《Secret Seventh S-Rank》 Chapter One: Lone Hunter Iron-Nest Realm. A realm with magic, monsters and mayhem, and in the heart of it lies the Magical Guild of Aerion. Named after the grand mage who defeated the Dark Knight Xylon, a merciless reanimated beast, who laid waste to the villages, and led an army of the undead to try and take over the realm. Well, that was over a thousand years ago, and since then, the guild has produced the finest mages to tackle the monsters that threaten the peace of the realm. They also dealt with rogue mages, who wanted to see the realm''s destruction or seize power over it. Those rogue mages are known as strays. Every year, three hundred promising new mages are accepted into the Magical Guild of Aerion, after they go through ranking examination. A simple exam requires one to place their hand on the book of ranks, have their mana measures, and wait for the book to tell them their rank. Most mages start at D-Rank and work their way up. Some are special and start at a higher rank. No mages, however, have ever reached S-Rank from hard work. No, no. That was a birthright rank. Only six mages in the realm were born at S-Rank, known as the celestial six. Six powerful mages are tasked to take care of the S-Ranked monsters and guard the House of Vyron. The monarchy that rules over Iron-Nest. They are believed to be chosen by the gods to help protect the realm. And every hundred years since Aerion, six S-Ranked mages would be born. Destined to never struggle against a beast, or the need to grow stronger. Iron-Nest had gotten their six for this timeline. Six eighteen years old. Diana Goodwin Darion Kneelworth Mattias Zelgone Aeileen Morgaan Willas Dukemoore And Lokian As Zaedan stood before the book of ranks, a thin layer of cold sweat coated his forehead. His emerald green eyes were laser-focused on the brown leather-covered book, his inching handshaking. For gods¡¯ sake, this was meant to be the easiest part. This was what he had put his body, mind and soul through hell for. The tall man continued to stand there, the feeling of his shoulder-length white hair sticking to his fair skin becoming overstimulating in this moment of anxiety. ¡°Hurry it up already, punk!¡± A gravelly, deep voice yelled out from behind the door. Just like a snap of a finger, Zaedan snapped out of his daze, hastily muttering a ¡°Right, sorry.¡± He was thankful this was a private matter, where people could enter this small room he was in, hidden from the prying eyes of everyone else. He would get his rank, where it would be inked into his skin, changing only when he got reassessed. Zaeden finally placed his hand on the book and closed his eyes. Alright, he would get a C ranking or a B ranking if he was lucky. The book of ranks glowed and shook a little before a stinging pain coursed through his right forearm. Once the bright light subsided, Zaeden opened his eyes and looked down at his forearm, and his face drained from colour. This wasn¡¯t right. Zaeden placed his hand on the book again, redoing the entire process at least three more times. It was the same result time and time again. What?! What the fuck?! The young man looked down at his ranking, inked on his skin and glared at him. Telling him to believe what he was seeing. He immediately ran out of the room, pushing past the cue. The unranked mages watched one. One decided to speak up and comment. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Poor dude must have received a shitty rank.¡± ##### Zaeden looked up at his forearm, the moonlight radiating through his window lighting the skin on his forearm. He had to come to terms with this. He was an outlier for some reason. He had been chosen in this timeline to be S-ranked. The golden italic S inked on his arm was proof of this. Now he had just to answer one question. Did he want to bring the attention that the other six have brought on themselves? Did he want to join the Magical Guild of Aerion as a mage? As an S-ranked mage no less? Zaeden hated attention on the grand scale those six got. Being swarmed by fellow mages and civilians was a worst-case scenario. The young man bit his lips and sat up on his bed. He had to do this alone. Zaeden tied his hair into a low ponytail, letting stray pieces fall and frame his face. He then got up, walked towards his small desk, and used his finger to light up the candle. He opened up his book of spells and searched for some forgery spells to create a hunter¡¯s licence. If he had to get one at the town hall, his ranking would be public record. Hunter licenses were given to mages who had not been able to go to the Magical Guild of Aerion or had left the guild. It wasn¡¯t the best path, and hunters usually were worse off facing beasts alone or with groups that didn¡¯t work together well. Most hunters usually took this route to make money selling beast parts to the royal merchants, making a pretty penny of it. More money than what they would make just by completing the job. Maybe his S rank would make his card more believable. He had heard stories of those with false hunting licences being punished, and he shuddered at the thought of being thrown into a cell and having ice-cold water thrown at you as mana-draining chains were shackled on each limb. Hours passed, and the rays of the dawn sun pierced through his window by the time he was done. He looked at the wooden card with his name and his B rank written on it. It looked legit to him. He just hoped it was legit to the royal merchants and the royal job centre when he showed it to them. ##### It was noon and Zaeden had gotten some sleep. He walked down the busy streets of Aerion Kingdom, his eyes glancing around, watching as the civilians went on about their day. His bandaged arms were behind his back, and his long coat swayed with the breeze that washed over the kingdom. It wasn¡¯t long before he reached the Royal Job Centre. As he stepped in, his ears were assaulted by the loud chatter that could be heard from every corner. He strode towards the main desk and walked up to the clerk. The black-uniformed old man looked up from stamping papers and stared at the tall man before him, unamused. ¡°Welcome to the Royal Job Centre, how may I be of assistance?¡± Zaeden hesitated for a moment before speaking up, his deep voice coming out a little strained. ¡°I want a B-rank hunting job.¡± The old man paused his stamping of the files on his desk and extended his hand. ¡°Hunter¡¯s license, please.¡± Zaeden dug into his pocket and pulled out the wooden card, handing it to the clerk. The old man stood up and walked to the back, causing a wave of anxiety to course through him. This was it. He was going to get caught for having a false license. It wasn¡¯t long before the clerk came back with a sheet of paper and his licence. ¡°There is a B-rank job available for you. The town of Torrine has been dealing with a bandit of Flame Trolls, who have been pillaging and killing the residence. The pay is seven thousand gold coins. No B rank hunter has been successful, and the magical guild has their hands full with other tasks, so good luck.¡± The old man explained, handing back Zaeden¡¯s license and sheet of paper. The clerk then placed a copy of the job file in front of him and a quill. ¡°Sign here, please.¡± Zaeden pocketed his wooden card and his now folded copy of his job. He grabbed the quill and quickly signed the sheet. The old man took the paper and placed it atop a messy stack of other papers. ¡°Since you¡¯re not a guild mage, the realm of Iron-Nest, and Aerion Kingdom is not liable for your death, understand?¡± Zaeden nodded and soon left the job centre and headed towards the weaponry market to buy an array of things that could help him against the flame trolls. He had a job now. His first hunt against a beast.