would call the "try hard mode" stance known to many gamers around the world. This of course was being monitored by Ashly that for some reason had no interest in the awakening itself and was only focused on watching Kaden''s every slight change of emotion.


    ''Oh goodness~ He''s so cute when he''s excited like this, but I really want to see him crying his eyes out now oh no~'' She thought to herself causing her breath to be slightly ragged surprising even herself.


    ''When did I ever feel this way about anyone? Why do I even feel this way and why him for that matter? Oh, who cares I just want to see him in distress~'' She thought further in the depths of her mind.


    If anyone read her mind at this moment, they may think she might have some sort of twisted love interest in Kaden and just had some weird way of expressing it, but they were wrong. To put it lightly imagine you go to a new restaurant for the first time and you taste a dish that you have never tried before. After tasting this dish it leaves you speechless and is the most delectable thing you have ever tasted. That''s the exact problem, you only tasted it. Since Kaden doesn''t normally express his true feelings to anyone except today because it''s a moment in his life he has been waiting for since he was young, he can be summed up as a one of those fancy little tes that can be ordered with barely anything on it.


    He gives his emotions in small portions and isn''t a big juicy steak like some overly emotional people which has caused Ashly''s interest and has left her in an immense desire or craving for more after tasting such a tasty emotion.


    Either way she was in a state of craving and love was nowhere near involved.


    The man that was currently filling all of Ashly''s thoughts was watching the podium with a powerful gaze trying not to miss a single detail or second of each and every persons awakening. Many people had gone up at this point, some shared excitedly what ss they got while others kept it a secret just smiling at the mere fact they got toe here.


    Time passed with every student in the building getting a chance to walk up to the stone and as the person called got closer and closer to Kaden''s row his heartbeat became louder and louder inside his mind. So loud in fact he could no longer hear the cheers of the crowd or even the slight heavy breathing that was urring beside him.


    Kaden was raging with excitement on the inside as thest person in the row in front of him got up to go to the podium. At first Kaden ignored the details around the kid as he did with everyone else as he was too stuck inside his own mind to try and even care but his thoughts were interrupted with words that made him look the kid over once more and memorize everyst detail of him.


    "Look all of you! Bask in my greatness as I have awakened the heavenly knight ss a ss with a potential of A+." These few words made Kaden look at the person and it was a blonde boy with a taller build and that was all Kaden could discern from the current distance, but he made a mental note to check everything about him when he sat back down.


    Kaden was not the only one in the room with these thoughts as some of the other people simr to Kaden thinking about their own future made a mental note of this kid since his ss had the highest potential that had been shown so far.


    The kid realized the impact his ss had as well as he arrogantly showed his ss screen to everyone that could see it proving that he did indeed have the ss. After this he walked back down the podium and took a seemingly more slowed walk down the isle as he basked in the gazes of others. Whether those gazes were jealous, interested, scared, and some even with slight blushes or hearts in their eyes. It didn''t matter as he enjoyed every second of it which was proved by therge grin on his face as he sat back down in the row in front of Kaden.


    "So much for being ''Heavenly'' or even pleasant for that matter." Ken said over dramatically gaining some giggles from both Emma and Ashly. Making Kaden smile as well. This however didn''t go unnoticed by the blonde guy in front of them.


    Turning around immediately with an angered face he questioned Ken, "What did you just say?"


    Ken''s expression didn''t change for a moment immediately answering the mans question, "I said so much for being ''Heavenly'' your personality sure doesn''t match your ss." Ken said matter of factly causing both girls to giggle more at the mans expense.


    Seeing both the beautiful girlsugh at him due to Ken his face red up more in anger, "Oh really? At least my ss has the potential of being A+ unlike a random like you who will probably get a D+ potential if I''m being generous."


    This made Ken a little annoyed as he immediately fired back at the man with aggression, "D+ huh? As if! I will get an ever higher graded ss than you! Just watch me!" Ken said with pure confidence.


    This caused anotherugh but from the man this time, "Whatever you say loser! Put your money where your mouth is and walk up there. We will see who truly has more potential and it will of course be me or my name isn''t James Ruse!" He said pointing his finger at Ken.


    ''What kind of cultivation novel line was that?'' Kaden and the other three collectively thought, but right as they were about to question his choice of words the man on the podium called a student once more.


    "Ken Armada."

 Chapter 10: Class Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 10: ss Part 1</h4>


    Hearing his name being called Ken lost his train of thought as he was about to retaliate at James but quickly collected himself and put on a confident face, "Well it seems it''s time to show you who truly has the better potential among the two of us." He said standing up with full confidence.


    Ken began walking down the isle with everyone''s eyes looking straight at him with anticipation and hopefulness to see him beat the man that was so full of himself. The words that James said had not gone unheard by the people around them so even though most people were still looking at James in awe and with lustful eyes the ones surrounding their group were silently rooting for Ken.


    Ken seemed to maybe have a arrogant side himself as he enjoyed the gazes of those cheering for him and silently cursed at those who were looking at him as if he would amount to nothing even scratching his nose with his middle finger which didn''t go unnoticed by the teachers, but they could care less about some children fighting.


    Once Ken finally got to the podium it seemed he put some major emphasis on the steps he was taking up the podium like some sort of future king being given his crown in front of his people, but Kaden realized the error in this method, "He''s going to mess up at some point." Kaden said almost silently but both Emma and Ashly could hear it making them look closely at Ken''s figure.


    Kaden predicted correctly as the final step Ken took, he tried to put some extra swagger into it but it failed miserably as his footnded on the top step in a weird way making him fall on the floor. After he fell the entire audience of students fell intoughter as they had also realized how much he was trying to put in each step trying to ooze confidence and swagger.


    "Hahahahahaha! Look at him! What a loser!" James especiallyughed as he watched Ken fall but behind him Kaden and Ashly both had no reaction while Emma had a slight smile trying to overtake her face.


    After falling Ken got up quickly with an obviously red face and walked over to Mr. Wright whom was waiting for him with a slight smile on his face as well motioning with his hand towards the stone as he had done with every other student in the room.


    Ken didn''t try and make a huge deal out of it now as he immediately put his hand on the stone and began waiting for his ss. One blinding shter a huge smile was stered on Ken''s face as you could tell the excitement he had from the ss he was given. He was so excited that he showed the entire audience his ss screen which read.


    [Name: Ken Armada]


    [ss: Barbaric Shield Bearer]


    [Potential: A]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    The ss that he was given was one of less than 10 rank A sses that had been given so far during the awakening surprising many and making many people look at him with different gazes. Simr to James some looked at him with high hopes to either work with him or see his potential grow like teachers or others that looked at him with scorn since they didn''t get a ss like his or see him aspetition.


    The bio for the ss had been left hidden by Ken showing that he was still in a levelheaded state of mind as he headed back down the isle but he forgot one keyponent in his happiness, "Looks like I truly have the most potential between us!" An arrogant voice said to Ken as he got closer to Kaden''s isle.


    All eyes were on James as he continued to make fun of Kenughing hysterically at the now embarrassed Ken. Despite James taunting him Ken didn''t say anything back and just sat down obviously embarrassed at the loss but still inwardly happy at his ss.


    One thing is for certain though and that''s that Ken got an amazing ss. Kaden knew that despite it being lower than James ss, an A rank ss was not something to scoff at and was a ss rank that was fitted to lots of people high in society. In fact, his potential was even higher than some of the teachers that would be teaching them soon but all Ken had in his mind at the moment was James constant teasing that was silenced as the awakening continued.


    "Emma Johnson." Mr. Wright said calling Emma to the stage.


    She immediately got up with her academy award winning smile and elegantly began walking down the isle looking at almost every person she passed and giving them a smile almost akin to a beauty pageant. Males and females alike looked at her with pure hearts in their eyes and felt a warmness in their heart as they looked at someone who they thought was like a butterfly in a lush green field. Little did they know how wrong they were. Matter of face she might be worse than Ashly.


    Once the "butterfly" made her way to the stage like with the others Mr. Wright motioned with his hands to touch the stone but there was a slight difference in attitude thanpared with the other. Mr. Wright when he motioned for her to touch the stone did a slight bow in apparent respect for Emma which caused gasps to sound inside the auditorium with many questions raised.


    "Is this the power of the Johnson family?" Someone said.


    "Their power extends all the way to the academy? Wow!" Another said.


    "Oh my goodness she''s so pretty!!" A guy screeched loudly which silenced everyone for a moment in confusion.


    Not even paying attention to the ruckus Emma just caused she walked forward to the stone immediately putting her hand on it making the bright blue light shine before it went down leaving everyone with intense faces filled with anticipation.

 Chapter 11: Class Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 11: ss Part 2</h4>


    As everyone held their breathes in the gym Emma took her sweet time looking towards the front of the room with an obvious frown on her face but the slightest smirk apparent on her lips. Kaden immediately knew something was going to go wrong somewhere when he saw that slight smirk from her.


    Most if not all the people in the room missed the slight smirk on Emma''s lips and only focused on her obvious frown as she looked towards the crowds of students. Many began whispering wondering what could have possibly put her in such a state as she was the soon to be leader of the Johnson family there was no way she could get a bad ss. Right?


    ''She''s nning something.'' Kaden thought inside his mind remembering the times from his past. Memories of when he and Emma were still friends but also when he started realizing her true colors.


    The problem was he didn''t understand how or why she would be nning something, so he just sat back and decided to observe her more carefully.


    Once Emma let the anticipation set in at its highest moment and all the whispers quieted, she addressed the crowd deepening her frown as if this was the hardest thing, she had ever done even slight tears forming at the edge of her eyes, "T-this is my ss. P-please don''t let this change our future rtionships." She seemed to stutter pulling up a shaky finger to show her ss screen to the audience.


    Obviously, this was not required by the school to show the audience your ss as many chose not to do so in case of future battles with other ssmates or other reasons, but the school still eventually had to see your ss in private not only for their records but obviously the government. This was the true price you had to pay to use the awakening stone, and many did not mind this as it was a once and a lifetime opportunity. Kaden was included in this bunch as he thought the reward was more than enough for this small price.


    For this exact reason he was worried on the reasons why Emma was currently showing her screen to the entire audience with a saddened face but most of all why her ss was currently ranked one of the lowest in the entire school.


    [Name: Emma Johnson]


    [ss: Cleaning Maid]


    [Potential: E+]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    The entire crowd was in pure shock as not a single sound was heard throughout the entire gym. It was so quiet that you could hear a pen drop but most of all the students weren''t the only ones surprised by the ss Emma was given. Many teachers had their jaws dropped slightly as even they feared people from the Johnson family since their entire family was known to have some of the best elite ss fighters in the world. For the daughter of this blood lines current leader to end up with a ss potential like this, it was a little more than just surprising.


    Despite the surprising news there were a few that were unaffected for whatever reason that may be. Kaden was included among the many and so was Mr. Wright, the reason this was important was because Kaden was following Emma''s eyes as she spoke and what happened afterward.


    It seemed like she was trying to figure out what type of people were what and when her eyesnded upon Kaden, she just gave a very inconspicuous smile and continued on with her search of the crowd. While that smile may have warmed the hearts of others it did nothing for Kaden as he just went back into the depths of his mind until Emma came back to her seat and the next name was called, "Ashly Ryans."


    Ashly''s name was called, and she immediately came out of her stupor as she found Kaden staring at her intently wondering why she wasn''t moving towards the stage yet, "Are you going to go or not? If not, I will dly take any few minutes off of waiting and get my ability first." Kaden said matter of factly and even began to get up before she could move.


    "Wait wait wait wait!" Ashly said rising from her seat as well and grabbing Kaden''s arm. "I will go chill out." She said as Kaden sat back down in his seat.


    Ashly then left our row and like the rest approached the podium where Mr. Wright currently was. Simr to the other 3 she attracted a lot of attention and not the normal kind of every student going over there but simr to Emma and how she was seen as an innocent blossom. However, Ashly was kind of seen as the pr opposite like rose but covered in thorn to keep others away. It was a different kind of appeal than Emma and many liked this better.


    "Wow look at those earrings!" One girl said in the crowd jealous of how she still kept her goth like appearance in uniform.


    "Woah! She''s so tall!" Another guy said who was coincidentally a basketball yer for his neighborhood league and very jealous of her height.


    "Please step on me mommy!" One final man shouted making the entire crowd look at him in confusion and some even disgust before he sat down and didn''t make another peep.


    "You were all thinking it." The man mumbled to himself after being stared down by everyone near him.


    Ashly was unbothered by the sounds of the people and the conversations about her circling the room. She walked up to the podium and walked up the steps without a fall simr to Ken before passing the waiting Mr. Wright and like the rest put her hand on the stone.


    Unlike with almost everyone one of the others, Kaden was actually interested to see what this new girl he had befriended was going to get for a ss. He predicted inside his mind that she may get a ss as low as D+ and possibly as high as a B-. Though all of his guessing would be put to the test now as the blinding blue light took over the room before it once again faded revealing a slightly smiling Ashly.

 Chapter 12: Class Final Part

    <h4>Chapter 12: ss Final Part</h4>


    Ashly looked towards the audience with a smiling face obviously very happy with her results. Many people expected a simr scene to Emma but instead of being sad about her situation she would be happy and maybe even brag a little to the audience.


    She in a simr fashion to Emma walked to the front of the stage and started fiddling with her system momentarily before a blue screen appeared within Kaden''s vision allowing him to see what it said.


    [Name: Ashly Ryans]


    [ss: Emotion Vampire]


    [Potential: S]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    Kaden gasped slightly to himself at the potential rank of her ss and confused on how so many power houses ended up near him. The ranks that Ken, Emma, and now Ashly got were not normal as proven by the other students that had gone before them so far. Only a select handful had gotten even as high as A rank much less S rank. S rank sses were probably only around 3 or 4 so far and many could already see the teachers eyeing them with high expectations.


    Another thing that was interesting to Kaden was her ss name. He knew what a vampire was by the many novels he had read but also because there were many people with a vampire ss that required them to drink certain blood for some of their abilities and to even rank up sometimes.


    ''What could an emotional vampire even be? Does it feed off of all emotions like happiness, sadness, and maybe even anger?'' Kaden thought to himself as he needed more information before he could fully understand her ss.


    "What! Why is she walking off the stage? She never even showed us her ss?" A person in the row behind Kaden stated in disappointment confusing Kaden.


    Kaden looked around the room and heard simr things from others. It seems that nobody else saw her ss screen except for Kaden including the teachers. Which begged the question. Why show him? Kaden was very confused, and the expression was very evident as the gears in his mind were turning.


    As Ashly was walking back down the isle she saw the confusion covering Kaden''s face and how he was struggling so much internally. It made her face instantly brighten and a wide smile was stered on her face. It was such a big smile it had a simr effect as Emma''s did. Many people looked at her with stars in their eyes despite not seeing her ss but just enjoying her smile.


    ''Oh goodness~ That face is so adorable~ I really like it when he''s struggling like that hehehe~ He must be wondering why he was the only one to see my ss~ Oh well he will have to work a lot harder to find out~'' Ashly thought to herself happily making her way back towards her seat next to Kaden to keep watching his confused face as she expected him to ask many questions.


    Once she sat down beside him she crossed her legs expectantly and looked forward towards the stage again acting as if she wasn''t waiting for him to ask something but still peeking at his confused face which made her warm inside.


    However contrary to her original thoughts Kaden had no intention of asking questions himself as he felt he wouldn''t get a truthful or straight answer so he was just going to judge the future himself and watch her closely simr to Emma. Another thing was it was finally time for the thing he had been waiting for since he got here.


    "Kaden Crown." Mr. Wright said from the stage.


    The second his voice sounded inside Kaden''s ear he stood up and began immediately walking towards the stage with hastened steps making Ashly frown for a moment as he didn''t ask her anything, but his steps were then noticed by everyone around him including Emma, Ken, and Ashly. Those that he passed through the rows just smiled at him understanding his feelings perfectly as they too were excited for their ss.


    Once Kaden rushed his way towards the stage and walked onto the podium Mr. Wright said the first thing besides someone''s name, "I appreciate your eagerness. You''re the first person to openly express how much this means to them without words but through your actions." Said Mr. Wright giving him a small amount of acknowledgment. Which not only shocked the audience but Kaden himself.


    Kaden nodded his head towards Mr. Wright and said thank you before making his way towards the awakening stone. Seeing it so close to him for the first time and knowing that the second he touched that stone his life would be changed forever left him slightly sweating. Despite not showing his emotions often this magnitude of a moment was still intense and very important to him so he stopped stalling and immediately put his hand on the stone.


    Dark.


    It was very dark.


    Kaden found himself in a ce void of darkness. Unable to see anything in front of him but still for some reason able to see his own hands and body. Kaden then tried to speak maybe call for help or ask what was happening but after trying for a moment he realized nothing wasing out or he simply couldn''t hear it.


    Kaden had the thought of panic cross his mind for a moment, but he immediately threw the idea out the window as it would do nothing to help him. After having decided to follow this thought he just waited in silence until something finally happened.


    There was a slight miniscule sound before Kaden suddenly felt something grasp both his ankles. Looking down he saw 2 skeletal hands gripped tightly around both his pant legs seemingly unwilling to let go.


    After staring at the hands with surprise for a few minutes he finally calmed down realizing that they were doing nothing to him and then decided to look up.


    ''AHHHHHH!'' Kaden screamed in fright as he looked up. Scared and being caught by surprise for the very first time since he had been here.

 Chapter 13: Bringer of Light and Death?!

    <h4>Chapter 13: Bringer of Light and Death?!</h4>


    Kaden was momentarily frightened screaming inside his mind and would be audibly if he was able to. When he turned his head he was eye to eye with a skeleton. That''s what he would like to say but that wasn''t the full truth. The being before Kaden was half skeleton and half human being. All of the inner working of a human were present inside the human half of the thing but strangely enough weren''t falling due to the absence of the other half of the body. Almost as if it was paused inside the being unable to move.


    After staring at each other for a moment Kaden had calmed down and was just having a staring contest of sorts with the being. It didn''t blink either seemingly staring into his soul with its one fully ck eye. Though Kaden could tell it was somewhat living as he could see it breathing with its nose and also see one lung inside the human side of it moving as it sucked air in and out.


    Air. Air. Air.


    ''Wait air?!? There''s no way there''s air here.'' Kaden thought to himself as he realized he hasn''t needed to breathe once since he had been here and turned back to the skeleton human which was doing something that he least expected.


    "HAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR FACE!" The thingughed loudly which sounded surprisingly clear considering half of its throat and vocal cords were gone but that was not Kaden''s worries at that moment. Another thing that he realized was the skeleton was a male. Not only from its voice but when Kaden finally looked down from the neck he saw something unpleasant that quickly made him look back up.


    ''Wait is it reading my mind?'' Kaden thought feeling unpleasant after beingughed it and tricked.


    "You catch on quickly. That''s good." It said to Kaden as to confirm his thoughts.


    Kaden was inwardly surprised by this as he had never heard of an ability or something that allowed someone to read another''s mind, but he had even more questions than that. For example, where was he? Why was he here? What is that thing?


    Questions piled inside his mind and invaded his thoughts seemingly leaking into the mind of the thing as it had a sudden frown on its face, "Hey kid stop with all the questions and thoughts! You''re giving me a headache here." Itined rubbing its head as if it was having a migraine.


    Kaden immediately stopped with his thoughts as he realized it may not speak with him if he keeps giving him a headache, ''Sorry about that.'' Kaden said within his mind.


    "No worries kid just be careful next time and oh here you can talk now reading your thoughts is a pain." It said instantly removing the hand from its head as if the pain never happened. It then raised its hand slightly and a bright white energy like substance flowed from its fingertips reaching Kaden''s mouth and the instant the energy touched his lip Kaden felt a pressure he never released was there release from his mouth allowing him to speak.


    "How did you do that?" Kaden asked confused at how it removed his ability to talk.


    "Well you see I used this death energy here to kill all the muscles in your lips and then revived them with my light energy!" It said as it summoned a ck ball of energy with its skeletal hand and then the bright white energy once more with its human like hand.


    ''It''s got an amazing ability!'' Kaden thought inplete awe of the ability. While there are skills that allow you to harm or affect others, an ability to do such a thing without detection and even undo the effects is quite impressive. What he did to Kaden could possibly just be a small trick to it.


    "Hey kid stop calling me it! I have a name you know!" It said as he scrutinized Kaden with his one eye clenched in a re.


    "My name is Darius ck. Also known as the bringer of light and death! It''s nice to make your acquaintance!" Darius said taking Kaden''s hand and shaking it up and down with vigor.


    "Nice to meet you as well my name is Kaden." Kaden said shaking Darius hand back firmlypletely ignoring all the nicknames as he had no idea what they meant.


    After Kaden shook his hand Darius just sat there dumbfounded and stared at Kaden confused, "Why aren''t you freaking out right now? Most people would either start screaming in panic or start bowing in reverence. You know who I am right?" Darius asked uncertain.


    Kaden tried to rack his brain for a moment thinking back to all his knowledge of famous ability users and what they were capable of but not a single one matched Darius description despite the hundreds of people and abilities Kaden knows about.


    "No, I have no idea who you are." Kaden said bluntly causing Darius to almost fall over in surprise.


    "What do you mean! Do they not teach you kids these days about the battles of ss titans! What about the light vs the dark war! 1,000 YEARS OF DEATH?" Darius said naming off a bunch of random things that Kaden had no clue about though thatst one did sound familiar from a certain show he used to watch.


    "Sorry Mr. Darius I have no idea. If it''s so grand, why don''t you tell me about it?" Kaden said genuinely curious now about himpletely forgetting about the rest of his situation.


    Hearing Kaden''s response Darius smiled with a strange grin which probably would have looked great if not for the fact that half of his face was missing, "I would love to tell you all about it but not yet. For now you a ss to attain. Follow me. Oh wait I probably need clothes! My bad it has been a while since I had guest." Darius saidughing at himself materializing a set offy looking pants and a robe which covered most of his chest and then turning around walking into the void with Kaden following shaking his head at Darius''s behavior.

 Chapter 14: A Throne?

    <h4>Chapter 14: A Throne?</h4>


    As Kaden followed Darius into the void nothing really changed. It was a void after all. The only way Kaden knew he was making any progress and following Darius was by the distance between the two as they walked. Kaden would stop for a moment and it seemed like Darius got further away and if Kaden hastened his steps then he got even closer to the walking figure of Darius.


    After a while of walking something that Kaden didn''t expect came into view. A thronerger than he had ever seen was slowly bing visible. The throne had more than 8 steps up into the void before there was the seat which was split in half with 2 different colors on side beingpletely ck and dark almost the color of the void and the other side was a bright white simr to the energy Darius used moments ago.


    The most surprising thing of all was that there were other living beings to the sides of the throne or at least mostly living beings. People were seated at tables that were seemingly put all over the ce. There were men, women, skeletons, souls, and even some beast that Kaden recognized from the news. The room was almost like if someone were to y a sand box game and scattered people all over the ce and giving them random seats beside a throne.


    ''What a strange ce.'' Kaden thought to himself still taking in the bizarreness of the ce.


    Dariuspletely ignored Kaden''s thoughts as he continued walking forward closer towards the throne ahead. Once he was within sight of the other creatures at the tables the chattering between them all stopped as a few pointing out Darius''s approaching figure.


    Kaden was not close enough to hear what the creatures were talking about but suddenly they all started lining up the sides of the throne making a straight path for Darius and even bowing in a respectful manner. Another human woman went behind the throne and came back with a carpet that she unraveled in between the people and stopped right before Darius''s iing foot which then stepped on it and continued moving forward.


    ''Who is this guy?!'' Kaden thought to himself even more confused than he already was, once again stopping but this time right before he began walking on the carpet.


    "Get out of your head kid, keep walking." Darius said to Kaden without turning around and reaching the first step up towards the throne.


    Kaden heeded his words and ran to catch up to Darius passing lots of the creatures that were looking at him strangely. He had no idea what they were thinking but decided not to dwell on it as Darius said. Once Kaden reached the first step of the throne Darius had sat down and was currently looking down at him.


    Meeting Darius''s eye himself Kaden realized how well the throne matched him. On the human side of his body is where the white light was present on the throne and on the skeletal side of his body is where the void-colored part of the throne was giving it a very powerful look.


    "It''s pretty nice right?" Darius said chuckling to himself as he read Kaden''s thoughts.


    "Yes this is amazing!" Kaden said in awe nodding his head.


    "I know right! This throne right here has been mine for a very long time kid. A very very long time. It looks amazing when you just look at it like this but what it cost to get this little seat right here was more than you can ever know." Darius said chuckling slightly with nostalgia in his one eye before it was quickly removed.


    "Anyway, since you like this throne so much how about getting one yourself?" Darius asked curiously to see his response.


    Kaden thought for a moment on his question and while he was doing that many of the creatures and humans were also now looking at Kaden curiously wondering what his answer would be.


    "Yeah. I want to get one-" Kaden said bluntly causing everyone to be surprised.


    "Wel-" Darius was about to continue with what he was going to say but Kaden interrupted him.


    "but I won''t do anything I don''t want to do. For example, betraying someone for no reason or going against my thought process." Kaden said finishing his sentence.


    Many of the humans around the room gasped as Kaden interrupted Darius and even some of the beast began to sweat and back away a little but the man in question just began smiling after he heard the second part of his desire, "I like the way you think kid! You better stick to that because I wish someone told me that when I first got my ss." Darius saidughing some more causing all of the others in the room to feel a little more at ease besides Kaden who really didn''t care about them, so he had no idea about what they had been doing.


    Darius then threw his hands up summoning both energies on his hands once again but this time he took the two orbs and pushed them together inside his hands packing them in together like a snowball which slowly began to change the color of the energy into a dark grey that looked quite interesting to Kaden.


    "Now kid, I believe this is yours." Darius said shooting the orb towards Kaden.


    The orb moved quickly, so fast in fact Kaden could barely even see the blur of it until it hit him straight in the middle of his chest. Causing him to slightly stumble and feel nauseous.


    "What was that-" Kaden said slightly confused before the nauseousness became even stronger making him fall over this time trying to hold on from passing out. Kaden looked up to see Darius walking down towards him.


    "That right there kid is your ss fusing with you. You could say yours is a little more special than the rest but don''t let that get to your head. Until next time kid!" Darius said with a grin stered on his half skeletal half human face as Kaden finally lost consciousness still with almost no questions answered but many more now being formed.

 Chapter 15: Misunderstanding

    <h4>Chapter 15: Misunderstanding</h4>


    *Gasp*


    Kaden''s eyes fluttered open only to be blinded, making them close once more. Once he felt the light was gone Kaden opened his eyes once again to see Mr. Wright looking at him from across and the stage.


    ''Am I back?'' Kaden thought to himself looking around the room at all the students currently looking at him eagerly.


    Kaden immediately realized the reason they were all staring at him and quickly threw the Darius situation at the back of his mind for a moment whirling his head forward to see a tiny blue screen that was the entire purpose ofing to this school.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    Kaden smiled widely in excitement as this was more amazing than anything he could have dreamed of! An SSS+ ranked potential! This was something that had never been seen before in this world at least to Kaden''s knowledge and what surprised him even more was his ss known as a Necromancer.


    Kaden knew all about Necromancy from not only reading novels online but there were some abilities rted to necromancy already in the world and in some people''s sses. Though none that have been recorded have beenbeled an actual Necromancer. Kaden''s thoughts ran wild as he thought about the potential abilities his ss may have and the impact his ss would have on the world.


    ''Wait.... impact on the world? Oh no.'' Kaden immediately freaked out inside his mind.


    While he sees no reason not to tell or show his ss potential at the moment, Kaden doesn''t know for certain whether that kind of attention would be preferable or trying to mask it somehow would have a better oue.


    ''How would I even hide this from the school in the first ce?'' Kaden thought to himself running ideas through his mind but everywhere he thought ended with failure.


    "Excuse me if you aren''t going to show your ss here please go back to your seat as it''s someone else''s turn." A male voice spoke to Kaden.


    Turning his head up Kaden realized it was Mr. Wright speaking to him and looking to the side he remembered exactly where he was, ''How could I go off in my head while still standing on the stage?!'' Kaden thought surprised with himself.


    "Sorry about that. I will be going now, thank you." Kaden said bowing his head slightly to Mr. Wright and then to the rest of the audience before walking off the stage and back to his seat.


    At first people stared at him confused on why he stood there so long but soon lost interest as the next name was called to the stage. This waspletely fine with Kaden as he was slightly embarrassed at what he did.


    As Kaden sat down he was met with the curious gazes of Ken. Ashly, Emma, and even James that were all wondering not only what his ss is but what happened up there. Once Kaden''s butt hit the chair the questions began.


    "So what ss did you get?" Ashly asked bluntly surprising everyone else but they nodded their heads in agreement on what she asked.


    "It''s a secret." Kaden responded quickly, deciding that he needed to think more about his situation before deciding any n of action. He didn''t have to show the school his ss until tomorrow. This was due to the awakening taking so long toplete, by the time it was finished the sun would already begin setting.


    Hearing him say it was a secret brought many different thoughts to those around him as they formted their own ideas, but onemon idea was soon voiced by surprisingly Emma, "Did you end up with a low potential like me? It''s ok no need to fret we can still rank up and even surpass our potential if we give enough effort and if that''s not enough, you''re always wee to live in my family''s territory."


    "It''s not like that. I just don''t want to share at the moment." Kaden said denying the imspletely, but Ashly seemed to want the ims to be true.


    "It''s ok Kaden you can cry on my shoulder if you''re sad about it. I''m a judgement free zone so you can let out all of your luscious- I mean all of your grief out onto me. We may have not known each other long but doctors say letting everything out is healthy." Ashly said in a very convincing manner but slipping up towards the middle making everyone look at her strangely.


    "Don''t act like we didn''t hear that. There''s no way that would happen now and plus like I said it''s not even like that." Kaden said starting to get annoyed at all of them.


    "I don''t know what you''re talking about I was just offering my help." Ashly sheepishly said making everyone look at her even more strangely.


    No one seemed to believe him at this point and Ken even reached his hand over patting him over the shoulder like he was going through some tough time and needed somefort.


    "There''s nothing to be ashamed of at this point there are three plebians in your little group of four so it''s not like you can make each other even worse. Unlike beautiful Miss Ashly here whom will be an icon in the future who will only be showered with fame and fortune." James said interjecting in the conversation with his own take which made all four of them look at him with disgust even the girl that heplimented during his "condolences".


    "Shut up loser." Ashly said immediately surprising everyone with her sudden hostility that none of them had seen before. Despite seemingly wanting to say more James turned his face back forward and looked towards the stage but of course was still listening in on their conversation.


    ''Seems like we have a suck up.'' Kaden thought immediately judging James''s personality.


    After that Kaden refused to answer any more questions on his ss so everyone returned their attention back to the stage for now deciding to ask more questionster besides Ashly who immediately whispered in his ear, "It''s ok to put up a strong front, I like it. You can tell me all about your sster." She said turning back her attention to the stage before Kaden could answer.


    ''Ugh.'' Kaden sighed inside his mind.

 Chapter 16: Unease

    <h4>Chapter 16: Unease</h4>


    The rest of the awakening ceremony went by quickly now that Kaden was able to be inside his own thoughts. He spent a lot of time thinking over everything that had happened so far and his ns with his ss. He also payed attention to the people on stage still as those that went up there would be hispetitionter to enter the school.


    Kaden stayed like this until all of the students sses were announced, and Mr. Wright walked back to the microphone projected his voice towards the audience, "This will conclude the awakening ceremony. Thank you all foring today and I wish you all luck on your exam. It will be taking ce tomorrow after those of you that have not shown your sses show them to a school advisor in the main school building, you''re dismissed."


    With the dismissal of all of the students most of the teachers immediately left the building including Mr. Wright and the Principal but a few did stay behind helping students leave orderly as a lot of them were excited to go look in more detail at their sses. Sure many people including Kaden could look at some of the things his ss had to offer already during the awakening, but he thought it was important to know who he''s up against and gather as much free information as he can.


    Surprisingly Emma was the first one to get up and wave to everyone before walking out the door to go home. After her Ken left as well in a simr fashion with James following behind him making jokes about his ss leaving Ashly and Kaden left in their seats. They didn''t waste any time and also left making their way back towards their apartments.


    They both once again boarded the elevator that they were previously on yesterday but this time the awkward atmosphere was almost nonexistent. Kaden could tell that she seemed to have a few screws loose, but he liked it better that she was honest with her thoughts than hide them away. Little did he know that if she waspletely loyal to her desires his situation would not be so pretty.


    "So tell me, what actually happened with your ss~" Ashly''s voice entered Kaden''s head like the snake that convinced Adam and Eve to take an apple from the tree.


    "I thought I said already that I needed to think about it more and that I wouldn''t tell you." Kaden said restating his earlier stance on the topic.


    Ashly may have heard what he said but it went in one ear and out the other. It seemed she wouldn''t be taking a no for an answer, "It''s ok you can be honest with me. I won''t judge you just because you''re a low rank." She said walking closer to him in the elevator immediately making him ufortable and backing into the corner of the elevator.


    "I promise to help you~ It''s ok I can protect you as much as I can from anyone that tries to touch you though I''m not sure I can stop all the damage~" She said with stars forming in her eyes as she mentioned him taking damage.


    Ashly''s n was very simple. She wanted Kaden to take the deal with her being his protector that way they could form a sort of bond and he would develop a need for her as a guardian inside the school. Once she was established as such she would begin "not making it in time" when Kaden needed her asionally thus making her able to see his saddened expressions even more and maybe even his eyes filled with grief of his hopeless situation but also still see her as a shining star in his abyss.


    This was a fantastic n admittedly and would have worked if not for something that even Ashly did not calcte as she stillpletely thought his ss was a low ranking.


    Kaden thought for a moment about his current situation and realized that no matter how long he thought about it he couldn''t find an answer, but he also didn''t want to ask Ashly for help as he thinks that would be bad for his health. Based off of everything he has heard and seen so far he has started to be a little wary of Ashly and it was only magnified by her ss name the "Emotion Vampire" he had already made many theories in his mind what her abilities were about but no proof yet.


    *Ding*


    The elevator doors became wide open as Kaden arrived on his floor, "Fine. I will ask for your help if I can''te up with anything by tomorrow. Wait for me here and we can walk to school together, so I will tell you the n then if I can''t decide on anything." Kaden said to her giving her a chance if he needed help.


    He wasn''tpletely sure of his decision quite yet but it seemed she was willing to help. Whether for her personal gain or not it didn''t matter to Kaden as long as she could help him if necessary.


    Kaden then exited the elevator as he could see the stars in her eyes grow when he said he would give her a chance but that''s when he realized something that he didn''t yesterday due to his rush to get away.


    There wasn''t another button pressed to go on another floor above Kaden which meant Ashly was on the same floor as him. This caused his unease to gradually increase with the girl as all of this was a little more coincidental than he would have liked.


    Seeing Kaden stare at the buttons on the elevator so intensely Ashly couldn''t help but chuckle, "Oh yes we''re on the same floor! I''m surprised you didn''t notice yesterday but you''re about to see something that will surprise you even more!" She said happily seeing his uneasy expression.


    She then began walking in the direction of Kaden''s apartment which confused him even more making him follow her until they arrived at his apartment. At this point he was a little frightened thinking that she was showing him that she knew where he lived but it was more than he imagined as she took her keys out entering the apartment beside Kaden''s, "Bye for now~ See you tomorrow, Kaden!" She said grinning ear from ear before closing the doorpletely leaving the ck jawed Kaden terrified inside his own mind.


    Little did he know that was the least of his problems as a shadow down the hall had been listening in on their conversation this entire time and left immediately after Ashly entered her apartment their motives unknown.

 Chapter 17: Family Crest

    <h4>Chapter 17: Family Crest</h4>


    Kaden stood in the hallway still surprised by the sudden information that Ashly was actually his next-door neighbor. This information wouldn''t bother him as much if it would have been anyone else.


    ''Even Emma would be better than her... wait I take that back, neither would be good.'' Kaden thought to himself as he too unlocked the door to his apartment and walked insidepletely exhausted by everything that had happened to him today from meeting up with Emma and Ken, to the meeting Darius, and finally unlocking his ss which seemedpletely out of any range that he had ever hoped for.


    The problem now was whether or not he wanted to reveal his ss to the school and if not whether he should ask for Ashly''s help. There were many different positives and negatives to both situations he also needed to look at his abilities which he was indeed excited about but he needed a break from everything first and something to rx his mind, so he walked into the living room of his apartment sitting down on the couch and turned on the tv.


    When Kaden turned on the tv it seemed that it was already on the news channel which would normally make Kaden immediately swap channels, but the headline made him stay to hear more.


    "In today''s news, the Awakening Stone owners Japan, America, and Canada have begun their awakening ceremonies in the top schools they have to offer but ites with controversy. Most of you may be thinking, how do we know Canada started? It''s because of this report by both Japan and Canada saying that multiple of their S rank potential students and above have been found dead inside their own homes and in the streets. It seems that all of these deaths have been caused by the same group as the same mark has been left on all of the bodies. The mark is in the shape of two diamonds intertwined. Nothing else has been figured out about the group but all three countries with awakening stones have now said that they will be looking into it and will find these awful people." The news anchor said with a sad face before the news channel cut to amercial break.


    Kaden sat on his couch with a nk face thinking over what the anchor just said, ''It''s not a coincidence that they are only targeting S rank potential and above students. There''s no way I''m going to tell them now!'' Kaden thought with slight fear. He had just got his ss and to not only lose it but to die now would be awful and would not be something he''s interested in.


    After making up his mind on the subject Kaden headed to his room where his was finally going to look at his starting abilities he got from his ss. Once he sat down on his bed he took in a deep breath before opening his ss.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    [Abilities]


    [Family Crest: As a necromancer you''re themander and chief of your own army that will soon dominate all of thends while being connected to both life and death As such you and your army will be closer than family and always have each other''s backs with this you will need your own family name and crest that will be recognized by all and feared by those that encounter it. The crest is a sign of someone''s loyalty and proof of being in the family. For someone or something to gain the family crest both parties must agree if the receiver is among the living. If the receiver is among the dead you must touch the floating soul with your hand and think of using your family crest thus making them a member. To begin your family please think of a family name and crest and it will be applied to your body immediately.]


    [Current Members: 0]


    [Power In Trust: Everyone in your family will haveplete faith in one another allowing you and your army to gain from each other. For every member that joins your family their potential will increase by an entire rank and those that are far below your current rank will rank up until they are one rank below you automatically. Also for every member that joins your rank will begin to rise. With each rank having a different milestone.]


    The power of Kaden''s abilities left him ck jawed. While he may not have gained anybat abilities yet the possibilities with his current ones left him speechless. For example if the highest-ss potential owner or now tied for first "Terror" were to join his army then would their potential rise even higher to SSSS+? What about those at A- to A+ ranks? While A rank is a high aplishment the amount of fame and power an S rank has in even greater and more likely to obtain sess. Kaden couldn''t help but smile at his situation until he looked back at one line on his Family crest ability.


    ''To begin your family please think of a family name and crest and it will be applied to your body immediately? Will it just appear on my body?'' Kaden thought to himself wondering how such a thing would work but nheless there was only way to find out.


    Thinking of the exact name and symbol that Kaden wanted to use to represent his future army and family he then thought about activating the ability which made a weird feeling start overtaking his body.


    [Establishing family.....]


    [Establishing family.....]


    [Establishing family.....]


    [Family name Aces established.]


    After the family name was established the feeling that Kaden hadpletely went away making him look all over his body for his crest but nothing was present.


    "AGHHHH!" An immense feeling of pain suddenly struck Kaden''s right shoulder making him fall off his bed in pain while his ss screen kept going.


    [Applying family crest...]


    [Applying family crest...]


    [Applying family crest...]


    [Family crest applied.]


    Once the family crest was applied the pain Kaden felt went away soon after leaving him a sweaty mess on the floor still remembering the sheer pain he felt moments ago but soon after he sat himself up and looked at the shoulder that caused him so much pain but to his surprise something new was there that had never been there before. A smaller tattoo on his right shoulder just above his tricep was present, it was an ace of spades card that had a skull design in the middle.


    ''Well it seems that it worked.'' Kaden thought to himself with a smile.


    *****


    Authors note!


    Check thements below to see a picture reference of the crest and the logo of the killers.

 Chapter 18: Regrets

    <h4>Chapter 18: Regrets</h4>


    (Surprise here''s an extra chapter for the day because you guys are the best!)


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    After looking at his new tattoo for a moment Kaden stood up smiling and grabbed his wallet from his nightstand. Opening the folds of the wallet there was a stic sleeve that held a ying card that was coincidentally the ace of spades.


    ''I miss you.'' Kaden thought to himself with a reminiscent smile. The card and the wallet that Kaden currently used and owned was from a family member that passed away long ago but the memories Kaden had with them was eternal. He felt that the least he could do was name his future army and make his branding in their name as a sign of respect.


    Getting himself out of his feelings Kaden took a moment to check his ss screen once more and was surprised to a see a difference in his already opened ability section.


    [Family Crest: As a necromancer you''re the...]


    [Current Members: 1]


    ''So I count as a member?'' Kaden thought to himself not thinking that the leader would count but he didn''t mind as he remembered that the more members he has the higher his rank would be so he quickly went back to his main screen where he saw something that made his smile widen.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: F]


    Ranking up on the same day Kaden got his ss was something amazing. People were praised across the world for ranking up for a week to a month after getting a ss much less a single day. However Kaden credited this to the way his ss worked it was a SSS+ potential ss after all but progress is progress no matter how easy it is given.


    Already happy about his gains and his ss Kaden headed to the shower to clean off all the sweat he umted during his painful new tattoo. Once he was inside the shower he began thinking of ideas for the future and what will happen tomorrow.


    *****


    Emma was currently arriving at her house in a ck limo that was driven by one of the many butlers assigned to her by her family. The butler was an A+ ranked ss user who had seen many battles not only with the beasts but other ss users as well. This made him a great protector and chauffer for Emma as if even the slightest scratch were tond on her his life would be in danger but he didn''t have to worry about this as he was confident in his abilities and he was even more afraid of the girl he protected than anyone else which was even furthered by her newly awakened ss that fit her very well.


    The girl in question was currently staring out of the window into nothingness thinking over her day and reminiscing over past memories that included one particr boy.


    (In the memory.)


    "Hey @#$&% how about we go see a movie this weekend! It will be loads of fun you could even call it a date!" Emma said smugly to a boy in front of her who always chased after her like a puppy. She found it quite adorable.


    "Really?! Absolutely I will go! Wait I''m not prepared enough?! I need to leave so I''m ready, see you tomorrow!" The boy replied back with star in his eyes and a slight blush but little did he know that this would not be a happy day and push the two apart forever after.


    (Out of the memory.)


    Emma shook her head slightly getting the memory out of her mind as it was amon thing she thought about each day and her feelings on that day got worse and worse as time passed.


    ''If only I didn''t mess up.'' She thought to herself staring outside the window but her butler suddenly stopped the car causing her to jerk in her seat slightly annoying her.


    "What the hell! Why are you mming the breaks you idiot!" Emma screamed in angerpletely different from her personality at the school.


    The butler immediately turned back to her in fear and bowed his head over and over, "I''m very sorry miss but it seems like someone is blocking the entrance to the gate and is currently being handled by the guards." He said quickly holding his head down refusing to even look up at her.


    Hearing this Emma looked outside the front wind shield looking to see who could possibly be making her butler m his breaks and be wasting her time. When she looked out she saw someone familiar and simr to her age. In fact it was someone she saw while leaving the school, it was Ken.


    Seeing that Ken was in front of her gate she then realized that the guards had their hands wrapped around his arms and was escorting him off the premises. Emma quickly got out of the car which surprised her butler but he didn''t want to question anything she was doing right now as he had already done something to piss her off her just prayed for that young mans life.


    Once she got close enough to Ken and the guards she spoke straight towards Ken, "Oh what brings you here Ken?!" She said in a happy and peppy voice causing her guards and Ken to look at her.


    "Emma! Thank goodness you''re here! I was just telling these guys that I know you and wanted to ask you a few questions." He said with a new found hope in his eyes.


    "Miss Emma do you know this man?" One of the guards asked not at all confused by her behavior but confused on how they knew each other.


    "Yes I know him you may put him down he will be joining me." She said with a smile making the guards immediate drop Ken and walk back to their posts.


    "Follow me!" Emma said beckoning him towards her limo.

 Chapter 19: The 7

    <h4>Chapter 19: The 7</h4>


    Ken followed Emma to her limo and they both got inside much to the surprise of the butler who was about to ask how his master knew Ken but Emma beat him to the punch, "This is Ken he will be joining us for a while." Emma said to the butler with a smile that made him understand what was happening.


    "I see, wee Mister Ken, I hope you enjoy your stay here and if you need anything don''t hesitate to ask me or any of the other servants here." He said to Ken with a smile.


    After this the butler drove them through the gate which had been opened by the previous guards revealing arge estate that would make any A list celebrity drool in envy. The ce even had arge water attraction in the middle of the circr driveway.


    "Sorry I showed up so unexpected if I knew you would have been gone so long I would have asked you tomorrow or shown upter. I thought you would have arrived before me since you left before me and had a car after all." Ken said apologizing and chuckling to himself at thest sentence.


    "No worries I had a friend I needed to visit to collect some things. Just be d that I showed up when I did because the guards here aren''t the most forgiving." Emma said chuckling to herself as well.


    Ken then shivered thinking about how they were handling him before Emma arrived, "They definitely are good at their job." Ken said halfheartedly.


    At this point both Emma and Ken had exited the vehicle and were currently at the front door of the estate, "I have to add this ce is absolutely ginormous!" Ken said in awe as he looked around trying to take in everything that he could see.


    Emma smiled at hisment before putting on a smug face, "Just wait until you see the inside of it." She said before opening the doors of the ce revealing a wide room with a set of stairs on each side and a long hallway on the main floor easily seen leading to many other hallways and rooms.


    "Woahhhh!" Ken couldn''t help but let out in even more awe than before as the sheer size of the inside was even more than he imagined from the outside. Matter of fact he even spotted what seemed to be stairs leading downward down the hall and there was no telling howrge it was down there.


    "Pfft!" Emma couldn''t help but start giggling at his reaction making him blush and start fiddling with his hands seemingly more nervous than before. This was due to him realizing his situation. He was in a girls house that he thought was cute by himself.


    "That''s mean!" Ken said like a pouting maiden unhappy at herughing at him.


    Ignoring Ken''s reactionpletely Emma felt it was finally time to get down to business and see why he was here, "Follow me to the dining room." Emma said making Ken follow once more down the long hallway before she opened one of the doors leading into arge dining room with a wooden table that took up half the room with many chairs all around it leaving Ken in awe once more but was quickly taken out of it as Emma sat down in one of the chairs gesturing for Ken to take the one across from her and putting her chin in her other hand.


    "So what brings you here today Ken, I''m sure it''s not something simple since you insisted with my guards." She said genuinely interested to hear what he would say.


    Ken then got a slight blush looking all around the room refusing to look in her eyes for a moment before seemingly having a resolute moment and looking into her eyes, "I would like to be one of the 7." He said confidently.


    *SLAM*


    Emma''s head mmed against the table as her arm slipped due to the sudden surprise of the question. Her usual smiley attitude that she showed to Ken so far was immediately gone reced by a serious face, "How do you know about that?" She asked sternly looking him straight in the eyes surprising him and making him slightly recoil in fright from the seriousness she was showing.


    "Uh uh Kaden told me about it earlier today..." Ken said stuttering slightly still surprised by the sudden change in tone by Emma.


    "Kaden told you about this? Why would he do that?" Emma said confused about the situation until she remembered when Kaden and Ken first met this morning and Kaden whispered in his ear.


    "He told me this morning that if I wanted to get closer to you I need toe and meet you after school and ask about the 7." Ken said hesitantly which confirmed Emma''s suspicions on when it was said to Ken.


    "I see. So do you know what the 7 entails Ken?" Emma said to him still staying in her serious tone of speaking.


    "Actually, I don''t know much but if it lets me get to know you better then I assume it must be worth it. Ever since I met you at the awakening ceremony, I couldn''t help it your bubbly personality and your niceness to everyone attracted me." He said stuttering a little still embarrassed by everything he was saying.


    Emma seemed to be thinking for a moment contemting whether to tell him about it or not. After a moments hesitation she made her decision, "Well thank you for your kindness! I would love to get to know you better as well and bring you into the 7, we just got an opening after all!" Emma said switching back to her normal bubbly personality and began leading the blushing Ken back down the hallway by his hand and leading him downstairs to a ce that would change his life and perception of Emma forever.

 Chapter 20: Plan of Action

    <h4>Chapter 20: n of Action</h4>


    It was currently the next day and Kaden had spent his entire night calcting and plotting how he was going to keep his ss potential a secret from the school. In short, he had absolutely nothing to show for his efforts as he didn''t have any clue or idea how he was supposed to mask his ss.


    ''What am I going to do!'' He shouted within his mind as he got ready to meet Ashly at the elevator.


    There was only one option he had left and it was in the form of a seemingly psychoticdy who he didn''t want to have any more affiliation with than he could help despite how much he liked her earlier the day before.


    Once Kaden got ready he headed out the door of his apartment to the meeting spot where Ashly was already waiting for him with a slight smile on her face that only widened when he arrived, "So it seems you need my help after all." She said smugly approaching Kaden.


    "Only this one time and I will pay you back so I don''t owe you anything," Kaden said unhappy with the situation but without any other alternatives, he couldn''t help but ask for her help.


    "Yeah yeah, that''s what they all say until theye back the second time, then the third, then the fourth, and so on. After all my debts are very hard to pay." She said squatting down a little to be face to face with Kaden showing a weird glint in her eyes.


    "So, show me your ss and why it''s a problem." She said in expectation. Her mind had run wild the night before considering the different possibilities of what could be his problem if he didn''t have a low-ranked ss. Needless to say, she was excited to see which one of her theories was correct.


    Kaden hesitantly opened his ss screen and mentally made Ashly able to see it. Her jaw immediately loosened slightly, and her eyes werepletely in shock as this was something that was way outside her realm of predictions no matter how much she wanted to believe in Kaden.


    "YOU HAVE A SSS+ POTENTIAL?" She practically yelled which caused Kaden to panic and shove her into the elevator immediately closing the doors behind them and pressing the button to go down to the first floor.


    "Why don''t you just let everyone and their mother know what I have!" Kaden said annoyed at Ashly who realized how uposed she had been and had an awkward smile.


    "My bad but what can you expect when you see something like that. There has never been an SSS+ potential before at least that I know of." She said slightly excited at the fact that a person she knew was the owner of an SSS+ potential.


    At this point, the elevator door opened and both Kaden and Ashly walked out of the elevator passing the stairwell door which was for some reason open. Deciding that it would be polite to close it Kaden walked over closing the door shut and continuing on with Ashly who looked at him weirdly.


    "Such a good boy~" She said putting her hand on her mouth slightly giggling at his action.


    Kadenpletely ignored her words and continued walking as she followed beside him which made her smirk as she could see the tint of his ears redden ever so slightly but it was minuscule.


    "So what''s the problem with showing the school your SSS+ potential?" Ashly said curiously.


    "Did you watch the newsst night?" Kaden questioned.


    Ashly began thinking for a moment as they exited the apartment building walking down the sidewalk towards the school. Suddenly she remembered a headline that she saw on the newsst night right as she was about to go to bed, "Are you talking about all of those kids that were S potential and above getting killed?" She asked.


    Kaden immediately nodded his head, "Yeah I already didn''t want the headache that came with the potential but I was still undecided. That was until I saw the headline which I considered a sign to just figure a way to keep it to myself at the very least until this group is stopped." Kaden said voicing his concerns.


    Ashly nodded her head in understanding, "I can understand that. They were saying that the kills were quite brutal thought I wouldn''t mind if they ruffed you up a little bit." She said nodding her head more like a professor. It seems at this point she hadpletely given up acting normal for whatever reason.


    Kaden couldn''t continue the ss conversation any longer until he got to the bottom of this first, "Why are you so dedicated to seeing me in pain?" Kaden asked her without restraint as he saw this was the better option thanpletely ignoring it.


    "Oh it''s because I like the way your face looks when you''re sad. It''s almost like an addiction. Don''t ask me why it''s there I just know that it is." Ashly responded with an equally calm voice but her mouth began letting out a slight drool as she fantasized what that group would do to Kaden before they killed him.


    Kaden saw this drool and decided to forever have his guard up against this girl but it seemed she wanted to both be friends and help him while satiating her desire so he didn''t know how to feel, "I see, well I won''t say that''s normal but as long as you help me I don''t care what sort of strange addiction you have so what''s the n." Kaden said expecting her to have already established some sort of multyered n of action.


    "Yes, I do actually have a n. It''s rather simple really and I need you to do exactly what I say or the entire n will blow up." She said seriously.


    Kaden''s hopes immediately began rising as he thought of Ashly in a new light and was thankful for her help during his crisis, "Alright I can do that." He said confidently.


    She immediately smiled at this which gave Kaden an ufortable feeling rising in his chest, "Just trust me." She said stating her n.


    *****


    Authors Note


    Thank you everyone for an amazing week so far! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter but I had to tell you guys we actually made it in the top 25 male leading novels for power stones this week! This is including both contracted and uncontracted of course! I just wanted to pop in and thank you guys once again for all the support it means a lot and makes me want to write even more. See you tomorrow! (I have also left a picture I took of the rankings in thements below since I''m extra like that.)

 Chapter 21: Plans

    <h4>Chapter 21: ns</h4>


    After arguing for a long time about how ridiculous her n was Kaden couldn''t help but just ept her offer as he didn''t have any other sort of option avable to him. ''Work with what you''ve got I guess.'' He thought sighing inwardly.


    During the rest of the walk to school Kaden and Ashly didn''t talk as they were seemingly both deep inside their own thoughts and what Kaden was thinking about is what his future army should consist of, ''Unlike a normal army I want an army that is smaller in size but not only that, I want an army that is fully dedicated to me in every way that way there is no risk of betrayal.'' Kaden thought. These thoughts were specifically aimed at those that would be tied to him through the living as he assumed that the dead that he brought into his army didn''t have a choice but to obey him.


    After thinking deeply for a moment another thought traveled through his mind whether or not one of these people could rece the still vacant part of his heart that Emma had left a long time ago. Just the thought of what happened made him slightly angry yet sad at the same time, ''What if I had a group that gave me what Emma never would. People that would reciprocate my extreme feelings and help me battle at the same time. Two birds with one stone.'' Kaden thought to himself slightly making himself excited in anticipation for what could possiblye.


    What are these people you may ask? It''s quite simple, ''I want to have a yandere.'' Kaden thought to himself settling what his goal would be.


    He wanted someone to be crazy about him as he would be crazy about them. Someone he could rely on to help him through his battles and everything else they may face. Would having more than one of these individuals be good? Possibly. The first thing he needs is to find someone that fits his criteria.


    Looking over to his right staring at the currently smiling Ashly, Kaden couldn''t help but wonder whether she would fit that criteria but immediately shook his head, ''She has potential, but not only does she not have romantic feelings for me, but I feel the same as she has only asked for me to be in pain. Obviously, she''s just a sadist.'' Kaden thought some more on who he had met so far that could fit that, but no one came to mind so he decided from now on to actively search for the one that he would give everything to.


    *****


    Kaden''s stares didn''t go unnoticed by Ashly, but she didn''t care much as she was imagining in her mind Kaden being twisted in all sorts of directions and his screams of agony which left a smile stered on her face and then a small window from her ss showed up which surprised her.


    [Emotional energy full]


    This caused her smile to widen even more in happiness with her current ss.


    *****


    After walking for a while Kaden and Ashly arrived at the school and was met with a site that confused them greatly. Ken was currently holding a limo door open as Emma got out of said limo making students surround the vehicle with men staring at Emma in awe and the girls mostly staring at Ken wondering who the handsome fellow holding the door was.


    Many of the students didn''t even give a second nce to each other yesterday as they were too busy focusing on the awakening but now since that had been settled it was back to a normal high school scene where people were crowning a new idol. Otherwise named Emma.


    Despite a crowd forming Emma greeted everyone nicely as Ken shut the door behind her and began carrying her bags as well as his as they made their way to the school.


    "What the heck is that about?" Ashly said confused.


    "It seems Ken joined the 7." Kaden said to himself slightly confused on whether to feel proud of him and wish him luck or pray for his safety and health.


    "What''s the 7?" Ashly asked now interested in the situation.


    "The 7 are a group formed and headed by Emma. Basically, how it works is she has one different guy pamper her for the entire day each day of the week. Considering that it''s currently Tuesday it seems that Ken has taken the spot of Tuesday which I previously had unknowingly." Kaden said exining the entire situation as simply as possible.


    Ashly had a weird look on her face as she considered everything Kaden said, "So basically she''s a needy bitch who won''t settle down with one guy?" Ashly asked making others around her look at her with confusion and surprise at her choice of words towards a person but Ashly could care less.


    "That is about right. We should go to the ss check ce before the line gets too big." Kaden said nodding his head and then beginning to walk in the direction of the main school building which was already being filled with students from the day before that didn''t show their ss.


    The line ended up not as big as Kaden originally imagine making them zoom through the line quite quickly which made Kaden''s nervousness slightly get to him, "Hey Ashly your n will work right?" Kaden asked as he was shaking slightly.


    However, Ashly didn''t even have her heart rate up. She was as calm as could be, "Yeah it will work just wait and see." She said giggling at Kaden panicking.


    "That-" Right as Kaden was about to speak again it seemed that it was his turn in line. He immediately stepped up to the teacher that seemed to be annoyed for having to do this.


    "Name and ss please." The teacher said in a bored tonepletely opposite of Kaden''s constantly hard beating heart.


    "K-kaden Crown." Kaden stuttered before closing his eyes and showing the teacher his ss.


    The teacher didn''t take long to reply, "Let''s see here, Kaden Crown and his ss is cleaning butler. Potential ranked at E. Alright next!"

 Chapter 22: PTSD?

    <h4>Chapter 22: PTSD?</h4>


    The confusion in both Kaden and Ashly''s eyes was apparent as the man listed out Kaden''s ss. However, Kaden decided not to miss this chance and walked over to the side taking the chance that was somehow given to him.


    ''What made him see my ss that way? How did Ashly do that?'' Kaden thought to himselfpletely confused about the situation he found himself in.


    Deciding to wait until Ashly was done to ask more questions Kaden walked not too far down the hall from where Ashly was and decided to lean against the wall in wait. Soon after he leaned his shoulders on the wall amotion started inside the room he just left.


    "S RANK POTENTIAL EMOTIONAL VAMPIRE?" The teachers'' voice filled the halls with his shock.


    ''It still feels strange to be beside a person that will be a powerhouse in the future.'' Kaden thought to himself as he watched Ashly walk out of the room and many others now flocking towards her after hearing her potential rank which should have normally been private, but the teacher was too surprised.


    The annoyance was already painted all over Ashly''s face as she made her way towards Kaden. This made Kaden slightlyugh at her due to how the tables had turned, ''She''s normally very in control of the situation so I will relish this moment.'' Kaden thought to himself with a smile on his face that didn''t go unnoticed by Ashly which made her more annoyed.


    Once she got over to Kaden, she grabbed his arm hurriedly and began leading him out of the school while she was still being followed by the group who began to whisper about them from behind her.


    "A man does she already have a full team for the exam? He must be one of them."


    "I wonder if that''s her boyfriend and she let him on her group to protect him. He doesn''t look strong after all."


    "No way! If she needs a good boyfriend that can fend for himself then she should choose me!"


    "No me!"


    After a seemingly harmless start to a conversation, it ended up like this making some of the guys rush forward to grab on to the still moving Ashly making her stop immediately and turn back to the group with a death stare. It wasn''t as if she didn''t hear what they said and by theming to her directly it seemed they were just here to give her a headache which was starting to piss her off.


    "What do you want?" Ashly said slowly starting to fume with anger despite her usual calmness which was quite a sight to see for Kaden as he watched everything y out.


    It seemed that two of the guys had enough courage to actuallye up to Ashly and they didn''t look friendly either. They looked like the delinquent type which was not usuallymon here based on what they had seen so far.


    "Nothing much we just think that your little boyfriend here might be holding you up in the exam soon. Why not ditch him ande with us." They said with perverted intentions as it was obvious based on how their eyes looked Ashly up and down.


    Ashly wasted no time punching one in the face causing his nose to turn at a weird angle and making him fall over crying in pain, "Your screams have no vor to it how disgusting." Ashly said as she walked forward kicking him in the head and knocking him out.


    Ashly then looked at the other one seeing if he would continue but he had already been running down the hallway away from Ashly. The group that had originally formed to follow her immediately dispersed as well seemingly afraid that they would get punched next.


    "That was rather aggressive andpletely out of your character from what I''ve seen." Kadenmented on her behavior confused by it all.


    She looked back at him with eyes that yelled not to question anymore, "It''s a long story. I will tell youter."


    After this the teachers rushed out to see themotion as it had been reported that someone punched another in the middle of the hallway. They saw that Kaden and Ashly were standing near the knocked-out student and took them further in the school for questioning only to find out that they were the victims after asking a bunch of students around the area and then letting them back out to go to the exam.


    ''I expected her to be super smooth about the whole thing and do something I wouldn''t expect but not like this.'' Kaden thought as he remembered the situation unfolding in front of him.


    "Sorry about that." Kaden heard turning around to see Ashly leaving the teacher''s office next to him.


    "No worries it''s not like we got in trouble or anything and those guys deserved it to be honest," Kaden replied back as they made their way towards the exam area for sure this time.


    The teachers had been kind enough to inform them that the exam groups would meet at the gym like before and then begin the actual exam which was new information to them as they nned to ask some of the students outside after they finished with showing their ss.


    "By the way, your ss changing was not my doing," Ashly said dropping a bomb as they exited the main school building.


    "What do you mean?" Kaden questionedpletely confused.


    *****


    A bus was currently arriving at the school that was filled to the brim with kids the same age as Kaden and the others, but the only difference was that each of these people had their arms and legs cuffed to the seat in front of them and they wore inmate uniforms. One of these people was currently looking out the window at a particr boy who just exited the main school building with a girl and a surprised expression on his face. The sight of the boy''s face made her heart quicken with happiness making the chains on her body rattle as her feet and arms moved up and down, ''Finally, we can be together~ We can finally touch and spend all our lives together in harmony~ You are mine and mine alone~ If anyone dares touch you, I will kill them~'' the person thought chuckling to themself with a wide smile.

 Chapter 23: Questions

    <h4>Chapter 23: Questions</h4>


    "I''m telling you that it wasn''t me that changed it." Ashly continued as she and Kaden walked towards the gym to finalize their group for the exam.


    "Then how could it end up like that?" Kaden questioned further.


    "I have no clue. I nned to distract the teacher somehow or maybe pay him off after you showed your ss, but I didn''t expect this to happen for sure." Ashly said making Kaden slightly sweat at her horrible n of action.


    "That''s an awful n!" Kaden said slightly angered that such a n was what his life potentially rode on.


    Ashly just shrugged at his words, "At least your ss changed somehow." She said trying to change the subject.


    Kaden couldn''t help but sigh at her attitude but what she said did have some truth to it but the question remained. Who changed his ss for that teacher? Kaden even went as far as to look at his ss screen and check all the tabs he had avable to see if he had some sort of notification saying something happened, but it did not.


    Nothing seemed to be adding up until Kaden and Ashly arrived at the gym, ''Wait a minute. The name of that ss is quite simr to Emma''s. Her cleaning maid ss and my cleaning butler ss sound too simr to be true but how would she go about doing that? Matter of fact how did she know I needed it changed in the first ce?" Kaden spected inside his mind. None of his assumptions were proven or even had a spec of evidence besides the simr names, so he kept it to himself.


    "Hey, guys!" A voice said taking Kaden out of his thoughts.


    ''Speak of the devil.'' Kaden thought.


    Emma and Ken were walking towards both Kaden and Ashly with happiness evident in their eyes, "Have you guys got a group for the exam yet?" Ken asked getting to the point.


    "Not yet we assumed we were going to be with you guys, so we haven''t found any more people," Ashly answered which made both Emma and Ken sigh with relief.


    "Good we thought you may have found another group because we were thinking the same thing," Emma said this time while sneaking a nce at Kaden which didn''t go unnoticed by him.


    ''Maybe she does know something.'' Kaden thought.


    "Since that makes four of us why don''t we go and find another?" Kaden suggested as he saw that others were forming their groups as well in preparation for the exam.


    The group agreed to what Kaden said and they began walking as a group around the crowd of people trying to find someone that would fit their group perfectly. Surprisingly many people came up to their group asking to join but none of them had a good personality and a ss that would help with the exam. In actuality, the only reason people wereing up to join their team is because of Ken and Emma. The reasoning for Ken is due to the high potential that he showcased during the awakening and the reasoning for Emma being that many people wanted some brownie points with the Johson family.


    Eventually, the group found an individual by the name of Timmy. Timmy seemed to be quite timid, but he approached Kaden''s group in the hopes of joining because he got kicked out of his other group due to his shy attitude. On the other hand, his ss was something quite praiseworthy as he had a swordsman ss with a potential of B-. After deliberating for a moment, the group weed Timmy with open arms, and they began waiting in the gym for the principal to show up and begin the exam.


    However contrary to their expectations it wasn''t the principal that arrived it was Mr. Wright. He walked his way onto the stage that was still present and began addressing the crowd of standing students, "Hello everyone thank you for giving me a moment of your time. As you know today will be the day of the exam and that has not changed. However, I do have a small announcement to make. There will be another group of people that will be joining you on your exam. This group of kids was ast-minute addition, but you don''t mind that. Due to these new kids also being a part of the exam, we will add one more person to each group. Consider this another one of our lessons, a lesson in being able to adapt to anything."


    He then took a deep breath before continuing, "Now, I need all of you to follow me to the field where we will begin the exam and introduce you to your new teammate." Mr. Wright said before walking down the stage and exiting through the back of the gym.


    All of the students followed him outside only to see him by himself walking in the wide-open field towards a group of people behind the gym seemingly filled with nothing at all which confused many of the students.


    "I see the others group but what about the test?"


    "Aren''t we supposed to fight beasts?"


    Many people spoke their thoughts aloud as they made their way towards the group of people, but their thoughts were soon answered as a hole started to open and expand behind Mr. Wright and the new group before it became at least three football fields long and two football fields wide.


    "Holy crap." Kaden muttered to himself and so did many others at the sheer size of the hole.


    However, it seemed it wasn''t finished as a tform rose from the depths of the hole. It seemed the tform was made out of some kind of metal and the weirdest thing was that each corner of the tform had arge pole with some sort of strange device on top.


    ''What does that do?'' Kaden thought.


    "Turn it on." Mr. Wrights voice said not too far ahead of the students.


    That''s when it happened. The poles on each corner of the tform lit up in a bright sh of white which blinded everyone like with the awakening stone before they opened their eyes to see something amazing. The previous tform that was filled with nothing was now a vast and lush forest filled with greenery.


    ''Oh so that''s what it does.'' Kaden thought.

 Chapter 24: Sky

    <h4>Chapter 24: Sky</h4>


    "This is incredible," Ken said to Kaden''s right as he and everyone else on the field looked at the just made lush green forest.


    "Agreed." Said Emma who for once was also surprised and impressed by what was happening.


    Kaden had been enjoying the sight as well until a particr face caught his eye among the group of neers that were currently with Mr. Wright.


    ''Sky? There''s no way?'' Kaden thought to himself as his heart slightly quickened. He began making his way towards the group and was the first toe out of their awe of the forest.


    ''There should be no way she''s here? Am I mistaken?'' Kaden thought to himself with his doubts beginning to pile within his mind that the person ahead was not who he thought it was.


    However, his doubts were soon squashed as the person he was looking at took notice of him walking towards them as well. They began rushing through the crowd and soon escaped before running to Kaden at speeds he didn''t expect at all.


    ''Fast.'' This was thest thought Kaden had before he was hit with a flurry of ck and orange making him fall over with them on top of him. This made all of the surrounding groups look at them in confusion.


    "It''s you! It''s you! It''s really you!" A girl''s voice said beside Kaden''s ear as she buried her face inside his chest. He also heard a few sniffing sounds near his chest, but he thought that might have been his imagination.


    "Sky is that really you?!" Kaden said with a huge grin on his face.


    The girl then took her face off his chest to look him straight in the eyes. Sky was a beautiful girl with almost hip-length dark ck hair and rosy, red lips. Her eyes were beautiful with one being red and the other blue otherwise known as heterochromia. She also sported a curvaceous hourss figure that had all the right things in the right ce which wasn''t visible from his current position.


    "Yes, it''s really me. This almost feels like a dream!" She said before shoving her face back in his chest making him chuckle.


    "Who''s this girl?" A voice invaded the two''s moment and Kaden looked up to see Ashly, Emma, and Ken looking down at him with a question from Emma who eyed her curiously.


    Kaden then took Sky off of him much to her dismay and stood up before addressing the three, "This is Sky she is someone I have known for a few years now, but we have never had the chance to meet in person like this." Kaden said without the smile leaving his face.


    "Would that exin the jumpsuit?" Emma said.


    Kaden then paused for a moment to look at Sky''s attire and Emma was correct. Sky was fitted with an inmate''s jumpsuit and when Kaden looked behind her at the rest of the group, she came from it seemed the same story as all of them were donning the infamous orange suit. Though that wasn''t the only thing on them as each of the group had a metal cor around their neck that looked quite menacing.


    "Ye-" Kaden was about to continue but was interrupted by Sky.


    "Who''s this bitch?" Sky said with clear hostility as she wrapped her arms around Kaden''s.


    Emma gritted her teeth in anger as she heard Sky''sment and looked at her hooking her arms with Kaden''s, "I''m Emma the heir of the Johnson family and who are you!" She said aggressively.


    Sky took less than 3 seconds to answer, "I''m Kaden''s future wife and current lover. Now shoo." Sky said motioning with her hand to go away.


    Kaden couldn''t help but feel ufortable with this but inwardly not against how forward she was being. However, Emma did not take too kindly to the way she was speaking, "Who are you to spea-" Right as she was about to continue another person entered the conversation.


    "It seems you guys know each other?" Mr. Wright said walking towards them and with the rest of the inmate dressed group behind him.


    "Yes! He has visited me almost since I first entered the system!" Sky said nodding her head repeatedly.


    At this point, Kaden felt even more ufortable as he realized both groups were staring at him and Sky but he didn''t undo his arm since he felt it would not only be douchey, but he also didn''t mind it particrly since it was a special moment for him too.


    Kaden has known Sky for a long time now since he always used to visit the jail for his family member that had the ace card in his wallet. It happened by chance when the guards were grabbing his family member and it seemed that Sky''s people never showed as she was sitting by herself in one of those, one on one phone booths staring at no one across from her.


    She saw that Kaden also didn''t have anyone to talk to yet, so she swapped seats when the guards weren''t looking, and they began getting to know each other. After this encounter Kaden visited both his family and her from now on and their rtionship continued to blossom. Kaden considered her a close friend and didn''t think of anything further yet since she had a life sentence for the murder of both her abusive parents. This is why Kaden was so surprised to see her, especially here.


    "I see well that''s good because you will be joining their team." Mr. Wright said astonishing some of the people here and making Sky very happy.


    "It was meant to be!" She shoutedtching on to Kaden even more making him give a defeated smile.


    "Wait aren''t these people convicted inmates!" One shouted their concerns.


    "That''s correct. This was something I was going to exin for all of you before these two had their moment. Due to a decision being made by the school these inmates will be given a second chance by taking this school''s exam alongside you with restrictions of course." Mr. Wright said calmly.

 Chapter 25: Anger

    <h4>Chapter 25: Anger</h4>


    "What do you mean a second chance?!" Another student shouted at Mr. Wright before he could speak again.


    "I was about to ge-" Mr. Wright started.


    "I don''t want to take a test with criminals! Can you even guarantee my safety!" Another shouted in anger.


    Mr. Wright seemed to be getting annoyed with all the interruptions and students speaking over him since his face was no longer calm, "I was getting to that as I said before. Now I''m going to exin the situation and I would appreciate it if you were at least as quiet as the inmates you''re getting annoyed over."


    The students from the gym suddenly realized that all of the inmates besides Sky have not spoken a single word since they had arrived in the area and looking at their faces many were sweating slightly not daring to say a word which confused many but they stayed quiet after hearing Mr. Wrights words.


    After seeing that no one else was going to interrupt him Mr. Wright smiled and continued once more, "Now. Let me exin this all to you. The reason these inmates are being a second chance is due to the school and some other figures saying that rather than these individuals rotting in a jail cell their entire lives they can be trained such as all of you and then be forced into military service afterward. Your next question was how we can guarantee your safety. This is quite simple really, if you look at each of their necks you will see a metal cor. This metal cor is a remote-controlled device that can be used both to restrain and kill these individuals at any moment. So, if any of them so much asy a hand on you without permission then they will face the death penalty immediately."


    After Mr. Wright said this the group of inmates sweated even more minus Sky who was currently still snuggling on Kaden''s arm in ecstasy. The students didn''t have any more objections at this point either since not only was their question answered but they had a new fear of Mr. Wright.


    "Makes sense."


    "Yeah, I see no problems." Some of the students said scratching the back of their heads.


    This made Mr. Wrights normal calm tone and expression return, "Well that''s good! Now let''s split all of you into groups. All of you get in a single file line in front of me and be assigned your new teammate. However, you." He said pointing at Sky, "You may join his group for the exam so please wait over there." He said pointing to another patch of grass beside the exam forest.


    This made Sky''s mouth erupt even further into a smile and Kaden grinned as well walking over to the patch of grass while Ken and Ashly just sighed in defeat and not particrly caring. However, Emma was enraged even further by this and walked over to say something to Mr. Wright but before she could she received a deep and threatening re from him that sent shivers even down her spine.


    ''Who is he to give me such fear?'' She thought to herself as she resigned walking over to the patch of grass with the others.


    "See! I told you it was meant to be!" Sky said jumping up and down while her arms still connected to Kaden''s making himugh until he looked in her eyes that seemed to be bing more and more obsessive by the moment.


    ''This is what I wanted but I feel I need to do something about this.'' He said to himself before looking towards the rest of his group that was also looking at him but in a stranger way.


    "Sky this is the group we will be working with for the exam. I hope you will get along with all of them." Kaden said taking her closer towards them and then gesturing towards each introducing them to Sky.


    "It''s uh- nice to meet you?" Ashly was the first one to approach unsure of how to feel about the situation and just kept it at a simple greeting.


    The rest were simr except Emma who just looked at her with contemptpletely and even got mad at Ken for giving a simple greeting. Ken then joined her as well in ignoring Sky.


    "Nice to meet you all as well except the bitch of course!" Sky said cheerfully.


    "Also, I hope all of you know not to touch my Kaden or I will kill you all." Skr continued but this time only at a whisper that could only be heard by the group present.


    Kaden just smiled andughed awkwardly at this. He was quite enjoying the attention as he had never gotten something so extreme before so he just continued enjoying the moment and even locked his arms tighter which make Sky''s smile be crazier in return.


    Timmy shivered in fear from Sky and got behind Ken for protection. The rest just looked at her strangely with each having their own opinion on the matter but keeping it to themselves for now seeing that the exam will be starting soon, "So what''s the n for the exam." Ashly said opening up the conversation.


    The others all awkwardly looked at each other as they realized they had no clue how they were going to move forward with the exam.


    "Well how about we start with each person saying what they would be good at in a battle," Ken said as he knew each person would not reveal their ss it would be better just to give an idea of what kind of battle power they may bring to the table.


    Kaden looked around and saw that no one was going to volunteer first despite being the ones to start the idea, so he went ahead and stepped forward with Sky still attached and said, "I won''t be of any use fire power-wise until we kill one."


    These words immediately threw them all into confusion.

 Chapter 26: First Member

    <h4>Chapter 26: First Member</h4>


    "What do you mean by that?" Ken askedpletely confused. Timmy also nodded his head in agreement with Ken while Sky just looked at him waiting for an answer.


    However, it seemed that despite them looking a little confused Ashly and Emma stayed quiet which furthered Kaden''s thoughts that Emma had something to do with his ss changing earlier in the day.


    ''I will definitely make sure to ask about thatter.'' Kaden said promising to himself.


    "I won''t go into further detail, but I will be able to help you guys after we kill one beast," Kaden said repeating himself before stepping back signaling that it was someone else''s turn to go.


    ''While I may notpletely understand my powers or the family entirely it should follow the basic principles of being a necromancer based on what the family crest ability says. Plus, I wouldn''t have anything else to offer since I have no battle abilities yet.'' Kaden thought nervously as he looked at his one hope the family crest ability.


    [Family Crest: As a necromancer, you''re themander and chief of your own army that will soon dominate all of thends while being connected to both life and death. As such you and your army will be closer than family and always have each other''s backs with this you will need your own family name and crest that will be recognized by all and feared by those that encounter it. The crest is a sign of someone''s loyalty and proof of being in the family. For someone or something to gain the family crest, both parties must agree if the receiver is among the living. If the receiver is among the dead, you must touch the floating soul with your hand and think of using your family crest thus making them a member.]


    Emma was the next one to step forward and she gave an Oscar-worthy facial expression of sadness as she stood in between everyone, "I''m sorry to say that I will not be much help. Whether ites to attack or defense I won''t be able to help on any of the fronts unless you want to use me as a meat shield which I don''t mind." She said sadly.


    This immediately tugged at the heartstrings of both Timmy and Ken while everyone else just sighed knowing that she was faking it, "It''s alright! Don''t even worry a little bit we will protect you because that''s what friends do." Ken said smiling towards Emma and Timmy nodded his head in agreement.


    ''He never learned.'' Kaden said to himself with a sigh.


    "Thank you! I will do my best to help you where I can." She said with a huge smile on her face before walking back to her original spot sending a wink at Kaden.


    ''She''s the worst.'' Kaden said slightly angered but he kept it to himself.


    Ashly was the next one to step up and address everyone, "I will be able to help you guys on the attack side of things and defense, but I will only be able to protect myself with my powers. Also, I may need something and if I do, I will ask one of you to follow a set of instructions. I need you to follow it perfectly is that ok with everyone?" Ashly said eyeing Kaden specifically which made him shudder slightly and Sky frown.


    "How about I just help you with your problem when you need it. It''s not like I will be doing much else." Emma saidughing awkwardly.


    Ashly hesitated for a moment taking a nce at Kaden before looking at Emma once more, "That''s fine. Just make sure to keep up with me." She said agreeing.


    Now that Ashly''s problem was solved everyone else took their turns saying what they could and couldn''t do which ended up with their n.


    The n was to use Timmy and Ken as the shields of the group and approach whatever monster they may face. Since Ken had the shield-bearer ss he was able to take more damage with one of his abilities and then Timmy had the swordsman ss that allowed him to take some damage but not as much as Ken.


    Emma would be with Ashly as they had said before with Ashly being one to deal damage with Kaden and Sky supporting her since they figured out Sky has a damage ss as well.


    Once they were done exining the n they sat in wait as the final few people were assigned their new member. Sky then tapped his shoulder lightly before gesturing to a blue screen in front of her.


    "Huh what is it-" Kaden turned towards her only to be surprised at the blue screen she was showing him. It was her ss.


    [Name: Sky Hughes]


    [ss: Frontline Assassin]


    [Potential: SS+]


    [Current Rank: F-]


    "What! Rank SS+? That''s amazing Sky!" Kaden whispered in excitement which made her smile with happiness.


    "I''m d you like it. I will do my best to help you. My love~" Sky said snuggling in his arms once more.


    ''I never thought it would be this way. This is not bad though; I should show her my appreciation somehow.'' Kaden thought as he processed the amount of love that was being poured onto him by Sky.


    "I have something for you as well," Kaden said to Sky which made her ears perk up and look at him excitedly.


    "What is it?!" She said excitedly.


    At this point, some of the others in the group were looking at them wondering what was happening so Kaden put his finger over his lip showing that she should try and keep this something a secret.


    She nodded her head seriously realizing that this might be something important, and it was.


    Kaden opened up his ability screen and clicked the Family crest button which also made a screen pop up for Sky.


    [Kaden Crown would like you to join his family.]


    [ept] [Decline]


    Sky seemed surprised for a moment with her mouth slightly open but it took less than 10 seconds for a decision.


    [ept]


    [You''re now a part of the Aces. Rewards and crest being applied.]

 Chapter 27: Exam Part 1

    <h4>Chapter 27: Exam Part 1</h4>


    After Sky epted being in the family Kaden couldn''t help but have a wide grin on his face and so did Sky. In fact, she was the one that spoke first, "So what does- AGH!"


    After not even saying 5 words Sky doubled over in pain and was clutching her left shoulder, "Are you alright?!" Ken and Timmy were the first to run over and check on Sky after Kaden did, wondering what was going on.


    ''Oh no! I forgot about the pain with the tattoo!'' Kaden said getting angry at himself as he held Sky. Kaden decided not to answer Ken''s question as he thought it might tell them he was the cause of her pain which would bring more questions, so he only held Sky close as the pain began fading away obvious by her lessened yelps.


    "I- I''m fine now." Sky breathed out from Kaden''s grasp as she began to sit herself up.


    "Are you sure? Let me help for now." Kaden said holding her by her shoulders as she sat up.


    "Thank you." She replied with a smile.


    "What happened to her?" A voice asked behind Kaden making him spin around to see Mr. Wright watching the scene with interest.


    "It was nothing much. It seems something with my ss activated and I even ranked up!" Sky answered happily showing him her ss screen which Kaden was also interested to see.


    [Name: Sky Hughes]


    [Current Rank: F]


    This is the screen that was shown to Mr. Wright which made his face visibly change, "What you ranked up already?! That''s amazing! We knew that your potential was already high as is, but this is just something else. I will be expecting a lot from you now. Well done." Mr. Wright with excitement before walking away and he then began to talk to someone on the phone.


    ''Huh, she ranked up already? I thought she would only rank up if she was below me by more than a rank?'' Kaden thought confused before opening up his own ss screen.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: F+]


    ''WHAT! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE!'' Kaden screamed inwardly at the screen in front of him. He then remembered that his rank would increase with the more people he added to his family.


    ''Am I going to rank up this easily the entire time?'' Kaden questioned inside his mind wondering if her could possibly reach the highest rank within a year or two based on his current progress and how fast he was ranking up. He soon denied this however since he remembered that the higher rank he got the harder it would be to rank up and the more people he would need in his family.


    After being in his own head for a moment Kaden turned back towards Sky who was currently finishing up being checked by the others in the group though Emma seemingly wanted nothing to do with helping her which made Kaden sigh.


    "You could have warned me about that meanie!" Sky said whispering to Kaden as she walked over connecting their arms again which made him smile.


    "Sorry about that. I forgot that part of the process." Kaden saidughing awkwardly.


    "It''s fine it only hurt for a moment, but I wantpensation at some point~" She said seductively looking at him with crazy eyes.


    This was the first time he had seen such a reaction from her a didn''t know how to react so he just ignored it, "Did you look at your shoulder yet." Kaden said which made Skyugh at his obvious dodging of what he said before.


    ''Cute~'' She said in her mind.


    However, she then realized what Kaden said and looked at her shoulder and saw the Aces tattoo that Kaden also had on his right shoulder. Hers was the same as his except instead of it being the ace of spades she had Q on the tattoo representing the queen card of a card deck.


    "When did this get here?" She asked Kaden confused.


    "This is part of joining my family. I also have one of these." He said pulling his shirt down just enough so she could see his tattoo on his shoulder.


    "Woah! That was the pain I felt earlier then? Does that also mean my rank up and potential upgrade was from you?" She said in astonishment.


    Kaden then nodded his head, "Yes that''s one of my abilities and I wanted you to be a part of it." He said with a smile which also made her blush slightly.


    "Hey if you say it like that you will make me feel all weird~" She said turning her face away from him which was a new reaction.


    ''Cute!'' Kaden said in his mind.


    "Thank you." She said suddenly and before Kaden could respond it seemed Mr. Wright finished with his call.


    "Time for the exam to begin! The first three teams are you, you, and you! Now please follow these instructors to your designated areas."


    After being interrupted by Mr. Wright three other teachers joined the field and began taking those that were first in the exam to their locations in the forest and it turns out Kaden''s group was one of those three. In fact, while the three groups began walking in their own directions Kaden took a moment to look at the other teams but then realized he had no idea who any of them are or their abilities.


    ''Well this might be a little more difficult.'' Kaden thought to himself.


    Once they arrived at their destination the teacher that escorted Kaden''s group began to exin the situation, "Now we are here let me exin how the exam will work. Each group will as said before bepeting against each other to see who can kill the most beasts. All use of powers are allowed and you can also fight against the opposing teams. The barrier that surrounds this forest will keep you safe from harm and if you were to take enough damage to die you will immediately appear out here due to these suits I''m about to give you. If a student is indeed ''dead'' then they will be out for the rest of the exam. Does this make sense?"


    "Yes sir!" All of them replied excitedly.


    The teacher then gave each of us a strange thin full-body suit that was silver in color and ufortably tight, but we were allowed to wear it under our school uniform, so it wasn''t too bad.


    ''I wonder if I can make some of the beast we kill in here a part of the family.'' Kaden thought to himself excited that he may be able to add more power to his family.


    "Now that you''re all suited up let me be the first to wish you luck in there. There will be danger everywhere so make sure to be prepared. That''s all the advice I will give you so please enter the forest now and let the exam begin!" The teacher said enthusiastically.

 Chapter 28: Exam Part 2

    <h4>Chapter 28: Exam Part 2</h4>


    "Oh one more thing! You have only 2 hours to do as much as you can! There will be arge projected clock in the sky so you can see how much time you have left. Good luck!" The teacher said sending them off.


    Once the teacher said that the exam had begun Kaden and his group ran inside of the forest and began making their way toward whatever beast they might be able to find, "Stick together!" Said Ken from the front of the group.


    They had already set up their formation with those doing defense at the very front leading the way and the rest in the back running behind them. Essentially it was a blind charge towards whatever was waiting in the forest. Maybe it was the adrenaline or maybe it was the excitement of the exam but taking the time to walk through each area and look for any danger wasn''t present in any of their minds. The only thought was that of finding a beast before another team did.


    Their efforts were not in vain as after around 10 minutes of searching they came across a small clearing in the middle of the forest. In this clearing, there was arge green beast that was coiled inside itself looking as if it was sleeping. It looked like a normal everyday snake beside the fact that it wasrger than two buses.


    "That thing is ginormous!" Ken said in awe as everyone took a good look from the edge of the clearing.


    "How are we supposed to kill that thing?! We don''t even know its rank!" Timmy said getting slightly afraid and shivering.


    "We have the power to take down this beast. If you look above its head, it seems that the school has put their name and rank above it." Ashly said speaking up from the back.


    At this point, the rest of the group looked at the floating text that hovered right above the beast''s head.


    [Rattler]


    [Rank: F-]


    "Since when did that get there?" Ken asked surprised by the floating text.


    "It has been there the entire time you were just too focused on the beast itself," Ashly said berating Ken.


    Knowing that Ashly was telling the truth Ken couldn''t help but scratch his head, "Yeah that''s true my bad." He said apologizing.


    "How should we go about taking this one down?" Emma said speaking up for the first time.


    The entire group then took a second to think it over before Kaden came up with a n, "I don''t think our original n will work with this one. I think if we were to surprise attack it with everything we''ve got while it''s still asleep we should be able to do enough damage to take it out." Kaden said giving his thoughts for the first time as well.


    The group then thought his n over for a moment before agreeing to it thinking that it was the best course of action, ''At least with this I can help somehow in the early stages of the exam.'' Kaden thought as he began making his way towards the Rattler with the rest of the group.


    Once the group was close enough to the Rattler Timmy and Sky summoned their weapons with one of their abilities. Timmy had a bright silver sword while Sky had a dagger in each hand. They then ced themselves at the face of the sleeping Rattler and waited for the signal from Ashly who was at the chest of the Rattler with her own powers that were erupting from her hands with a purple light.


    "NOW!" Ashly screamed suddenly and the group sprang into action.


    Timmy and Sky immediately stabbed their weapons into the two eyes of the Rattler while Ashly hit its body with the purple light making the spot where the light hit burn and make it pour out green blood. Ken then also began bashing its body with his shield that he summoned making huge indents in its body that also poured blood while Kaden and Emma were on opposite sides of the Rattler to ry information to each other that the others couldn''t see.


    Once all of the attacks connected to the Rattler it roused from its sleep waking up in extreme pain but could not see its attackers at all. It then tried to move its body and realized that only the top half was listening to it so it then began to panic and try to wiggle away from whatever was attacking it but it was futile as secondster two weapons pierced its head killing it.


    "Well that went smoothly," Kadenmented as the group reconvened at the mouth of the Rattler.


    "I agree, good job everyone," Ken added with a big smile that was also on everyone else''s faces besides Timmy.


    Realizing that Timmy had a strange face Emma was the first to question it, "What''s wrong Timmy." She asked with her fake concerned face.


    Timmy shook slightly at her words but he managed to voice his words albeit barely, "How are you guys so calm? We just killed a creature." He said genuinely confused.


    However, the answer he got surprised him even more than the reaction they had to killing in the first ce.


    I''ve killed before. -Sky


    Me too. -Emma


    They would have eaten us if we didn''t kill them first. Plus, these are the things that have made the world the way it is today so why should I flinch over killing it. -Kaden


    Agreed. -Ken


    Timmy just stood there with his jaw slightly opened and just ended up sighing, "What kind of team did I end up on." He said almost crying.


    "A good one." Kaden said before turning around and making his way back towards the corpse of the snake. Floating slightly above the snake and recing the text from before was a little white orb that had a line connecting to the body of the Rattler.


    It was the soul of the Rattler.

 Chapter 29: Exam Part 3

    <h4>Chapter 29: Exam Part 3</h4>


    Kaden approached the soul of the Rattler slowly as he was unsure of what to expect but regardless, he eventually made his way right in front of it after climbing part of the body.


    "What are you doing up there?!" Emma asked confused.


    "I''m bing helpful," Kaden replied as he ced his hand on the floating soul.


    [Would you like to make the Rattler part of your family?]


    [ept] [Decline]


    Kaden pressed ept without hesitation and another screen popped up soon after.


    [Rattler (Temporary) has joined the family.]


    ''What does it mean by temporary?'' Kaden thought to himself.


    Soon enough however the body of the Rattler gave off a dark glow and suddenly had a ck smoke starting to surround the body which made Kaden panic slightly.


    "Get off of there!" Sky shouted from below.


    At the signal of Sky''s yell, Kaden jumped off of the Rattler but he didn''t realize just how tall it was. Thinking he was about to hurt himself; Kaden braced his legs for the ground but surprisingly instead of hitting the solid ground hended right in the arms of someone else.


    "Are you alright?" Sky asked with worry.


    "Yes thank you." Kaden replied as he got out of her arms and then gave her a small hug of gratitude.


    "Hehehe~" She murmured during the hug and when Kaden tried to break the hug shetched on once more for a few more moments before she would let go.


    Kaden had no response for this and just smiled at her actions, "Hey love birds! Do all thatter first we need to figure out why this ginormous snake just got covered in smoke!" Emma said breaking them out of their moment.


    Kaden realized what he had done and blushed a little while Sky just stuck her tongue out, "I think the ck smoke is due to me. Just wait a moment and you will see what I can do to help." He said slightly excited to see how his ability worked on the dead for the first time.


    The group was confused by Kaden''s words but decided to listen to him and keep watching the now ck smoke-covered Rattler. After a few moments of watching it, the smoke began to clear off of the Rattler and one thing was obviously different. The original green on the Rattler was now a dark ck with red lines all across its scales but there''s also the Aces family tattoo right below its jaw.


    "Woah! It looks cool but is it dead still?" Ken said approaching what he thought was a dead Rattler.


    Once Ken inched his way closer to the Rattlers face he began poking it to see whether there was anything new about it besides its new colors and the tattoo but after a few pokes suddenly the eyes of the Rattler opened.


    .... -Everyone


    "IT''S ALIVE!?" Ken shouted as he ran back towards the group.


    Everyone in the group went into a panic with everyone getting into their battle stance and those with weapons summoning their weapons.


    "GET READY TO GO AGAIN!" Emma shouted from behind the frontline.


    However, something happened that was way outside their expectations. The Rattler began slithering its way to the right of the group where Kaden was standing seemingly in wait for it.


    "KADEN WATCH OUT!" Ashly yelled from the backline as she saw where the snake was heading.


    Even Sky didn''t realize that Kaden had left the ranks and it was toote to reach him and protect him from the oing Rattler. They all waited for his demise but it never came as when the Rattler got within a few feet of Kaden it suddenly stopped and coiled before leaning its head down towards Kaden almost in a bow or a sign of obedience.


    "Good boy." Kaden said rubbing the Rattlers'' head which made the end of its tail wag back and forth like a dog.


    The entire group had their jaws drop as Kaden treated the previously menacing Rattler as a pet. Kaden was also ignoring the group as he was enjoying how the Rattler was acting like a little puppy.


    ''I never thought I would treat a snake bigger than two buses like a pet.'' Kaden thought to himself with a smile as he also felt a connection between him and the Rattler that wasn''t there when invited Sky to the family.


    While Kaden was inside his own world the group finally made their way towards Kaden and was curious on how this situation came to be, "Why is the Rattler so tame towards you?" Sky said making her way back towards Kaden.


    "It''s part of my ss. I can make the dead my allies." Kaden said leaving some parts of his abilities out since people such as Timmy were around.


    Sky got close to the Rattler as well and began petting it alongside Kaden. Ashly also seemed to be curious about the Rattler and tried to get close to pet it but once she got within a small distance away from it the Rattler turned its head and gave her a menacing stare almost as if she took another step then she would be dead.


    "Hey howe she can get close but I can''t?" Ashly said confused and a little scared considering the size of the Rattler. When they killed it the first time it was asleep but now that it was awake and moving it intimidated her a little.


    Kaden thought for a moment before realizing the issue, ''It''s because they aren''t a part of the family isn''t it?'' Kaden thought to himself.


    Kaden then turned to the Rattler and thought of a solution, "Look boy. Those people over there are friends not enemies, ok?" He said as if he was talking to a human but strangely enough it seemed the Rattler understood and then stopped giving Ashly the stare.


    It worked and Ashly then made her way towards the Rattler with the rest of the group and after a moment everyone was petting the Rattler, "So you can control it now?" Emma asked curiously.


    "I believe so and it can also fight with us." Kaden answered. At this everyone was excited for the potential behind what the Rattler could do to boost their points in the exam.


    While the group was beginning to get ready to hunt once more there were people behind the scenes watching this unfold from afar and wondering who this person was that could bring beasts back from the dead.

 Chapter 30: Exam Part 4

    <h4>Chapter 30: Exam Part 4</h4>


    The higher-ups in the school were in chaos as they tried to find the identity of the person they believe brought a beast back from the dead. The problem was that as the footage of the area was taken it was super blurry and scrambled before goingpletely out after the beast started to move again. Though the movement of the beast and the area that it urred was not lost to them.


    (In the school.)


    "What should we do Mr. Principal! The ability that could be here is quite amazing! It might be worth stopping this group''s exam to find the person as quickly as possible. While we may not know who the person with the ability is or the group that houses said person we do know which group started close to the area and if we rush there now we''re sure to find them." An investor said to the principal of the school with hopes of finding this potentially amazing student.


    John Silver, otherwise known as the school''s Principal, looked at the investor with a thoughtful expression before answering, "We will not cancel the exam for anything. While this ability is quite intriguing, I believe that we will find out who has it naturally without having to risk the results of groups of students. Also, it seems that no one in this group has an ability on file that resembles anything of this nature which means that someone is helping hide this person, and not only that but they have been able to stop our cameras from picking up a clear feed. We will watch them longer before making a decision." The principal stated calmly as he watched therge monitor in front of him that disyed parts of the arena however all of the feeds were reduced to static and nonclear images besides the tally of the beasts that have been in so far.


    "Sounds good. Talk to you soon." The investor said before leaving the principal''s office. The principal then moved his gaze towards the number of kills by each current group.


    [Group 1: 2 Kills] [Group 2: 1 Kill] [Group 3: 2 Kills]


    ''If it were not for the fact all the groups killed a beast within the first few minutes it would be easier to decipher who resurrected the beast even without the cameras but sadly it seems we won''t be able to use that.'' The Principal sighed to himself as he watched group 2''s number of kills change to 2.


    ''It also seems we will have very promising and interesting individuals join the school this year.'' The principal smiled with a smug face.


    (In the exam arena.)


    "With the help of that Rattler we are almost invincible!" Ken shouted in happiness as he pulled his shield out from another Rattler.


    People like Ashly and Emma even had smiles on their faces as they saw how easy taking down a beast was at this point.


    When the group finally decided to start hunting again they actually rode on top of the Rattler as they made their way through the forest to find some beasts. It took many of them a moment to get used to riding atop arge snake but nheless, they made it and eventually found another Rattler of the same rank as the first one.


    This one however was quite awake and even attacked first as it saw them on top of the Rattler. The formation this time waspletely different as their situation had also changed drastically with the addition of a new teammate and possibly more. There was no defense and offense between everyone now as the Rattler was used as the ultimate distraction and defense while also being able to help a little with the attacksing out.


    ''This thing is amazing.'' Everyone thought in their minds after the first battle with the Rattler alongside them.


    Kaden also couldn''t help but be mesmerized but the sheer amount of help and ease the Rattler gave which made him even more excited when they killed one more of them, ''I should be able to add this one to the family and so on until I finally have my own army!'' Kaden thought to himself as he made his way to the body of the Rattler which now had a floating soul appearing right above the body of the deceased beast.


    He then repeated the same process as the first Rattler under the watchful and curious gaze of the people in his group as they hadn''t given any attention to it the first time. After using his ability on the Rattler, Kaden felt another surge of energy within him and looked at his ss to be stunned once more.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: E-(Temporary)]


    ''This temporary tag is here again! I wonder what it could mean.'' Kaden thought to himself as he looked at the tags given not only to the Rattlers but now to his rank as well.


    "We should get moving again. The time is halfway up and there is still a lot of beasts left to hunt before we can consider ourselves even close to being safe." Ashly saidmanding the group and assuming the lead role once more during the exam.


    ''She''s really good at that.'' Kaden thought to himself with a smile at how she unconsciously began taking the lead in situations such as this.


    The n was then re-made once more since they now had 2 Rattlers by their side. The n was to split the group into two with both groups having their own Rattler to ride and make their way through the forest. During this time each group will take down as many beasts as they can while having Kaden revive them from the dead and then send them out as well to hunt even more beasts.


    "This n could make this easier than we could have ever imagined!" Ken said with shock as he thought about the effects the n would have once they got a decent amount of beasts on their side.


    "Indeed, this could be quite amazing if everything goes well but we all have to do our part to make sure that no mistakes happen," Ashly said with Emma agreeing.


    "Now let''s get to work!" Ashly finished with enthusiasm making everyone else cheer with excitement and begin boarding their Rattlers.

 Chapter 31: Exam Part 5 Reassurance

    <h4>Chapter 31: Exam Part 5 Reassurance</h4>


    Kaden was on top of his Rattler with his group and was making his way through the forest trying to find any sort of other beasts that he could before the timer ran out. It ended up that the people in his group were Sky and Emma which made him both nervous and curious to see what will happen between the two.


    So far nothing out of the ordinary had happened as they all stayed quiet and alert as the wind blew against their faces due to the speed the Rattler was moving with them on top of it. Thank goodness the Rattler knew to not go too fast with them on top because it was just slow enough that they wouldn''t fly off but also fast enough that they were making a good speed.


    "Why did she have to be with us?" Sky said as she made her way beside Kaden at the front of the Rattler.


    Kaden couldn''t help but smile warily at her question, "We yed rock paper scissors to decide the groups. You know that." Kaden said remembering how they decided who would be with who. Sky had protested greatly that she should be with Kaden regardless and that if she wasn''t there might have been a problem. Lucky enough they didn''t have to see what she would have done because they did end up on the same team but with Emma in addition.


    Sky pouted at his answer before thinking of something with a smile, "What if we just toss her off the edge of the Rattler? She would be eliminated but I think we can handle this on our own." Sky said nodding to herself as if the answer was already clear from the beginning.


    Kaden immediately was against her n due to many different reasons, "We can''t do that. She''s part of the Johnson family and if we did something like that then we would be in trouble. Also, even if she can''t help us with attacking or defending she can be helpful in a multitude of ways." Kaden said bringing the reality of the situation into light.


    Sky''s eyes began to darken quickly and soon enough they became a void inside her own face, "You wouldn''t happen to be defending her for some other reason, would you? ~" She said ''sweetly'' while staring into Kaden''s eyes which frightened him considerably.


    "Of course n-not! I rejected her the other day, I can safely say that I want almost nothing to do with her." Kaden said firmly which brought the light back into Sky''s eyes.


    She then leaned over and patted his head which strangely feltforting to Kaden, "Good~ Did you hear that over there! He only needs me~" Sky saidforting Kaden before yelling over at Emma whom Kaden didn''t realize was watching.


    Kaden expected her to get mad at Sky and for them to begin arguing again but it Emma instead had a wide smile on her face, "It doesn''t seem like he doesn''t need me. Especially after what happened earlier in the school when Kaden showed the teacher his ss." She said with a non-wavering smile.


    This made Kaden''s jaw drop, ''She just admitted to having something to do with it?!'' Kaden thought to himself confused as his assumptions and guesses were finally answered.


    Sky on the other hand waspletely confused, "What are you talking about?" She asked intrigued.


    Emma then shed a knowing smile instead, "Why don''t you ask your man over there. He knows all about how he had no one to help him with his little problem and then there I was like a knight in shining armor. Not that he knew it then but he knows now and where were you exactly? I don''t seem to recall you helping at all so I wouldn''t go around saying he doesn''t need me." Emma said in an authoritative tone.


    Sky flinched slightly at her words and turned towards Kaden with her eyes now filled with a void once more. It seems that she had taken Emma''s words to heart.


    ''Well this might be a problem.'' Kaden sighed in his mind.


    "I''m sorry!" Sky shouted beforetching herself onto Kaden. Kaden waspletely caught off guard by the outburst and then even more surprised when he felt his shirt be wet where her face was.


    ''Is she crying?!'' Kaden thought to himself.


    Deciding that it would be best to justfort her Kaden got to work, "It''s ok. Don''t even worry about it. I made it and you made it and now we are able to spend this time together that''s all that matters." Kaden said to her before deciding to pat her head as he remembered how he felt when she did it to him and he also rubbed her back infort.


    Kaden continued to tell her how everything was alright andforted her for a while until he felt no more water being put into his shirt and her cries were no longer present. He then decided that it would be time to remove his hand and right as it began lifting from her head.


    *Whish*


    Sky''s hand moved so fast it made a slight sound through the air. She snatched Kaden''s hand forcefully and ced it back on top of her head but held him by the wrist, "I didn''t say to stop." She said with her face still in his shirt.


    Kaden couldn''t help but sigh at her actions, especially in the middle of an important exam like this but he felt that he couldn''t resist her request and kept doing what he was doing while Emma grimaced on the other side of the Rattler and turned away to look at the passing scenery.


    This continued for a while and it seemed Sky had fallen asleep after a few moments which surprised Kaden but he let her sleep as he continued doing what he was doing and watching the passing forest looking for any type of clue to the monsters around them when suddenly the Rattler mmed to a halt which made Kaden, Sky, and Emma tumble around the head of the Rattler before looking up anding face to face with thergest ape they had ever seen.


    "Holy crap."

 Chapter 32: Exam Part 6 First Death

    <h4>Chapter 32: Exam Part 6 First Death</h4>


    "ROARRRRR!" The ape yelled loudly towards Kaden and his group once they were face to face.


    "WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Emma yelled surprised by the sudden appearance of the ape.


    Kaden then remembered what happened with the Rattler and how there was a tag above its head saying what it was and the rank of it so he looked up and sure enough it was there the same as before.


    [Great Ape]


    [Rank: F+]


    ''We might be in trouble.'' Kaden thought as sweat began to form on his face.


    "THIS THING IS A HIGHER RANK THAN THE RATTLER! EMMA! YOU MOVE DOWN TO THE GROUND AND GET SAFE WHILE SKY YOU GET YOUR DAGGERS OUT!" Kaden shouted trying to formte a n.


    Kaden''s shout brought them all back down to earth as Sky was caught off guard as well. At Kaden''s demand, the Rattler dropped its head down low for Emma to jump off while Sky summoned her daggers and the ape began making its way towards the Rattler running through trees.


    Emma heeded Kaden''s words and jumped off when she was given the chance and ran into the trees where she wouldn''t be seen. Kaden then beganmanding the Rattler and Emma as the ape began to get in range. The closer it got the more Kaden could see about the Great Ape. It was a gori-looking beast with a height of over 3 buses. Its biceps and others muscles were also quite visible giving off the idea that if its attacks connected it would not end well.


    "WRAP AROUND THE BOTTOM OF ITS LEGS! SKY YOU RUN UP THE BACK OF IT AND WE WILL BUY YOU TIME!" Kaden shoutedmanding those around him as he knew that Sky was the only one with real attack power besides the Rattler but there also needed to be someone to distract the ape while someone else tried to get good attacks. He also determined that the Rattler would be perfect to stall for time since it would hopefully be able to wrap around it easily.


    Kaden had no idea whether Sky would be able to do some sort of damage to such a thing but it was worth a shot. Once the ape was within range and Sky was in ce Kadenmanded to go towards the ape as well. Now both the Rattler and the Great Ape were running towards each other at an extremely fast pace. Once they connected it was like an earthquake struck the ground.


    The ground below them cracked and changed as the head of the Rattler mmed against the chest of the Great Ape. It then took its enormous muscr arms and wrapped them around its neck trying to kill it off immediately but little did it know that was what Kaden wanted from the beginning.


    Since the apes arms were wrapped around the Rattler''s neck the head was close to the neck and chest of the ape allowing Sky to safely jump from the head onto the neck of the ape which greatly confused it. Seeing the tiny human jump on one of its biceps and then disappear behind its neck soon after caused it to panic slightly as it did not know what the tiny human could do.


    While the ape focused on Sky that just ran up its neck it slightly let go of the Rattler and even took one hand off its neck to try and grab Sky as she was running which gave the Rattler an opening to escape from its grasp which it immediately took at Kaden''smand. The Rattler jerked its head from the Great Apes'' grasp and started wrapping its body around the apes waist restricting its movement but of course, the ape wouldn''t take this lightly. It took its arms once more and grabbed at the body of the Rattler pulling and yanking at it trying to pull it off which caused some slight bleeding on the Rattler''s body as the sharp nails of the ape dug into its skin. Kaden was just doing his best to hold on during this situation and help where he can but at this moment he had no idea where Sky might have been and he had no way to tell but there was something that came to his mind that made him inwardly facepalm for not recognizing before.


    "BITE INTO ITS SHOULDER!" Kaden shouted to the Rattler as it was holding on for dear life as well under the attack of the Great Ape. Heeding its masters'' words the Rattler opened its mouth showcasing its sharp fangs before digging them deep inside the ape''s shoulder.


    "ROARRR!" The ape screamed in pain as it took damage for the first time and red blood began to stream from its shoulder.


    Kaden smiled and thought that there might be a chance out of this situation and for them to take down this beast until suddenly the Great Ape went into some sort of trance. It went still for a moment before a red aura started to coat its body and its eyes turned into a dark red.


    ''Is that some sort of rage mode?!'' Kaden thought in panic not thinking that this beast would have some sort of ability.


    However, despite his hopes it did seem that it did have an ability as when its eyes finally turned fully red the previously alreadyrge muscles became even bigger and the veins under its skin began to bulge and looked as if they were about to pop.


    ''Oh no.'' Kaden thought inside his mind in panic as his instinct had rms going off all over the ce as he thought that this would be quite bad.


    His instinct was correct as the ape began thrashing around forcefully trying to get the snake off of it and it ended up getting one hand free before gripping the body of the Rattler and forcing it off of it freeing the other hand. Now with both hands-free the ape grabbed onto the body of the Rattler and pulled it in opposite directions with extreme force before the Rattler was ripped in half.


    [Family member Rattler(Temporary) has perished.]

 Chapter 33: Exam Part 7 Ape Escape

    <h4>Chapter 33: Exam Part 7 Ape Escape</h4>


    ''Huh?'' Was the only thing Kaden thought as his body began to fall towards the ground after the Rattler was pulled apart.


    He thought that was the end of the exam for him and that the possibility of getting into the school was more than over now. He turned his head in the air to look at his impending doom and in the final moments closed his eyes before he hit the ground but instead of suddenly being outside the exam area a pair of warm arms caught him before he hit the ground.


    Surprised by this Kaden opened his eyes to see someone he didn''t expect, "Emma?" Kaden asked in confusion towards the blonde-headed girl. He thought she would just stay in the forest while he was eliminated and maybe escape towards the other group but it didn''t seem to be the case.


    Emma sighed as she looked at him, "It seems I''m the one always saving you." She said before throwing his body far away.


    "Ouch! What was that for?!" Kaden shouted as his body collided with the dirt. He immediately stood up and was about to yell at Emma but the second he nced at her suddenly her body collided with something and it threw her against a far away tree. Her body then became really sparkly before disappearing.


    ''Wait what?'' Kaden was too surprised by everything at this point and took a second to realize that the thing that collided with Emma''s body was the Great Apes'' hand.


    "OH CRAP!" Kaden shouted before starting to run towards the area of the forest that still had the trees up. He tossed what just happened to the back of his mind for a moment so he could focus on living and taking the chance Emma gave him.


    "ROARRR!" *WHISH*


    As Kaden ran he felt the heat of the ape''s breath from his position and felt how the air behind him changed as if something passed through it but he didn''t dare look, ''Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. I can make it!'' Kaden chanted in his mind until he finally made it into a forest of tall trees that he hoped would stop the ape somewhat.


    Kaden kept running through the trees not turning around as he wanted to make sure to make some distance between him and the ape before going forward. Luckily the trees in the area he had chosen were much taller and stronger than the ones from before and the ape was having a hard time getting through as it took around 15 seconds per tree for it to break it. Kaden eventually hid behind a tree further along in the forest and decided to take a moment to breathe. Doing so he started recounting his situation and realized that he forgot about something.


    ''Where''s Sky?!'' He thought confused.


    Kaden then peeked out from the tree he was hiding behind and spotted the ape whom was still ripping at the trees trying to get closer to thest location of where Kaden was but it also seemed it hadpletely forgotten about Sky''s presence.


    ''Does she need help?'' Kaden wondered in his mind as he decided to start making his way back towards the ape but going in a circle-like way so he wouldn''t be spotted by the ape and also end up on the backside of it.


    Once he made it to the back of the Great Ape he looked around trying to spot Sky and quickly spotted her hanging on its upper neck and trying to inch her way upward. Kaden then tried to think of a way to get her attention but couldn''t think of anything that might help. Looking to his right Kaden looked on the ground and saw some rocks and little pineconesying on the ground and thought that this would be the worst idea he had thought of so far.


    Picking up some pinecones and rocks Kaden got as close as he could to the ape while still having enough distance to get to the trees if necessary. He then grabbed one of the rocks and put it in his right hand aiming it towards Sky''s back before chucking it straight at her.


    *THUD*


    The rock crashed into the back of the ape just missing Sky which made the ape turn quickly around in confusion. Seeing it start turning around Kaden rushed and hid behind one of the trees once more but now the ape was more vignt and looking for Kaden closely. The eyes of the ape then gazed where Kaden was hiding so he hid his body quickly behind the tree so he wouldn''t be spotted.


    After waiting for a few moments Kaden peeked around the tree once more to see where the ape was and he found it soon after.


    It was right in front of him.


    So right in front of him that its face was only 5 feet away and itsrge pupils were staring straight into Kaden''s.


    "CRAP!" Kaden shouted turning around to try and run away but he stumbled slightly which gave the ape enough time to wrap its hands around Kaden and bring him towards its face. Kaden began to panic as he realized how bad he had messed up. He didn''t know how the ape found him but that wasn''t the problem now. The problem was that the ape now had him in its grasp.


    ''How do I get out of this?!'' Kaden thought inside his mind as he began trying to think of some way to get out of there but then an idea hit him but it would only work under certain circumstances.


    Looking up towards the shoulder of the ape Kaden saw the eyes of Sky watching and they were wide seeing that he had been captured but that wasn''t the thing to focus on at the moment, "TOSS ME YOUR DAGGERS!" Kaden shouted towards Sky.


    Hearing this she didn''t hesitate and threw both of them towards him. The first one came within his grasp but he couldn''t get his arms out from the grasp of the ape so it missed hitting the finger of the ape and sticking into the skin.


    "ROARRR!" It yelped in pain.


    Seeing that the human was causing it damage the ape wasted no more time and opened its mouth up. The ape then dropped Kaden straight inside the waiting mouth.

 Chapter 34: Exam Part 8 Acid Pool

    <h4>Chapter 34: Exam Part 8 Acid Pool</h4>


    What met Kaden in the mouth of the ape was nothing but a gross slimy sensation as he felt himself roll down the tongue of the ape. The ape must have considered him as good as dead because he didn''t take the time to chew him and just rolled him back down into the ape''s throat pipe.


    ''THIS IS BAD! WHAT DO I DO?!'' Kaden thought as his mind raced on what to do in this situation. Despite the terrible circumstance he was in there was no way he was going to give up now. There was still a lot to be done in the exam and he didn''t want his team to be 2nd or 3rd ce.


    As his body tumbled down the throat pipe of the ape Kaden tried lodging himself inside the ape''s throat by leaning his back against one side and kicking his legs out against the other to try and choke the ape and it seemed to work. After a moment of kicking away the slippery gunk in the ape''s throat, Kaden had a foothold inside the middle of its throat and began blocking the airway inside its throat to try and choke the beast. After a second of waiting the throat began convulsing in a seemingly choking manner, Kaden began to have hope that he might be able to climb his way out after the ape dies but then a loud sound came from the top of the throat or the mouth.


    The sound started as almost a soft sound but it became apparent that the sound was bing louder as it made its way towards the throat and down towards Kaden. Kaden was in confusion about what wasing as it sounded like a rushing sound or maybe like a river.


    Like a... river...


    "CRAP!" Kaden shouted as water began hitting him from above in extreme amounts. There would be no issue if it were a small amount of water, but it seemed like an almost endless supply of pressure simr to a waterfall. After a moment the spot that Kaden had previously removed of moisture was now bing lubricated by the falling water and making him slowly start sliding down the throat pipe once more.


    The panic settled in once more as his original n didn''t work and he was running out of ideas. As he slid his way down the throat he looked down for a moment and realized something that he hadpletely forgotten.


    ''The stomach?!'' Kaden thought.


    The stomach was right below him and it was not a beautiful site by any means. There seemed to be different pieces of animals inside the stomach as they were being processed by the pool of acid that filled the stomach and as Kaden watched a piece of meat regress to dust within a matter of minutes he decided that he needed some sort of action before he ended up in that pool.


    The drop off into the acid got closer and closer and closer until it was finally at the bottom of the throat pipe. One more bad move and Kaden would fall into the depths of the acid and be eliminated from the exam. However he had no intention of being eliminated.


    Kaden took a dagger out from his pocket right as he began falling and stabbed it into the upper stomach of the beast. Kaden could hear the beast roar from the outside in agony that it could not control. Kaden then began cutting his way through the flesh as best he could while handing on the stomach and eventually got a cut big enough he could use it as a handle grip to hold onto with his other hand. The only issue was that the blood now covered his body from the cut and it was hard to grab with how slippery it was.


    Despite all the problems Kaden continued on and cut himself holes for his feet and arms to make it easier to hold on while the beast was still crying in pain and had no way to fix it. The ape had even drank more water to try and flush him out but Kaden''s cuts were further away from the throat now and the ape had no way to touch him and now only one thing remained.


    Kill the Great Ape from the inside.


    Kaden gripped the handle he had made for his left hand and used the knife in his right as he began cutting and stabbing away at the flesh of the Great Ape and it began howling in pain as it was cut from the inside but Kaden didn''t care for its cries as it had tried to swallow him only moments prior so he kept cutting and cutting.


    It started off shallow like the handles he had used for his ligaments but after a couple minutes longer the cuts wererge and deep in the skin and blood was pouring out from all over the ce covering Kaden''s body but he continued on cutting away at the beast until he finally felt his knife go through something and at the same time a loud thud resounded from the inside and Kaden was now sideways.


    ''What just happened?!?!'' Kaden thought as he was now disoriented and hanging upside down once more. What was once the sidewall now became the ceiling and the acid inside the stomach was right below him once more so he used all his strength to cut more where he felt the knife had gone through and began seeing the outside light and the way to escape. What he hadn''t heard in a while was the screams of the Great Ape from his cuts but once he made a big enough cut to take himself out of the stomach of the ape he saw the reason for that.


    As Kaden stuck his bloodied body out of the ape he looked around and realized the body of the ape was nowying on the ground and unmoving.


    ''Did the ape die from my cuts?!'' He thought in surprise.

 Chapter 35: Exam Part 9 Progress

    <h4>Chapter 35: Exam Part 9 Progress</h4>


    Kaden walked around the dead ape in search of anything that may have been another cause of its death because if he remembers correctly the ape fell before a big enough cut was made that he would consider being lethal. Nothing wasing up and nothing seemed big enough to kill it until Kaden reached the neck of the beast.


    Standing in a pool of blood and covered in blood simr to Kaden, Sky was standing there beside the neck of the ape where its neck had a wide andrge cut going down to its shoulder. From afar when Kaden looked in Sky''s eyes all he saw was an abyss and it scared him a little. Despite all this, he approached her calmly.


    "Sky is that you?!" Kaden shouted towards her.


    Sky turned around quickly making some of the blood fly off of her andnd on Kaden''s already blood-covered body. She seemed like a cornered cat as she turned around because the second she did she went into a battle stance which surprised Kaden but once she realized who was in front of her then her body and expression began to rx. In addition, the abyss in her eyes began to go away and was reced by an extremely happy expression.


    "Kaden! I''m so d you''re here." She said already almost on the brink of tears until she ran forward andtched herself on Kaden by wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug.


    Kaden was surprised by the gesture but quickly wrapped her in a hug as well as he saw that she had begun crying in his chest, "I''m d you''re here too. There was no need to worry if I were to ''die'' here then I would have just appearedpletely fine just outside the exam area. There''s no need to cry you did a great job." Kaden saidbing her bloodied hair.


    Kaden looked at her hand and saw the other dagger that was a part of the set she had. She somehow or another got a hold of the other knife once more despite throwing it on the ground which impressed Kaden tremendously. He then took the dagger that he used to cut his way through the ape and ced it in her other hand which made her look up towards him, "You did good and I''m proud of what you have aplished but now it''s time to keep going and pass this exam!" Kaden said with a smile which made her smile more as well.


    Kaden had no intention of asking how she slew such a beast and only appreciated her efforts. Since the beast was dead Kaden had a good use for the lingering corpse left behind by the ape. Looking above the ape''s body Kaden could see a simr-looking soul from the Rattler earlier and the second he focused on it a prompt appeared in front of him.


    [Would you like to make the Great Ape part of your family?]


    [ept] [Decline]


    Kaden wasted no time and pressed the ept button which made a simr process happen to the Great Ape as it did with the Rattler. Since the Rattler was removed from the family Kaden''s rank also went down because the number of people in his family was lower but now that the ape was added his rank went back to the power it was from before.


    The ck smoke began encircling the corpse-likest time but one thing that differed was Sky now understood what this meant and didn''t panic like thest time. Once the smoke fully encased the ape it began disappearing which revealed the ape once more but this time the ape hadva-like colors where the veins of the muscles would be and the fur got a little darker giving it an edgier look.


    "Woah he looks awesome!" Kaden shouted as he and Sky released their embrace to look closely at the new and improved Great Ape that was with them.


    Sky only nodded her head in pure awe that such an ability exists with her reaction apparent by her jaw being slightly open. Kaden then ordered the beast like he did with the Rattler to see how it would go, "Pick us up!" He shouted to the ape which responded by standing up and then offering its hand on the ground so Kaden and Sky could board the beast safely.


    Once both of them made their way onto the hand the ape then moved the hand in front of it and waited for the next order by looking at Kaden expectantly.


    "Run that way and kill any beast you see." Kaden said with a simple order before pointing in the northern direction. Kaden''s next n of action was to start giving their team as much points as possible because the beast that he now had under hismand was a lot stronger than the first beast they had encountered and also the one that Ashly''s group was currently riding.


    The ape went to work quickly and began running in the direction that Kaden pointed and in no less than 5 minutes they found their first Rattler that was quite simr to Kaden''s previous one, especially in the eyes or at least that was what Sky said to him. Once they met the Rattler the ape ced Kaden and Sky on the ground quickly and just left them before charging at the Rattler and then ripping it in half.


    The strange thing was that Kaden and Sky had the full intention of helping the beast because it might have some trouble with the beasts, they encounter is what Kaden thought but contrary to his belief the ape was destroying everything in sight and it wasn''t even a close match. The main problem was the beastscked in intelligence and strategy which is what helped them win when they took down the ape themselves, but the good thing was that they were racking up a ton of points and Kaden was happy with the continuous growth.


    Especially the growth of the current army behind him consisting of many different beasts now at hismand.

 Chapter 36: Exam Part 10 The Finale

    <h4>Chapter 36: Exam Part 10 The Finale</h4>


    Kaden, Sky, and the Great Ape went on an absolute rampage for the remaining time in the exam and ended up killing over 17 different beasts. Their progress was quite slow at first but for every kill they got the more their attack power increased. Kaden even had a rank of E in his ss screen which made him grin happily due to the insane amount of progress he made but the problem was that for whatever reason not only wouldn''t the rank increase after hitting 10 people in his family in total but there was still the temporary tag beside his rank which confused him a little.


    ''Is there some sort of timer on my rank? Maybe I have to add a certain amount of people within a time frame?'' He thought to himself trying to figure it out but couldn''te up with a concrete answer.


    *WEEEWOOOWEEWOOO*


    Sirens began ring randomly while Kaden, Sky, and their army were making their way towards another beast to kill and soon after the army that Kaden once knew disappeared in front of his eyes along with the entire forest that he had been traveling around. The only thing left was therge tform that had been there before with the poles on either corner but the main thing that interested Kaden was the screen in front of him.


    [All temporary family members and rank increases have been removed.]


    This was the message that his ss screen had shown him and after looking at his rank once more he realized that he was once again back at F+.


    ''So that''s what it meant.'' He thought as he stood up and looked at his surroundings but was surprised to see that there was no one else within the tform of the exam. However, on the edges of the tform, there was a group gathered and they were currently approaching Kaden and Sky. Once the group was closer the leader of the group was Mr. Wright and he had a deep smile on his face as he was followed by students that numbered 16. After a closer nce, Kaden realized that the rest of their group was in that crowd that was approaching.


    "Well done! You have officiallypleted your exam!" Mr. Wright said cheerfully towards Kaden and Sky. The previously bloodied Sky was now spotless of blood when Kaden looked over at her and now that he looked at himself he realized that he was no longer covered in blood as well. It seems that the effects of the exam area were quite extreme to not only affect sses but also affect the appearance of a person.


    "Thank you! It was quite challenging but besides that why are they all behind you?" Kaden asked with obvious confusion stered on his face.


    Mr. Wright''s smile brightened even more at this which made both Kaden and Sky a little nervous after remembering how scary he had been before the exam but Mr. Wright continued oblivious to their thoughts, "The reason they are here is that they died in the exam! They were all killed in some sort of way and were released out here. You two were the only ones to make it all the way." Mr. Wright said seemingly very pleased with them surviving the whole way.


    Kaden was very surprised by this and nked for a moment as he thought about the entirety of the other teams that he thought wouldn''t split up and then how powerful thebined forces of Ken, Timmy, and Ashly would be. The thought of their group attacking at once even made him shudder a little despite them just starting with their sses.


    "We were the only ones?!" Sky voiced her surprise this time and then looked over at the rest of our group as she said this making it seem like she had a simr thought to Kaden.


    When Sky made it obvious that she was surprised by our group the people in question kind of looked away in embarrassment except for Emma and Ashly because Emma knew that she had a valid reason for being eliminated and then Ashly who seemed to be quite frustrated.


    "Yes, you were the only two to make it, and not only that your group was actually first ce by quite arge margin!" He said with a slight twinkle in his eyes as he looked at the two trying to gauge how they aplished such a thing. He knew that the points for their group really didn''t starting in until only those two were left in the exam.


    Not only did Sky and Kaden''s jaw drop but everyone behind Mr. Wright went into a frenzy. Apparently, this was new information for them as well and they might have been waiting for the exam timer to run out.


    "No it can''t be!!"


    "My mom is going to kill me!"


    "They must have cheated!"


    Many voices sounded all over the ce as some of the other teams'' members cried while some got angry and began shouting and using people and other things that had nothing to do with the exam. The only people that were rtively quiet were the winners themselves as they were quite surprised. Kaden knew that their group had a high opportunity of winning, but he didn''t know that they would win by such arge margin.


    ''We really did it?....'' Kaden thought to himself inplete awe. He even began to get a little emotional as he realized that not only did he get his ss which he has always wanted to have since he was younger but he also got the opportunity to be a part of one of the biggest schools in the world. Right as a single tear began to swell in his eye warm arms wrapped around him in a hug and jumped up and down with him in excitement.


    "We made it in!" Sky shouted with a gleeful expression on her face as she hugged Kaden and showed her enthusiasm.


    (In the school.)


    The principal was currently looking at the total number of kills by each team during the first exam to take ce and also a screen that showed the arena where it took ce but more specifically at a group of students that currently had a much different face than their peers near them.


    ''Very interesting.'' The principal thought as he moved his eyes to stare at Kaden directly.

 Chapter 37: Temporary Goodbyes

    <h4>Chapter 37: Temporary Goodbyes</h4>


    While the school was figuring out what to do about the messed-up cameras and seeing just how Kaden and Sky pulled off such a feat, the principal seemed to have formed his hypothesis, but Kaden and Sky had no idea of this.


    They were currently walking back to the school''s front gates with the rest of their group as they had been dismissed for today since they also passed the exam. They were told toe back next Monday for their first day of school. Kaden had been surprised that they weren''t starting the next day but he didn''tin. After all he went through he was very tired mentally and physically. Matter of fact the past few days he had experienced and done more than he had ever done in previous years which made him quite happy but still very tired.


    "How did you guys end up ''dying'' in the exam?" Kaden asked Ashly once they made it halfway towards the gate.


    When Kaden said this the faces of Timmy, Ken, and Ashly had a slightly scared expression as they remembered it but Ken answered before Ashly could reply, "We had a Great Ape appear out of nowhere. At first we were doing quite well and even killed two more Rattlers but once that ape appeared we were totally destroyed. The first thing we did was try attacking the ape head-on but when we got in front of the ape and started fighting it always had an upper hand in the face-to-face action which led to the death of our Rattler." Ken said with a sad expression.


    At this moment Ashly chimed in, "Not only did we lose the Rattler but once it died we all fell from a high height since we were on top of its head which made Timmy die because hended on his head and then me and Ken injured from the fall. Once that happened there were no trees around and no hiding ce in sight which made us easy kills for that beast." Ashly said still slightly annoyed still at the thought of how they died.


    Kaden remembered how angry she seemed earlier and realized the reasoning behind that now.


    Ashly turned to Emma as the group walked and had her own question to ask this time, "So how did you end up ''dying'' despite them making it until the end?" Ashly asked her with interest.


    Emma made a slightly unhappy face simr to the one Ashly showed as she thought about the way that she ended up being eliminated from the exam, "I saved Kaden so he could keep going. I knew he would have more impact than myself so it only seemed necessary." She said despite being obviously displeased that she was eliminated still.


    Ashly was a little shocked at this situation as she thought that Emma would not be the type of person to do such a thing for someone but it seems that she was wrong. Everyone else was thinking along the same lines except for Ken who looked a little jealous that he got such special attention but he knew that he got Emma''s time now due to him joining the 7.


    After they talked about their experiences a little more and saying thanks to each other the group began splitting up at the front of the gate but there was someone already waiting there for one of their members.


    "Hello Sky, I will be your transporter. Please follow me to the bus to await your transport to your new living space." A man with sunsses said as he waited at the front gate for Sky.


    Most of the people in their group hadpletely forgotten that Sky was indeed a criminal in the first ce. They had considered her a normal student like them though a little too much into Kaden but that was nothing that they couldn''t tolerate except for maybe Emma.


    Sky had a sad look on her face as she was holding onto Kaden''s arm once more. It had be a usual thing to both of them now which neither minded. At first Kaden thought it was a bit strange but now he was just enjoying the attention andpany of Sky so he was a little sad as well seeing that she had to leave them now.


    "Do they have you guys staying somewhere special?" Kaden asked as he turned his head down towards Sky.


    Sky nodded her head meekly showing off how sad she was that she was leaving, "Yes, we are staying in a small dormplex that has been assigned to us off-campus. That way they can house all of us in the same area and take us all to school and back at the same time." She said.


    Normally she would have been furious that someone was trying to force her away from any moments with Kaden now that they can finally meet in person but she knew that if she made a big scene now they would send people to restrain her and then after that she would not be able to spend time with him anymore which was much worse than losing a few hours each day.


    "I see, well I''m sorry to hear that but at least now we can spend time together. I never thought we would end up like this but I''m d that you came when you did and now have many memories to make." Kaden said with a smile as she reluctantly let go of him as the man was beckoning for her to hurry up.


    She smiled as well at his words and nodded her head, "I''m more than happy than you could ever know. See you soon!" She said happily and then began following the man away.


    Kaden watched her walk away until he could no longer see her and she did the same as she kept peeking over her shoulder to nce at Kaden and then smiled when she realized he was still watching which he found to be quite cute.


    "She''s the best." He thought to himself as he walked out the school gate.

 Chapter 38: Emma鈥檚 Problems

    <h4>Chapter 38: Emma''s Problems</h4>


    Once Kaden left the school gate he realized that someone had been waiting on him to leave and saw everything that had happened between him and Sky.


    "You two seem to be getting along quite well." Emma said leaning against the wall outside the gate.


    Kaden jumped a little when he realized she was there but quicklyposed himself, "We have known each other a long time already so, of course, we get along otherwise I wouldn''t have visited her as much as I did." Kaden said thinking this was an obvious answer but Emma did not seem ok with this answer.


    "No not that kind of getting along." She started as she got off the wall and made her way towards him before wrapping her arm around his quickly and rubbing her face on his shoulder, "This kind of getting along." She said with clear disdain.


    Kaden was surprised by her sudden gesture and immediately tried shaking her arm off and when that didn''t work he began trying to pry her hand off with his own but he was surprised that even when he exerted his full F+ rank force she wouldn''t budge. Even though his ss didn''t specialize in strength he still considered himself quite strong for the group of people that surrounded him.


    "Why are you pushing me away but not her." Emma said before letting go of Kaden''s arm and staring at him closely.


    The look on her face was no longer kind and she had an almost crazed look on her face as she talked about Sky but now that Kaden realized what she was getting at he began getting annoyed as well, "I don''t push her away because she has given me exactly what I have always wanted. Pure and devoted attention. She hasn''t had any ulterior motives or thought of anyone else or anything for that matter. All she has tried to do is be kind to me and show how much she cares and if she wants to be that way then I will most certainly oblige and show her the same amount of care and attention she gives me. You know why you don''t get that. Don''t act like you have forgotten about the movie. In fact most of the things before that show exactly why you don''t get that from me." Kaden said with his anger rising with each second.


    When Kaden mentioned the movie her anger faltered a little and showed a regretful expression but it was quickly changed back to a more deviant one and full of anger, "It''s not my fault you didn''t like what I was doing! You should have stayed like a good little pawn and obeyed my orders like the servant you are!" She shouted out of anger revealing her true thoughts which didn''t faze Kaden in the slightest as he had already known this truth for a while now.


    Emma''s entire 7 group was just a way for her to toy with boys however she pleased and fill her sickly desire. It would be one thing if she actually cared for them and wanted to date them all but this was not the case. She saw them as less than humans and just y things for her amusement and this was the exact reason why Kaden had distanced himself from her. All it took was one time and her was through with her atitiude.


    "See! This is exactly what I''m talking about! You never cared in the first ce. I''m no longer yours and if I want to be Sky''s then you need to deal with it. It''s no longer any of your business." Kaden said firmly before walking off quickly.


    Emma realized her mistake and she quickly tried to correct it but it was far toote, "Kaden wait! I didn''t mean that! I was just angry! Please don''t go we can talk this out." She tried to reason but Kaden was out of her vision within moments not allowing her time to find her ride and chase after him.


    Once she realized that he waspletely gone she fell to her knees and her eyes became an eerie void while she began hugging herself with the arms that were previously around Kaden. Within her mind she began going a little mad, "I miss it. I want it back. I need it. I want it. I will take it. I will steal it. At all costs." She chanted within her mind with a crazy expression. If Kaden were to see this now he would be quite astonished as he had no clue that Emma could even act this way.


    In fact he was quite astonished as he had returned to say something and saw her in such a state. Emma had no idea he was there it seemed like her eyes had gonepletely dark but Kaden decided to touch her shoulder to see if she was alright since he had no idea what happened.


    "Are you ok?" He asked slightly concerned as he touched her shoulder. The moment his hand touched her shoulder her eyes regained some rity and she realized that Kaden was right there.


    "Yes, I''m alright sorry for that. I must be really tired from the exam or something." She said sounding flustered and even wouldn''t look Kaden in the eye.


    Since she said she was alright Kaden didn''t care any longer and just went forward with the reason he hade back, "I just wanted to say thanks for the help in the exam." He said kind of annoyed at himself that he was thanking the very person he didn''t like in the slightest but he felt it was necessary considering how much she had done for him.


    She smiled at this, "No problem. Like I said you would have more of an impact than me so it was just the most logical choice." She continued though her smile betrayed her true thoughts.


    Kaden then waved her off as if it didn''t matter about the specifics and began walking away once more before he whispered something for only her to hear, "Also I''m certain that it was you that helped with my ss screening earlier. I have no idea how you did it nor care but thanks." He said before walking away for real this time.

 Chapter 39: The Door Of Pain

    <h4>Chapter 39: The Door Of Pain</h4>


    Kaden went straight back to his apartment after talking with Emma and when he made it to his room he stopped for a moment and looked at Ashly''s door wondering where she had gone after the group had split up but then he realized that the door to her apartment was slightly open which greatly confused him.


    ''Could someone have broken in? Is Ashly even in there at this moment?'' Kaden thought to himself confused.


    He then remembered that thest time he saw Ashly she was walking back towards the direction of the apartments with hurried steps for some reason. As Kaden remembered this he started to wonder of something might be wrong and maybe she needs help or she could have simply not shut her door properly.


    Deciding that it wasn''t his problem and that she could handle herself more than likely anyway Kaden walked over to the door and was just going to shut it for her but when his hand reached down for the door suddenly the door swung wide open revealing a very distraught and crazy looking Ashly but when she saw Kaden the desperation on her face turned into a smile.


    "Good timing,e with me~" She said before grabbing his arm and pulling him inside like some kind of doll.


    What I mean by a doll is that I stumbled at first and fell on the ground but that didn''t inconvenience her in the slightest as she kept dragging me through the entrance of her apartment. After regaining my footing on the ground and standing up as I was being dragged I finally wanted to know what was going on.


    "What''s wrong? Why are you bringing me in here?" Kaden asked confused as they entered the living room.


    The living room had the same design as Kaden''s with a simple living area and a couch with a tv across from it for easy ess. However, there was a slight difference in the way that the rooms were set up between Kaden and Ashly. While Kaden hadn''t changed his room in the slightest besides a few personal things Ashly had done a full makeover in her room despite only moving in there recently.


    The room was filled with small little water fountains that sprinkled water along tiny little rivers and trees on each counter or table. The room was also filled with all sorts of strange lights which lightened the room as it seems she doesn''t turn on the normal light switches. This was not the main attraction apparently as in the corner of the room there was arge shelf that was filled with all sorts of books and magazines. At the moment Kaden had no idea what the contents of them were but decided to look at themter.


    "I have something I need from you~" Ashly hummed as she sat Kaden down on the floor in the middle of the living room.


    ''This doesn''t seem good.'' Kaden thought to himself as he started to study Ashly more.


    The way she was treating him seemed normal based on her behavior before but when he looked into her eyes they were a little unfocused and distorted while her body was beginning to sweat lightly which confused him. She almost seemed like some sort of drug addict looking for their fix and Kaden is that fix.


    "What could you need from me?" Kaden asked with curiosity burning inside him.


    When Kaden said this Ashly''s mouth curled into an eerie smile which scared him as much as before when she started talking about her sadistic nature, "You see after using my ss for such a long time during the exam I''m quite drained and need a refill of sort and you''re going to be helping with that~" She cooed to him will squatting down and looking him eye to eye with her new nature.


    Kaden was bing increasingly ufortable with the situation as thoughts raced within his mind of what she could mean by all of this but when he thought of some of the things she had said before he looked at her with surprise.


    "You can''t mean some form of pain or anything right? You wouldn''t do something like that." Kaden saidughing slightly trying to lighten the mood but when she didn''t answer he knew that he needed to get out of there.


    "Well sorry to tell you this but I need to take a rain check my umm family member that I have just texted saying they need help with that thing so I''m going to go now." Kaden said before standing up once more and walking swiftly towards the door. He made it almost to the knob and didn''t here Ashly chasing after him so he sighed in relief as he gripped the door handle until he felt something cover his mouth from behind.


    He couldn''t help but draw a deep breath when something like that happened and it was the wrong move as the second he inhaled his body was ovee with a sluggish and tired feeling all over him that dropped him on the ground once more. This time however he wasn''t able to fend off Ashly and was dragged back into the middle of the room where he was before and confronted face to face with the smiling Ashly.


    "Now now, that''s not very polite to leave before you have done your part now is it~" She said taking the rag off of Kaden''s face.


    He didn''t know what drug was in that cloth but its effects were extreme as even after the rag had been removed he still did not feel the effects of it lessen by any degree. All he could do is stare and watch as Ashly walked into the other room and then re-enter the living room with a bunch of metal tools and different itemsmonly used for torture and other methods of harm induced on others.


    ''Oh no.'' Kaden thought with immense fright as his eyes widened.

 Chapter 40: Emotional Energy

    <h4>Chapter 40: Emotional Energy</h4>


    Pain.


    This was the only thing Kaden felt as his eyes started to flutter open revealing a dark room, ''Where am I?'' Kaden thought to himself as he groaned and tried to sit himself up.


    He was currently lying on the ground and when he tried to sit up, extreme pain attacked his body in all areas, making him groan in pain once more. He was wondering why his body was in such extreme pain but decided to get up first. He then took his hands below him and used all his strength to push himself up. Despite the lingering pain he still sat up and took in his surroundings. The room looked quite familiar but he couldn''t quite put his finger on it until a momentter.


    ''Why am I still in Ashly''s house?'' Kaden thought confused.


    Thest thing he remembered was trying to close her door from the outside and then being pulled inside the apartment. Anything after that is almost like a haze that the more he thinks about the farther it gets away within his mind.


    Deciding to find Ashly and ask what''s happening Kaden begins trying to stand up. With extreme effort and a lot of curse wordster Kaden was fully standing in the dark room and started looking around for Ashly. He obviously knew he had been injured in some way as he felt his body had been run over by a truck which even made him limp but his main objective was understanding what happened.


    After searching more in the living room and kitchen he saw no sign of Ashly and decided to check thest ce in the apartment, the bedroom. As he made his way to the bedroom Kaden felt a little ufortable considering the situation and the fact that he hadn''t heard a single thing from Ashly yet and now there were huge pain waves all over his body and he had no clue why any of this had happened.


    Kaden opened the door to Ashly''s room and inside there she was sitting on the edge of her bed staring into nothingness, "Hey Ashly! Are you there?" Kaden called out to here seeing the state she was in.


    The only response Kaden got from his call was her turning her head towards him with a serious expression on her face before saying the first sentence she had said so far, "Do you remember anything?" She asked slowly.


    Kaden then thought for a moment before answering, "Thest thing I remember was you dragging me in your apartment. What happened?" Kaden asked with his curiosity overpowering the pain felt all over his body.


    Ashly then sighed in apparent relief before speaking once more and getting off the bed, "I''m sorry to tell you but that was part of my ss. The pain you''re feeling right now is also a side effect." She said starting to exin.


    Kaden couldn''tpletely understand why or how her ss would be able to make him not only forget things but also make his body feel such pain, "What do you mean part of your ss? What did you do to me?" He asked starting to get a little defensive.


    Ashly seeing this could only sigh once more but this time in tiredness, "It was not my intention for this to happen to you. The problem lies with my new ss. When I use any ability associated with my new ss it uses what''s called emotional energy. This energy is something that I get from other people and the energy that is cultivated and gathered from others depends on the vampire''s inner mind. With me the emotion I need to function is pain. When someone around me or near me is in pain no matter how small or insignificant energy is then made based on how painful it was and sent to me." Ashly continued.


    Kaden could kind of understand what this was getting at now but he still wasn''t full clear on what had happened, "So if you were the one that caused this pain to me why did you do it. You could have gone somewhere else maybe a fighting club or something along those lines to try and get pain energy from those ces. Also that still doesn''t exin how my memory has changed." Kaden said with lingering questions.


    With this question, Ashly went quiet for a moment before she answered. It seemed she needed to find the answer herself, "That was the original n for the most part but after the exam I had used all the emotional energy in my body and there was nothing left in the tank. After that my ss started giving me all sorts of warning signs about how something was going to happen if I didn''t hurry up and get some of the energy. I also realized that while this was going on my anger management got lower and lower making me easily angered and quick to violence within my mind. I didn''t want to hurt someone random so I decided to go home and hopefully sleep it off and it would fix itself by the morning. I now know just how stupid that was because the second you knocked on that door it was like something took over me. Something that had a hunger and insatiable thirst to give pain and the only thing that was within my grasp to let that thirst be quenched was you."


    She then paused for a moment slightly regretful before continuing on, "I then did what the beast inside me was urging me to do. I inflicted the pain that it desired and refilled my emotional energy. At the end of it all, however, I unlocked a new ability in my ss to remove the memories of those that I give pain to so that they won''t be mentally affected by it after. I''m sorry I did this to you but it was out of my control. The only thing I could do is remove the memories you had of it." She finished with a regretful expression on her face that Kaden didn''t expect in fact he thought she might relish in the idea of everything that she had done and not care about his personal well being in the least or at least that''s what he thought.

 Chapter 41: Ramen

    <h4>Chapter 41: Ramen</h4>


    After Ashly exined her circumstances he couldn''t help but have a bad taste in his mouth. Despite her needing that energy he still felt used and of course, he wasn''t ok with randomly being beaten up for no reason. His only answer was to leave the sorrowful Ashly in her room to her own thoughts. He would have originally helped her figure out a way to find some sort of energy or area to cultivate that energy without needing to harm people herself but that chance was no longer there and he thinks he might be done with her at least for now.


    Once he walked out of the apartment with his aching body he looked out towards the sky and saw that it was turning night. When he had first entered the apartment it was a few hours past noon so he had no idea how many hours he must have been in there and frankly he didn''t want to think about it.


    Just looking at his apartment and how close it was to the person that just basically assaulted him Kaden felt like he didn''t want to go in there so he left the apartment building and began walking down the street mindlessly just taking in the cold night air and limping with his still aching body.


    ''This is not the first day I had in mind.'' Kaden thought to himself trying to make fun of the situation to also make himself feel a little better but it wasn''t enough topletely erase it from his mind. He needed a little something else to get his mind off of things and the perfect opportunity showed itself as a small little building on the side of the road ahead of him was lit up and it had arge sign that said ramen shop.


    Seeing this his heart started to get a little happier and he made his way towards the shop before finally entering inside through the outside door which was just some curtains hanging downward.


    The atmosphere brightened his attitude immediately as he looked around. The one-room shop was bright and colorful with a light oak wood used for all of the inner walls and furniture. The one-room shop just had a counter in the middle of the room that separated the customers and cooks.


    Once Kaden entered all of the people that were in there had their eyes drawn towards him but it was actually only 3 people in there in total. 2 people were behind the counter one being an older man and another that was around Kaden''s age. The one other person was at one of the seats on the far left side but they were surprisingly wearing a strange mask. At a closer nce, it seemed to be a kitsune mask which Kaden thought was strange but no one else seemed to be questioning it so he didn''t either.


    Kaden then went forward and took one of the seats at the middle of the counter and was about to look at the menu but he realized that all of the people in the room were looking at him strangely, "What''s wrong?" Kaden asked them in confusion.


    Seeing that Kaden had no idea what they were looking at him that way for the younger cook turned around and began cooking once more while the older man looked at Kaden longer, "Do you have no idea what you look like right now young man?" The old man asked also in confusion.


    Kaden had no idea what he meant until the old man pulled out his phone and showed him the mirror image of Kaden in the phone camera. Kaden had forgot to look at himself after his bout with Ashly and didn''t even assess what his injuries looked like due to the amount of surprise he had at the whole situation and how he just wanted out of there. His face had bruises on the left and right cheek with some slight cuts and dried blood at the top right of his head and he could see from the top of his arms jutting out of his shirt that he had bruises there as well.


    "Oh well that''s not very good." Kaden tried tough it off considering that even he didn''t think it would look this bad despite his pain on the way there.


    The old man seemed to be surprised once more by his words, "I''m surprised you canugh in such a state. Just based off of the wounds I can see they were pretty bad. I will get you a bowl immediately." The old man said before turning around and joining the younger man to cook the ramen.


    Kaden hadn''t even ordered yet but it seemed that they had chosen his meal for him not that he minded at the moment. He was just embarrassed that he had walked around in such a state. He then looked over at the person to his left that was now also looking at him but Kaden couldn''t read their thought or even any facial expressions because of the mask that covered their face but what he did see was that there was an empty bowl in front of them that was surely filled with ramen beforehand.


    "How did you get those?" A voice came from the mask but it was distorted for some reason to mask their voice and due to the baggy clothes they were wearing Kaden couldn''t tell the gender of this person at all.


    "Me and my friend had a fight." Kaden answered with honesty or at least partial honesty.


    The person seemed to ponder a moment before speaking once more, "That''s quite the violent friend you have." They said.


    "ORDER UP!" The younger chef shouted before cing a bowl in front of Kaden interrupting his conversation.


    Kaden then looked down at the ramen bowl and he had to admit that it was the most delicious thing he had seen in a very long time and maybe even dyring his entire life but the thing that caught his attention the most was the fact that the ramen was giving off a strange glow for some reason.

 Chapter 42: Overpowered Ramen

    <h4>Chapter 42: Overpowered Ramen</h4>


    "Why is it glowing?" Kaden asked the old man behind the counter but it seemed that they were nowpletely ignoring him and doing their own thing in the back of the kitchen.


    However, the person beside Kaden decided to enlighten him, "Do you really not know why the bowl is glowing?" They asked in surprise.


    Kaden looked at this person strangely. Obviously, he wasn''t sure why a ramen bowl would be glowing, it''s not like this is amon thing anywhere in the world, and if it is he wanted to know where.


    "Not in the slightest. Do you normally have a glowing bowl of ramen ced in front of you when you go to eat at ces like this?" Kaden responded back.


    "Well, if you consider that this is the most special ramen shop in the world then yes I would say that this is quite normal." The person said making fun of Kaden for hisck of knowledge on anything about the ramen shop.


    Kaden was confused by thisment, "The most special ramen shop in the world? How can this be that if I haven''t even heard of this ce until I walked past it today?" Kaden said with a curious stare at the person beside him.


    The person then chuckled loudly which didn''t sound very pleasant with the distortion that the voice changer gave but after a moment theughter stopped and the person spoke once more, "That''s because only those that have awoken their ss will be able to sense and see this shop. The owner and his son have sses that make this possible." They said.


    After the person dropped this bomb Kaden was more than surprised considering that he hadn''t even thought things like this might be possible. Being able to make a ce that cannot be detected by the naked eye and only by those with a ss. If that was possible then so many other things were possible. Kaden thought he might even be able to make a space simr to Darius from before.


    "That''s amazing! Why go through all that trouble though and what makes it so special to even want to do all of that?" Kaden asked.


    The person seemed to be getting a little annoyed with all of his questions and decided to end the talks with one final sentence, "Drink the soup and you will find out why." The person said before turning their gaze back towards the chefs that were still cooking in the back and ignoring Kaden''s questions.


    Kaden took this advice and looked back at the soup in front of him and it made him gulp involuntarily. The smell alone was already amazing but it was also decorated with small little vegetables and pieces of meat that made it even more appetizing than a normal bowl of noodles would be.


    After staring at the mouthwatering ramen for a few moments longer he couldn''t help himself and he decided to start eating it. Kaden broke the chopsticks beside him in half and grabbed arge number of noodles before slurping them all into his mouth and testing the taste for himself.


    The instant those noodles and the broth hit his taste buds, his entire body almost started convulsing by how great they were. Kaden could also hear the person beside him start chuckling at his insane reaction but he could care less at this moment as the only thing on his mind was to keep consuming the mouth-watering ramen sitting in front of him.


    Before he knew what happened Kaden had consumed all of the noodles in the bowl but that wasn''t the only thing as the vegetables and meat weren''t spared either and were currently in his stomach.


    "That was the tastiest thing I''ve ever had in my life." Kaden said out loud before turning towards the chefs behind the counter.


    "Thank you so much. You guys are really amazing!" Kaden praised them and thanked them for their hospitality and for introducing him to such an amazing dish.


    Contrary to his expectations the two behind the counter didn''t really respond to him and the old man only grabbed a small makeup mirror tucked away in the corner before handing it to Kaden, "Look at yourself." The old man said to him.


    At first, Kaden didn''t understand why the old man was handing him this mirror but once he looked at it and saw his reflection he knew exactly why. All of the previous cuts, bruises, and dried blood that had been there before were now gone and the things that remained on his body were disappearing before him in the blink of an eye every single one of his injuries was gone and his body was brand new.


    "How did you do this?!" Kaden asked the older man in surprise after seeing the new condition of his body.


    "Personal secret. That bowl will be on the house so don''t worry about it." The older man said with a smile before turning around and going back to what he was doing.


    Kaden was almost annoyed when the man said he wouldn''t exin how it worked but then he realized the magnitude that the bowl of ramen he just ate would have. If for example someone captured the man in front of him and forced him to work on more and more ramen to have such effects then it might be not only detrimental to him but also to his workers as well.


    "It seems you are surprised by the effects of it." The person beside Kaden chimes in with a smug-sounding tone. Despite there being a voice changer, the person couldn''t hide certain emotions within their voice and some of the mannerisms that lead to some of Kaden''s conclusions while talking to them.


    "I had no idea something like this would happen. I thought this was just a normal ramen shop where I could spend some time alone with my thoughts and enjoy a happy atmosphere for a change but this is even better." Kaden said ecstatically to the person.


    The person then dropped a bomb once more on Kaden, "Well I''m d you enjoyed it and they put it on the house because that was a $50,000 bowl of ramen you just had."

 Chapter 43: Broken Pieces

    <h4>Chapter 43: Broken Pieces</h4>


    "How much?!?!" Kaden said with surprise almost spitting out all of the noodles he had just eaten.


    "That''s right. $50,000 is how much it just cost me to get that same bowl of noodles you just got." The person said.


    Kaden couldn''t help but be happy that the old man behind the counter didn''t charge him for the ramen he just ate because he might have had to pay that off for the rest of his school years and maybe even longer than that.


    "Thank you so much, sir! I really appreciate this." Kaden said thankfully once more to the old man but he only got a grunt as a reply.


    "I think he respected your ability to walk around with those wounds." The person behind Kaden spoke once more.


    ''Respected my ability?'' Kaden thought to himself. In his mind, he didn''t really feel too much and the only thing that had bothered him was the constant pain in his leg and arms but it didn''t feel nearly as bad as it looked in the mirror that the old man had given him to look at himself.


    "I see. Why did you need the soup then?" Kaden questioned the person since when he looked at them he didn''t see any type of blood stains or any marking that would indicate an injury of any kind.


    "I simply like the taste." The person said before standing up and walking out of the shop.


    ''Like the taste?!?'' Kaden screamed in his mind. He wondered what kind of person could be spending $50,000 for a bowl of ramen just because they liked the taste of it but it didn''t concern him so he just stayed where he was and began drinking the water the old man put in front of him.


    "Who even was that person?" Kaden asked the old man in the back as he turned around to begin cooking again.


    The old man then turned around and gave Kaden a dangerous look, "It''s better not to ask questions. Just know they''re a regr customer and VIP here." The man said before finally going back to work with the noodles.


    Kaden was stunned speechless when the old man looked at him like that. The fear that his gaze gave made Kaden shiver in fright and he immediately lost his appetite and will to stay there.


    Kaden then thanked the old man and the other guy again before leaving the shop and heading home. On the way home Kaden no longer had the limp in his legs or any other pain within his body which made him excited at the fact that those wounds wouldn''t carry over into the first days of school.


    After walking for a long period of time Kaden arrived back at his apartment. It was already way past dark and he was ready to turn in for the night so the second he got in his apartment and locked all of the doors he went to sleep.


    *****


    (Emma''s POV)


    ''Why did I say that?'' Emma thought.


    CRASH


    Emma smashed her hand into a nearby window and pulled out her bleeding hand. It was then quickly picked up and bandaged by a nearby servant. They were quite desensitized to her outrages and once they knew who the anger was about they gave uppletely on trying to calm her because they knew once he was involved there was no calming her.


    After her rage seemed to subside for a moment Emma turned towards one of the maids assigned to her and asked her with void-filled eyes, "Why won''t hee back?" Emma asked dangerously to the maid who was now shivering in fright.


    "H-h-he said that the miss uses him." The maid stuttered and said with great difficulty. Normally people in that situation would have tried to appeal to someone like Emma but the maids and butlers knew if they didn''t give their honest opinions or information that they knew then she would have them killed. She wanted the blunt speak more than anything.


    Emma paused for a moment before speaking out loud, "How am I treating him unfairly? I bought him everything he desired and did everything that he asked for but he still won''t be mine. He even had the audacity to ask me to get rid of my 6 other cute little servants. Who does he think he is?!?!?! He should just go back to how he was before!" She yelled in rage before thinking about what she said once more making her break down.


    "I can''t help it! What more does he want from me?! I can buy him more cars and more items! I can get him the best group of ss users to support him based on his own ss! Of course, they would all be male but that''s beside the point!" She continued on with her rambling for many minutes before retiring to her bedroom where she thenid down and stared at the spot right beside her intently.


    "Can you juste back already?" She said as she rubbed the spot beside her tenderly but right as she was about to say more the room to her door opened and a man with ck hair walked in wearing nothing but shorts on.


    "May I please stay with you tonight ma''am." The boy said with high expectations and a hungry look on his face.


    Anger painted Emma''s face and she yelled back at the man, "Friday I thought I told you that no one was allowed to sleep in the same room as me! Go back to the basement at once." She said in amanding tone making the man shrink a little.


    "H-h-howe miss! The original Monday is gone now and he was the only one you let in here so I thought I might be able to fill the miss''s heart myself." The guy said stuttering.


    Emma then took a long look at him seemingly in consideration before throwing out a test, "What if I buy you a new sweater will that make you go back?" She asked in curiosity.


    The guy had his reply in an instant, "Yes I will follow your orders ma''am! Thank you very much!" He said before bowing and exiting the room while shutting the door gently.

 Chapter 44: Training?

    <h4>Chapter 44: Training?</h4>


    Emma red at the back of her pawn with a disgusted expression that showed her displeasure, ''He only came here for some items. That''s to be expected after all.'' She thought to herself.


    Normally she would have been delighted to give one of her pawns a gift or anything that they may have desired but when Kaden was on her mind certain things angered her. Anything that he wouldn''t do and then someone did would make her mad like how the guy just now was fine with getting an item and going away Kaden would have refused the offer and then said that spending time with her is more important than some materialistic item.


    This had a different effect on her than when the other pawns asked for items and showed how grateful they were towards her. When the other pawns showed their gratefulness they were bowing down to her like a god or a ruler and she indeed liked this but there was no in-between with them it was just constant reverence which is why Kaden was so different. Originally, he had no idea he was one of the 7 and all the power she had so his way of talking and treating her waspletely different and she liked that about him. However, she couldn''t change her inner impulses which led their rtionship to where it is today.


    With these thoughts on her mind, Emma went to sleep while holding her arm out to the other side of the bed with longing.


    *****


    The next morning was Saturday so Kaden had the next two days to do whatever he could to prepare for the ability school. His n was to train as much as he could in the thing that hecked the most. Physical andbative prowess. While his powers were quite amazing and with each rank his body got stronger and stronger he still wanted to strengthen his body that tiny bit more through physical fitness and also learn how to bebative himself. He didn''t want to be a sitting duck if something with his army or family went wrong. He wanted to be even stronger than his own people and make sure that he could do his part as well but the question is where. Where could he find someone like that to train him to his limit?


    His first idea was to find someone online so he searched for a physical trainer and abative trainerbination which led him to a bunch of listing of people all over the world but when he changed the search to specifically near his area there were only three options. One of the options was immediately crossed off despite the amazing reviews and people saying how the training worked wonders because the price for this teacher was outrageous. Kaden had never seen so many zeroes for a single four-hour lesson before so it was out of the picture.


    The next one was more up his alley considering the fact that the person was charging no fee until after a week-long trial. This was simr to those TV subscriptions he always saw online and in ads. If you were wondering how Kaden actually is in possession of any money despite him not working then it''s because of his family member that has been arrested. He left all of his life savings and property to Kaden knowing that he would never see the light of day again and he also trusted that Kaden would use the money wisely and not waste it all on something pointless.


    Kaden decided that he would try the trainer with a one week trial first and if he didn''t like them then he would go from there. Just out of curiosity Kaden looked at the description of the third trainer and was surprised to see that all of their sses arepletely free. The only requirement is that the person can survive and endure the training process or at least that''s what the ad says.


    However, Kaden was not convinced that the listing was legit after he thought about it for a moment. Why would a person that is great at teaching such things do something like that for free? It must have been a scam or something is what he thought so he tossed it to the back of his mind and grabbed the address of the one with the free trial.


    Kaden then left his house quickly after checking and seeing that the location is currently open and ready for people toe in for lessons. After exiting his apartment building and walking for a while Kaden arrived at a facility with a sign in the front that says "Bill''s Combat and Athletics.


    With his anticipation rising Kaden entered the building only to be surprised for the wrong reasons. The building was quiterge from what he could see and it housed both a gym and a sparring area. The floor n was wide and open giving Kaden a full view of the ce. In the far back of the facility, there was tons of workout equipment and other things that would increase a person''s physical fitness or help it like protein shakes which were in ss cabs.


    However, what really took the cake in the facility was the huge arena in the middle for sparring. There were many different types of mats and rings that could apany any style of traditional fighting. Traditional fighting was extremely popr before the rise of sses which gave people the ability topletely overwhelm someone that had trained all of their lives but didn''t have a ss. This went on for a while and people were slowly losing interest in the traditional ways of fighting because some said that it had no use in today''s time but they were very wrong because people began swarming to learn once more after some of them realized that they may never have a ss.


    The ones that were unlucky enough to never touch the awakening stone and also never awaken a ss were defenseless for the most part and wanted something to at least make them feel a little secure. Then in addition to that, people that had sses also started learning once they realized that some of the earlier fighting methods couldpliment their ss abilities and increase their overall prowess.


    "Excuse me are you new here?" A voice invaded Kaden''s ear.

 Chapter 45: Fundamentals

    <h4>Chapter 45: Fundamentals</h4>


    Kaden turned his head to meet a muscr man with short brown hair. The hair was cut in a military style or otherwise known as a buzz cut. The mans muscles were also very apparent through his sleeveless shirt and there was sweat on his forehead showing he had just been working out like the others in the building.


    "Yeah I''m new, I saw the ad online and wanted toe to check it out for myself and start the free trial." Kaden said to the man in front of him.


    This made the man break into a smile, "Well that''s fantastic! We love showing how great our gym can be and are always excited to meet a new face. In fact, I am one of the current managers of the gym. I''m Jim nice to meet you." Jim said sticking his hand out for a handshake.


    Kaden had no issue with this and stuck his our as well and shook hands with Jim. Kaden could tell by the feeling of the man''s hands that he had spent many months and years training and doing hard work because of the many calluses and scars he could feel on Jim''s rough hands.


    "I''m Kaden it''s nice to meet you." Kaden said while shaking hands.


    "Nice to meet you as well. Since it seems you''re here to start your free trial let me take you over here to fill a few pieces of paper and then we can get started on your first lesson! You actually got quite lucky because today is a newbie-only ss in one of our arenas so I will be putting you over there for today." Jim said as he led Kaden to a desk in the corner of the building and then handed him a few pieces of paper to sign and fill out to confirm his attendance and admittance into the gym.


    After reading through all of the papers and looking into the fine print Kaden found nothing out of the ordinary so he signed up for the membership and was assigned to the ss Jim talked about before. The ss was located in the boxing arena inside the gym. It was located on the right side of the gym and there were many people just like him trying to get started and after counting it seemed there were 10 others besides himself.


    The teacher today was even Jim. It turns out he ran into Kaden as he was on his way to the ss that he was teaching, "Hello everyone, and wee to the first day of your one-week trial in our gym. During these next 7 days, we will ask that you show up every day at this time and allow a few hours each day to fully get your training in so that you may maximize your experience here. Today we will be going over one of our beginner forms of martial arts before leading into a workout session." Jim said as he strutted along the sides of the boxing ring in front of the group of people like a drill sergeant.


    Most people had tense expressions as they watched the way he walked and talked. It seemed like he was preparing his soldiers for battle and it was both pumping up and scaring some of the people around Kaden while he was just staring at Jim inly waiting for him to exin more.


    "Now to begin we will start off with a jab. This is one of the simplest and basic moves of this fighting style and I will show you how to use it. Now watch me closely." Jim said making everyone begin crowding around him in expectation.


    Jim then got into his stance with his left foot forward and his right foot behind him, "Keep your chin tucked in behind your shoulder and keep it low so you have more protection around your jaw and head area. The next thing you want to make sure of is if you look at my feet, my left foot is in front of me and my right is behind me. After we get farther into the lessons this may change for some of you depending on yourfort. The next thing you want to do is initiate your jab like so." Jim then paused and sent a jab that left a shockwave so strong that it carried over into the judo arena and shook the entire floor making it crack partially in some ces.


    "Wow!" Everyone in the crowd said in surprise by the sheer power that the punch produced. This also proved that Jim was indeed an ability user because no regr human can have that kind of punching power.


    "Quit breaking the arenas every time you want to show off to your new students!" Some guy shouted before walking over to the cracks and somehow started repairing them.


    Jim scratched his head in embarrassment, "My bad Lane! I just wanted to show the new guys something that they can strive for." He said chuckling to himself.


    "Show off!" Lane shouted as he finished fixing the cracks and then walked back towards the office area and disappeared from view.


    Jim ignored thatment and went back to exining the jab to the new students, "Now the way that you do the jab is quite simple in theory but it takes a lot of effort and practice to perfect such a move but that''s not why we''re here. We are here to show you how to begin. Now I want all of you to get in the same stance I had just a moment ago. Make sure to spread out so you don''t identally hit another one of your fellow students." Jim said with enthusiasm.


    People then began spreading out all over the mat and making sure that they had enough room like Jim said. Kaden chose to be in the back of the ring so he could see Jim more clearly and also scout the other people in his ss. He wanted to scout them to see if he could find anyone with some sort of potential to join his army but he also wanted to scout them so he could copy them easier if he failed miserably at the jab.


    "Let''s begin!" Jim said happily.

 Chapter 46: You Want Some Protein?

    <h4>Chapter 46: You Want Some Protein?</h4>


    After everyone go into position Jim went into detail on how he wanted them to preform this jab, "Now that everyone is in their stance and your hands are ced where they need to be, follow how I drive my fist forward while rotating at the hips and driving with my shoulder. When you do this punch you aren''t just throwing your arms out with no power behind it. It''s likeparing a water gun to a fully automatic weapon." Jim exined to everyone in the room.


    "Now that I have told you the basics of this punch let''s begin the training. Everyone you may now begin throwing your jabs. I will be around to help those I see struggling. NOW BEGIN!" He yelled before walking around the ring in a circle.


    Everyone in the circle began using the motions they were taught except Kaden in the back who was watching the others so they could fail a few times for him. Through watching the people fail around him for a few moments Kaden picked up on a few things that would have posed as an early challenge for him. The main thing he saw was that people were having trouble piecing together the entire motion. While some would use their hips to throw the punch they didn''t use their shoulders which made it look sloppy and then some would use their shoulders but not their hips making itck power.


    With this information, Kaden began training himself. He tensed up his body while in the stance and then twisted his hips with his shoulders before throwing a hard jab forward that left a slight winding from his fist.


    "Wow! Nice punch for a newbie!" Jim said behind Kaden making him jump a little in surprise.


    Kaden didn''t think Jim would appear behind him so suddenly because he thought he was still in a different area of the ring or at least he was when hest looked at him but it seems that he got too absorbed in making sure his punch was good. Despite the praise, Kaden still thought he was missing something.


    "Since it seems you''re already getting the hang of it let me offer you a bit of advice. If you want it to be even more powerful and make your bodypletely devoted to the jab all you need to do is breath in before you punch and as you punch blow the air out. It''s the same thing as breathing but with every exhale you need to punch." Jim said giving him a little advice after seeing the impressive performance.


    ''He must be an ability user.'' Is what Jim was thinking after the performance.


    Kaden was intrigued by the new information and realized that what he said made absolute sense. With this knowledge, Kaden got in his stance once more and repeated all of the same motions as before but this time added the breathing patter that Jim had told him about.


    CRACK


    When Kaden threw his jab this time the impact of it left the tiniest crack in the floor below him which left Jim ck-jawed and Kaden more than happy with his current results, "Thanks for the advice!" Kaden said to Jim with a wide smile.


    ''What kind of beast is this kid?'' Jim thought inwardly but on the outside, he replied back with arge smile, "No problem! There''s still a lot to learn so keep practicing for now while I go check on the others." Jim said before walking away from Kaden to go look at more normal newbies.


    This went on for a few hours until Jim decided to let the ss end, "Alright everyone that will be all for today thank you for showing up and I hope to see you all again tomorrow! Also for anyone that is interested in a little boost to your power or to your training speed walk over to those cabs at the back of the facility we sell our own handmade protein shakes! They have been proven to give an increase of up to 50% to all your firepower and this is ss users included! ss dismissed!" Jim said before walking in the direction of the cabs waiting for anyone that might be interested in purchasing the protein shakes.


    ''How would they increase someone''s strength by 50% with just a protein shake?'' Kaden wondered to himself as some of the people didn''t even hesitate and began following after Jim.


    With Kaden''s curiosity piqued he also followed Jim along with a few others. In fact, everyone from the lesson went to see the protein shakes besides one person who left right after the lesson ended. Kaden had overheard them saying how this had been too much effort and they would rathery in bed all day. It''s safe to say that they have quit the one-week trial.


    Once everyone arrived at the counter that had the cab behind it Jim addressed the crowd of people waiting in anticipation, "I''m d you all have decided to try one of our amazing protein shakes! Like I said before we guarantee that each one of you will have an increase in power after drinking it but we must warn you that these are only made here so don''t try and look anywhere else for them." Jim said with his normal smile and attitude.


    After hearing about the power boost once more the people around Kaden had turned their minds off to any more questions orments on the protein shake. All they wanted was to get it as soon as possible they can already begin showing progress in their strength.


    Seeing this Jim went and opened up the cabs behind him revealing the protein shake they spoke so highly of, it was blue with small little ck spots all around in the substance. It was held in a see-through ck bottle that only had a smallbel on it that said shake. Despite the strange-looking bottle people already had their wallets open and moneyid on the table to buy one and buy them is exactly what they did.

 Chapter 47: The Effects Of Protein

    <h4>Chapter 47: The Effects Of Protein</h4>


    "How much will it be?!" The guy at the front asked in anticipation.


    Jim turned around with the bottle and put his hand under it showing it off before saying, "During your free trial these will only cost you 20$ per shake. Of course, this may sound like a lot for just one drink at a face value but this does increase your strength after all." Jims said with an award-winning salesmen pitch.


    To Kaden the longer that Jim kept talking the longer that he thought something was wrong. If the shake had been much more expensive at least in the thousands then he would have believed it more but a shake that will increase your power so much each time you drink it for just 20$? That''s absurd if you consider if someone like "Terror" were to drink this shake all the time then their power would just constantly grow and then otherrgepanies or mafias they would kill for something like this. So the question now is, what makes this shake so special?


    The man at the front finally handed over his 20$ for his shake but before he went away he had a question that a few others in the line had, "Can we buy a bunch of these at once?" The guy asked with hopefulness.


    Jim seemed to know that this question wasing because he answered swiftly and effectively, "Sorry but we have a limited amount of these each day because they''re hand made so we can only sell one per person. What you can do though ise here each day and get yourself one!" Jim said as he handed the man his one protein shake.


    With this question answered there wasn''t a lot left for the others to do besides buy the protein shake and that''s what they did. After 10 minutes everyone in the room had one in their hand including Kaden but he wasn''t going to drink it. He called it his ''Insurance'' jar.


    Some people couldn''t help themselves and began drinking it immediately after it entered their hands which resulted in a smallmotion of others also drinking theirs. It seemed more like a race to power rather than a small helpful tool but Kaden wanted to observe nheless. At first, nothing happened after the people drank it except that a fewmented on the great taste that it had. Theypared it to a sugary drink or some sort of mix that could be added to water but after a few minutes, there was a sudden reaction by everyone there.


    Everyone in the room dropped on the floor and began convulsing wildly like a demon was trying to possess their body or a live exorcism. Kaden''s immediate thought was to run and leave but Jim was nearby and said something that confused him, "Don''t worry they will only hurt for a few minutes, and then they will be alright. The shake is changing forcibly destroying their muscles and recing them with stronger and more powerful ones."


    Kaden was still not convinced on the matter which was proven by the frown on his face but since he didn''t try and make him stay quiet or drink the shake himself Kaden just waited there to gain more information on how the shake works.


    The people were convulsing for a few moments but that''s when the screams started kicking in. From the depths of their soul, loud screams and yells erupted from people''s mouths making Kaden feel less than pleasant but the sound was soon drowned out from his ears which confused Kaden but when he looked over at Jim and realized the guy from before was there and he had cast his ss ability onto Kaden. It seemed to be an ability that dealt with sound but he didn''t know much more than that. Even though he could no longer hear the screams they still lingered in his brain making him even more afraid of what this drink was actually made of.


    Now that the sounds of their screams were drowned out Kaden watched the people roll around in pain on the ground for a few minutes longer while observing the other people that were in the gym working out or practicing their different methods of fighting. It seems to them this was a normal sight to see as no one was panicking or trying to help the people and in addition to that there was even a person that finished their workout and bought a shake while the people beside him were writhing in pain.


    The only difference however was that when the man drank his shake he didn''t fall to the ground and start screaming in pain. Instead, Kaden could visibly see his veins begin bulging explosively before calming down. Once the veins calmed down there was a difference in the person''s muscle making it look stronger and more powerful than before which surprised Kaden.


    ''Maybe this happens only when you take it for the first time.'' Kaden thought.


    After another few minutes, the people stopped rolling around in pain and Kaden could feel the ability being lifted off of his ears. One by one the people began standing up with nk expressions on their faces and no one said anything until everyone had stood up and were awake again.


    "That was amazing!" One guy eximed while flexing his bicep back and forth feeling the apparent new strength within him.


    Many others said the same thing about how amazing what they just drank was despite them screaming in pain just minutes ago.


    ''What the heck is wrong with these people?'' Kaden thought to himself as he looked at them strangely.


    The people then began swarming Jim asking him more questions about everything to do with the shake but Kaden decided it was about time for him to leave for today. He then left the facility and began walking his way home with his protein shake still in his possession.

 Chapter 48: Plans And Blood

    <h4>Chapter 48: ns And Blood</h4>


    Kaden began making his way back towards his apartment and began thinking of what he needed to do besides increasing his strength. His ss focused mainly on creating an army of his own, which increased his power as well, but how does he begin? Sure he had Sky in his family but her alone wouldn''t be enough to get where he needed to be and he doesn''t have the chance to fight beasts like how he did in the exam because people are ss rank checked when they try to leave the safe zone of the city and go into the beast territory.


    The only thing left for him to do was to get people that were willing to join him but he also wanted them to be trustworthy and also powerful enough to matter. He still had the n of keeping the army as lowkey as possible while also striking fear into those that heard the name mentioned.


    ''One step at a time.'' Kaden thought to himself before thinking about one of his more important goals.


    ''I might have finally got my own yandere.'' Kaden thought with a smile as he began thinking about Sky and the way she was treating him during the exam. Then his mind shifted to Emma and Ashly for a moment considering if they were yandere''s but he quickly shook his head.


    ''One broke my heart and the other is an abusive psychopath. No thanks.'' Kaden thought before realizing something.


    What if she left? What if Sky decided one day that she no longer wanted him or didn''t want to talk that day and then a day would turn into a week and a week into a month and so on. This gued his mind and nted a small seed that hadn''t been there before. This was his own yandere feelings welling up inside him. He didn''t realize it but the more he talked and got attached to Sky the more he was just like her in the sense of obsessiveness. The cause still is unknown.


    ''Hmm I can''t let her leave me. I will just have to do my best.'' He thought with renewed energy.


    With the new energy, Kaden decided to formte a n of action at his house. After countless hours of working in his room and sheets of paper thrown in the trash can, he had a general idea of what he wanted to do. The first thing was to make Sky as strong as he possibly can while they grow together. Kaden also wanted to make sure that during his time in school he makes as many friends as possible and scout for people to join his army in and out of the school.


    Another thing was to try and recruit people such as the old man at the ramen shop because people like him with such amazing abilities couldn''t be passed up but the same question still remains. How could he aplish that? That wasn''t a question he had the answer to quite yet but he thinks that after due time and him growing more he will learn new methods on how to get people to join and maybe even have new ss abilities to help with it.


    For now, he is just going to look around the school for people that pique his interest and find some way to recruit them.


    Now with all his nning finished Kaden walked outside of his house once more and began walking towards the ramen shop. When he got near Ashly''s door he made sure to peek and check to see if the door was even slightly open. Once he knew that it was safe to cross he sprinted across the hallway and straight back into the elevator.


    While it may be cowardly to run away and avoid he like that he knew that he couldn''t defeat her in a one-on-one battle. If he were to have all of the creatures he tamed in the exam then it would be different but sadly that was not the case. She seemed to have felt sad about the whole thing when Kaden left but despite that, he still thinks she will follow her impulses again once she runs low on her emotional energy.


    ''Good luck homie.'' Kaden thought to the person who would experience her torture next. Even though he doesn''t remember the process of it happening he still remembers the marks on his body and the aches from the night before. Needless to say he wanted almost nothing to do with her now. The only reason he wasn''t going to retaliate was due to the fact that she had helped him so much during the exam and even a bit before it. He considered it a nice farewell present.


    Kaden took the same route as the night before to get to the ramen shop but the only difference this time was that when he arrived someone was currently being stabbed. Standing in front of the shop was the same person from before that had sat next to Kaden when he got his soup but in front of them was a person in a dark cloak that was currently being dyed red due to the hand being shoved through the person''s body.


    "What''s going on?!" Kaden yelled as he got closer trying to figure out the situation.


    Normally under such strange circumstances, Kaden would have ignored it or leftpletely before calling some authorities to check it out but this time he somewhat knew the person and wanted to see what was happening.


    When the person from the night before heard his voice they turned their head towards him quickly and upon realizing who it was began speaking, "You have returned here again? Did you get beat up again or something?" The kitsune mask-wearing person said to Kaden.


    Kaden walked closer and closer to the two people thinking that the Kitsune masked person had just injured the other for whatever reason but that idea wentpletely out the window when Kaden saw the floating soul right above the person''s head.

 Chapter 49: Army Of 2, Oh Wait There鈥檚 3

    <h4>Chapter 49: Army Of 2, Oh Wait There''s 3</h4>


    ''They died?!?'' Kaden screamed in his mind. The person in front of him just killed someone in cold blood with their bare hands there was no use in running or trying to call authorities. It was better to confront the killer themselves and try and gain some information is what Kaden thought.


    "I didn''t get beaten up actually. I just enjoyed the atmosphere and wanted to hang out here for a while." Kaden said exining to the Kitsune mask while ncing at the dead body that they now haveid on the ground.


    "You realize that''s the definition of loitering right?" Kitsune mask replied nonchntly.


    ''He has got me there.'' Kaden cursed in his mind.


    "Well, why are you worrying about my loitering when you just killed someone right in front of me? Shouldn''t you be freaking out or something?" Kaden questioned as he widened the distance between them a little bit for his ownfort.


    "Why would I freak out when I''ve done nothing wrong? This guy here just tried to kill me. I believe he is a part of the new group that has been emerging on the news." Kitsune mask said as they removed the arm sleeve of the dead person revealing a tattoo with two diamonds intertwined. Otherwise known as the symbol of the people that have been killing off new students with a high ss potential.


    "You actually killed one of those people?! How?!" Kaden had heard over and over how powerful some of the members of this group were and Kaden''s assumption was that the Kitsune mask person was quite weak and only drank expensive soup from maybe apany they own or their parents. He couldn''t quite gauge how old the person was but based on the fact that so far the group has only gone after new students rose a few questions in Kaden''s mind.


    "Well, he wasn''t that strong really. Needless to say, he got what he deserved." Kitsune mask said with a slight hint of anger that was even readable through the voice changer.


    "Well considering how these people operate I assume that you''re a new student as well and just got your high-ranked ss?" Kaden questioned with interest.


    The Kitsune mask quickly shook their head, "I''m afraid you''re mistaken. While I do have something to do with the school I am not a new student. In fact, I am the farthest from it but that''s for you to figure out." They saidughing at hisck of knowledge.


    ''What could they possibly be then? Maybe I was wrong and they are some sort of super-strong ss user.'' Kaden thought to himself in surprise. Not often was Kaden wrong in his assumptions but this time it seemed he was way off course. That''s if they are telling the truth after all but there was nothing he could do to know whether they are or aren''t but based on them taking down such a dangerous person they should be good and not a liar.


    "Fine! Be a jerk about it then!" Kaden said stomping past the Kitsune masked person but not before touching the soul hanging above the body of the person that just died.


    [Would you like Dave Woodside to join your family?]


    [ept] [Decline]


    Kaden hit ept before walking away quickly back to his apartment. Today was not the day to be spending time in a ramen shop.


    Once Kaden arrived at his home all of the rewards and other things to do with Dave joining had already passed through his ss screen but he had yet to look at it. One of the things that caught his attention first was the change to his current rank.


    [Name: Kaden Crown]


    [ss: Necromancer]


    [Potential: SSS+]


    [Current Rank: E-]


    He was surprised that his rank was moving up this quickly and he could feel the slight differences in his body from the rank up. While it may be easy to rank up now Kaden had the theory that with each rank letter he would have to get more and more people for it to move up. All during the F rank Kaden just had to add one person per rank. When he first created the family he added himself as the leader making him rise to F rank making it one person in the family. Then Sky epted his invitation into the family making it two people and he changed to rank F+ and now with a third person, he has risen to E-. He won''t know whether his hypothesis is true or not until he adds more people but for now, he would focus on the new addition to his family.


    Another thing that he had nced at briefly as he was making his way home was a new ability he had unlocked right when he hit ept on the ss screen. It read like this.


    [Family Call: Whenever you desire you can call upon a family member that was dead before you resurrected them. They will appear before you in whatever location you choose. This does not apply to those that are still among the living.]


    "That''s exactly what I needed!" Kaden said happily with enthusiasm. While he was thinking about how his army would work Kaden had wondered how he would transport all of those people with him at once. The group would no longer be a strong and stealth force but a walking army or a walking target. This ss ability however fixed all of those problems.


    Kaden was very happy with how his ss had given him everything he needed the moment he needed it. It may not have been intended to be this way but since it has he wasn''tining. The only thing left to do was confront the new member of Kaden''s family.


    Kaden thought for a moment and activated the [Family Call] skill which made a blue and red smoke begin appearing in front of Kaden. Simr to the smoke that the Rattler was covered in before. Kaden had also wondered why when he added Dave to the family it was different than the other but he was more focused on the man in front of him that has now been uncovered by the smoke.


    "Nice to meet you boss." Dave said kneeling down.

 Chapter 50: Dave鈥檚 Death

    <h4>Chapter 50: Dave''s Death</h4>


    "Uhhh nice to meet you as well?" Kaden said with uncertainty as he had never had someone address him so formally before.


    Dave was a skinny and medium-built guy that had t ck hair and blue eyes which looked kind of strange because his iris had a slight twinkle in both eyes on the upper iris. Not only that but the eye had a circle around the entirety of it that waspletely white. It looked like one of those fancy scopes you would see in some futuristic set war movie.


    "Thank you for adding me to your family so that I may live once again. I am truly in your debt and await your orders." Dave said sincerely with his head still low and kneeled down.


    Kaden didn''t know how to respond much less where to start so he just began asking the questions that he wanted to know, "So what is your ss and rank exactly?" Kaden questioned.


    Dave looked at Kaden curiously, "Boss I may not know much about your ss but I was given some knowledge when you first made me join your family. If you look in your member''s tab you should be able to see anything and everything about me." Dave said confidently.


    Kaden took his advice and looked at the member tab of his family and found that when he clicked on it he found the name, rank, and ss name of all of those in his family, Sky included. When he looked down at Dave''s it looked something like this.


    [Name: Dave Woodside]


    [ss: Covert Sniper]


    [Potential: S-]


    [Current Rank: F+]


    ''How am I surrounded by so many S ranks?!'' Kaden shouted within his mind. He feels that it''s strange that so many people that he has met so far have had such high potential. This was not amon thing and he was interested to see the reactions of those that realize just how many S ranks there are.


    "This is amazing! Your ss is not even close to what I was expecting but I''m happy to have you onboard." Kaden said with a smile.


    "W-well thank you, boss. I''ve never heard someone praise me like that before." He said with a smile that was growing on his face.


    "You don''t have to call me boss. We''re partners at this point just treat me as your friend or something." Kaden said. He didn''t really like the feeling of being above someone because it made him feel that he was farther away from Dave from a personal standpoint. He didn''t want this with anyone that joined his family.


    This astonished Dave and he quickly replied bowing lower, "A-are you sure about this boss? Will you not be angry if I act in such a friendly manner?" He questioned nervously.


    Kaden didn''t understand why he was acting that way, "Of course it''s fine. You can also stop kneeling now, friends don''t kneel to each other. Why would you think that this wouldn''t be ok?" Kaden questioned.


    Dave took a moment to reply as he gulped in seemingly nervousness before continuing, "The group I was in before the Diamond Brigade had strict rules when it came to the hierarchy of the group. If I were to even try and speak to someone above me in such a familiar way I would end up in huge trouble and be beaten as punishment." He said reluctantly as he stood up following what Kaden said.


    This sentence revealed a lot for Kaden. Not only did he now know what the name of the group that had been terrorizing the world was but he also had the idea that not everyone was being treated fairly or kindly in this group which left options for Kaden if he were ever to need them.


    "I''m sorry to hear that. You don''t have to worry about something like that with me. You can just live your life like you normally do besides when I may need you. Does that sound good enough?" Kaden asked to his new member.


    Dave''s eyes brightened quickly, "Can I really?! Thank you so much boss- I mean Kaden."


    "How did you know my name?" Kaden asked surprised.


    "I was given a lot of information about you when you added me to your family. Nothing like your past memories or anything like that but small things like your tendencies, name, and age among other things. In fact, I am only a few years older than you!" Dave said with a smile.


    Kaden tried to look at Dave''s ss screen some more to find anything that may find his age or something like what he got on Kaden but there was nothing, "So how old are you exactly then?" Kaden asked.


    "I''m 25 years old!" Dave said still smiling.


    ''That''s a lot more than a few more years!!'' Kaden shouted within his mind.


    "Oh I see well that makes sense. Anyway, why were you killed by the Kitsune masked person?" Kaden asked with curiosity.


    When Kaden asked this Dave put on a solemn expression, "I was on a mission to kill or capture one of the teachers from the ability school here." Dave said with a little reluctance due to embarrassment.


    Kaden was confused once more, ''To kill a teacher? Then does that mean that the Kitsune mask person is one of the teachers at the school? I haven''t seen them anywhere before.'' Kaden thought back to the school and every teacher he saw and passed during the awakening and other moments on campus but not a single time did he remember seeing the Kitsune mask-wearing person.


    "I had no clue that they were a teacher at my school. If you were trying to kill them then how did they find you out? Isn''t your ss based on stealth and long-range killing?" Kaden asked unsure on whether he was wrong or not.


    "You''re correct, my ss is based purely around killing silently and efficiently from long range and that was what I intended to do here but when I was lining my shot up on them and was finally ready they suddenly disappeared, and next thing you know I have an arm through my stomach." Dave said shivering in fear as he recounted what happened.

 Chapter 51 Food Is The Fastest Way To The Heart

    51 Food Is The Fastest Way To The Heart


    "That''s insane!" Kaden said as Dave talked about how he died. The only way someone would be able to spot someone who had a ss like Dave would be someone who had either a high rank or a ss trained to spot certain things.


    "What rank were you before you died?" Kaden questioned.


    "I was rank B+ and almost at A-." Dave said proudly.


    This was quite an impressive aplishment. Just because someone had a ss that could be SS or SSS+ like Kaden''s didn''t mean that they would get that high. All sorts of training and other circumstances depending on the ss determine whether or not you reach the predicted rank or a higher rank.


    In Dave''s case since his projected rank was at S- getting to B+ was harder for him than it would be for Kaden in most cases. This only furthered how impressive his rank was but the thing now is, how could someone like him get destroyed by the person with the Kitsune mask?


    "That''s quite impressive. We will hopefully get you back to that rank as soon as possible and then go even further." Kaden said with a smile.


    Kaden finally decided not to worry about the Kitsune mask person because he was sure he would find out more as he visited the ramen shop and even apparently in the school.


    Kaden then went into his closet and found an old spare mattress that he had put in there in case of an emergency or someone spent the night. While he may have called it old, the original wrapping was still on it and looked brand new due to no one evering over since he has lived here.


    Kadenid the mattress down in the middle of the living room and covered it with spare nkets and pillows that he had found in the closet as well. Once he was done making the bed he turned towards Dave, "This is where you will be sleeping from now on." Kaden said to him which took him aback.


    "You''re letting me stay with you? I thought you would make me leave or something. I can''t say I was the greatest person when I was alive." Dave said in confusion.


    Kaden thought for a moment to himself about what to say in this situation but after a few moments, he cursed at himself for trying to make it moreplicated than it is, "Well the way I think of it is like this. What you did before you died is what you did with the old you. Now that you are under mymand and have now died you could consider yourself reborn and none of the things you did before will have any consequence on the new you. Just consider it a brand new start." Kaden said exining his thought process.


    Devin seemed taken back by Kaden''s way of thinking. He didn''t expect that someone Kaden''s age would even be able to think in such a deep way but that just made his loyalty and happiness towards his new boss even more apparent, "Well thank you boss- I mean Kaden for this opportunity. I will do my best to fulfill all your future desires and orders." Dave said with a smile.


    "Good go to sleep, for now, we will talk more in the morning." Kaden said to him before leaving the room and going back to his own room. Dave had no objection to this and alsoid down in his own new room before falling asleep shortly after. Kaden took a bit longer to fall asleep as he reyed all of today''s events in his mind. From the gym all the way to Dave Kaden felt that there was a lot to digest and think about moving forward but the more he thought about it the sleepier he got until he fell asleep.


    The morning came quickly for Kaden as his body was awakened once more by his obnoxious rm, "YOU BETTER WAKE UP RIGHT NOW OR I WILL DO A FRONT FLIP ON YOUR FACE AND CALL IT A DAY!" Screamed Kaden''s rm from his phone.


    Once he silenced the absurd sounds he made his way into the living room where there was already an amazing smell wafting through the room. It smelled so amazing that Kaden was slightly drooling, ''Who''s making food?'' He thought in his half-awoken state.


    Once he walked into the kitchen he saw something that left him quite honestly left him scared and a little confused. Dave was currently wearing an apron and had a bandanna around his forehead while sweat was dripping down his face. He was currently moving back and forth in the kitchen moving different pans and flipping different items as he made different breakfast foods such as pancakes and eggs.


    "You know how to cook?" Kaden asked as he made his way to the kitchen where Dave was.


    Kaden''s voice broke Dave out of his immense concentration and he showed Kaden a smile, "Good morning to you! Yes I do know how to cook it is actually one of my favorite hobbies although it was quite frowned upon in the Diamond Brigade." He said frowning when he mentioned the group that he was formerly in.


    "Well I''m d you''re cooking now because this smells absolutely amazing." Kaden said praising him with his eyes on the food that was being cooked. If stares could consume food then all of the food would have already disappeared as Kaden stared at it hungrily. Normally Kaden only ate a bowl of cereal or some sort of bar to start off the day because he wasn''t hungry or in the mood for anything else when he first woke up but the longer Kaden looked at Dave''s food the more hungry he got.


    When Dave heard Kaden''spliment he began cooking even more intensely. It was almost like he had a new surge of energy go through his body and Kaden didn''t want to damage that with conversation so he just sat down patiently waiting for the moment he could take a bite of that delicious smelling food.

 Chapter 52 Back To The Gym

    52 Back To The Gym


    After Dave fiercely cooked for around another half hour, the food was finally finished. It was good timing because Kaden didn''t know how much more his body could take. At first, when he entered the room he was only slightly hungry and nned to have a small breakfast as usual but the more that Dave''s cooking radiated throughout the apartment the more he want to eat it and the more he wanted to consume.


    Dave walked over to the kitchen table that Kaden had been waiting at with two tes in his hands each having eggs, pancakes, bacon, hashbrowns, and a cup of orange juice ce on the top corner of the te, "Here you go Kaden." Dave said as he ced the te in front of a drooling Kaden.


    Kaden whispered his thanks before wasting no more time and digging into the lovely smelling food that had been teasing him for over half an hour. It all went down the hatch in a blur of juice and food and before he even realized it all of the food that was just in front of him was gone. While he was a little sad that it was all gone he was in too much of a bliss-like state from the food he just ate to care very much.


    "That was heavenly. Thank you." Kaden said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair with a satisfied expression.


    "My pleasure!" Dave said as he picked up the dirty dishes and began cleaning them in the sink in the kitchen. Kaden saw this and tried to go and help but Dave just shrugged him off saying that from now on he was in Kaden''s service which was nice.


    After the cleaning was done and Kaden was ready he left with Dave to go to the gym again. Tomorrow was the first day of ability school and he wanted to make sure that he got in as much training as he possibly could while also deepening his rtionship with his new member.


    As Kaden and Dave exited the house they were met with someone that Kaden still wanted to avoid and still didn''t have the patience to deal with quite yet, Ashly.


    "Oh- Hey there Kaden." Ashly said awkwardly as if this was just a coincidence and not that they were still right in front of his apartment.


    Kaden felt negative feelings as he looked at Ashly longer and remembered all of those things he went through the other night which Dave could somehow feel from his expression so he stepped in quickly, "Sorry is there something you need from him?" Dave asked her with a smile.


    Ashly finally recognized that there was another person with Kaden and looked at him with a strange expression, "Who are you?" She asked with squinted eyes.


    Dave seemed to be in thought for a moment when she asked this wondering what exactly they should say he is to Kaden but he decided on it quickly enough that it wouldn''t arouse any suspicion, "I''m his new roommate!" Dave said with a smile.


    Ashly had an obviously confused expression on her face, "A roommate? Why would Kaden get something like that?" She said turning her gaze towards Kaden waiting for an answer but Dave beat him to the punch.


    "I was actually homeless a few days ago but Kaden kindly took me in. As long as I do a few things for him and act as his bodyguard I will be able to stay there." Dave exined quickly.


    Ashly had a suspicious look on her face as she looked Dave over but couldn''t say anything for certain, "If that''s the case then why isn''t Kaden answering me himself?" She wondered aloud.


    This time Kaden did answer her question because when she asked this it was as if all the things that happened the other day meant nothing and he was just meant to ept such things with open arms, "The reason is that I would prefer not associating with you now. Don''t pretend that what happened the other day didn''t happen." Kaden said with slight anger visible in his voice.


    "So that''s how it is-" Ashly said with a guilty expression before not questioning them any further and going back to her apartment.


    Kaden would have normally felt some sort of sympathy for people when he treated them like that or said something in that way to them but with Ashly, he felt no such thing. If he had seen her try to restrain herself or even ask him for help like he said before then he might have shown some sympathy but no she just put him through that torture that he couldn''t remember. There was no sympathy that she would get from him.


    Dave saw how cold Kaden was to the girl and assumed something major must have happened for him to act that way since he himself had tried to kill one of his teachers the night before and instead of being cold he gave him his own bed to sleep in. Dave didn''t question it any further as he thought it was none of his business until Kaden said so.


    The pair made their way to the gym without any moreplications and entered inside to find that they were thest ones to arrive much to the surprise of Kaden.


    The only problem was that the people were not waiting in the ring like they were instructed to do the day before. Instead, the people were at the counter where the shakes were in aplete frenzy. People had crazed looks in their eyes and even some were shaking and wrapping their arms around themselves as if it was cold or something. As usual, the people that were regrs here paid no mind to the currently freaking out newbies but instead continued with their workouts and lessons.


    "What is happening?" Dave said confused as he looked at the crazed look on all the peoples faces.

 Chapter 53 Roid Rage

    53 Roid Rage


    "I have no idea." Replied Kaden as he was also confused at the strange movements of the people that were fine yesterday besides when they first drank the protein shake.


    After deciding to get a close look Dave and Kaden made their way to the counter where everyone else was and began listening to the words that they were saying.


    "HEY MAN CAN I JUST GET ONE MORE?"


    "PLEASE I NEED ANOTHER SHAKE!"


    "I WILL PAY FOR IT WITH MY BODY!"


    All sorts of insane bargaining chips were being used by the people around Kaden and Dave for one of the protein shakes that the gym sold. Kaden found this strange as he thought about how the people from yesterday ended up tweaking out on the ground in agony before saying that they loved the protein shake. Also, he still found it strange that none of the regrs here found that this behavior was out of the ordinary. In fact, most of them hadn''t even nced at the crazed people at the counter.


    "These people are like drug addicts! What kind of shake did you guys get?" Dave said with concern as he watched the people around them be more and more crazed for one of the shakes.


    "I have one at the house I can show youter but it''s a blue-like substance with ck sprinkles." Kaden exined to Dave as someone finally lost it and jumped over the counter to chase after the cab that held the protein shakes before.


    However, the second his feetnded on the other side of the counter a gust of wind sted the person back over the counter and onto the ground making them cough up a little blood. At the sight of the blood, everyone calms down like icy water going over their heads. When everyone looked over to see who the cause of the wind was from they find Jim standing there with a smile on his face.


    "Buying shakes are only allowed after practice sessions. Now everyone if you would please go to the mat and get ready for practice." He said with a smile still stered on his face.


    Seeing this none of the people in the room argued with him any longer and walked to the ring to begin their practice including the person he injured moments ago. Kaden thought about leaving but someone else beat him to it and began walking out of the gym but much to the surprise of Kaden and Dave he wasn''t able to leave.


    *POW*


    A strong current like force hits the person as they tried to leave making them fly back into the ring scaring him and everyone else in the process but when they look towards Jim to see what is happening he is still wearing the same smile, "None of you are allowed to leave until the lesson is over. Now begin." He said telling them to do the jabs that they learned yesterday.


    Waves of fear went through Kaden as he saw how Jim was beginning to act and treat the people around him and the rest of the group. Likewise, Dave had aplicated expression as he watched this but didn''t make any moves as Kaden had not told him to do anything yet.


    Momentster the ring was being used to practice jabs once again and even learning how to kick. As this was going on the nervous expression on everyone''s faces didn''t leave and the smile on Jim''s didn''t waver either. Kaden would have already began fighting his way out of the room and leave if he didn''t already realize that when someone began trying to leave not only did Jim attack but out of the corner of his eye he saw that all of the other members of the gym were looking at the person trying to leave and was walking towards them before they got sted by Jim. It seems that they would also attack if he tried to leave.


    ''What is up with these people?!'' Kaden shouted within his mind as he kept jabbing and kicking. While the lessons were actually of high quality and helped him very much this atmosphere and the situation of the gym was too much for him.


    As they continued Jim appeared before Dave and Kaden with a confused look on his face, "I don''t seem to recall you from yesterday. Have you not had a lesson and tasted the shake yet?" He questioned curiously.


    The question made Dave and Kaden''s blood run cold as they realized Dave was the only new person in the group and also the only one that wasn''t considered to have tasted the shake yet. It seems that Jim and the others had thought when he brought it home he had drank it without another thought but that was not the case.


    "Yes I dide here yesterday. I actually bought one of the shakes yesterday as well which is also why I''m back here. I really want another!" Dave said convincingly with crazy eyes.


    Jim seems to consider this for a moment before walking back to the cab where the shakes are held and opening it revealing the blue liquid that sparked the interest of all of those that were in the ring. Many of the people stopped what they were doingpletely and just looked at the blue jars with obvious wanting and hunger in their eyes.


    Kaden had assumed at this point that the blue liquid was some kind of drug meant to connect all of the people to the gym but for what reason Kaden did not know. If it were money they could have just sold the jars without the gym in addition but it didn''t really matter to him as all he wanted was to leave.


    After Jim grabbed one of the blue jars from the cab he walked back over to the ring with a ss in the other hand and poured a small amount of the shake into the ss making those in the ring drool. Jim then handed the ss with the shake in it to Dave.


    "Is that right? If you were here yesterday and drank the shake then you wouldn''t mind drinking this would you?" Jim said offering the ss.

 Chapter 54 Imposter

    54 Imposter


    Kaden''s eyes widened at Jim''s offer and he was about to object to the situation but Dave beat him to the punch once again. Dave took the ss from his hands and drank the liquid making sure to use his tongue to lick out all of the remnants in a very intoxicated manner and once he was finished he handed the ss back saying crazily, "Give me more!"


    Jim was taken aback by Dave''s response by the situation which was evident by his eyes widening even more than Kaden''s. He thought he had found someone that sneaked in or wasn''t supposed to be here but turned out he was wrong or so he thought.


    "Sorry, you will have to wait until the end of the ss to get more. This was just a test of sorts." Jim said returning to his previous smile. Everyone else in the ring beganining that Dave got some of the shake but they didn''t. He quickly silenced them saying that if they keptining they wouldn''t get any even after the end of the lesson.


    Kaden then whispered to Dave quickly in a panic thinking that the shake was going to affect him somehow, "Hey are you ok? Do you feel weird at all?" Kaden questioned with uncertainty.


    Dave turned a little as he was jabbing and smiled at him before whispering back, "Don''t worry that liquid can''t affect me. While I may be considered living by most standards I''m still technically among the undead making things such as drugs not have an effect on me." He said jabbing forcefully showing off how unaffected he was.


    "If you say so." Kaden said still not convinced but decided to trust his words anyway. Kaden did realize that if what he said is true then that would be a huge advantage for him and his army in the future.


    As the group continued their lesson Kaden looked around at the rest of the people and saw that each of them indeed seem to have more strength in their bodies. Even one of the olderdies began showing immense strength as one of her kicks left a slight crack in the ground. This was so impressive that one of the other people evenplimented her.


    "Nice one olddy!" One of the guys said with an impressed face.


    Despite thepliment and subtle diss the olddy turned to him quickly with her remark, "What are you talking about? I''m 16 and will always be 16." She said before ignoring the man and continuing her aggressive kicks


    The lesson continued and finished simr to the day before but this time Kaden was more on edge as he tried to act like those around him because from what he''d seen they were not very kind to those that weren''t acting like the others.


    "Alright, everyone! ss is now dismissed and if you don''t mind please follow me to get your shakes." Jim said as he exited the ring with a little bit of sweat on his face.


    Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and followed Jim to the counter where he opened up the cab once more but this time the previously blue shake was red which concerned Kaden.


    ''What does this one do?'' He wondered.


    However, his question was soon answered as the people didn''t care what it was only the fact that it was rted to the previous shake. The people around him began gulping down the liquid while Kaden and Dave got their own shake and hid it within the confines of their clothes pretending to have drunk it.


    Simr to the original shake after a few moments of nothing happening everyone dropped to the floor quickly leaving Kaden and Dave standing whichpletely neglected their original n of pretending to drink it. They started to pretend to also fall on the ground but Jim''s eyes locked on them seeing that they didn''t fall before they could aplish their n.


    "What''s wrong? Do you not like the new color?" Jim asked with a friendly smile.


    Kaden and Dave both returned his friendly smile and Kaden spoke up, "No! We love the new color actually! It was quite tasty!" Kaden said trying his best to convince Jim that they had drank the substance.


    Jim seemed to consider it for a moment which heightened Kaden''s hopes but then a momentter he said, "Pam do a flip."


    When these words left his lips the olderdy from before that hadn''t spoken since she drank the shake did a backflip. She thennded the backflip and continued staring into space while Jim continued.


    "Kaden do a flip." Jim said giving his order which Kaden assumed he needed toply with if he were to convince him. Kaden braced his body and began the backflip jumping off of the ground and rotating his body backward.


    All seemed to be going well as he felt his hair pass touch the bottom of the floor just barely missing his actual skull as he rotated more and more. Everything looked like it was going well as Kaden started toplete the rotation and was no longer backward. Then as hended the flip hended on his face.


    "Ow." Kaden groaned as his face hit the floor.


    "Everyone get them!" Jim shouted as he realized they hadn''t taken the shake.


    Kaden jumped back up from his position and got beside Dave as everyone in the gym began looking at them with crazy eyes. Dave started to use his ss and brought out his own sniper rifle but before he could shoot an arm grabbed him and knocked the gun out of his hand while many more hands grabbed at his body pulling him to the ground.


    Kaden was not in much better of a situation considering that he didn''t have abat ability yet and the only fighting he knew was taught in the very same gym he was being attacked in. Despite kicking and using the jabs he learned to even knock 3 people out with his E- rank body Jim walked over himself and restrained Kaden on the ground.

 Chapter 55 Hit The Showers

    55 Hit The Showers


    "It seems you haven''t quite had a sip of our shake yet have you?" Jim whispered near Kaden''s ears as he cuffed his hands behind his back with metal cuffs strong enough to hold back his E- rank body.


    Kaden refused to speak to him anymore and even kicked his legs out striking him in the shin which made Jim lean forward grasping his shin in pain. When Jim leaned forward Kaden took his knee and kneed upward straight into Jim''s face making him break his nose and fall over onto the ground in agony.


    "AGHHHH HOW DARE YOU!" Jim shouted in pain as he twisted on the ground.


    Kaden didn''t miss this opportunity and dashed towards Dave who was still being held by three different normal people. Due to the higher strength Kaden had over them, he quickly kicked one of the people in the side, making them squirm in pain, which gave Dave an opening to head butt the person behind him and free himself from the person to his left.


    Both Kaden and Dave began running out of the ce with handcuffs still on because Dave also had been given some by the people that were holding him. However, Jim was not going to go down that easy and he was already up ordering those that were still up and not on the ground to chase after them.


    "Don''t let them leave!" Jim shouted.


    When Jim saw that the people weren''t going to catch up to them he ground his teeth in anger before releasing some of his own strength. Jim got in his stance before punching the air with all of his might sending an air shockwave with one of his abilities. The force of the air traveled across the room quickly and struck Dave''s body sending it flying andnding against the wall leaving it a bloody mess. When Kaden nced over for a moment as he was running he saw in horror that there was a hole in Dave''s chest where his heart was supposed to be and his legs were twisted at an odd angle due to the impact against the wall. Kaden tried to see if he was still alive but he could tell by the lifelessness in his eyes that he was no longer among the living.


    ''What?! He''s dead just like that?!'' Kaden screamed inside his mind. Kaden was just speaking to Dave moments ago and he also just started his rtionship with him. Kaden had nned to grow and wanted Dave to be there with him because he believe that he would be a better person now and said police on the front.


    13:57


    "POLICE EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!" Shouted one of the men as they entered the room.


    would be great to be around.


    The overload to Kaden''s brain was immense and he cked out for a moment before returning to what was in front of him due to another gust of air shooting past him barely missing him and even cutting off a little of his hair due to how close it was.


    [Family Member Dave Has Died.]


    Kaden began running once more and saw the notification from his ss screen that proved Dave''s passing which started to make him angrier but before his anger toppled over and deciding to turn around and fight the rest of the people or die trying another notification popped up.


    [Family Member Dave Summoning Cooldown 10 Minutes.]


    [9.59]


    [9.58]


    "Huh?" Kaden thought as he read the notification realizing that maybe Dave wasn''t dead after all. As he was ready this notification and running someone burst through the ss entrance of the gym or so Kaden thought. When he looked up to see the person he realized there were many people one being the Kitsune masked person and the other 15 people were covered in an interesting armor that said police on the front.


    "POLICE EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!" Shouted one of the men as they entered the room.


    Kaden was in awe of the intense situation and immediately hit the deck in front of the Kitsune masked person as they ran past him towards the crowd. When he turned his head to see what was happening he realized that he was the only oneying on the ground and that Jim was intending on fighting.


    "Get them!" Jim shouted as he turned around to run away sending the people in the gym towards the cops and Kitsune mask that just entered.


    This didn''t seem to phase Kitsune mask as they continued forward bringing out a Katana from a sheath on their back that Kaden had failed to see before due to the intense situation.


    "Chris be careful!" Shouted one of the officers of the group as they rushed after them to help support from behind.


    Kitsune mask or rather Chris, suddenly jumped in the air soaring over all of the gym members that were rushing at them andnded right in front of the fleeing Jim who also had a backpack on his back filled to the brim with the shakes which was evident by the poorly zipped zipper on the backpack.


    Jim was taken aback by the sudden appearance and fell on the ground making some of the shakes fall out of the backpack and roll on the ground, "Surrender now." Chris said to Jim who was no cowering in fear.


    Kaden thought Jim would give up and just go with Chris based on how bad he began to shake after seeing Chrisnd in front of him but something crazy happened instead, "No you won''t take me alive!" Jim said in a panic before cocking his fist back to throw another one of his air punches but before he could do that there was a slight slice sound heard throughout the gym and not even two secondster blood sprayed all over the ce from Jim''s neck as his head fell off of his body and rolled along the ground with his panicked expression still present.


    The entire room went silent after this and all of the people previously fighting the other officers fell on the ground unconscious.

 Chapter 56 Slice and Dice

    56 Slice and Dice


    "What are you doing here?" Chris asked Kaden as he walked over to him while cleaning the blood off of their Katana.


    "I could ask you the same thing!" Kaden retorted back in confusion. He was more than a little confused on why Chris would be here and with officers at that. As he was thinking this another thought came into Kaden''s head considering Dave''s body. If Chris were to find the body of Dave here they would have more than a few questions about how Dave''s body ended up here and in a different state than when they killed him before.


    The rest of the situation was quite boring for Kaden as they didn''t let him go until everyone else had been checked by one of the specialists that arrived in the ambnce. In fact some of the people had begun to wake up and were bing functional which was great but that wasn''t what Kaden was focused on. The thing he was focused on was the ss notification in front of him.


    [Cool down is now over! Dave is able to be summoned again.]


    Kaden turned towards where Dave''s body hadnded just minutes ago and saw that there was nothing there. Not a single sign of Dave''s body was in sight. The only thing that even hinted at his previous presence was the blood scattered around the area where he body was and the impact his body had against the wall.


    ''Where did the body even go?'' Kaden thought as he looked around the room. Chris had also decided not to answer his question as he was helping the other officers check on the people that had be unconscious just moments ago


    After looking for a few moments more Kaden couldn''t find the body and was finally let up from the ground by the officers so they could ask him a few questions. Kaden answered them openly and honestly as he also wanted the people that just tried to kill him in as much trouble as possible.


    After answering some more questions they let him go and arrested all of the other gym workers in the back rooms like the man that repaired the floor on the first day. In total there were 7 other workers in the building and none of them had been brainwashed with the shake as the others had. The only weird thing was that all of them had frightened expressions on their faces that only grew as they got closer to the door.


    "Hey man let me go." One man started slightly under his breath.


    The officers ignored them as Chris walked with them towards the door.


    "HEY MAN LET ME GO!" One man finally shouted throwing his fist up with the cuffs still on and ended up striking the mask of Chris making the bottom left of it crack.


    Once the one man attacked Chris the other 6 went wild and began attacking them with their fists still in cuffs. They ended up taking down one of the officers and even taking his gun while the others were still in aplete brawl fighting for their lives. All of this however ended quickly when Chris punched one of them in the jaw who was trying to attack him and then pulled out his Katana. Once his Katana was pulled out he went into a strange posture with one knee raised and the de across his face. One secondter he just disappeared from sight which stunned Kaden.


    His presence was shown once more however when small sounds were heard as if something was cutting through the air at a high speed. Simr to how Jim died suddenly all 7 of the guys heads flew off of their body including the man that Chris had knocked to the ground before. Blood spewed out of their necks as most of their bodies fell to the ground leaving a stunned group of officers and Kaden.


    ''I couldn''t even see him.'' Kaden said with fear in his mind. This showed to him once more that he needs to get even stronger than he is now. There''s no need to staycent if he bes one of the strongest at the ability school because there are even more people out there who don''t care about your age or whether you''re in the same grade as them to fight. Either way, Kaden was just d that they were on his side and not the other side in this situation.


    After the initial shock of the kills, everyone began calming down and collecting themselves. The officer that lost his weapon retrieved it and they then called for the ambnce toe and pick up the bodies while also checking on those that are still passed out on the ground from the effects of the shake.


    Kaden was told to wait around to be checked by the paramedics so he did which Chris seemed to see and decided it was a good time to try and talk once more.


    "Wanna tell me more about what happened here now?" They asked but this time it Kaden was confused. Their voice waspletely different, it was no longer distorted which made Kaden able to guess the gender of Chris. It was a deeper manly voice that caught Kaden quite off guard and Chris seemed to realize this.


    "What''s wrong?" Chris said in confusion as he didn''t realize that the voice changer was no longer on.


    "Your voice isn''t distorted." Kaden answered back which made Chris''s body go frozen.


    Chris then began grabbing at the jaw area of his mask, especially at the area where he was punched a few minutes ago. It seems that when he was punched the impact of it caused the distortion equipment to break within his mask.


    "We will talk again when you get to school tomorrow." Chris said before walking off and out of the gym.


    Kaden was left stunned once more by Chris''s words, ''He already knew I was a student?'' He thought with surprise but quickly calmed down from it realizing that it probably made sense he knew about the students. Chris was a teacher at the school after all and it seems like he was closely associated with his grade otherwise Kaden didn''t have an exnation of how he knew.


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