SSS-Ranked Evolution: Worlds Unbound

The empire Ren was born in was the Tzen empire, and it was the strongest in all the lands. There were many empires, both big and small but none could compare to the Tzen empire, ruled by the infamous Duke Alpheus. The duke was known for his inability to express empathy and had brought the empire from weak to deliberating strength. He never took no for an answer and everything he wanted, he took with force, even if it was handed gently to him. The empire's military strength was almost divine, they housed only the finest and those who weren't strong enough would eventually be killed by one force or the other.

The Tzen empire was created by four of the strongest provinces. Gidor, Lufenia, Hyashi and Doga. Recently Lufenia was chosen as the capital of the empire since they consistently awakened high ranked individuals that were absorbed into the Tzen Empire.

Ren resided in Gidor, in one of the smaller towns with his mother. The province was very fond of leaving the less privileged to suffer and no one in the town liked the empire or the rulers. Now in the tiny space of his mother's house, Ren was having an existential crisis. In the small bathing space, with a pale of water and a straw sponge, he tried to scrub his taming glyph off his chest, causing blisters to form on his skin. He hissed and cursed, but there was no way his destiny was going to be rubbed off his soap and water.

"Dammit! I'm ruined!" He screamed to the universe before he thought of the fox lady he met in the afterlife, "this is all her fault, she definitely tricked me." he said to himself, he could even hear her dumb laugh in his head, but it could be him hallucinating. Ren was getting depressed as he thought of the new development, the government would take him away from his mum like they did to his sister and with no one to help his ageing mother, how would she survive?

He exited the bathroom and tied a small towel around his waist, going to the kitchen to see his mum managing to prepare something to eat for lunch. She coughed as the smoke flew into her nostrils, forcing water out of her eyes. He felt sad, he didn't want to leave her.

"Mum, I will be going to the market to buy food." he announced before walking back inside his little space of a room, the house was not big so he could hear her when she responded.

"I do not have money on me, my son." he told him as she stirred the old aluminium pot with an even older wooden spoon. 

"Don't worry, I do. I will be back soon." he got dressed in some loose clothing and with a rugged old sackcloth, he headed into town with the little money he had to bring in foodstuffs for the house. But this was just an excuse to get out of the house without Miyo wondering. He was looking for someone that might be able to help him to get rid of his beast taming mark.

Irina. She had awakened arcane magic years ago and was an S ranked mage, but she was able to hide it away from the prying eyes of the empire and they didn't take her. To Ren, she was his only hope. She got the nickname umbrella girl, as that was her preferred weapon to use when in fights.

Ren was at a vegetable stall, his eyes searching, hoping they would come in contact with Irina. He was moving from one stall to another and he still hadn't seen her. He was about to go home when he spotted her, and with a light bounce in his steps, he approached her, she turned just as he got close enough.

"Irina!" he waved and came to a halt, "it is a beautiful afternoon to see you here." he came with pleasantries, grabbing her hand and placing a soft kiss on it as he bowed. The gesture made blush rush to her cheeks but as she parted her lips, she could sense something was different about him, "I have something important to talk to you about." not giving her any time, he dragged her to somewhere a bit less crowded and when he knew they were gifted a bit of solitude, he asked his question, "can you forfeit your ability?"

"Excuse me?" she didn't quite understand what he meant, but it sounded a bit comical to her.

"Can you unawaken an awakening?" this time, she laughed, her eyes following her movement. She opened them slowly to reveal jaded pearls, the essence of her magic fluttering around in them, they had always told him she had mesmerising eyes, he was just seeing that.

"No you can't Ren. But why do you ask? Did you awaken?" her eyes glittered with more magic and Ren was slowly getting hypnotized until she realized and tried to tone down her excitement so she wouldn't accidentally cast a spell on him, "what did you awaken? I can sense a strange power coming from you." her voice became softer, lower so no one would hear what he was about to say.

"Well…. I…it's… Be—" screams erupted from the market, and it prompted Irina and Ren to cut short their meeting and go check it out. People were running in the opposite direction of them and when they got there, there was a wolf wrecking havoc.

 It's dark purple fur shimmered unnaturally, arcs of electricity sparking across its body. Its glowing yellow eyes burned with primal fury, and its growl rumbled like distant thunder. The wolf roared, snapping its jaws at anyone too slow to run. A child tripped nearby, her small form trembling as the beast locked eyes on her.

"Ren! The Girl!" Irina gave him the command as she sighted what was going to become of the poor girl if no one saved her.

Time seemed to slow.

The wolf lunged, but Ren moved without thinking. One moment he was standing, the next he was a blur. He scooped the girl into his arms, diving out of the wolf's path just as it pounced. They hit the ground hard, Ren cradling the child protectively.

The girl's mother rushed over, tears streaming down her face, "Thank you! Thank you!" she sobbed, clutching her daughter and rushing her away from the scene.

Ren barely heard her. His eyes were locked on the wolf, which now turned its murderous gaze on him. Its lips curled back, revealing razor-sharp fangs, "Great," he muttered, pulling out his hunting knife. "Of course it's me you want."

The wolf charged, its paws slamming against the cobblestones with enough force to crack them. Ren dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws. He slashed with his knife, grazing its shoulder, but the beast barely flinched. Irina saw an opening and with her umbrella magic, she threw a blast of pure essence, but the wolf sensed it and readied its own magic to defend itself.

Lightning crackled around the wolf, and it let out an ear-splitting howl. The energy surged toward Ren and Irina, forcing him to dive for cover behind a stall that exploded in a shower of splinters. The blast hit Irina and she was knocked over a stall, breaking it in the process and stunning her for a while.

"Irina!" Ren called out to her to make sure she was okay, but no response was heard from her until after a few seconds, she let out a loud groan, telling him that she was still alive.

"Okay, not a normal wolf, could this get any worse?" Ren panted, gripping his knife tighter as he rose to his feet. You should never ask the universe if things could get worse. It always gets worse.

The wolf lunged again, faster than before. Ren ducked under its swipe, his movements unnaturally fluid, almost instinctive, like he had always been a fighter, it scared him a bit, but he continued to move because if he stopped, he could kiss his life goodbye. He spun and drove the blade into its flank.

The wolf howled in pain, whipping its massive tail and sending Ren flying into a cart of cabbages. He groaned, shaking his head as the world spun, "damn, what is this thing made of?"

Before he could recover, the wolf was on him, pinning him to the ground. Its jaws snapped inches from his face, drool dripping onto his cheek. Ren pushed back with all his strength, his arms trembling under the beast's weight.

"Of course it could get worse!" his hands were separating the wolf's mouth, its teeth sinking into his skin and drawing blood from his being, "Not like this," he growled, his voice strained under all the fatigue, "I'm not dying like this!" He had a family to get back to and there was no way they were bringing back his dead body to his mum.

Just as the wolf's jaws inched closer, a shockwave of energy exploded through the marketplace. The wolf was flung off Ren, skidding across the cobblestones with a pained yelp.

Ren blinked in shock, coughing as he tried to sit up. Standing a few feet away was Irina, her elegant flower patterned umbrella glowing with an unearthly jade coloured light, her eyes mirroring the colour of her essence. She pointed it at the wolf, watching it react to her magic before she turned her eyes to Ren, concern lacing them

"Get up, Ren!" she encouraged, rather commanding. But it was just what he needed.

The wolf snarled, electricity arcing wildly as it prepared to charge again. Ren pushed himself to his feet, something inside him stirring. His chest burned where the glyph lay hidden, and he felt energy ripple through his body.

"Thanks, just in time," he muttered, not knowing what he was supposed to do next, but he let the magic flow within him, "let's get this over with."

The wolf leapt, but this time, Ren didn't dodge. He raised his hands, and a golden light burst from his palms, surrounding the beast in a swirling vortex. The light grew brighter, engulfing the wolf completely.

The air crackled with power as the wolf's form began to shift. The dark purple fur faded, replaced by a gleaming silver coat. The electricity softened into a shimmering glow, and its eyes, once filled with rage, now held calm intelligence.

Ren staggered, the light fading as he dropped to one knee. The wolf stood before him, majestic and otherworldly, its silver fur catching the faint sunlight breaking through the clouds. It now had the same glyph that he had, and memories of what happened with the snake came back to him

"Did… did I just do that?" Ren whispered to himself, staring in awe at the new transformation.

The wolf tilted its head, almost as if acknowledging him, before turning and bounding into the forest.

Ren collapsed onto the cobblestones, breathing heavily. Irina ran to his side, her umbrella still glowing faintly.

"Ren, are you okay? Does anything hurt?" she asked, her voice a mix of wonder and concern. Her eyes moved to his hands that were coated in his blood, her heart sinking before his hand gripped her wrist, a small sign telling her he was fine.

"I don't know, I feel okay but..." he trailed off, his chest still burning. He clutched at his shirt, feeling the faint outline of the glyph. Irina took the initiative to pull outside the fabric he wore and ran her eyes across his chest, the glyph that glowed faintly. Her mouth parted a bit, her eyes holding disbelief, "But something tells me my life just got a lot more complicated." his eyes moved to hers, she was still frozen in place, and he was getting scared, this was what he wanted to ask her to get rid of, and she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Ren... You…are…a beast tamer! SSS ranked?!" her pupils shook wildly as she gazed upon his open chest and the tired boy that held such insane power.

"Well shit."