Chapter 41: The Meaning of E-Rank

Raviah Solomon did not allow the panicked agricultural workers to scatter across the northern fields. The moment Daniel manifested that living flame, Field Twelve was officially reclassified as a high-containment medical observation zone.

"Everyone remain exactly where you are," Raviah commanded, her tone cold and unyielding. "No one leaves this sector until I have completed the primary diagnostic examination."

The farm hands exchanged uneasy glances, shifting their feet in the damp dirt, but nobody dared to disobey her orders. The atmosphere felt heavy and electric, thick with an underlying tension that none of them could fully comprehend.

Daniel sat shivering on a reinforced medical stool placed beneath a hastily erected canvas monitoring canopy. His coarse canvas overalls were scorched at the chest, and his calloused hands trembled uncontrollably against his knees.

The tiny, hovering flame in his open palm flickered weakly before sputtering out completely, leaving behind a wisp of grey smoke. Daniel stared blankly at his empty palm, his breathing ragged.

"It keeps happening," he stammered, his voice laced with terror. "I’m not trying to do it."

Raviah stepped closer, adjusting the optical lens of her portable electromagnetic scanner. "Do not force the energy, Daniel. Remain still."

"I wasn’t forcing anything," he whispered defensively, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.

"I know you weren’t," Raviah replied smoothly, her eyes scanning the scrolling line graphs on her handheld display.

His elemental output was exceptionally weak. The distinct bio-energetic signature of an elemental Root definitely existed within his cellular structure, but the actual power output was barely registering above baseline background noise.

His biological system was actively generating a force that defied conventional human anatomy, yet his overall strength remained undeniably feeble.

Reaching into her coat, Raviah tapped her terminal screen to initialize a classified medical profile.

[SUBJECT: DANIEL]

[ELEMENTAL TYPE: FIRE]

[RANK: E]

[STATUS: FIRST CONFIRMED NATURAL AWAKENING]

She began documenting every measurable metric with clinical, unfeeling precision. She recorded his elevated core temperature, erratic pulse rate, localized bioelectric fluctuations, and the physical duration of the thermal release.

"Try to recall the internal sensation from earlier," Raviah instructed, watching his vital signs closely. "Attempt to summon the flame again."

Daniel swallowed hard, his throat dry. "I... I don’t know how I did it the first time, Doctor."

"Clear your mind and focus on the heat inside your chest," she advised, stepping back slightly to give him room.

He squeezed his eyes shut, his chest heaving as he concentrated all his willpower on his right palm. For several tense seconds, nothing happened except for the rustle of the wind against the canvas canopy.

Then, a tiny orange spark snapped into existence between his index finger and thumb. Daniel immediately opened his eyes in surprise, causing the delicate spark to instantly vanish into thin air.

"I lost it again," he groaned, dropping his head into his hands in frustration.

"That is completely normal for a newly awakened individual," Raviah said, her fingers flying across her terminal screen as she logged the attempt.

Daniel looked up at her, his brow furrowed in utter confusion. "Normal?"

"Normal for someone whose Root has been active for less than an hour," she clarified, pointing her scanner at his wrist.

She carefully examined the bioelectric pathways pulsing faintly beneath his skin. "Your physical body has no prior experience channeling atmospheric energy. Your Root has awakened, but your energy pathways are completely unrefined and narrow."

Daniel stared down at his pale, trembling hands. "So... does that mean I’m weak?"

Raviah did not attempt to soften the harsh truth. "In your current state? Yes, you are weak."

His shoulders slumped heavily at her blunt assessment.

"However, being weak right now does not mean you are destined to stay that way," Raviah added, her voice calm and measured.

She tapped the glass screen of her diagnostic tablet, displaying his energy output chart. "Your current energy threshold is minimal because your Root is in its infancy. You have not accumulated sufficient elemental energy, nor have you learned the basic mechanics of energy control."

Daniel looked down at his calloused palm, staring at the spot where the tiny flame had hovered moments ago. "Is it really possible for me to get stronger?"

"Yes, with structured discipline and time," Raviah answered, her sharp eyes narrowing slightly.

"Your current classification is E-Rank," she explained, holding up a finger. "Think of E-Rank as the absolute foundation of elemental existence, not your absolute limit."

She pulled up a secondary document on her terminal, reviewing the standardized classification framework she remembered vividly from her past life.

The global hierarchy was uncompromising: E → D → C → B → A → S → 2S → 3S.

In the coming years of apocalyptic ruin, this unified ranking system would govern human survival and military hierarchy. E-Rank represented the newly awakened, individuals who could barely manipulate a spark or a breeze.

D-Rank marked the beginning of basic, reliable elemental control suitable for minor tasks. C-Rank was the true threshold for active combatants capable of using their powers in battle.

Beyond C-Rank lay the elites, masters, and grandmasters who could reshape entire battlefields with a single thought.

Daniel, however, knew nothing of this future hierarchy. To an ordinary farm hand who had spent his life pulling weeds, even a tiny floating flame was terrifying.

Raviah observed his anxious body language, making a quick mental assessment of his psychological state. "You will require systematic training before you are permitted back into the workforce."

Daniel nodded quickly. "Whatever you say, Doctor."

"Not combat training," she clarified, shaking her head. "First, you must learn basic energy stabilization so you do not accidentally exhaust your life force or cause collateral damage."

Daniel glanced nervously down at his hand, flexing his fingers. "What happens if I completely lose control of it?"

"If your energy surges uncontrollably, you will suffer severe thermal burns across your arms and chest," Raviah warned coldly.

His face paled, all color draining from his lips. "And... what about the people standing near me?"

"You could easily ignite their clothing or set the entire field ablaze," Raviah stated without hesitation. "That is precisely why you are remaining under strict quarantine until I fully understand your biological reaction."

"I understand," Daniel replied softly, placing his hands flat against his thighs to stop their trembling.

Raviah turned back to her scientific array, calibrating a deep-tissue bio-scanner. She activated the handheld device and slowly swept the glowing blue sensor across Daniel’s chest and sternum.

The machine emitted a steady, rhythmic hum as it mapped his internal energy circulation. Then, without warning, the hum stuttered and cut out entirely.

Raviah frowned, tapping the side of the digital monitor. The diagnostic readout was behaving erratically.

Daniel’s Root was not merely generating internal fire energy from his own metabolism. It was actively pulling in external energy signatures from the surrounding environment like a vacuum.

She immediately checked the localized atmospheric sensors mounted around the canopy. The air pressure was completely normal. She switched to the soil composition monitor inserted into the earth. The mineral readings showed no unusual chemical anomalies.

She scanned the localized electromagnetic spectrum, finding only stable background noise.

"Doctor Solomon..." Daniel suddenly gasped, his voice tight and strained.

Raviah whipped her head around to look at him. His entire posture had locked up rigid, his neck muscles straining against his skin.

The orange flame exploded back into existence above his right palm, crackling fiercely. But within seconds, the warm orange hue began shifting, turning into a blinding, intense white heat.

"Do not move!" Raviah ordered, reaching into her spatial dimension to pull out a heavy thermal insulation blanket.

Daniel’s chest heaved as he fought for breath. "I can’t control it! It feels like something is pulling on me!"

The veins along his neck and forearms began to glow with a faint, incandescent light beneath his flesh. The diagnostic instruments surrounding the canopy began blaring with frantic, high-pitched audio warnings.

[ROOT ACTIVITY INCREASING EXPONENTIALLY.]

[WARNING: CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL ABSORPTION DETECTED.]

Raviah stepped forward, holding the heavy suppression blanket ready. "Daniel, close your eyes and focus on your breathing right now!"

"I can’t shut it off!" he screamed, his voice cracking with sheer panic.

The white flame expanded violently, throwing off a wave of scorching heat that singed the edge of the canvas canopy. The watching farm hands shrieked in terror, scrambling backward toward the safety of the utility vehicles.

Raviah raised her arm to shield her face from the blinding light, her fingers reaching for an emergency chemical extinguisher. Before she could pull the pin, every single electromagnetic sensor across Field Twelve simultaneously pegged to its absolute maximum limit.

Raviah froze in her tracks, her breath catching in her throat. She recognized that specific energy frequency instantly. The surge was not originating from Daniel’s body, nor was it descending from the upper atmosphere.

The massive energy pulse was emanating from deep underground, echoing up through the bedrock. It was coming directly from Sector Seven, radiating from the buried military containment unit.

The mysterious, ancient energy source that had been quietly building strength beneath Sol Haven was finally reacting.

Daniel’s newly awakened Root was acting as an organic conductor, violently resonating with the subterranean pulse. His white flame erupted upward in a roaring pillar of pure heat, scorching the roof of the canopy.

The ground beneath their feet began to shudder violently, sending ripples across the surface of the soil.

Raviah stared at the screaming diagnostic terminals in absolute shock. Daniel’s sudden awakening had not been an isolated biological fluke.

An external force had forcibly activated his Root from deep beneath the earth. And whatever monstrous entity or energy source was slumbering under Sol Haven... was rapidly waking up.