Deus Didymus: Sunder

Chapter Forty-Two

Bae's eyes widened, "So you awakened your Allele on that mission?"

Kami nodded, "Not many people know though. I think Ms. Shen and the highest of the higher ups know about my Allele awakening. It's so much of a secret that it's actually not a factor in my ranking."

Bae's amazed expression quickly turned to confusion.

"How does the ranking system work?" Bae asked, "Like... How do you rank up after Placements?"

Kami crossed his arms, "There are many ways to rank up. As you do missions, the quality of your effort might increase your rank. Your instructors also actively update your rank every week, so if you make a lot of progress, your rank might increase as well--you'll just have to ask them to tell you if you've gone up. Although, if you're going from Nenam to Senam or Senam or Dunam, you're going to have to take an exam to make sure you qualify for the rank-up. Between each major rank--Hanam, Dunam, Senam, Nenam, there's a wall that you have to overcome. The first one is unlocking your energy. To become a Dunam, you have to show complete mastery over your Allele. To become a Hanam, you have to be able to sense energies."

Bae stared at his empty bowl, taking in the information he just received.

"Does that mean someone can go their entire life without becoming a Hanam despite being really powerful?"

Kami nodded, "That's not uncommon. There are many S-Rank Dunam who rival Hanam in power, but since they cannot sense energy, they cannot become one."

"Why is that?" Bae questioned.

"Because the ability to sense energy is an incredibly powerful skill. You can sense when someone is using their energy and who. If you're skillful enough like Mr. Park or Commander Lee, you can passively sense people's energies regardless of whether or not they're using it--which allows you to effectively sense everyone within your range. Oh- Yeeun noona is someone only gated from being a Hanam because they can't sense energies."

Bae let out a deep sigh, "I forgot. How do you unlock your energy?"

"That depends," Kami chuckled, "The general rule of thumb is: If you are extremely focused on the task before you to the point of hyper-fixation, only then will you be able to unlock your energy. That could be in a highly tense situation where your life is on the life, while training, or in any other scenario. For example your classmate, Yujin, unlocked hers because she desperately wanted to save Y/n. At that point in time, every fiber in her body focused on saving her brother. I unlocked my energy when I hit a wall while training and became incredibly frustrated. Mr. Park?"

Kami paused, pursing his lips, "He unlocked his protecting me... Yeah..."

As the days passed, Bae spent whatever free time he could training in hopes his determination to improve and extreme circumstances allowed the boy to unlock his energy. Despite his multiple near-misses with the hospital, the boy gave up sighing.

This is difficult...

Y/n gritted his teeth as he stood before Minho. Despite not copying his Allele at all, Minho continued to outclass Y/n in every way he could.

The silent boy stood with his guard up, waiting for Y/n's next move. Throughout their sparring session, Y/n remained on the offensive as he knew very well that he'd lose if Minho made the first move.

How can I hope to protect anyone around here if I'm not even stronger than them??

In their own section of the open academy field, Hitomi and Nako stood face to face in their own duel.

With her crumbling gauntlets, Nako clapped her hands together creating a cloud of dust in front of her.

Next.