Magister Vance’s voice boomed, his words echoing through the plaza, “SSS-rank!”
The crowd erupted in chaos. Gasps, shouts of shock, and a wave of frantic murmuring filled the air. An SSS-rank Talent? It was a legend, a power so immense it was almost considered mythical.
“Is that even possible?”
“Is the system broken?”
“An actual SSS-rank Talent?”
“Guess that’s the academy’s prodigy for ya, he’s filled with surprises.”
“I knew he was strong but this is something else.”
“The guy’s gonna go down in history!”
In all the voices and cheers, a voice rose from the crowd. Yanzi, her face beaming with pride, pumped her fist in the air. “That’s my darling!”
Chase was also enthusiastic, his voice strained from yelling. “Yeah, bro! You did it!”
Alister, however, remained standing there. A smile could be seen at the corner of his lips, a flicker of relief in his eyes. But before it could fully bloom, Magister Vance cleared his throat, silencing the crowd once more.
His expression, however, had shifted from awe to something similar to disappointment. As he spoke, his voice carried a feeling of regret. “Alister Hazenworth,” he began, “Awakened Talent: Summoner (Rank SSS).”
The excited cheers suddenly stopped, silence descended upon the plaza, filled with a sense of utter disappointment. The atmosphere suddenly felt thick and suffocating, as if the news could not be any more worse. Summoner. An SSS-rank Summoner, yes, but a Summoner nonetheless.
Alister’s smile faded, his face suddenly became pale. He mumbled to himself as he couldn’t believe what he just heard and now saw on the system window before him, “It can’t be, why… Why a summoner?”
The whispers started again, this time they weren’t nice or joyful, no, they were more sharp and with a cruel edge.
“Such a waste.”
“All that potential, for a Summoner?”
“He always acted so high and mighty.”
“Maybe this is karma for his arrogance.”
“See, I told you he would awaken a shit talent!”
Yanzi’s excited expression crumbled, she now wore a look of confusion. Chase, too, looked lost, his earlier excitement, faded with a dawning understanding of the negativity swirling around them.
Alister felt deeply hurt. He felt like fate was playing a cruel joke on him.
‘All those years I spent… Giving it my all… for this…?’
He clenched his fists tightly. He wanted a talent that would signify all the backbreaking effort he put in to get here. Instead, he was labeled with a Talent that, despite its status, was considered inferior, merely a talent in name.
Unlike most other talents, summoners had no real offensive power of their own and were bad at combat. The equipment they needed to summon monsters was very expensive due to the nature of the materials used.
Even if one had the necessary equipment, it didn’t guarantee the summoning of a powerful monster. Additionally, there was the challenge of taming the monster; many summoners died during the taming process either because their mana was not compatible with the monster or the monster overpowered and killed them.
Even if a summoner managed to summon and tame a powerful monster, they couldn’t always have it by their side. A successful summoner had to be wealthy; otherwise, if they were just an ordinary person who managed to scrape together the money to enter the profession, they could be killed if they didn’t hire a bodyguard.
Because their equipment was expensive, they were often targeted when they went on missions in the wilderness. Thus, summoner was a high-risk class that required a massive amount of money, and its results were entirely dependent on chance.
Alister dragged his feet back to where Yanzi and Chase stood. The joyful cheers that had burst out moments ago were now replaced by mockery and whispers. Each glance and comment felt like an attack on his pride, breaking his dream of becoming a powerful awakened.
He a forced smile on his face as he reached them. “Looks like it’ll be you’ll taking care of me now, huh, Yanzi?” he joked, his voice lacking its usual confidence.
Yanzi and Chase, however, remained silent. Their concerned expressions from moments ago had turned into something colder, a distance gaze that made Alister shiver.
“That’s unfortunate, Alister,” Yanzi finally spoke, her voice was missing its usual warmth. “Such a useless talent for someone who always acted so high and mighty.”
Alister’s forced smile faded slightly. “Useless? My talent is SSS-rank…”
“Rank doesn’t mean everything, Alister,” Yanzi continued, her tone sharp. “A Summoner, even an SSS-rank one, is still a Summoner. How do you plan to take care of me? You can’t expect me to be the one taking care of my man?”
His confusion deepened. “What do you mean?”
Yanzi met his gaze unflinchingly. “Don’t play dumb, Alister. The future I envisioned… didn’t involve you being a glorified monster babysitter.”
Alister felt a knot of dread in his stomach. He looked to Chase for comfort, but even his friend seemed to be battling a whirlwind of emotions.
“Chase?” Alister asked, his voice barely a whisper. “This isn’t like you, say something.”
Chase scuffed his feet on the dusty ground, avoiding Alister’s gaze. “Look, Alister,” he began, his voice thick with guilt, “Both my parents suffer from mana discharge syndrome, and I have a little sister who’ll be starting at this academy next year. She needs someone to pay her fees.”
It was clear what Chase was trying to say. Due to the fact that Alister had awakened a basically useless talent, he would need support from his friends for a while before he would be able to stand on his own. And Chase didn’t think he would be able to provide that support; he already had much on his plate.
His words hit Alister hard. It was clear, although they never said it they hoped to be able to gain greatly by befriending someone as skilled as he was. Yanzi’s dreams of a luxurious life and Chase’s hopes for a secure future had all depended on Alister awakening a powerful talent. An SSS-rank Summoner, however, was not what they had hoped for.
“So… all this time…” Alister mumbled, a cold emptiness blooming in his chest. His gaze grew distant, his eyes trembling slightly.
“It’s not your fault, Alister,” Chase said in a cold tone. “It’s just… This friendship was more of a strategic move for me, and since there is no longer a benefit for it I want to end it, look you’re a smart guy, I’m sure you can figure something out. But unfortunately I can’t support you.”
Chase’s words felt empty. The power he wanted to change his situation was now out of reach. He was no longer the prodigy destined for greatness. No. Right now he was just Alister, the boy with a “useless” talent, a burden rather than a support.
Alister felt a throbbing in his chest. It wasn’t an emotion he was used to, so he hadn’t figured out the name for it yet. All he knew at that moment was that the people he believed to be his friends had abandoned him because of his powerful yet practically useless talent.
