‘This guy really enjoys ughing, doesn’t he?’ Xaren thought silently as he observed the t Fire Demon. Floch’s ughter didn’t st long, though, as he quickly to down and got straight to business.“Anyway, grats on being Low Ranks. You’re now proper Demons. Sih of you are warrior types, all that’s left is to unlock your auras, and you’ll be off this world.”“??!!”Both Xaren and Ilya’s eyes widened in shock at Floch’s casual statement.While Xaren had assumed the Demons might train their promising recruits somewhere else, he hadn’t expected to receive such treatment so soon.Ign their obvious shock, Floch gestured to the room around them and tihis is where wounded Low-Rank demons are treated after battle. As you see, the facilities are far better than what you had before. This is the level of care appropriate for Low Ranks—even for you who are at the very bottom of the rank.At least in this portion of the Gaxy, this is the standard treatment afforded to Low Ranks in most pces.”Hearing this, Ilya furrowed her brows slightly before hesitantly raising her hand, as if she were a student preparing to ask a question.“?”“Um…what’s a Gaxy?” Ilya’s question, seemingly so basic, made Floch pause and stare at her silently for a few moments. Just as she began to think she might have overstepped, the tall demon shook his head and replied.“I’m not the one who’s gonna teach you that.”He had mentio out of habit, but now that he thought about it, there was no reason to expeewly ranked demons—who hadn’t even seen a fra of the world they were in—to know what a Gaxy was. Still, it wasn’t his responsibility to teach such things, and he wasn’t about to add it to his pte.“Holy, I’m just gd I’m not stuck with General Knowledge teag duty. Someone else will hahat.”With a shrug, Floch tinued.“Anyway, do know that not every Low-Rank demon who promotes gets this kind of treatment. The two of you, however, have caught the attention of a very important higher-up, so you should sider yourselves lucky. Otherwise, you’d be stuck here for years.”Xaren nodded silently, the pieces finally falling into pce. Floch’s words expined why their situation didn’t align with his assumptions.‘The question is, who’s this Higher-Up?’Floch didn’t eborate on that, though. Instead, he shifted the topic, a sly grin spreading across his face as he spoke to Xaren.“By the way, since I’m the one who found you, I got some pretty det rewards. So, you better keep perf well. The better you do, the more I get rewarded. Don’t worry, I’ll help you out here and there si bes me directly.”The did nature of Floch’s words made Xaren feel like he was overhearing something he wasn’t meant to. A g Ilya showed she was feeling much the same, judging by the unfortable expression on her face.‘In the past few minutes, she’s shown more expressions than I’ve seen from her in days.’ Xaren his before shifting his attention back to Floch, listening as the man finally addressed the primary reason he had e.“You, along with the other new Low Ranks, are going to be taking lessons with me on how to properly use your wings like a proper demon should.”Floch’s words reminded Xaren that he had indeed gained wings, though they had disappeared while he was unscious.‘How do I bring them out? —I guess that’s what he’s going to teach us…’“Demon wings are useful for much more than just flying, so our csses will be very intensive. As for your horns, they have another purpose too, and I’ll be teag you about that.”Floch’s expnation made Xaren’s eyebrows shoot up. He hadn’t sidered that demon wings could serve any purpose beyond flight, nor had he ever imagined horns could have a use beyohetics—or in desperate situations, as makeshift ons.‘Looks like I retty short-sighted about that.’“All right, put on some shoes and follow me,” Flostructed as he turo leave, and the two quickly slipped on the boots peatly beside their beds before hurrying after him.Stepping outside, they found themselves in a pound filled with rows of buildings identical to the ohey had just exited. At a gnce, Xaren ted at least a dozen. The area bustled with activity, vehicles moving bad forth in every dire.‘Oh, I remember seeing those on that world I was on before. They were just starting to bee popur. I think they called them cars or something like that?’Beside him, Ilya stared wide-eyed at the vehicles. She had never seen anything like them before. Though she could sense immense magical energy radiating from the maes—their obvious power source—, their precise meics were utterly baffling to her, akin to rocket sce.“When you’re doh your wings training, you’ll be assigo a new unit in a different area. That’s where you’ll meet other new Low Ranks from across the ti.You’ll stay there for the foreseeable future, taking missions and engaging in battles alongside your new colleagues. Once you unlock your auras, Sir Naephas will take over,” Floch expined as they walked.her Xaren nor Ilya reized the name Floch had mentioned, but the title “Sir” that preceded it was enough to tell them everything they o know: this was a High-Rank Demon.“Even though you’d learn this eventually, I might as well tell you now. It doesn’t e anything,” Floch said, holding up three fingers as he began to expin.“We demons have three types of ranks. Nobility, Military, and Hierarchical. Our society blends Aristocracy—where nobles i titles and power from their aors—aocracy—where authority is earhrough achievements and ability.”Pointing at Xaren and Ilya, he eborated on the Hierarchical and Military ranks.“You two are at the very bottom of the Hierarchical ranks as ‘Low-Rank’ demons. In the Military Ranks, you’re foot soldiers—also the lowest tier.”Floch then shifted his gaze forward, tinuing his expnation with a brief entary on Nobility.“Those born into nobility i their porivilege. Even within the same Hierarchical rank, Nobility is always given preferehat said, they’re not allowed to throw their weight around in the Military. Some still try, but if they’re caught, it usually doesn’t end well.”With that expnation ed up, Floch got to the point of why he’d bothered sharing this information.“Just so you know, Sir Naephas—the one who’s added you two to the list of those he’s taking off this world—is an Upper-oble.”her Xaren nor Ilya khe exact ranks within the nobility, but the term ‘Upper-Css’ made it clear that Naephas held signifit importahis raised the obvious question: why would someone so iial oversee a low-level demon training ground?Floswered before the question could even be voiced.“You’re probably w why someone like him is stu this backwater p, right? The answer’s simple. Just as unranked demons are tested to weed out the weak, some Nobles gh the same process with their children.”In other words, his pt in this world was Naephas’ test.Xaren quickly pieced it together, while Ilya seemed more preoccupied with the notion of someone powerful enough to test a High-Rank Demon.‘Oh well, if this Naephas guy is taking us off this world, I might as well make the most of it. I’ve been putting in effort already, but now I’ll push even harder so they value me highly.’Every effort he made now was toward the ultimate goal of one day being a Demon King.But for Xaren, that long-term ultimate goal was more a means to ahan an end in itself. In the short term, Xaren made awakening his aura his goal.‘Then I must surpass the strength I had in my past life.’This was his sed goal. In his previous life, he had died at Level 390, an Intermediate Stage Grandmaster. This time, Xaren wao surpass that level as quickly as possible.With these vis set firmly in his mind, he followed Floch to the training area. It was located in the adjat pound to the treatmere—a strategic choice, allowing swift access for those who sustained serious injuries during training.Upon arrival, Xaren and Ilya saw nearly 50 other demons standing at attention uhe glow of the m sun, all fag forward in disciplined silence.Flostructed them to join the line and as they passed through the rows, their eyes caught on two familiar faces: Carad Bjorn.They refrained from speaking to them and quietly took their pces in the line while Floch strode to the front of the group and began his css.