The Ruler's Stone

The Rank They Failed To See

After a long and heavy silence, the chairman finally turned to his secretary and asked about the power level rank and the full details.

The secretary replied in a frustrated and apologetic tone, saying sorry, like he had already said before, the boy was just completely average, he did not have any good power at all, his physical numbers were actually quite good and decent, but his magic power was nothing more than average.

The chairman slowly looked at the paper in his hand for a moment, and then he threw it onto the desk as if it was completely worthless and meant absolutely nothing to him.

He remembered the very first time he saw how they check the common people, how there were multiple people standing and waiting in a very long line, and when their time finally came, the instructor would just grip their shoulder and give everyone the exact same weight note and then again pull another one forward in the exact same careless way, writing their magic rank and power just by watching their face and their health like he truly didn't care at all about what could happen to them, and he had watched that whole unfair scene with his own eyes, and he had asked his professor about that wrong system but his professor had just completely ignored his point about it.

That is exactly why he doesn't care at all about what that paperwork is saying about him, because he wants to judge that kid by himself, with his own eyes.

Then he said to his secretary in a cold voice, "You can go now."

His secretary's face and expression were still red and full of anger, because he didn't want to waste the chairman's valuable time on such a low and worthless kid.

After that, the chairman whispered to himself and said, "Maybe he can control his magic. If that's the case, then he is already stepping to the next level of power."

In the next scene, that black car reached the office. Marki came out of the car and a person started guiding him, showing him the way.

While Marki was walking, you could tell he has a strong mindset. He watched every single thing. He looked at that person too and thought, "He might not be a driver. He is too strong, far stronger than me."

Then the secretary came in front of them. He told the person, "You can wait here. I will take him to meet the chairman myself."

Then he stood there and Marki started walking with the secretary.

After just a few steps, the secretary said to Marki, "You look nervous? Ahh, that's fine. It's expected. A low commoner getting invited here. If you had any respect, you would have already told them you wouldn't make it here."

Marki's facial expression started to change.

The secretary said, "You need to know your place, you brat. Even this floor we are walking on is more valuable than the dress you are wearing here."

The secretary leaned into Marki's face.

"Listen, brat. The chairman's time is precious. You don't waste a single second of it. You say one wrong word and I will break your mouth. Understand? Low commoner."

The secretary turned and marched straight to the chairman's office. He pushed the door open.

The chairman looked up. "Where is our guest?"

"Right there, sir," the secretary said proudly. Then he turned back.

No one was there. The hallway was empty.

The guard stepped forward. "That kid already left."

"What? Why?" the secretary snapped. "Doesn't he care about our precious time!"

The guard's voice was cold. "He left the moment you started insulting his family."

The air in the room changed.

The chairman's eyes burned with anger. "GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" he roared at the secretary. "HOW DARE YOU TREAT MY GUEST LIKE THAT!"

The secretary went pale. Scared, shaking, he ran out of the office.

Silence returned.

The chairman turned to the guard. "What do you think about that kid?"

The guard lowered his head respectfully. "You were right about him, sir. At such a little age... he has already started walking the path of mana control. He might have even crossed the limit of the Zvaru power ranks."

The chairman stared straight at the table, lost in thought.

"Uhh... maybe in some time," he whispered, "we are going to have a new powerful person... either in our team... or against our team."

Then his voice got serious. "For months, we don't know what is happening. Who is our enemy, who is our friend... We need to find more trustworthy members, and fast. Because we cannot bear the next impact."

---

Far away, Marki was on a bus, traveling home. He stared out the window.

Inside the bus, a little family sat close. Parents holding their small son with so much peace and love.

Marki watched them for a moment.

Then he looked outside again — and smiled.