Edric talked slowly, sounding unsure.
"I don't know exactly what happened to you... and if it's permanent," he started, speaking cautiously. "But for now, you should be an SSS-rank."
"SSS-rank?" Logan questioned, never having heard of the rank before today.
"You were going to learn about this soon enough," Edric muttered. "There are fewer than a hundred SSS-rank affinities in the world. Most work for their governments, while a few rare ones break away to lead large companies or go independent."
''All governments unanimously decided to keep this information secret, granting access only to those of significant status.''
Sighing, Edric continued, "And thus, most people believe S-rank is the ceiling. And that's exactly how the governments want to keep it."
Logan understood and nodded.
"So what happens now?" he asked.
"Now?" Edric said. "Now, you keep your head down. Train in private. If the wrong people find out what you have..." He paused. "Even your position as the Mercer heir won't protect you."
"Instead, it would only make you an even bigger target."
Logan understood the severity of the matter, following the common sense that not one rival company would freely allow him to grow stronger since it would endanger their own future.
Unintentionally, he'd become involved in another troublesome matter.
'But I'm all for it,' he thought. Having an insanely powerful affinity meant he could finally actually get stronger.
Over the past two days, his strength had been his biggest worry. With a massive target on his back and an F-rank affinity that hindered his growth, he felt like he was destined to remain stuck within the Mercer building for his entire life.
'Those worries are all gone now.'
'Now, all I have to worry about is not exposing my SSS-rank talent while growing stronger.'
''We'll discuss this in more detail later," Edric said. "For now, let me guide you to a new room where you can stay tonight."
As they left the room, Edric checked for any recordings or data that could've been taken from the scan room and all other nearby rooms.
After confirming there wasn't, they continued on and found Silas in the middle of the hallway, pacing back and forth while speaking to someone on the phone.
Seeing Edric approach, Silas ended his phone call and walked over.
"What's going on?" Edric asked, seeing his friend's unusual behavior.
"Something strange is going on," Silas said, still somewhat agitated.
"And what would that be?" Edric asked, not believing anything else could shock him after what had just happened.
"Take a look on your phone," Silas said, almost robotic.
[ALERT: Unauthorized Withdrawal Detected — Mercer Holdings Liquid Account — Amount: $1,000,000,000 USD]
Edric's face froze.
"...No. That can't be right."
He turned to Logan in disbelief.
"Did you approve any transfers?"
Logan remained calm, answering, "No," which was somewhat the truth.
Closing his eyes to calm down for a second, Edric turned to Silas.
"Get ahead of it," he said quietly. "Lock down internal access. Say nothing to the board until we have some idea what happened."
Silas gave a nod and moved off, already sending orders from his phone.
Edric turned back to Logan, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Come on. Let's get you to a secure room now."
Logan nodded.
'It seems like the system transfer was indeed anonymous,' he thought, relieved. 'Let's stick to the plan I originally had in mind.'
'Getting rid of the corruption is much needed to keep this company running for future system draws,' he thought, looking at the cooldown screen flashing beside him.
This time, the cooldown had increased to seven days. Which somewhat made sense in Logan's opinion, having just used such a massive amount of money and gotten such a big reward.
Walking through the corridors, Edric spoke, his voice tired.
"A lot is going on right now," he said, sounding tired. "After I figure out what happened regarding the money, we'll start working on your situation."
"Alright," Logan said, nodding.
'I feel bad for both Silas and Edric,' he thought. 'But it's necessary.'
Logan didn't hesitate to save his inherited businesses, knowing it'll pay off in the future.
'This is essentially the only way I can use my system after all,' he thought.
'And the first step I need to make to earn more money, is getting rid of the corruption within the businesses.'
Having been brought to a new room somewhere in the middle of the building, Edric said his goodbyes and hurried off.
"This room looks just as good as the last one," Logan muttered, walking towards his new bed.
Thinking back about what had happened during the evolution of his affinity, he sat down on his bed.
Closing his eyes, Logan concentrated deeply and entered a meditative state.
Entering a dark space, Logan was immediately attracted by the fierce orange light coming from the distance.
Going up close, he realized that his affinity had grown so large and powerful that its light shone directly through his core.
'My core also improved a lot,' he noted, seeing bronze flakes appear on the gray core.
'But this affinity...' Logan thought, amazed as he moved even closer to it.
Reaching out for the swirling mass, he felt warm and rejuvenated.
'This is amazing,' Logan thought. 'I wonder if it's really phoenix fire...'
He'd read about phoenixes, dragons, and countless other historical creatures.
'The mana creature disaster from 150 years ago was an example of one such creature,' Logan thought, remembering the history he'd been taught.
'A dragon with countless other creatures under it had invaded America, ruining two major cities before it was slain by a gathering of S-rank hunters.'
'They said the dragon was just a special S-rank creature, but I highly doubt that it was just an S-rank.'
Shaking off the useless thoughts, Logan decided to attempt cultivating his core with his new affinity, just to see the difference..
But as he attempted to pull mana strands out of the swirling mass, he quickly came to realize that it wasn't that easy.
'It seems I don't have enough control over it yet,' he thought, struggling to pull out a few strands. 'Or it might be unstable from the recent change.'
Guiding the few strands to his core, Logan felt a massive difference in how much these strands strengthened his core.
"It takes an average F-rank about five years to upgrade their core from gray to bronze, a B-rank takes around two years, and an S-rank only a couple of months," Logan recalled. "I've already cultivated for two years as an F-rank, but now it feels like I could break through to a bronze core in just one and a half weeks."