Re-Awakened :I Ascend as an SSS-Ranked Dragon Summoner - Chapter 481

481: Area 52 481: Area 52 A five-story building sat at the edge of the industrial district, where the city met wastelands beyond.

Dark gray concrete, reinforced steel, the kind of construction that said “functional” more than “pretty.” It looked like it could take a beating, which made sense in a world where beasts sometimes ignored the concept of city limits.

Above the main entrance, a symbol caught the afternoon light-a moon and sun crossing each other, mounted in brushed metal.

The eclipse.

Inside, the ground floor was still being set up.

Sam had claimed most of it for his operation center, multiple screens showing contract listings and faction network feeds.

The second floor would be armory and storage once they had enough gear to actually store.

Third floor was medical-recovery rooms and treatment spaces for when people got hurt, which they would.

Fourth floor had basic living quarters.

Nothing fancy, just rooms with beds for members who needed somewhere to stay.

Better than sleeping on the streets, which is where some of their recruits had come from.

Fifth floor was command center.

Meeting rooms, planning spaces, secure communications.

The core team’s private area.

Getting the building had taken three days of Sam working his connections while the credits Lucy sent along with some generous donations from Sophie made everything move faster.

The Grey family soldiers who’d arrived with the supply ships had stayed on as additional muscle.

Diana called them enforcers since they weren’t really faction members-more like security that happened to have military training and original family backing.

Sam had earned his ten percent already.

In four days, he’d secured the building, set up their legal framework so they could operate without the city shutting them down, established communication channels with the underground networks, and vetted potential recruits.

He filtered out the spies, the glory-seekers, and the people who’d get everyone killed within a week.

Ten hunters had made the cut.

All of them E to D rank in the hunter classification system, which was different from how the military measured things.

The EDF ranked people by raw power-first generation talents at the bottom, third generation higher up, then the Alpha-ranked monsters at the top.

S-rank, SS-rank, SSS-rank.

Noah was SSS, the kind of power that made military brass pay attention.

But hunters got classified by experience and results.

Beast kills, contracts completed, how often you came back alive.

E-rank meant you’d survived your first few hunts without dying from something stupid.

D-rank meant you could handle category two beasts without someone holding your hand the whole time.

C-rank and above were professionals who took serious contracts and actually finished them.

Their ten recruits were at the bottom.

That’s where the progression came in-Noah and Diana would train them until they could handle threats most factions ran away from.

Today was the official opening, and Noah stood in the main training hall on the third floor with Diana beside him.

Ten recruits faced them, looking nervous and excited and skeptical all at once.

The training hall was big enough for serious combat drills.

Reinforced everything so abilities wouldn’t bring the building down.

Kelvin had installed AI combat dummies that simulated beasts from category one through three, plus monitoring systems that tracked how people performed and where they screwed up.

Noah looked at the recruits.

Some carried themselves like they’d been military.

Others moved like street fighters.

A few had that careful wariness that came from surviving things that should have killed them.

“Welcome to Eclipse Faction,” Noah said.

“Before we explain what we expect from you, I want to be clear about what makes us different.” He gestured to Diana.

“We operate like other factions in most ways.

You take contracts, you get paid, your ranking improves when you complete jobs successfully.

But we don’t limit ourselves to beast hunting and protection work.

We face threats most factions won’t even acknowledge.” “Harbingers,” Diana said.

“We fight Harbingers.

That’s not someday.

That’s not theoretical.

That’s what this faction exists to do.” The recruits shifted.

One of them spoke up-a woman in her mid-twenties with scars on her arms.

“I tried to enlist in the military.

Passed all the tests, met the physical requirements.

But I awakened late, at nineteen instead of the normal age.

By the time I had control over my abilities, they said I was too far behind.

They rejected me and told me to join a faction instead.” Another recruit nodded, younger, maybe eighteen.

“I awakened pretty early at fourteen, went through military academy.

Graduated a year ago.

Never got called up.

They said I was better suited for faction work.” He laughed bitterly.

“That’s code for ‘you’re not good enough for us but maybe you’ll be useful somewhere else.'” “I worked with three different factions before this,” an older man said.

His face was weathered, the kind that came from years of hard living.

“Every single one cared more about profits than protecting people.

Take the easy contracts, maximize earnings, avoid anything that might get members killed even if civilians needed help.” More stories came out.

Rejected, overlooked, dismissed, treated like they were expendable.

These people had ended up here because the system had failed them.

“So yeah,” the scarred woman finished.

“We’re ready to face whatever you throw at us.

We’re ready to give everything to actually make our lives mean something instead of just scraping by.” Noah nodded.

“Then you have to prove it.” He gestured to Diana.

“Anyone who can put her down gets immediately qualified for our first contract.

No extra training, straight to active duty.” The recruits looked at Diana with new interest.

She was younger than most of them but she moved like someone who’d survived more fights than they could imagine.

“One at a time or all at once,” Diana said, and her smile was the kind predators wore.

“I don’t care.

Come at me however you want.” Noah walked out, leaving Diana to show them exactly why Eclipse Faction’s founders weren’t just talk.

Seraleth was waiting outside, leaning against the wall.

“Interesting teaching method,” she said as he approached.

“I overheard some of the recruits earlier.

They were saying the founding members couldn’t be all that impressive.

Just kids who got lucky or had good publicity.” Noah grinned.

“Figured a demonstration was in order.” “So Diana gets to discourage any doubt?” “She volunteered the second I mentioned it.

We lead through wisdom, sure.

But also through strength.

They need to understand we’re not asking them to face threats we can’t handle ourselves.” Seraleth smiled.

“You are wise, Noah Eclipse.” They walked through the building.

Noah pointed out different sections-medical facilities that could handle ability-related injuries, communication systems for coordinating across the city, living quarters for members who needed stability.

“Four days ago you had nothing but a name,” Seraleth observed.

“Now you have all this.” “Sam handled most of the logistics.

Lucy’s resources made things happen fast.” Noah shrugged.

“But yeah, it’s coming together quicker than I thought it would.” They headed to the second floor workshop, where Kelvin had claimed an entire section.

The space was organized chaos-workbenches covered with tools and parts, holographic displays showing complex designs, half-assembled machinery everywhere.

Kelvin was bent over a large framework that sort of looked humanoid, his cybernetic arms welding components together.

He looked up when they entered, his face lighting up.

“Check this out!” He gestured at the framework.

“Combat mech.

Well, prototype.

Maybe ten feet tall when it’s done, designed for urban operations and beast hunting.” Noah moved closer.

The frame looked solid, built for mobility and taking hits.

“How long until it works?” “Couple weeks if nothing goes wrong.” Kelvin pulled up schematics.

“The idea is to give non-powered people or low-rank hunters a force multiplier.

Put someone in this, suddenly they can fight category three beasts.

Maybe category four if the pilot’s good.” “That’s ambitious,” Seraleth said.

“That’s necessary,” Kelvin corrected.

“We’re fighting things that kill trained soldiers.

Not everyone’s got Alpha-rank abilities like Noah.

Most of our members are regular hunters who need every advantage to stay alive.

Mechs, weapons, gear, whatever works.” He gestured around the workshop.

“The Grey supplies included fabrication equipment and raw materials.

I can build support gear, modify weapons, create custom solutions.

This whole floor is basically my playground.” Noah felt something settle in his chest.

This was real.

They weren’t just announcing a faction and hoping.

They were building actual infrastructure, creating systems, giving their members tools that improved their odds.

“Let me know when the prototype’s ready,” Noah said.

“You’ll be the first,” Kelvin promised, already turning back to his work.

Noah and Seraleth headed back to ground floor where Sam had set up operations.

The displays showed real-time data from underground networks, contracts filtered by difficulty and payout, resources tracked down to individual items.

Sophie walked in through the main doors, her expression saying she had news.

She spotted Noah and came over.

“Just landed our first contract,” she said.

“Outer settlement in Area 52.

Regular beast incursions, category three and four threats.

Population’s about five thousand, mostly farmers and light industry.

They’ve been requesting EDF support for weeks but keep getting ignored.” “What are the specifics?” Noah asked.

“Investigate the incursions, find the source, neutralize the threat.

Standard faction rates plus bonuses per beast killed.” Sophie pulled up her tablet.

“The problem is they suspect a category five might be in the area.

Nothing confirmed, but the attack patterns suggest something’s coordinating the smaller beasts.” Category fives destroyed cities.

Didn’t matter what kind of beast it was-if it hit category five, you needed serious firepower to stop it.

“Hell of a first job,” Noah said.

“It’s exactly what we said we’d handle,” Sophie countered.

“Threats other factions won’t touch.

This is our chance to prove we meant it.” Sam walked over from his station.

“I’ve got something to show you.

All of you.

Follow me.” His tone said it was important, so they followed him outside.

A large transport truck had just arrived, its thrusters powering down.

The cargo bay doors opened, revealing equipment cases and storage containers.

Sam gestured for workers to start unloading, and Noah saw what had him excited.

Tactical gear.

Dozens of sets, maybe more, all with the Eclipse insignia.

Combat suits designed for protection without killing mobility, equipment harnesses for weapons and supplies, helmets with integrated comms.

Everything a hunter needed for serious work, customized with their symbol on the shoulders and chest.

“The Grey supplies included raw materials and basic equipment,” Sam explained.

“I sent everything to manufacturers I trust, had them customize it.

This is the first shipment.

More coming over the next few days.” Kelvin had followed them out and whistled.

“Sweet.” The gear was more than equipment.

It was legitimacy, professionalism, the visual identity that made people take you seriously.

Eclipse Faction wasn’t just kids with a dragon anymore.

They had a building, personnel, resources, and now the look of a real organization.

Noah looked at the tactical gear, at the building with their symbol above the entrance, at his team discussing their first contract.

Four days.

They’d built something real in four days.

Now came the part where they proved it could actually work.

“Let’s go to work,”