Writer Eternal: Hello. Chapters will be posted as soon as I've written them. I try to focus on the story, rather than the action. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: Mall Heist

"I finally bought the jacket dad," a boy sighed as he left Men's Macy's.

For the weekend, most items were 50% off. His dad promised to go with him to buy the white leather jacket on his seventeenth birthday, but his dad was busy. Again. His dad was a Ranker, a human who absorbed the power of some crystal and gained the ability to fight back against the monsters and demons ravaging the Earth.

Most of the world changed after dozens years. Many small towns and villages all over the world were destroyed. Humanity now lived in walled cities far from one another. Air travel became too hazardous for commercial planes and sea travel was akin to suicide.

Still, the most powerful countries endured and created railroads to connect to the various walled cities. Rankers were sent to small outpost cities to ensure the safety and sustainment of the now priceless railroad network. His dad was supposed to come back for the weekend.

He looked up ahead as he heard screaming. He leaned his head forward and narrowed his eyes. He held his breath and leaned back as people got pushed out of the way. He was on the second floor of the mall and saw people get knocked off the rails and fall onto the first floor of the mall.

"Move it kid!" a man roared as he slammed through him. His arms flailed as he flew and crashed in front of a clothing store. His leather jacket landed nearby, but was slightly outside his bag. Other people wearing black masks also pushed people out of the way as they followed the man who slammed into Nathan.

"Hurry! The Rankers are catching up. Give us the items from the security box or we'll kill you," the masked men roared.

Lucien Lei grimaced in pain as he rubbed his right shoulder. He yelped in shock as he saw several people in tuxedos chase the man holding swords and guns. One man was even flying as another had fireballs in his hand.

"Another new Ranker going rogue. He'll be sent to the Disciplinary Camp before being judged whether to go to Ranker Prison. What an idiot," Lucien said as he rolled his shoulder. "Man it feels sore. No bruise though."

Lucien groaned as he replaced his leather jacket back into his bag. He frowned a little as it felt heavier, but got distracted by the dirt on his new jacket. He grit his teeth in anger and left the mall. He didn't know what that jerk stole, but he hoped he got caught by the masked men and not the Rankers.

He waited until the limousine came and entered inside. As his dad was a Ranker, the government treated his family with free city travel and exemption from bills and taxes. Considering that only nobles could afford gas and bus fare was five dollars, a free limo service was VI.P. treatment.

"Where to, sir?" his driver asked.

"Lets go home. Rogue Rankers at the mall today. Any news from my dad?" Lucien asked as he sat in the limo.

"Yes, but it is not public news yet. Mercenary Rankers discovered a zombie horde heading to several outposts. There are rumors that demons are leading them. Mr. Shen Lei is a Ranker of one of the mercenary organizations. He was dispatched with other Rankers to fight one of the hordes," his driver answered.

"Oh. I guess that's okay. Thanks," Lucien said and remained silent on the drive home. He thanked the driver as he arrived in the Lei Family Villa and entered his home. He grinned and pat his little sister's head before going into the kitchen. He grabbed an ice pack from the freezer and headed to his room.

"Yeah. That hurts," Lucien sighed as he pressed the ice pack on his shoulder. After the ice melted, he tossed the ice pack into his bathroom and looked at his shopping bag. Nodding, he took out his leather jacket and started cleaning the dirt off when he noticed a black satchel in the bag.

"What's this?" he frowned as he took it out. "Oh. Something is inside. It can't be from the store. I don't remember picking.....Ah! When that jerk bumped into me! Heh. Must be good stuff if Rankers and those masked guys wanted him."

Lucien dumped the contents of the satchel onto his bed. His eyes widened as he saw two rings, six books, a black metal card, and a purple crystal fall out the satchel. He had seen those items before. These were Ranker items. Magical items! The crystal was even one that could make him a Ranker!

"Oh damn. Hahaha. No way. Wow.....wow. I got a Spirit Heart  Crystal. I can be a Ranker, like my dad. What idiot would not absorb a Spirit Crystal if he saw one? These books are even skill books! Fireball, Wind Cutter, and Thorn Blade are spells! Actual mage spells! These books containing Earth-Shattering First and Mountain Cleaver are warrior arts," Lucien sighed with praise. "Whoever owned the satchel was indeed ambitious and took a well-deserved risk. Pity for him that Lucien was the one to benefit from the heist. Still, the thief should still possess even more stolen goods to not notice the missing satchel.

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"The latter two are warrior arts with no attributes, but the spells are rare. This Heart Spirit Crystal must have the thunder attribute. There's definitely the another attribute. I've seen the bigger ones possess two," Lucien grinned and turned to the fourth book. "This book is actually a journal.,,, some tips about monsters and demons.... oh! The contents of one of the rings in the satchel. The green ring is a magical item. It adds 10% wind attribute damage to my attack and raises attack speed by 4%. This is a great item! The other ring is even a storage ring! It contains a 20x20x20 meter space inside! Wait a minute. There is a grey talisman in here.....a flying sword talisman. Not a real one but it can form a sword of grey energy to attack. Damn. If this satchel had so much, just what did the other, giant bag, have?"

Excited, Lucien sat down on the ground in lotus position. He laid the crystal on his lap and imagined himself draining the energy of the purple crystal. His body trembled as a dark purple energy seeped out the crystal and entered his eyes, nostrils, ears, and mouth. A faint image of an phoenix and a dark purple dragon appeared above his body before vanishing into his heart.

The purple energy spread throughout his body. It seeped into his veins. It assimilated into the blood in his arteries. It strengthened his organs and vitalized his bones. Slowly, his heart took the form of an orange crystal-shaped heart. It still beat like a normal heart, but pumped both oxygen and spirit energy into his cells. Stinky black liquid seeped from his pores and sullied his clothes.

"Thunder, darkness, earth, and fire attributes. The ring might even give me wind as I use it over time. My spirit totem is even a sword with a dragon beast spirit. The strange thing is, the Totem sword is not the same color as my Spirit Heart. Could it be some kind of higher tier Spirit Heart Crystal ? My god. Who did this guy rob?" Lucien paled as a dark purple sword floated before him. The Totem was a part of him, connected to his heart and soul by spirit energy.

Possessing other Totems were possible, but those were rarely dropped after monsters were killed. Totems were the third rarest type of magical items, ranked just below Artifacts and Relics. All other magical items were ordinary and very inferior. Totem-type weapons were the best as they evolved over time. Other magical weapons had to be replaced as the Ranker's level increased.

Rankers saw the world as a videogame. They leveled up, but cultivation was possible to make them stronger than those at the same level. Such knowledge was contained in the journal. Lucien was so ecstatic to find out the storage ring even had another skill inside: Beast Tamer. He could tame up to three magical beasts. Luckily, his Totem already had a beast spirit inside or he would sacrifice a very powerful magical beast for the Totem instead.

"I did not think this through. Ah man. I'm a Ranker now. I'll have to fight from now on. I need to register myself. That way, I can receive training. The Ranker dojos provide captured magical beasts to kill and practice fighting against. I can level up killing them and cultivating," Lucien nodded. "Yeah. That will do. I have to tell dad. He might even give me a cultivation method."

Lucien dialed on the home phone and said as his dad picked up, "Dad. It was my birthday yesterday, but I know you're busy. I bought the white leather jacket."

"I'm sorry Lucien. For missing your birthday and Lucy's long passed birthday, I can't apologize enough. This is the price to pay for me being a Ranker. You two shouldn't be the ones to pay for it. If only your mom, Lucille, was alive.," his dad sighed. "The zombie horde was driven back. I'm being replaced and I am on the train home. I'll see you soon and make it up to you. I promise you this time."

"About that, I got a confession. I....became a Ranker," Lucien said but heard nothing. "Dad? Are you there?"

"Did you see two beast spirits? One of them a phoenix entering your heart?" his dad asked.

"Yeah. I absorbed a purple Spirit Crystal Heart and formed a Totem sword. It feels connected to my heart, but my Spirit Heart is orange. Wait, how did you know about the phoenix?" Lucien asked, confused.

"We'll speak about this when I get home. Do not use any spirit energy. Do not even cultivate. Do nothing until I get home!" his dad roared and hung up.

"Crap," Lucien cursed silently. "I really didn't think things through. Well, he knows now. I should read more of the journal before he comes back. The card must be important. I think I saw my dad have one in his wallet before."