Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening

"Urghhh…"

Slightly opening his eyes which was like a tall task on its own, all he could see was some blurry and white before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep again.

Kieran repeated this pattern of waking up for a slight moment and falling a moment later more times than he cold count. Not like he could even count in his condition. Each time he woke, he slowly regained a part of his strength.

His body's recovery ability had even surprised the doctors, giving the instructor one more thing to note about him.

Kieran finally managed to open his eyes after gaining enough strength and he could now feel completely how wrecked his body was.

His right foot that had been completely crushed during the fight had been surprisingly rearranged and was showing signs of healing, his side still hurt, it appeared ribs had broken during the fight, luckily it hadn't pierced his lungs or any other organs. His head was wrapped in a thick bandage and he wasn't even sure if he could feel his hands.

"Sigh!"

Withdrawing his thoughts from the problematic state of his body, he strained his neck, trying to look around the room he was in.

No matter how much he tried he wasn't able to look past his side where he could see a drip stand connected to his hand along with some weird looking tube, the pain was unimaginable.

'Yep, I can still feel them'

He thought feeling the pain from his arms which throbbed violently when he tried to twist his neck further.

"Sigh!"

Kieran felt more hopeless than when he had first encountered the Girith that had landed him in this state.

SLIDE…

KNOCK KNOCK..

The sound of the metal door opening and the hitting of shoes on the floor disrupted the steady beeping of the machine in the quiet room. Kieran didn't bother trying to see whoever had entered the room. He had tried looking towards the door earlier and the pain wasn't something he enjoyed.

The sound of the footsteps stopped at his side.

"You woke up faster than we predicted again. Your body is truly a marvel to me Mr Kieran."

Finally enduring his pain and looking to his side, he finally who had entered, the two of them.

The instructor stood beside a man in a white lab coat and glasses. The man had features that were easy to forget, he probably went unnoticed in crowds. To Kieran he just looked like a middle-aged man, but he had a strange expression on his face as he stared at Kieran on the bed like he had seen an interesting specimen, but not interesting enough to want to tear apart and study, it was rather unnerving.

"The damage to your body was extensive, but somehow you pulled through and even managed to get on a surprising curve"

The instructor said, taking over from the doctor, saving him from the weird gaze.

"Even with the equipment and medical care, you were still expected to stay here for at least two weeks."

His face darkening, Kieran wondered,

'It was that serious?'

He knew the current situation of his body was bad, but it wasn't something he felt would take that long to recover from, especially with advanced care of the camp.

"But you manage to shock me and the staff, waking up a day after. At this rate, you might be out in a week."

"Your performance against the Girith was satisfactory. You did well."

The instructor said in a serious tone he had been using since he stepped in earlier.

'So, it was him.'

Hearing the instructor's words, Kieran realised who was responsible for denying him from getting a choice, the reason he had been forced to take the test.

Despite this realization, Kieran couldn't find it in himself to get angry. After coming that close to death for the first time, everything else didn't really seem to matter.

Pausing at the door, the instructor said in his trademark tone while scratching his head sheepishly,

"Ah! I think I forgot something.... Hmm, I guess it doesn't matter then. Do well to recover, I'm looking to seeing you in my next class."

He said, exiting the room with the doctor, leaving Kieran alone in his world of thoughts.

Outside the infirmary room, the instructor said out loud as he walked by,

"He's awake, but you won't be able to visit him anytime soon."

Ruby, who was about to step into the room paused in her steps, her hand hanging in front of the control panel. After a little contemplation, she decided to go with the instructor's words.

When the test came to an end, they had all seen Kieran being carried away by some droids. Some recruits mocked him for bring the only one to suffer such severe injuries, bit those who were vigilant enough noticed the blood on him. All of them had fought droids, nothing live.

After the class, the had managed to talk briefly with the instructor with the help of Sabrina who was strangely helpful.

On her way to the dorm, her watch flashed and beeped like it did for every single first year.

"Huh? What is it this time?" she muttered with furrowed eyebrows.

Looking down on the watch, she could see the notification all the other recruits had received.

«THE RANKING SYSTEM IS NOW ACTIVE»

«1. JAKE BLAZE»

«2. SABRINA AURORA»

«3. KIERAN CALLUM»

«4. RICHARD SCARLET»

«5. RUBY GALE»

«6. LIAM AURORA…..»

The list went on to list the names of another sixty-four of them. The last three, whose names didn't appear on the ranking were those who faced the risk of early disqualification.

'Huh?'

Her eyes widened in slight surprise, seeing Kieran's name at number three. The rest were well known and to the rest of the recruits, he was unknown.

She didn't think he had done anything out of the ordinary.

'Well, it's not like they explained how exactly we get ranked.'

...….

Five days had passed by since the incident and Kieran had yet to be discharged.

The recruits were currently in a class with instructor Selena who was pick up from where she stopped last class. Giving them an extensive class on the type of terrain on the planet and the monsters that inhabited them.

This time, she also talked about the primitive specie that inhabited the planet before they got wiped out by the military and the beasts that stood at the top of the food chain on the planet.

"Very soon, you would be going on a field exercise to familiarise yourself with the terrain of this planet and to get the practical view of everything you've been taught so far."

"So, before that, I advise that you focus on your combat training."

She said, marking the end of the class.

Stepping out of the class, Ruby made her way to the canteen to get a meal. Pausing at the counter, she asked,

'Is he back yet?', transferring some extra cp to get him to talk.

"Well, He hasn't been to the kitchen yet which means he's probably still laying on a sick bed."

The recruit said with a bored expression.

Ever since the instructor warned her not to visit him, she had been dropping by to the kitchen to ask the guy at the counter if he had seen him walk in since she couldn't ask any of the chefs in the kitchen directly, the place was off limits to non-staff.

'Why am I even trying so hard?'

She asked herself, a small frown on her delicate face.

"Ahhh!"

Looking up, she almost jumped out of her seat in fright as she saw the person she was worried about taking a spoonful of soup into his mouth, seated right in front of her.

"Sorry."

He said, apologizing for scaring her.

"When did you get here?"

"Not long. You were thinking hard, so I didn't interrupt."

He answered taking another spoonful of soup.

"Did the injury mess with your head or something?"

She asked, as she had just heard him say the most words in a sentence than he had ever said since their first conversation.

Kieran frowned at her statement but remained silent, not giving a reply.

Patiently waiting as she watched him finish the bowl of soup, she heard him say,

"Fill me in"

"Nothing too excessive happened while you were gone...."

She proceeded to let him know about the things that had happened in the last few days while he was away. Like the announcement of the ranking system and the tension it had sparked among the recruits with everyone trying to level and rank up.

Kieran listened to all unfazed, he had expected things like this to happen. What he didn't expect though, was his name as third on the list.

'It's probably due to the combat test.'

Although, he didn't do well compared to some other recruits who fought level four droids, based on what he knew from Leora, the tests weren't just about ability but potential.

So, for a recruit like him who fought several level three droids and also managed to defeat a level 4 live specimen, although it was at entry level, from one of the top species on the planet.

The military had considered him to have more potential than some of the other recruits.