A TRASH RANKER
Awakening was a process that required a person to undergo mutation under the influence of the energy from the space vortexes. When the first hunters concluded that they required a way to artificially awaken a person, they understood that the energy required was going to be massive.
More importantly, they needed a way to be able to inject energy into the human body and help it through the mutation stage. The problem of harnessing energy was a big hurdle in the overall design of the process for a long time.
It was only after a couple of years of rigorous testing on every material the hunters could get their hands on did the scientist manage to find a proper way. The idea was formulated by one of the top researchers in the world and one of the S-rankers, Mr. David Cooper.
His idea was based on the fact that some of the monsters tend to utilize strange pathways to attack humans. One of the paths was those of parasites, where the monsters tried to inject a huge amount of their own energy into a target and ultimately get control over its body.
He began to study these monsters and test ways to create a technology that could inject energy in the same way as the parasitic monsters did to their target. He soon found the solution as the material for reference was quite useful and formulated a device that was made out of specially mined ores from the dungeons.
The device contained three parts, namely a harness, a storage unit, and an injector. The harness design required a material that could not only actively absorb the energy from these portals but temporarily store and transmit it through to the next unit.
It was only after experimenting with numerous materials of earth and the dungeons that scientists were able to create a composite that could do the absorption and transmission of the energy. The harness mechanism was finally developed.
The next in line was a storage unit or rather a battery mechanism that could temporarily hold the energy and eventually give it out for the use of the awakening. The battery mechanism was developed from a harness mechanism but a specially devised holding stone was found to work as a storage unit.
The structure came from energy stones that were found in the dungeons that were found to be usable in energy absorption in the case of hunters. Hunters began to call them Qi stones and they became a currency in the current world. After the energy was used, the Qi stones lost all their glow and became normal stones.
David Cooper came up with the idea of trying to recharge them, and it was successful. It led to the birth of not only the storage mechanism but also artificially created energy stones. It was also the invention that led the Cooper corporation to become the top name in the hunter world.
The last part was the injector which would act as the device that could carry out the energy injection to the human body. After a lot of research into parasitic monsters, human anatomy, and gene modification, the final design was formulated.
An awakening pod was created where human gene modification took place within a controlled environment with the help of the energy from the portals. The trial phase was conducted with volunteers who wanted to awaken as hunters. After two years of extensive research, the proper age and environment were formulated.
Finally, the "Awakening Ceremony" was established.
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Leon and Liam finally reached the revenue hall. Every academy in the country had a specialized awakening center where the ceremony was carried out. The center was always the grandest structure of all because the ceremony also signified graduation.
The awakening ceremony was always carried out in the presence of delegates from all over the country. Every hunter organization sends its representatives to schools all over the place to recruit talents into their organization.
The ceremony was carried out at a two-fold event where the students would first go through an awakening process, and then there would the trial phase. The trial phase was fu8ther sub-divided into two parts, namely measurement and practical combat.
The reason for such a thorough examination was an incident that took place around 15 years earlier. An organization with d-ranked hunters managed to completely annihilate one with c and b- ranked ones, due to combat skills.
It led the hunting world to see that talent was a combination of two things: energy levels and body skills. The Hunting bureau finally enacted the testing criteria which led to the whole testing process.
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"I welcome all students into the 10th batch graduation ceremony. Our school has seen the graduation and discovery of hundreds of hunters in the last decade with some of them being the big names in the current hunting world."
"I expect no less from every single batch of my school. I hope you all will perform well." The principal's words were met with loud cheers from the students and the ceremony formally began.
The school procedure was designed to carry out the awakening and measurement of energy levels in the first phase, where students would undergo the process one by one, and then came the drawing of the competition charts.
"All students will formulate a line and begin the ceremony." The batch went on one after another and energy began to be injected into them. Finally it was Liam's turn.
"Liam Chang." The controller announced.
Liam looked at me with complicated eyes. I just patted him in the back and said.
" Nothing is going to be different between us. We are friends. I will always be there for you." Liam's face was filled with a smile and he went into the pod. The awakening ceremony finally started. I was quite curious about his rank. The highest score in this year's ceremony so far was a B-rank awakening.
The awakening ended, and Liam exited the pod. The feeling coming out of his body was intimidating. A heaviness suddenly engulfed the room.
"Moving forward for testing." Liam moved to the next station and the controller in there asked him to follow the procedure for the next measurements. Liam put his hands on the measurement ball.
The reading slowly began and the charts shot directly up to the extreme point in the meter.
"S-rank" The controller was shocked. There was an A-ranker in this year's participant. All the delegates immediately got up from their seats. An s-ranker signified the very top of the hunting world. The guild's strength was determined by the number of S-rankers it possesses.
The delegates immediately flooded into the testing area, trying to get hold of Liam. The ceremony had to be paused temporarily to handle the situation. Even the principal had to interfere and postpone the offers given to Liam.
"Please hold your excitement until the end of the ceremony."
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Leon was happy and nervous at the same time. Liam had managed to become an S-ranker which was great news, but it soon began to worry me about my own future,. Would he be able to catch up with him?
"I have to. To help my sister." Leon's turn came up and he was asked to go up the stage. He entered the pod and the injection began. At first Leon felt uncomfortable, but soon enough he could feel his body soaking in all the energy that was released by the injector.
The pace with which the energy was being soaked was so fact, that the food wasn't even covered in fog.
"WHat is wrong?"
"Sir, he's body is soaking in energy at a massive amount. What should we do?" The controller said to his superior.
"We might have other talent here. Increase the levels of energy injection until it can match up to the pace." A phenomenon like this generally meant the birth of talent. Who knows, they might see the birth of another S-ranker.
The rate of energy injection increased, but so did the pace of absorption by Leon's body. FInally, after reaching the maximum rate could they surpass the speed of devouring and wait till the process was over.
The news was sent to all the superiors and soon reached the delegates. They were excited. Were they going to see the birth of another S-ranker today?
The process finally came to an end when the absorption stopped and Leon was injected out. But contrary to expectations, there was no energy being radiated from his body. The controller of measuring asked Leon to step up and put his hands on the measuring ball. Leon did as asked and the results were clear.
"A failed meridian holder." The controller's face changed into one of disgust and anger.
"So he was just trash with failed meridians. What a water of resources." One of the delegates spoke up. People soon began to discuss the matter, but there was one person who wasn't even mentally present in the location.
It was Leon.