Divine Milking System

Belle grabbed my arm.

"Did she just say highest?"

"She did."

"We got the best score?"

"Sounds like it."

Jordan sat up fully. His grey eyes actually open for once.

"Wait. We’re seventh but we got the best rating?"

"Rankings are cumulative," Misato said from my other side. Her voice tight. Controlled. "They’re factoring in our baseline stats from Tuesday. Our formation drills. Academic scores. Gate performance is weighted heaviest but it’s not everything."

The screen moved to the next squad.

RANK 6: OBSIDIAN ELITE - HOUSE OBSIDIAN

Blair’s face filled the screen.

Then Charles. Javier. Hikaru. Dante.

All of them looking sharp and dangerous in their photos. Even Javier somehow pulled off confident despite his perpetual nervous energy.

The man spoke.

"Obsidian Elite. Led by Blair Davenport, heiress to Davenport Industries. This squad boasts the highest individual power ratings of any first-year team. They cleared their gate in forty-two minutes with twenty-three cores. B-rank evaluation."

My brain did the math instantly.

We beat them.

The Midnight Foxes. Four lottery kids and Misato. Beat Blair’s squad of elite guild heirs by five minutes and earned a higher rank.

Seventh place overall. But higher rated performance.

Misato pulled out her phone. Typed something fast. Her face stayed completely blank but her fingers shook slightly as they moved across the screen.

She was texting Blair. Had to be.

The ceremony continued.

RANK 5: CRIMSON TIGERS - HOUSE RUBY

RANK 4: BLUE FLAMINGOS - HOUSE SAPPHIRE

RANK 3: GREEN WAVE - HOUSE EMERALD

Wait.

Emerald had a squad at rank three AND rank thirteen?

That house was all over the place.

RANK 2: BLACK WOLVES - HOUSE OBSIDIAN

Four guys with expensive haircuts. The same squad that registered right before us at Vale’s desk. Their uniforms looked professionally tailored. Their photos screamed wealth and training.

"Obsidian Wolves cleared in thirty-four minutes with twenty-seven cores. Exceptional combat execution. A-rank evaluation."

Jordan whistled low.

"Thirty-four minutes. That’s fast."

"They probably had better gear," Belle said. "Better weapons. Better everything."

RANK 1: APEX - HOUSE SAPPHIRE

Five students I didn’t recognize. But their photos radiated competence. Sharp eyes. Clean uniforms. The kind of people who looked like they were born holding weapons.

"Sapphire Elite. Cleared in thirty-one minutes with thirty cores. Perfect coordination. Zero injuries. S-rank evaluation."

The crowd erupted. Sapphire section going absolutely insane. Students on their feet screaming. Hugging. Celebrating like they’d just won the championship instead of completing a single assessment.

The woman on stage waited for the noise to die down.

"Congratulations to our top fifteen squads! But remember. This is just week one. Rankings will update monthly. Every squad has the potential to climb. Every squad has the risk of falling."

The man gestured to the massive screen.

"Individual rankings have also been updated. Check your student portal for your personal position among all first-year students across all five houses."

My phone buzzed. Everyone’s phones buzzed. Two hundred fifty notifications going off simultaneously sounded like a swarm of mechanical bees.

I opened the app. Tapped the rankings tab.

The loading icon spun for exactly three seconds that felt like three years.

Then my rank appeared.

JACE MONROE - RANK 141/250

I blinked.

Read it again.

Still said 141.

"One hundred forty-one," I said out loud.

Belle looked at her phone. Then looked at me.

"You went up?"

"I was dead last on Tuesday."

"You were two hundred fifty out of two hundred fifty."

"Yeah."

"Now you’re one forty-one."

"Math checks out."

Belle showed me her screen.

BELLE FOX - RANK 168/250

Jordan checked his phone and groaned.

JORDAN WAYNE - RANK 127/250

"I moved up sixty spots and I’m still disappointed."

Naomi hadn’t looked at her phone yet. She held it in both hands like it might bite her.

I leaned over slightly. Kept my voice low.

"Check it."

"I don’t want to."

"Check it anyway."

She took a breath. Tapped the screen. Her pink eyes went wide.

NAOMI LOVE - RANK 78/250

"Holy shit," she whispered.

"That’s top hundred."

"That’s top hundred."

She looked at me finally. Actually looked at me. Not through me or past me but at me.

"I was one hundred forty on Tuesday. How did I jump so much?"

"Because you’re a fucking badass."

"I had help."

"You did the work."

Misato still hadn’t said anything. She stared at her phone with an expression I couldn’t read.

Belle noticed too.

"What’s your rank?"

Misato turned her screen around.

MISATO AYAME - RANK 31/250

The number sat there. Undeniable. Top forty among every first-year student at the entire academy.

Jordan sat up straight for the first time all morning.

"Thirty-one? That’s. That’s actually elite."

Belle grabbed Misato’s phone before Misato could pull it away. She scrolled down. Her eyes narrowed.

"Blair’s rank thirty-eight."

Silence dropped over our little circle like someone had thrown a wet blanket on a fire.

Misato ranked higher than Blair.

The assistant ranked higher than the heiress.

Belle handed the phone back carefully like it might explode.

"Blair’s going to lose her mind."

"Blair already lost her mind," I said. "This just proves it."

The ceremony continued on stage. The woman was saying something about individual achievements and highlighting exceptional performances. Photos cycled across the screen.

I barely registered any of it.

My brain kept running the numbers.

Midnight Foxes ranked seventh. Blair’s squad ranked sixth. We were one spot below her. One spot away from beating her completely.

But we’d gotten a higher evaluation rating. A-rank versus their B-rank.

And my individual rank had climbed astronomically while hers apparently dropped.

The system had given me an alpha to kill. Thrown me the exact scenario I needed to prove I wasn’t completely worthless.

Coincidence? Or something else?

I pulled up the system interface privately. Checked the quest log.

PROVE IT

Finish Top 5 by Winter Evaluation

Current Progress: Rank 7/10 (Obsidian House)

Weeks Remaining: 9

Reward: 50,000 Points, Private Sanctum Bronze Upgrade, Special Feature Unlock

Nine weeks. We had to climb two spots and hold them for nine weeks against squads that would be training just as hard as us. Against Blair’s squad specifically, who’d be gunning for us now that we’d embarrassed her.

Against the Obsidian Wolves at rank two, who looked like they ate nails for breakfast.

My phone buzzed with a private message.

BLAIR: We need to talk

I deleted it without responding.

Another message came through immediately.

BLAIR: Don’t ignore me

Deleted.

BLAIR: I’m serious

I turned my phone face-down on my lap. Belle noticed and smirked.

"She’s having a crisis."

"Good."

"You’re mean."

"She tried to bribe me. Threatened me. Sent Misato to kidnap me. I think mean is fair."

"Still mean."

"Thanks."

The ceremony wrapped up with some inspirational speech about potential and perseverance. How every student had the capacity to climb or fall based on their choices. How the academy believed in merit over birthright.

Complete bullshit but at least it was short bullshit.

Students started filing out. House by house. The noise level rose to deafening as everyone processed their ranks and started arguing or celebrating depending on where they landed.

I stood. My legs felt like concrete.

Belle stood too. She stretched her arms over her head and her back cracked in three places. The movement pulled her blazer tight across her chest and several guys nearby stopped walking to stare.

She noticed. Winked at them. They scrambled away like she’d just pulled a knife.

"Still got it."

"You’re terrible."

"I’m practical."

Naomi gathered her bag slowly. Her movements careful. Like she was thinking about something heavy and trying not to drop it.

"You okay?" I asked.

"My parents." Her voice cracked slightly. "My parents are going to be so happy."