The wind whispered through the leaves of the World Tree.
It was the oldest living thing in existence massive beyond measure, its roots deeper than any mountain, its branches higher than any cloud. For millions of years, it had stood here, watching civilizations rise and fall, watching gods come and go.
Today, leaves drifted down from its ancient branches, landing softly on the ground below.
Beneath its shadow sat two figures.
The first had hair of black with hints of brown Ruo Kotaro, the weakest human alive. His body was thin, his frame small, his presence so faint that most people walked past him without ever noticing he was there.
Behind him, with hair of white streaked with grey, sat Long Kent, the strongest human alive. Broad shouldered, powerful, capable of standing alone against any threat. And completely, utterly alone.
Both were tired. Both were bored. Both were sick of this world.
They spoke at the same time.
Both: "In this world, only ten percent of humans have supernatural powers. The other ninety percent have nothing."
They looked at each other.
And laughed.
It wasn't polite laughter. It wasn't forced. It was real two people at opposite ends of existence, sharing the same bitter joke.
Kent: "People call you the Weakest." He shook his head, still smiling. "But you're the luckiest person in this world. You don't have to protect anyone. You don't have to carry anything. We have to protect you like you're our master." His smile faded slightly. "I always smile like this. Forced. Because if I don't, they'll ask what's wrong. And I can't tell them the truth."
Ruo: "People call you the Strongest." He pulled his knees to his chest. "You're the lucky one. You can protect your loved ones. You can do anything. Everyone cheers for you. Everyone admires you." He looked down at the fallen leaves. "My name is Ruo Kotaro. It means 'little weak boy.' Yours is Kent Long. 'Bright dragon.' We have different fates. Different points of view."
He paused.
"How can I be the luckiest?"
Then the tears came.
Kent watched him cry. For a moment, the strongest human in the world said nothing. Then, quietly:
Kent: "How can I be the lucky one?"
Ruo looked up.
Kent: "You want to know what it's like? Being me? Every day, someone needs saving. Every day, someone expects me to win. Every day, I smile and nod and pretend it doesn't weigh anything." His voice cracked. "But it does. It weighs everything. And there's no one" he stopped, swallowed "there's no one strong enough to carry it with me."
Silence.
Ruo: "So you want..."
Kent: "Invisible. Just once. I want to sit somewhere and have no one look at me."
Ruo: "And I want someone to look at me. Just once. And not walk away."
They sat with that truth, letting it settle between them like the falling leaves.
Then the sky split open.
It didn't crack. It didn't tear. It split a wound in reality itself, pouring darkness across the heavens. The sun vanished. The world went cold.
And something descended.
A figure of golden light, terrible and beautiful, its voice echoing across the entire world.
Entity: "I am a god of this world. Bow."
It paused, scanning the land below.
Entity: "Where is the goddess? She was meant to arrive first."
Ruo and Kent stared up at it from beneath the World Tree.
Ruo: "That's... that's not a god."
Kent: "No. It's not."
They looked at each other.
And without a word, they stood. Together.
Before the battle could begin, the world shifted.
One moment, they were beneath the tree, facing a false god. The next...
Darkness.
Then light.
They were inside the World Tree.
Vast wooden halls stretched in every direction, lit by a soft golden glow from within the walls. Roots and branches wove together to form ceilings, corridors, doorways. It was beautiful. Impossible. Alive.
And standing before them was someone they had never seen.
He looked old in fifty, maybe sixty. Dark hair. Calm eyes. No visible power. Nothing remarkable at all.
Except for the way he looked at them. Like he already knew everything they would ever become.
Ruo: "Who are you? Where are we? What happened to that..."
Stranger: "I have been called many things." His voice was quiet but carried weight. "Judge. Witness. The Last Voice." He paused. "But you may call me what I am."
Omniranker: "The Omniranker."
He gestured, and the walls of the World Tree became transparent. Through them, they could see the false god still searching the sky above, confused by their disappearance.
Omniranker: "Those beings above? They are not gods. They are imposters. Pretenders who have deceived your world." He looked at them both. "And I am going to help you stop them."
Kent: "Help us? Why?"
Omniranker: "Because you are the strongest human who ever lived." He looked at Kent. "And you are the weakest." He looked at Ruo. "You should never have met. You should never have understood each other. And yet" almost a smile "here you are. Sitting beneath the same tree. Choosing to stand together."
Ruo: "So you're going to train us?"
Omniranker: "I am going to train you. Yes. But I am not your only teacher." He turned, leading them deeper into the tree. "Others are coming. From other worlds. To help you stand against the false rulers."
They walked in silence for a moment.
Kent: "The Illimitable Court. That's what they call themselves?"
Omniranker: "You know of them?"
Kent: "We heard the first one mention it. Before everything."
Omniranker: "Then you know their claim. Limitless. Boundless. Without end." He glanced back at them. "They are wrong."
They walked for ten minutes.
The World Tree was endless corridor after corridor, hall after hall, all carved from living wood. But no people. No voices. Just the three of them and the soft golden light.
Ruo: "Omniranker?"
Omniranker: "Yes?"
Ruo: "Where are we going? You haven't answered anything. We've been walking for ten minutes, and I haven't seen a single person, and..."
Omniranker: Stopped walking. Smiled.
Omniranker: "We're here."
They stepped through an archway and into a vast hall.
It was the heart of the World Tree. Massive wooden pillars rose toward a ceiling lost in shadow. Golden light pulsed gently from the walls, like the tree itself was breathing. And at the center of it all,
a throne.
And on that throne sat someone.
Black hair. Physically frail. Face striking enough to hold anyone's gaze. But his presence... it was like looking at someone who wasn't there. Invisible. And his eyes...
Endless. Like staring into an abyss with no bottom.
In his right hand, he held a crown. A crown that clearly belonged to the Omniranker.
Mysterious Person: "You're two seconds late."
The Omniranker bowed slightly.
Omniranker: "Apologies."
Kent and Ruo exchanged glances. Two seconds? This stranger was disrespecting the one who saved them over two seconds? Kent stepped forward, anger rising
The Omniranker held up a hand.
Omniranker: "Quiet. Both of you."
He turned to them, voice gentle but firm.
Omniranker: "This is my best friend. He belongs to Omnirank World Two." A pause. "The people of the omniverse call him the weakest human in all of existence."
Silence.
Ruo: "Weaker than... me?"
Omniranker: "Yes. Physically, he is weaker than you, Ruo."
Ruo stared at the figure on the throne. Weaker than him? But he sat there like he owned everything. Like he feared nothing.
Omniranker: "But he is also very close to the queen of his world. And they say..." he chose his words carefully "he has connections to the top ten universes. And multiverses. He can influence the omniverse while staying in the shadows."
Kent: "Influence? How?"
Omniranker: "That is not for me to explain. He is just a nobody." He looked at them both seriously. "Before we go further, you must take an oath. Here, before the World Tree. Swear that you will never speak his secrets to anyone."
Ruo and Kent looked at each other. Then back at the figure on the throne.
They swore.
Omniranker: "Good. Now..." he turned to Ruo "I saved you because you are the weakest human who ever lived in this world."
Ruo flinched.
Kent: "Don't..."
Omniranker: Held up a hand. "I did not insult him. I stated a fact. And that fact is why you are both here." He looked at Kent. "You are a strong human. Dragon child." He looked at Ruo. "And you are a weak human. Little ghost."
Ruo: "I don't understand."
Omniranker: "The Illimitable Court can see strong beings. They can track them. Predict them. Hunt them." He paused. "But weak beings? They cannot see you at all. You are beneath their notice. Invisible to their gaze."
He let that sink in.
Omniranker: "You, Kent they see. You are too strong to bend. You, Ruo they do not see. You are too weak to track. Together..." He almost smiled. "Together, you are their blind spot."
Ruo: "So you're going to train us?"
Omniranker: "We are going to train you. We will break you. We will remake you. And when the Illimitable Court looks upon you again" his voice dropped to a whisper "they will remember what fear feels like."
The figure on the throne smiled. Slow. Terrible.
Mysterious Person: "Then I should leave."
He stood, placing the crown carefully on the throne.
Mysterious Person: "I cannot interfere directly in any world. If I do" he shrugged "I become the most wanted criminal in the omniverse. Both sides target me. Bounty hunters. Assassins. Everyone." He looked at them calmly. "I would have to stand against everything that exists."
Ruo: "So you're just... a spectator?"
Mysterious Person: "Exactly. A nobody."
Ruo remembered the Omniranker's word earlier. Nobody. Now it made sense.
Mysterious Person: "But I will do what I can from the shadows. Until you return from training." He paused at the threshold. "One more thing. The Illimitable Court already knows you're alive. They will come faster now. Train well or die well. Now, I'm going to meet the false ones."
Kent: "Wait. You said you're going to meet the false ones. Why?"
The mysterious person looked back. Smiled.
Mysterious Person: "Because sometimes the best way to defeat your enemy is to have tea with them."
He was gone.
The Omniranker sighed.
Omniranker: "That one will be the death of me."
Kent: "Master, who is he really?"
Omniranker: "Someone who cannot be controlled. Cannot be regulated. Cannot be stopped." He looked at them. "Physically, the weakest in existence. But influence?" He shook his head. "He could start a war between universes with a single whispered word. Remember that. And never forget... he is on our side."
Through the transparent walls of the World Tree, they saw the false god speaking to another figure. A goddess. Her form shimmered with stolen light.
False God: "I failed. They escaped."
Goddess: "My fault. I came late." Her eyes hardened. "Next time, we remove the obstacle. Then we conquer this world."
They vanished.
Ruo and Kent watched them go.
Ruo: "The Illimitable Court."
Kent: "They think they have no limits."
Ruo: Looked at Kent. Smiled.
Ruo: "Then we'll show them one."
The Omniranker led them deeper into the World Tree. Training rooms. Libraries. Armories. Places that had waited centuries for someone to use them.
Omniranker: "Before we begin, you must understand your world's power system."
He sat them down in a small wooden chamber.
Omniranker: "In your world, only ten percent have powers. They inherit them from ancestors. That is why the ninety percent never awaken." He counted on his fingers. "But there are other ways."
One: Eat an awakened person's body. Forbidden. But possible.
Two: Transmigrate or reincarnate into an awakened body. Pure luck.
Three: Receive a blessing or a curse from the rulers or the false ones.
Four: Find a rare beast that has awakened or fed on the awakened. Use its core. Difficult. Expensive. Deadly.
Five: Attempt a second awakening. Some survive. Most don't.
Six: Steal someone else's core. But without it, they die.
He paused.
Omniranker: "There is a seventh way. But it is... complicated. We will discuss it later if needed."
Ruo stared at the floor. Six paths. Six ways to become something more. Six chances to finally be seen.
Omniranker: "You must hold at least four cores in your body. That means your bodies must become stronger first. Much stronger." He looked at them. "The association stands with you. The World Tree stands with you. But the choice" his voice softened "is yours."
Ruo: Quietly. "I've been invisible my whole life. If I awaken... people might finally see me."
Kent: Just as quiet. "I've been seen my whole life. If I awaken again... I might finally be able to rest."
They looked at each other.
Both: "We'll do it."
The Omniranker nodded. For the first time, something like warmth crossed his ancient face.
Omniranker: "Then rest tonight. Tomorrow, we begin."
Dawn broke.
Then dusk.
Then dawn again.
Kent's muscles screamed. Ruo's bones ached. They trained until they couldn't stand, then trained some more. The Omniranker pushed them to limits they didn't know they had and then pushed further.
Finally, they collapsed side by side in the training hall, breathing hard, staring at the wooden ceiling far above.
The Omniranker knelt beside them. Almost gentle.
Omniranker: "Good. You survived." A pause. "Now tell me your paths."
Kent turned his head. Looked at Ruo.
Ruo turned his head. Looked at Kent.
They didn't need words anymore.