SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 233 Entering The Gate [2]

Chapter 233  Entering The Gate [2]

Within five minutes, and under the Ascender’s watchful eyes, the group quickly introduced themselves and shared basic information about their capabilities.

Moon presented himself as an elemental mage with five affinities: fire, water, lightning, wind, and earth.

This didn’t raise any red flags regarding his initial awakening assessment as an elemental mage with three affinities. The reasoning was straightforward and accepted without question: evolving class skills often explored different pathways and unlocked latent potential. The explanation that his skill development had naturally expanded to include two additional affinities was something the others could accept without suspicion. It wasn’t uncommon for awakeners to discover new elemental capabilities as their core skills advanced.

Grant, the appointed leader, turned out to be a Vanguard, a unique variation of the standard Tank class.

One of his skills, he explained, strengthened the physical bodies of everyone in his proximity as well as his own, creating a persistent area buff that would make the entire team more durable. His other skill was more personal, a defensive ability that allowed him to absorb incoming damage and convert some into temporary overhealth.

The twins, Cain and Abel, were both male. Their class was a unique variation of the Swordsman class, specialized for perfect synchronization between the pair. They were close-range combatants whose power multiplied when fighting together. With Grant’s physical enhancement buff active, they would become even more formidable.

The five remaining S-rankers introduced themselves in turn.

They were all holders of unique class variations with powerful abilities that far exceeded standard awakener capabilities. They hadn’t been given the S-ranker title for nothing, each one representing the peak of what awakeners could achieve before evolution.

With everyone understanding their respective roles and how they might coordinate in combat, the representative gave them one final speech before departure.

“Remember your goal,” he said firmly. “Eliminate the threat, clear the gate and return alive. Do not let arrogance or greed compromise the mission. You are not invincible, as the fate of your predecessors proves. Trust your leader, support your teammates, and fight smart rather than reckless.”

He paused, his gaze severe.

“The Alliance is counting on you. Don’t let us down.”

The team nodded with varying degrees of solemnity, the weight of responsibility settling over them.

As they began moving toward the gate’s entrance, the representative suddenly stopped Moon with a raised hand.

“Wait. Do you have an S-rank weapon?”

Moon blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the question.

‘Do I look that poor?’ he thought internally before shaking his head honestly. He wouldn’t mind gaining a free S-Rank weapon to help inside the gate. “I do not.”

His current weapon was the same A Rank staff that he had purchased some time ago, and the B+ rank dagger he’d taken from the outcast assassin. They were good, but S-Rank weapons were just better in all aspects.

A staff suddenly materialized out of thin air, appearing in the Ascender’s hands summoned from his storage ring. He extended it toward Moon without ceremony.

“Here. You’ll need this inside. If you come out alive, you get to keep it.” He smiled, gesturing for Moon to take it.

Moon accepted the staff, feeling its weight, which was light. He immediately activated [Appraisal], his skill analyzing and revealing the artifact’s properties.

[Staff of Fire and Water]

[Order: First]

[Rank: S]

[Details: Crafted using the cores of two powerful S-rank beasts, one attuned to burning flame and one to deep ocean currents. This staff enhances elemental magic significantly, particularly fire and water-based spells. +20% Spell Casting Speed. +5-15% Fire and Water Spell Potency. +10 Mana Attribute.]

Moon’s eyes glinted.

This was a significant boost to his combat effectiveness. The casting speed increase alone would make his [Ignite] and elemental attacks far more responsive in fast-paced combat. The spell potency boost would make his fire and water magic hit considerably harder. And the +10 Mana attribute would stack with Tenacity and his bracelet’s bonus, further expanding his reserves.

Two of the staff’s primary elements, fire and water, were among his five affinities. The synergy was excellent.

“Thank you,” Moon said in gratitude, gripping the staff properly and feeling how naturally mana challenged through it.

The representative nodded curtly. “Don’t thank me yet. Survive first, then you’ve earned it.”

Before Moon could move, Tom intervened, “Wait! The Glassy Group is funding this operation, entirely!”

Moon’s eyes widened as he looked at Kael who was beside him. Kael had the usual calm expression on his face, as if it was expected from his father.

“Everyone, come and pick whatever weapon, armor, rune or item you need. They are all the best quality, directly from the Glassy Group’s storage!” Tom said, retrieving tens of S-Rank items from his storage ring at once, shocking Moon.

‘This is worth at least tens of millions, could reach into the low hundred too!’ Moon thought, realizing how rich the new Ascender before him was.

Of course, Tom didn’t do it for no reason. He was taking a gamble, a gamble to make his Group famous and tied to the clearance of the First Sanctuary. His son was entering with them anyways, if he lost his Moon didn’t wait to be told twice, moving before anyone in his team did, “Thank you for your generosity, sir!” “Haha, you welcome!” Tom laughed, watching Moon pick and choose.

In the end, Moon picked a few extra runes, as powerful as the ones he had, and a new robe. The rest weren’t catered to him, and he knew that he couldn’t be shameless enough to take a sword when he was just an ‘Elemental Mage’.

[Light Robe of Magi]

[Order: First]

[Rank: S]

[Details: Crafted using the finest materials, the robe has a self-repairing function with immense comfort. It has a passive resistance to elemental damage. +20% Damage Reduction. +10 Constitution Attribute.]

After taking the Light Robe that counted as his armor, Moon stepped away. Unsurprisingly, only a few took items from Tom. Most were from powerful families, and taking items from Tom could be seen as a sign of weakness. They already had many powerful items, and had no need to lower themselves to take items from Tom.

The people that took items were Moon, Grant, Kael, Cain and Abel. The rest refrained from doing so.

After the awakeners grabbed the items under the watchful eyes of the reporters. The representative turned to address the entire assembled team.

“Alright, prepare to enter! Formation: Grant takes point, twins on flanks, ranged fighters in middle positions. Mara stays center-rear for maximum support coverage. Move out!”

The ten S-rankers approached the crimson rift, its unstable surface rippling like disturbed water, waves of mana washing over them as they drew closer.

Moon gripped his new staff, feeling the power thrumming through it. Behind them, the Evolvers and two Ascenders watched silently, hoping this team would succeed where the previous one had failed.

The gate’s interior was completely obscured by swirling crimson energy, impossible to see what waited beyond until they actually crossed the threshold.

Grant raised his hand, signaling the team to prepare.

“On my mark,” he said, his voice steady and commanding. “Three… two… one… enter!”

The ten S-rankers stepped through the rift simultaneously, reality warping around them as they crossed from Earth into whatever realm the gate connected to.

Then everything turned into the same crimson light surrounding the gate.

♢♢♢♢

Across the entire world, everyone watched the historical moment through major news channels.

Whether it was the United Terran Alliance, the Eastern Dawn Confederation, the Eternal Covenant, or The Sahara Dominion, awakeners and civilians alike watched with bated breath, wondering whether humanity would succeed in clearing the first ever S-rank gate or not.

The tension was through the roof, transmitted through every screen, every broadcast, every worried conversation in homes and public spaces. Especially those that were leaving their homes behind in fear of death, they looked at the announcement with tear-filled eyes, wishing that the team would save their homes, their jobs and memories.

First Order A-rank gates that had previously broken out entirely had consumed entire zones with them. Cities reduced to rubble. Populations decimated. Regions rendered uninhabitable for years.

The consequences behind the potential breakage of a First Order S-rank gate remained unknown, but one thing was universally understood: it would certainly be catastrophic. As strong as an A-rank outbreak, if not exponentially worse.

Millions, perhaps tens of millions of lives hung in the balance.

And ten awakeners, no matter how powerful, felt like a desperately thin line of defense.

♢♢♢♢

Around the world, representatives of the Four Continents began emergency communications with each other through secure channels. High-level discussions that the public would never hear, strategies and contingencies being debated by those with the clearance and authority to make civilization-altering decisions.

They saw something that ordinary citizens and even most awakeners didn’t recognize yet.

Real, existential danger to humanity itself.

If S-rank gates of the First Order had begun manifesting, would Second Order gates start appearing as well? Third Order? The progression seemed inevitable, a terrifying escalation that no one wanted to become reality.

What came next?

The thought was gnawing their minds.

Because the scaling problem was brutal, in fact, unforgiving in its cruelty.

If it took two to three S-Rank awakeners working together to defeat a single S-rank beast, it would take ten or fifteen S-Rank Evolvers cooperating to accomplish the same task against a Second Order S-rank creature.

The power differential between humans and beasts compounded with each advancement. Each sanctuary crossed made the enemies proportionally stronger, the challenges exponentially more difficult.

It was a horrible reality that scaled mercilessly with order.

And it became even worse at the Ascender level.

To kill a single Third Order S-Rank beast would require hundreds of Ascenders cooperating in perfect coordination. Hundreds of humanity’s powerhouses, each one representing decades of struggle and survival, all focused on eliminating one threat.

At that level of power, individual strength became almost meaningless. Help between peers wasn’t just beneficial anymore.

It was essential, mandatory for survival itself.

Ascenders were obliged, bound by unspoken but absolute necessity, to assist other Ascenders in hunting these apocalyptic threats when the time came. Because they themselves had been helped to reach their current stage. Because alone, even an Ascender would fall.

Because humanity’s continued existence depended on cooperation at the highest levels, even when pride and politics made such cooperation difficult.

The system that governed their world seemed designed to force this truth upon them: grow stronger together, or perish separately.

And now, with the first S-Rank gate manifesting, that truth was becoming undeniable.

The representatives continued their tense communications, discussing all sorts of contingency plans for the worst case scenario.

Preparing for the worst. Hoping desperately for the best.

While ten awakeners disappeared into crimson light, carrying humanity’s fragile hope with them into the unknown.

The world held its breath.

And waited.