Chapter 4: Restricted Ability

Professor Isolde Crane did not waste time on pleasantries...

She stood at the front of the classroom and the room instantly went quiet. Her dark coat was buttoned to the chest, silver-streaked hair pulled back without a single loose strand.

"Monsters," she began, and the board behind her produced images of beasts, vile looking and grotesque in every way you could think of, "are not random acts of nature. They spawn inside Dungeons. As long as a Dungeon remains monitored and regularly cleared, the creatures stay contained. Leave one unwatched or uncleared for too long, they leave. That is how towns disappear and countries reduce to rubble."

She tapped the board and a clean hierarchy appeared.

"Their ranks follow the same scale you now carry: F, E,D C, B, A, SS, SSS." She paused before continuing: "F through C are classified as Salves. They attack in droves, have low intelligence and often serve stronger entities.

B and A are Devils. They are pack leaders, territorial and intelligent enough to coordinate a horde of slaves.

SS and SSS are Monarchs. Rare, catastrophic, living disasters. In some records there are named Monarchs who hunters failed to destroy.

"Your ability rank is a starting point, not a ceiling," Crane continued. "But certain chains of restrictions are put on some abilities..."

Her gaze moved across the room and, for a slight moment, lingered near Ethan’s seat.

"Soul-binding. Blood manipulation... Necromancy. These, amongst others, are restricted. Not banned outright, because humanity cannot afford to discard any tool, but monitored, limited, and subject to additional oversight."

She paused, letting what she said sink in. "The reason is simple: Powers that interfere with the dead, the soul, or uncontrolled bodily fluids have historically caused as much damage as devil ranked monsters. A hunter who loses control of an undead legion is no longer an asset. They become a second disaster."

A few students shifted. Someone two rows ahead muttering something that sounded like agreement, and another one glancing at Ethan briefly.

Ethan kept his expression neutral, listening to the professor as she spoke.

Restricted. Monitored. Historically problematic....

None of it was surprising. The system had given him a path the academy already distrusted. That simply meant he would have to walk it more carefully than most.

The rest of the lecture covered basic hunter protocols, emergency signals, and the academy’s expectation that every student contribute according to their capacity. Crane did not smile once, she sounded as professional as you could get.

When the period ended, she dismissed them with a short nod and left through the side door.

Ethan remained seated a moment longer, watching the room.

Aria Reed did not leave immediately because a small cluster of students had already formed around her.

Some asked careful questions about her ice ability, others telling her of their wish to form teams with her.

She answered with the same cool expression she had used on him earlier, neither encouraging nor fully dismissing the attention. Rank SS created its own gravity. People orbited whether she invited them or not.

Lila Kane was easier to spot. Red hair, open posture, already laughing at something a classmate had said. She carried popularity of a warmer kind and Ethan looked away before either of them noticed him watching.

He had made a decision during the lecture, something reasonable and practical: Standing out right now would be a problem. He still did not fully understand the rules of this world, the limits of his own power, or how quickly the academy’s "monitoring" could become interference.

Until he did, the best approach was simple: listen, learn, and avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself.

He left the classroom without and returned to Dorm 303 soon after.

***

The shared living space was still empty as his roommate had not yet made it. Ethan closed the door to his bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed, and finally pulled up the system screen to properly see how screwed he probably was.

```

[Name: Ethan Shaw]

He looked at it and sighed.

At least he still got to keep his name...

[Age: 19]

[Awakened Class: Necromancer]

[Rank: F]

[Level: 1]

[EXP: 0 / 100]

[Death Energy: 50/50]

[Description: Death Energy acts more like stamina points for host. This is the resource the host spends to raise and maintain undead. Once depleted, host would no longer be able to use abilities till it fully regenerates.]

Control Capacity: 8

[Description: This is the amount of undead the host can control at a time.]

Undead Legion: 0/8

Skills:

-[ Raise Undead (Basic)]

[Cost: Variable Death Energy]

[Effect: Animate a suitable corpse under the user’s control. Quality of result depends on corpse condition and energy invested.]

- [Death Sense (Passive)]

[Effect: Detect recent death and residual death energy within a limited radius.]

- [Command Undead (Basic)]

[ Effect: Issue simple orders to controlled undead. Complexity of commands limited by skill level and Control Capacity.]

```

He read each line carefully, understanding it as he went. So far, the descriptions were pretty straight forward. No warning, or loopholes.

It was... functional to say the least.

Ethan dismissed the screen and leaned back against the wall, considering next steps that sounded practical. He would need a corpse eventually, something small and most preferably unnoticed. A bird, a rat.... Anything that would let him test the skill without announcing his activities to the entire floor.

Death Energy regenerated, but slowly at this rank. Control Capacity sat at eight, so obviously he was not going to build an army tonight, or this week, or any time soon for that matter.

For now, just testing the power would be enough...

**KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.**

A knock sounded at the door.

Ethan frowned. His roommate should have had a key, and as far as he knew, any visitors would be unexpected.

He stood, walked towards the door and opened it.

When he did, his eyes widened with genuine shock for the first time since he came here...

"Lila?"