Under the bright daylight, Archie found himself standing before a blue car parked outside his family's shop. Inside the vehicle, Justina occupied the driver's seat, engaging in a conversation with Archie.

Two days had passed since their departure from the Avery mansion. Archie had developed a bond with Justina, having interacted with her enough to place his trust in her. He was convinced that he stood to gain more from being in Justina's good graces than from her hostility.

"As I mentioned earlier, we have all your details from the ROT trial. So, you need not worry over anything related to joining Rhoman Academy. I'll handle your enrollment and send you all the necessary materials,"

Justina reassured, her voice tinged with anxiety about Archie's impending admission to Rhoman Academy. Despite her nerves, she provided Archie with the encouragement he needed to progress.

"I understand, I understand. The academy starts in a month; I need to pull myself together,"

Archie complained, wearied from the lengthy journey and keen to inspect his Rift watch.

"Alright, goodbye," Archie bid farewell to Justina as she drove off without meeting his father.

Justina had intended to meet Elbert and share the good news, but Archie wished to inform his father personally.

Once Justina was gone, Archie made his way to the shop, steeling himself to discuss his academy admission with his father. Their relationship had been strained since his mother's demise.

As he swung open the shop's door:

"BOOM!"

A loud sound startled Archie, making him recoil.

Looking up, Archie discovered the source of the noise - his family, Elbert, Grayson, and Aimee, were inside, setting off party poppers. The joy in their eyes was a clear indication that they had been anticipating his arrival.

'What's going on?' Archie was baffled, but then he noticed a white paper banner that read:

"Congratulations on Joining Rhoman Academy."

"Step inside," Aimee beckoned, but Archie was too taken aback to move, wondering, 'How did they find out?'

"How did you learn that I got into the academy?"

Archie queried, perplexed. Justina had been with him the entire time, so she couldn't have contacted them. As he ruled her out, a realization struck him, 'Max.'

Aimee validated his suspicion, "Examiner Max informed us yesterday that you were accepted into Rhoman Academy. Now come here."

Aimee seized Archie's hand and guided him towards a table adorned with an ice cream cake and five lit candles.

"It's not my birthday," Archie protested, surprised by their reaction to his academy admission. Gradually, the reality of the situation began to dawn on him.

Perhaps that's why they had assembled to celebrate - to make Archie acknowledge that it was real.

“Shut up and blow out the candles already,"

Aimee commanded, her expression swiftly transitioning from irritation to delight.

Archie extinguished the candles, and Aimee and Grayson applauded, while Elbert observed silently.

"Now for the gifts," Grayson declared once the candles were out.

"Again, it's not my birthday," Archie objected as each of them presented him with a gift.

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Aimee handed him the skateboard he had sold to cover the ROT trial fee, but as it turned out, Archie hadn't paid the fee.

In the midst of the chaos during his trial and being rifted for seven hours, Justina had overlooked collecting it. Archie still had the money stashed in his room.

“I tried to buy new skateboards, but they were too expensive. Here’s your old skateboard,” Aimee announced, proud of her gift.

Archie responded, "Well, thanks, I guess.”

Next was Grayson's turn. He offered Archie a small box wrapped in vibrant paper. Archie tore it open to discover a digital watch.

Archie offered a faint smile at the irony of receiving the watch. "Thank you, uncle," he expressed.

Finally, it was Elbert's turn. He didn't have a grand or modest gift. He reached into his chef's uniform, extracted something, and handed it to Archie.

Archie saw it was five echoes and looked puzzled. Elbert elucidated in a stern tone,

"I received a call from a customer who ordered delivery. He claimed you robbed him at knifepoint."

Archie swallowed hard, recalling the incident with that customer, thinking he might be in trouble.

"I know my son well enough to say that the customer would have refused to pay for the food and made him pay. I know you wouldn't resort to using a knife. Your mother didn't raise you like that."

Elbert placed the five echoes in Archie's hand and declared,

"This is the money you earned from the customer. It's your first and last salary for your hard work here. You don't have to work here anymore."

After uttering those words, Elbert retreated to the kitchen. Aimee and Grayson smiled, aware of the significance of Elbert's words.

Archie remained composed, even though he hadn't anticipated such words from his father. He understood the kind of man his father was, and this gesture signified that Elbert didn't want Archie to get complacent with his new life.

So, he gave the five echoes to demonstrate that hard work and intelligence always yield rewards.

"Well, we must leave. Jill will be home soon," Grayson stated, apprehensive that Jill might discover they had left to celebrate Archie.

Since learning about Archie's admission to Rhoman Academy, Jill's joy and sense of triumph over Archie and his mother had been short-lived.

Jill was livid, throwing a tantrum and wrecking her belongings. Since then, she kept visiting her branch family to verify if it was true that Archie had indeed joined the academy. She refused to believe it.

"Goodbye, Archie. Don't forget to call me now and then,”

Aimee requested as she prepared to join her academy the following week.

Aimee was admitted to Rhoson, the second-best academy in the world. However, compared to the academy Archie joined, it was like comparing chalk and cheese.

After bidding their goodbyes, Aimee and Grayson made a hasty exit.

Once they were gone, the uneaten cake and vacant diner made Archie feel a tad lonely.

Archie stored the cake in the fridge, grabbed his skateboard and new watch, and headed to his room.

Archie entered his room, finding it coated in dust, everything as he had left it. He tidied up and finally sat down to inspect the one thing he had been eager to explore.

He examined the golden circular dial of the Rift watch, now fused with his skin. The black screen appeared ordinary, devoid of any extra buttons.

Archie no longer experienced any pain from the watch, as it had burrowed into his skin to attach itself.

Unable to contain his excitement, Archie pressed the black screen.

"SWOOSH!"

A series of golden boxes materialized above his wrist, hovering over the watch.

Archie started examining the first box, tapping on the menu to prompt a golden window:

[--- PLAYER---]

[Specimen: Archie Troy]

[Runner ID: Chef]

[Profession: Nil]

[Title: Player Unknown]

[Type: Non-Graded Ethereal]

[Grade: F]

[Max Rank Increase -> SSS]

[Nature Encounter: Unknown Ethereal]

"SSS," Archie exclaimed in shock, witnessing something he had never seen before.

“Is this true?”

Archie, bewildered, tried tapping the watch repeatedly to close and reopen the E-screen, attempting to confirm if it was indeed authentic.

In his world, or even among Rift Runners, the highest Ethereal grade was 'SS.' Archie was taken aback by this new revelation, murmuring to himself, "Currently, I'm an 'F' Ethereal, but it shows I can reach up to 'SSS.' How is that possible?”

In his world, once someone acquired their Ethereal grade, it was immutable. They were stuck with it for life unless they perished. That's the nature of Ethereal abilities.

Right now, Archie was witnessing something unprecedented on his planet. Even if he told them, they wouldn't believe it.

'Even the E-Screen doesn't recognize the type of Ethereal I have —ability to control Rifts. I understand that no one has ever heard of it, but why doesn't the E-Screen know either?' Archie's mind was awash with doubts.

After some contemplation, Archie decided to explore another menu to seek answers.

He swiped up to access another menu box and tapped:

[--- ATTRIBUTES---]

[Locked]

Archie stared, puzzled.

"What does it mean that it's locked?"