SSS Cultivation: I Can Conquer Earth's Rank System

An hour after the curfew alarm was sent off, a black robed figure moved swiftly through the shadows of the night between two buildings close to each other. Another man lurked in the shadow, a bulky man who also dressed in black overall and taking care not to make suspicions moves. He was waiting for the other man that was skidding through the dark.

After a moment of hiding and running, the dark running figure finally arrived at the point where the other man was waiting for him in the shadow of a bulding.

"What took you so long, Hunter? We've been waiting," the bulky man said with a whisper.

"Apologies, Omal. I was busy with some things, Hunter replied in hushed tones. "This is why I asked the general for the meeting to be held in the daytime. If we meet like it was nothing much, nobody will suspect a thing."

"This is no time to be complaining about the schedules. We just have to be careful of the Mecha-men. Those metal beings from the council pose a threat to our gathering. We must find a way to have them replaced. Maybe a petition would do."

"That will be done in due time," Hunter said. "Where is tonight's gathering holding?"

"Greg's office," Omal replied. "Let's go before we get too late."

"Oh how I wish I got the shadow quirk. It would have been useful at a time like this," Hunter lamented.

"We all wish the same, but we forget it won't be useful in real combat. Now let's go before we get the general cross," Omal countered.

Together, Omal and Hunter found their way to the third-year academy, evading the patrolling Mecha-men while carefully hiding at corners and dark places.

As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the large third-year building, another waiting man who was also dressed in black opened the door manually for them with practiced silence. The two men flew inside at once before the door was locked in place again.

"We have to find a way to buy these Mecha-men because I can't keep doing this every night. I wonder why the council had to change the security system like that, it's sickening," the man who opened the door started lamenting as soon as they were safe in the confines of the bulding. He was a lean man, with a scruffy face and patches of beards which littered his jaw. His eyes appeared sunken in the shadow of his black hat while his hooked nose jutted out from behind the shadow. He went by the name Allan, and yes he was also a teacher at the academy.

"At least, you have the shadow quirk. There's no way you'll get discovered," Hunter said with a dark expression.

"I care not about getting discovered. I only worry about you clumsy dimwit getting discovered, then revealing our secret to the council," Allan countered bitterly.

Omal who sensed the start of another heated argument between the two, interfered and restored calm as best as he could. Hunter and Allan has a bad history between them. The argument might lead to a fight but, everybody respected Omal when he spoke, not for his fierceness but for his charismatic aura.

"One more word from you too and you'll have to answer to the general," Omal warned. "And where the hell is Greg's office?"

"We almost there," Allan replied.

After a minute of walking in silence, the finally got to Greg's office. Allan pressed the button and the door swung open immediately. The room opened up to a large table positioned at the centre of the room. The office was dimly lit so the people sitting around the table only appeared as black human figures. Five people were already sitted, discussing silently among themselves. Three of the four empty seats became occupied by Omal, Hunter and Allan. The last empty seat which was at the head of the table belonged to the general.

"We thought the general will be here tonight, but he informed me of his busy schedule at the council. Hopefully, he'll be joining us for our next meeting. Now let's begin," Omal said.

Together, the eight men chanted in one voice:

"One weakling... One opportunity..."

"One quirk for one, many quirks for all..."

"One man at a time... One army after a while..." "Upgrade for weaklings... Opportunities for the Impossibles..."

"We are the HOPE!"

Together, the eight men chanted in one voice.

"May the Hope be with you," Omal said.

"May the Hope be with you," the others chorused.

"Before anything, I'll like to ask the main question for every meeting... I know it's too early for this since the freshmen only got admitted today, but did any of you find anybody yet?"

Immediately, Hunter Man raised his hand. Everyone gathered at the table was surprised.

"Hunter, you barely bring two students here per year and you've already found one at the start of the year? How did you do it, Hunter?" the eldest in the gathering spoke up. Named Aaron Armstrong, he is the head of teachers for the second year students.

Hunter beamed a smile and simple said, "I have my ways."

"Okay, tell us about the student you wanted to give Hope," Omal said.

Hunter straightened up. "His name is Leo Rayden. You must have noticed him during the test at the arena. He was was using the blue laser energy as his quirk, and I later got to find our that he was the one who trapped that unfortunate student inside the thick blue bubble..."

"If he has a quirk that strong, why are you introducing him to us? Have you forgotten the reason for our gathering? We are not here to give the strong more Hope," Allan interrupted him harshly.

"Let's here him out, Allan," Omal commanded. "And you Hunter, you better have a good story to tell."

"I promise I have," Hunter said. "The boy appeared quite strong during the test and got a D-rank, but it turned out he deceived everybody. Well, everybody but me. Me cheat detector in my hand beeped when he used his supposed quirk and that was when I knew he cheated. Regularly, weak students use some devices to enhance their quirk strength during tests but this boy, Leo happens to be stark quirkless. He only produced those lasers from a device he hid under his sleeves. I invited him to my office after the test and did as I was instructed by the general on how to win these younglings over. He proved stubborn at first, but I can assure this gathering that he's now in our bag. He'll be here next Saturday."

Half of the gathering clapped a little, the other half had mixed feelings.

"Very good, Hunter. And are you sure you didn't mess anything up?" Omal asked with his deep voice.

"I promise I didn't."

"What Omal meant was, are you sure you didn't let your monster slip out? You said the boy proved stubborn at first. Hope you didn't calm him with your other self." This was Allan who always has a way of provoking Hunter.

"I clearly understand what Omal meant, you old fool. Everything went well, now shut up," Hunter replied Allan heatedly.

"That's alright, Man. Did you confirm he really didn't possess a quirk?" Omal asked.

"Yes I did. He had nothing."

"Not even a passive quirk?" Omal pestered.

Hunter suddenly grew quiet. He really didn't confirm if Leo had a passive quirk. He only concluded he was quirkless because there was no active quirk to be observed. This has shown his careless side yet again.

"There he goes. He must surely mess things up. How can you conclude he's quirkless without checking for passive quirks?" Allan was quick to attack Hunter again.

"It must have slipped my mind," Hunter said quietly.

"That's okay," Omal said. "There's no real damage done yet. Just check for a passive one the next time you meet him. We must have him here at the next gathering... Guys, one time for Hunter Man for securing the first recruit of the year."

They all applauded Hunter.

"Since there's no other person with a recruit yet, I'll announce the goals set by the general for this year, then we can go back to our quarters," Omal announced.

"Sounds right," the rest agreed.

After a few minutes of reading from a screen in his hands, Omal finally concluded on the goals which mainly required a hundred new recruits as the main objective of the year.

"It's time to go. Remember guys, we are here to help the weak get strong, nothing more, nothing less. We must have it at the back of our mind that we are doing the world a lot of good by our actions. Never should any of your falter in your deeds. And above all, remember that the Hope was what brought everyone here where we are today and even greater rewards are waiting in the future.

"Have a good night, and may the Hope be with you."

"May the Hope be with you," the others chorused.