Sirus stood at the edge of a small gym within the Hunter Association, looking up at the two agents that had brought him there. At the moment, there was a line of people waiting to use the testing equipment, which rated awakeners' physical and magical attributes.

"Why do you keep coming back here? You never get better!"

"Is it unclear that the genes weren't passed down to the daughter?"

"What's even the point of F-Rank? There are regular people stronger than you!"

"My god, do you guys ever shut up? I understand my abilities are poor; leave me alone!"

"Yeah, come on guys, leave her alone. I'm sure she's swamped after constantly drinking herself to death at that bar. She hasn't had an incident in a while; I'm sure she's planning for something big!"

"If you get the chance, tell Mr. Torres if he wants a proper kid, there's an A-ranker here, ready to be adopted!"

The girl looked further down than before and walked out of the gym.

'It's the same everywhere, is it? I thought it was because I went to a mercenary school, but it seems the same happens here.'

"Shame she left; I'm sure she would have loved to see the power of an A-ranker up close and personal."

The man walked onto the testing platform and took a stance to hit the target.

'Looking at his ether aura is so beautiful; it's an amazing golden color! I wonder what his stats are going to be?'

As he stood ready to hit it, a massive amount of energy was released, putting everyone on edge, even causing Sirus to stumble back. The energy was forcibly condensed into his fist, like pushing a hotdog through the eye of a needle, then released as he slammed into the target.

The whole facility shook a little, Sirus reeling at the power.

'Holy shit! Really puts into perspective one's abilities. A-ranks are rare, but they're not close to comparable to me at D-rank. I thought I was getting stronger, but now it feels like I'm beating the other frogs in a well.'

"240 strength? I knew I was improving! Your turn, kid. Good luck following that!"

'Does the system have its own attribute rating system, or did they just copy the human rating method?"

"..."

"I'll take that as they copied it."

[System Notification: Two types of stats would be confusing.]

Sirus approached the targeting system, preparing much like the man before him though much less badassly.

'Focus. Strength doesn't come from just the arm; focus on the whole body.'

SLLLAAMMMM

'19? Shouldn't it be lower? I guess the Mana Heart is to blame for the increase, but I thought it specialized in longer battles, so this is a nice benefit.'

*Sirus Navarro, please report to Room NC03*

Walking down the hallway, he thought more and more about his abilities.

'Versatility will have to be my strength, as it's clear D-rank abilities are only strong in the world at large. The chance of awakening is very low, but given how many people there are and how condensed the awakened community is, it doesn't feel that way.'

"Sirus, how are you doing? I'm investigator John Maloney, and I want to talk to you about how you beat the pit when others of a higher rank couldn't."

"I had a secondary awakening, D-rank Mana Body strengthening."

John looked very happy, then sad, once he heard D-Rank.

As ability names weren't known, they were categorized into types. There was body-strengthing, weapon expertise, support, healing, production, and leadership, among a few others.

"When did you reawaken?"

"During the final exam at my school, fighting an Orc Boss."

"Well, that's a little strange. I assume you know how secondary awakenings work, yes?"

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"Yes, I don't understand why I got one."

"In any case, how were you able to defeat it? Body strengthening is a poor offense against slimes."

Sirus explained his strategy and how he defeated it until John seemed satisfied.

"Very well, I understand. One more thing, are you interested in joining the Hero Association? I can promise a higher salary than a reporter."

"I'm sorry, but no. Maybe a few days ago, I probably would have said yes; I was excited about my new ability, which made me rush into the pit. But after seeing those dead bodies, I'm more hesitant."

"If that's the case, then I have to ask you one more thing. What do you believe the role of a reporter is?"

"Huh? Uh, report the news, show people what's going on, tell them what's dangerous."

"Yes, indeed. A job that helps citizens protect themselves. Do you think people act more rationally when they feel safe or panicked?"

"Safe?"

"Exactly! I don't think people would feel very safe if they knew that a hero team was taken out, and a reporter stepped in and killed the boss they couldn't, and alone at that. With that in mind, the other reporters at the scene thought similarly and decided not to publish the story details to prevent panic or lack of faith. Additionally, it wasn't technically legal for you to go into that monster pit, as you're not a certified hero yet. Instead of publishing the story, how about we give you a hero certification right now and forget about any past transgressions."

"I guess that sounds alright; I don't think this sort of news would benefit the public much!"

"Splendid! I think that's the end of our meeting then. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Navarro!"

"You as well."

"The receptionist at the front desk can have a certification made for you. It should take an hour or so if you're willing to wait. And she should have the reward money for the pit."

"Of course, thank you."

Sirus left and sat in the seating area near the receptionist to wait.

'The more I think about this, the worse it is. If I were reading about this as a citizen, I wouldn't be annoyed or scared; this wasn't a large incident. I feel this wasn't the first time he's done this before. He seemed too comfortable and prepared to ask me not to publish it. How many bad things have the Hero Association done without it being published? I assume it can't be anything that bad, anything much more significant than this, and people would have seen it and spread it. Plus, the Hero certification is a hard thing to get and expensive too. But they gave it to me like a bribe. Whatever's the case, I need to know more to get to the bottom of it, and that man seems to know a lot about it.'

Soon enough, he got his certification card and left. Additionally, he had received $10,000 for defeating the boss monster and would get more than that once the corpses were harvested. After some research, it was concluded Slimes were not harvested for abilities, but their core was used for elixirs and potions, so he shouldn't have to worry about them realizing there wasn't an ability.

Sirus deposited the money to the bank, bringing himself up to a whopping $14,298.16 in his bank account, which would soon be drained. He left NYC, and found a used car dealership, finding something sufficiently inconspicuous at $5,000.

Sirus wanted to get to the bottom of what was happening between reporters and investigators. He decided to follow John Maloney and use Spiritual Dominance to get information from him.

The next day, he sat in his car in the Hero Association parking lot, waiting for Maloney to leave, and did so for a few hours. Soon after the clock struck 5, he left, got into his car, and drove home, not knowing he would be followed.

John Maloney had a nice job, affording him a nice house, a heavily-guarded house. Though not an excellent enough job to afford awakener bodyguards, much to the chagrin of Sirus. Although John was around E-rank by Sirus' estimate, he was still confident in his plan.

'This is a perfect time for a: Costume Change!'

He jokingly imitated a Ben 10 like transformation, changing his face and body to match an AI-generated person he found online.

'I get this is for a good reason, but home invasion still seems like a poor idea in most respects. But this is important. If bribes and threats are protecting heroes, then it should be known. If evidence is in that house, I'm going to find it.'