Creation Of All Things-Chapter 30: Sparring 1

The room buzzed with faint mechanical hums as the evaluation machine powered up, its interface flickering with cascading lines of data. Alfred practically bounced onto the platform first, unable to hide his excitement.

"Alright, let's see what I've got!" he grinned.

The machine whirred to life, scanning him from head to toe. A holographic display materialized above, showcasing his abilities.

Name: Alfred Dhark

Ability: Fire Manipulation

Rank: ???

A hush fell over the room.

The faculty members exchanged uncertain glances, while Dean Wren's expression hardened. The usual rankings—E, D, C, B, A, or even S—were nowhere to be seen. Instead, just a set of question marks.

Gloria gave a low whistle, folding her arms with an amused smirk.

"Well, that's interesting."

Alfred blinked. "Huh? What's with the question marks?"

"Step down," the dean said, his voice unreadable. "Aria, you're next."

Aria hesitated but stepped forward, her cool demeanor unwavering. The machine activated once again, scanning her in a flash of blue light.

Name: Aria Dhark

Ability: Ice Manipulation

Rank: ???

Another silence.

Adam raised an eyebrow, glancing at his sister. Aria felt his gaze and frowned. "What?"

Before Adam could speak, Tatia exhaled, cutting through the silence. "It's unknown."

The dean looked at her sharply. "Unknown?"

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"It should have displayed 'X-Rank,'" Tatia continued, her tone calm but firm.

At that, the entire room seemed to shift.

Dean Wren's eyes widened in disbelief. The faculty members stiffened.

X-Rank.

The term wasn't thrown around lightly. In fact, it had only recently resurfaced due to a mysterious event a few days ago—an awakening of some kind that sent ripples through the academy's most advanced detection systems. If these two kids had something to do with it…

The dean swallowed. He had underestimated them. Greatly.

Alfred, oblivious to the weight of the revelation, just crossed his arms. "X-Rank, huh? Sounds badass."

Gloria chuckled. "Oh, it is."

Adam, meanwhile, glanced between Gloria and his siblings, then let out a short laugh. "Ah… So that's what happened."

Aria, catching on, smirked and chuckled as well. "Took you long enough."

Dean Wren was still trying to process everything when Adam casually turned to him. "Hey, mind if I check mine?"

The room fell into silence again.

The dean looked toward Tatia, searching for confirmation. The president said nothing, only giving a small nod.

With that, the dean exhaled and gestured toward the platform. "Go ahead."

Adam stepped forward, placing his hand on the scanning pad. The machine lit up, scanning him with an intense glow—brighter than before.

Then—

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The screen flickered violently before stabilizing.

Unknown. Unknown.

The room froze.

Even Dean Wren, who had been bracing himself, felt his stomach drop.

Gloria let out a slow, impressed whistle. "Well, damn."

The machine continued to beep, its interface glitching slightly before stabilizing again.

Unknown. Unknown.

Not even question marks. Just—nothing.

Dean Wren's fingers twitched at his side, his composed expression cracking for the first time. The faculty members behind him stiffened, some exchanging hushed murmurs. This wasn't normal. Not even X-Rank had caused the machine to react like this.

Adam looked at the results, then tilted his head slightly. "Huh. That's new."

Aria narrowed her eyes. "What the hell does 'unknown' even mean?"

Tatia, arms still crossed, smirked slightly. "Exactly what it says."

Alfred whistled. "Damn, bro, you broke it."

Gloria chuckled, shaking her head. "Well, that's one way to make an entrance."

Adam stepped off the platform, stretching lazily like nothing happened. "Alright, cool. Guess I'll stay a mystery."

The dean, however, wasn't nearly as relaxed. His mind was racing. The X-Rank awakening was already a huge deal, but this? This was something beyond that. It wasn't just a matter of being too powerful for the system to categorize—it was as if the machine itself couldn't comprehend Adam's existence.

He turned to Tatia, lowering his voice. "What exactly are these kids?"

Tatia just smiled. "Oh, Wren. You'll find out soon enough."

That did nothing to ease his nerves.

Before he could press further, Alfred clapped his hands together. "Alright, so we're done with the boring part. Now let's get to the fun stuff."

Dean Wren blinked. "Fun stuff?"

Alfred grinned. "The sparring, obviously."

For the first time since entering the room, Wren actually hesitated.

Matching these two up against normal students?

He wasn't sure if that was going to be a battle or a massacre.

"Wren, you know I don't have all day." Tatia's voice was sharp, her arms still crossed. A slight frown tugged at her lips as she leaned forward. "Also, keep everything that happened here to yourself. Their student IDs will say X-Rank—nothing more, nothing less. Got it?"

The dean swallowed, nodding quickly. "Understood."

Without another word, he turned on his heel and led them out of the evaluation room. The doors slid open with a soft hiss, and the group stepped back into the academy halls.

It wasn't long before they arrived at the training grounds again, but this time, the atmosphere had completely changed.

The air buzzed with excitement. A crowd of students gathered around one of the larger arenas, their cheers and shouts echoing through the open space. Inside the ring, two fighters clashed—one sending out a burst of electricity, while the other dodged with inhuman speed, their movements almost a blur. The impact of their attacks sent shockwaves rippling through the floor.

But then—

Silence.

The second Dean Wren and President Gloria stepped into view, the entire arena went dead quiet.

Students who had been hyped up just moments ago froze mid-cheer. Some turned their heads, their expressions shifting from excitement to confusion, then to curiosity.

Whispers started spreading.

"Wait… why is the president here?"

"And the dean? Did something happen?"

"Who are those guys with them?"

Aria, Alfred, and Adam walked forward, completely unfazed by the sudden shift in attention.

Alfred smirked, glancing around at the wide-eyed students. "Damn, we didn't even do anything yet."

Gloria chuckled. "Give it a minute."

Tatia, as usual, looked completely uninterested in the stares. She turned to Wren. "Alright, let's get this over with."

The dean cleared his throat, then looked toward the students in the arena.

"Time to see how they stack up."