Inverse System

"Hey, you two! Why are you so late?" They heard a familiar voice call out for them to their right.

They saw their group of friends standing against the back wall, waiting for the man on the podium to continue speaking. Quint was deep squatting against the wall, and Core was sitting down beside him, inspecting the tablet that each student obtained. Clyde, Xenia, and Reggie were standing in front of them, awaiting the arrival of Rein and Chloe.

The entire room's atmosphere dampened when Chloe arrived, the black-haired man standing on the podium hearing whispers coming from the students insulting the princess. Enraged, the bespectacled man stomped his foot on the floor, causing a slight quake in the earth, gathering everyone's attention back to him.

"The next person to insult the princess will be expelled. I am not going to tolerate any of this slander. Do I make myself clear?" The black-haired man declared, everyone in the room reluctantly nodding their heads.

"Good. I am your vice principal, Wallace. As of this moment, everyone outside the school is—" he suddenly stopped talking as the metal door flew open again, revealing a spiky, blond-haired man with red eyes and glasses entering the school.

He carelessly walked into the foyer, the light that contrasted the dark room he was just in reflected off his glasses. He wore a buttoned-up red long coat with red pants and black shoes.

"*sigh*, please arrive on time next time. We've no time for tardy fools like you," Wallace said as he furrowed his glasses.

"Sorry," he articulated, echoing his smooth, velvety voice across the room.

At a closer glance, the man appeared to be rigorously sweating, sitting down in the middle of the foyer and taking out a canister of water from his pocket, chugging it as everyone watched.

"*Ahem*, as I was saying, everyone outside the school as of this moment is expelled, and only you present will be the new students of Ranger Academy. When you entered, you were met with a machine that asked you for your handprint. That machine analyzed your Spring's ability and registered you as a student of this school.

But that's not all it did. It ranked you all in Spring power. With the addition of the blonde-haired tardy man, we now have exactly 30 first-year students. A number will appear on your tablets telling you your ranking compared to the students, with 1 being the best, and 30 being the worst. Please take a look now."

Everyone took out their tablets and gazed into the screen, which suddenly turned blue, displaying a welcome message from the school.

"Welcome to Range Academy. Tap on the screen to continue…"

It said. Rein could hear everybody's reactions across the room, some of them ecstatic, and some of them disappointed.

"Look! I'm number 11!" Said an enthusiastic man to a girl.

"Well, too bad for you, I'm 10!" She replied, making the man discouraged.

"Damn it! I'm 24!" Said an angry elven man.

"23 for me. Well, at least I'm not last," a nervous-looking man sighed.

"Hey Rein," Chloe whispered. "What'd you get? #1 I assume," she said, showing her screen to Rein, displaying the number 3.

"Oh, you're number 3? Impressive," he said as he looked around at the other's reactions, stopping at Clyde's, who was standing right beside him.

"You are ranked: [2]" It said on his screen.

"So Clyde's second? I guess I expected that. He has a little more mastery over his Spring than Chloe," he thought to himself.

"Wha?!" The girl standing beside Clyde reacted, showing her screen off to the group.

"You are ranked: [29]" Xenia's screen said.

"What the..? But your Spring is so strong..." Rein blurted out, Core nervously laughing on the floor.

"Ahaha, at least I'm not the lowest in the group," his screen displaying the number 28 on it.

"No way! I'm not weaker than Core!" Xenia cried, having learned about Core's power over the last 3 days.

"Could it be… It doesn't register the inverted Springs? But that would mean…" Rein thought to himself, tapping his screen.

"You are ranked: [30]" It displayed.

"Haha… You've got to be shitting me…" He uttered, turning everyone's attention to him in the group.

"Pfffft!! You're even lower than me!" Xenia smugly laughed at him, relieved that she wasn't the lowest in the group.

"Excuse me! Wallace? I believe there has been a mistake made with the rankings," Clyde protested, raising his hand.

"Oh? And what could that be?" Wallace replied.

"How could the winner of the entrance tournament be the weakest entry? Frankly, that makes absolutely no sense," Clyde sternly opposed, as Wallace pushed up his glasses.

"Just because he was the winner of the entrance tournament does not mean his Spring is stronger than everyone else. He may have used physical ability or intelligence to win. If so, that can be displayed in aptitude tests as the school year progresses," Wallace expertly responded.

"But—!"

"No buts. I've had to rebuild that ranking machine countless times, thanks to a certain notorious 2nd-year student. I can guarantee you that it has no malfunctions."

"It's okay Clyde. He said it himself, I'll just have to show my stuff later on," Rein held Clyde's shoulder, calming him down.

"Very well… Judging by the fact that Xenia was put in the 29th spot, does that mean that it does not detect inverted Springs?" Clyde inquired.

"Right, and not only that, but it seems it can detect cursed Springs as well. My Spring level is probably the highest in the room, but that didn't matter. Curses always seem to come in dead last. It's why Xenia and I are at the bottom," Core explained.

"Hey, we're not at the bottom!" She looked at Rein smugly, who put his hand on his face in annoyance.

"Quint and Reggie, what'd you get?" She asked as she peeked over their screens.

"You are ranked: [13]" is what it said on Quint's screen.

"You are ranked: [9]" on Reggie's.

Xenia started laughing looking at Quint's screen, angering him greatly.

"Pfffthahaha! You're number 13! I thought you were supposed to be a big strong man, hahaha!" She hysterically laughed at him, causing him to spring up in anger.

"Hey! I don't wanna hear shit comin' from you! You're 16 spots lower than me!" He angrily shouted.

"Oh, but you heard Core didn't you? That's only because I have a cursed Spring. What's your excuse?" She teased, making him groan to himself in annoyance, sitting back down to calm himself.

"Wait, but if Rein's not number 1, then who is?" Chloe asked as they heard the sound of a microphone boom over them.

"Alright, now that you've all seen your rankings, it's time to explain how the classes will be divided. Each class will have 6 students, ranging from class S to class D. Ranks 1 to 6 will be in class S, 7 to 12 will be in class A, 13 to 18 will be in class B, 19 to 24 will be class C, and 25 to 30 will be class D. The public rankings will now be shown," he said, pointing to the large screen above him, which turned on shortly after.

Class S:

1. Sho Anagi (S+)

2. Clyde Morioh (S+)

3. Chloe Orthlysia (S+)

4. Derek Snyder

5. Alyssa Osborne

6. Eleanor Cherry

Class A:

7: Sid Magnus

8: Tiarus Ilifiel

9: Reggie Greybrewer

10: Elaine Barkridge

11: Lance Bowman

12: William Curtis

Class B:

13: Quint Vossen

14: Lamarr Shepherd

15: Sano Sanraku

16: Patricia Virvyre

17: Elyon Orirel

18: Tanaga Yugoyaki

Class C:

19: Ardryll Pabanise

20: Aito Motoka

21: Gilbert Cohen

22: Stacey George

23: Kai Bihorn

24: Alan Waris

Class D:

25: Roger Bentely

26: Candice Eilstina

27: Mizubuki Daikuro

28: Core (D-)

29: Xenia Vossen (D-)

30: Rein Xilris (D-)

"These are the current standings. Over the course of each month, each student will have the opportunity to earn points to bring them up the ladder within their class. By taking Ranger commissions, fulfilling requests around campus and in town, or doing good on aptitude and theory tests, you can gain points corresponding to your results.

Of course, the commissions that you can accept are based on the class you are in, so class S can take more dangerous and rewarding commissions in terms of money and points, and there are no limits on the amount they can take. But these points will not make you go up in classes. For example, if Tanaga was able to earn more points than Quint by the end of the month, he would become the class leader. However, if Tanaga were to earn more points than William, who is in the next class up, he would NOT advance in classes.

The only way to hop to the next class would be to defeat them in a battle. At the end of each month, the top 3 from each class will battle it out with the bottom 3 from the class above them. If the lower class wins, the students swap positions. If the higher class wins, nothing changes, and those students are able to keep their spots in the class secure for the next month.

Classes S and D are slightly different though. Not only will the bottom 3 battle the top 3 from the adjacent classes each month, but they will also battle the other three in their groups, the S+ and the D-. For example, if Derek, Alyssa, and Eleanor defeat Sid, Tiarus, and Reggie, they will not only secure their spots in class S, but they will also be granted the chance to face the 3 above them, in this case, Sho, Clyde, and Princess Chloe. If they win, they will be granted the top 3 spots and given the S+ title. In the case of a loss, nothing changes The same thing with class D.

Whoever is in class D by the end of the month have to battle to get rid of the D- title. For example, if Roger, Candice, and Mizubuki lose their fight to the 3 above them, they will be put in a battle against the 3 under them. But if they win, they escape class D and move on to class C, and the ones who lost will now have to fight the D- students.

Depending on which rank you end the month at, you will gain a designated amount of Rol. To give you an example, the number 1 spot will earn you 1 million Rol a month."

The crowd raved in excitement as he said that, Wallace stomping his feet to regain order again.

"Please let me finish. I said Rol, not dol. The money you earn at the end of each month will only be usable for on-campus purchases, so don't think you're set for life if you make 1 million Rol. This 'fake money' will be stored on your tablet and you will not be able to use it in places outside the campus. The only real money you'll be earning is from commissions, and of course, class S will have the most rewarding ones.

There are also special bonuses awarded to those with titles beside their names, which are S+ and D-. In addition to being awarded the most Rol a month, the S+ are granted access to the special zones on campus, such as the premium training area, and the high-class restaurants. Of course, these can be accessed by the rest of you for the right amount of Rol, but S+ rank can access them for free.

But that is only the tip of the iceberg. For every month you spend in S+, you gain a 'prestige point'. Does that sound familiar to you?"

"Do you mean the ranks that are granted to full-fledged Rangers?" one student blurted out.

"That's right. Ordinarily, graduates of Ranger Academy are automatically able to skip 4 prestige ranks, debuting their Ranger careers at prestige rank 5. But, for every prestige point you gain, you will skip one extra rank after you graduate. Do note that there is a limit of 4 prestige points per person, so staying in S+ after your 4th month is pretty much useless. I believe that concludes the basic overview of your time at Ranger Academy. If there are any questions, feel free to ask," Wallace concluded as he heaved a breath of exhaustion, having talked for a long time.

"I think you neglected to explain 1 thing, Mr. Wallace," Rein raised his hand, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"What is it Rein?" He replied in a tired tone.

"You explained the S+ title but didn't touch upon the D- title. What 'perks' does it give you?" He inquired, making Wallace raise an eyebrow, then laugh to himself quietly.

"I guess I did forget to mention that huh… It might be the most important rule of all, how stupid of me," he pushed his glasses up to his face and glanced menacingly at the crowd, unnerving them, unsettling the atmosphere of the room.

"Those unfortunate enough to have the D- title by the end of the month will meet an untimely end to their time at Ranger Academy. In other words, expulsion."