"Excuse me sir, what's he doing here?" He said, drawing everyone's attention to him.
All eyes were locked on Kazuki rather than the captain that brought him in. They were all there, all present, all witnesses to his failed awakening.
So each thought had the same question, why was he here? But some were just more aggressive than others.
"Vice captain Livinus? I wasn't expecting you here, who is that you brought with you?" The man that addressed the masses said calmly, the status of a fellow vice captain demanded respect, and he of all people paid those respects.
"Vice Captain Lior, much like you I'm just carrying out my orders from the head commander. Hey kid." Livinus turned his sights to Kazuki. "This is the Vice captain of the 9th Soul-Squad. For now, you'll be in his care."
The vice captain of the 9th Soul-Squad — Elias Lior was another noble from the capital, but unlike the rest, he followed orders strictly no matter what they were.
He was loyal as loyalty could get, as long as it didn't cross the line with his beliefs. So with a simple nod from Livinus, he understood.
"Alright then, you don't want to keep the vice captain waiting now."
Kazuki smiled, heading towards the rest of the newly awakened Soul-Hunters with bold eyes.
"Hang on.. None of this makes sense, why is he here? He couldn't even activate a Soul-Core and all of a sudden he is allowed to participate in the second selection?" Takashi spoke out against him.
"What do you mean?" The Vice captain couldn't believe his ears, there was actually a Soul-Hunter who couldn't activate his core?
"That boy that just stepped in, he couldn't activate his Soul-Core, which makes him not qualified to take the second selection." Takashi said.
Just by the vice captain's reaction alone, she knew it wouldn't be long before Kazuki was kicked out of the hall.
"Is that true boy?" Elias turned to Kazuki, demanding answers.
"Yes sir." Kazuki replied in two words, he had nothing more to say, nothing more to prove.
Elias gave him a quick look from head to toe, then exchanged glances with Livinus. Then he sighed, and motioned for Kazuki to join the crowd before returning to his place at the front.
"What?" The participants couldn't believe it, neither did Takashi.
"But why?"
"Why you say? You really are clueless for someone you once called a teammate aren't you." Kirito spoke up with a grin, then he turned his attention to his best friend. "Why would they allow a talentless kid to take part in the selection? It's obvious. You awakened, didn't you Kazuki?"
"Obvious?" Takashi spoke up and rebuked Kirito. "Use your head Kirito, there's no way a talentless hunter could awaken after being denied by the sphere."
Kazuki sights turned to him, and all he could feel in his heart was rage. He wanted nothing but to pummel Takashi, return the blow that he gave him.
His words drew everyone's attention, even Kaira's, stirring murmurs throughout the hall.
"Awaken? Impossible." A voice spoke up from the crowd.
"I've never heard of anyone awakening after denied by the Soul Sphere, admit it, you pulled some strings to get them to allow you, didn't you, commoner?" The voice stepped out of the crowd.
It was a noble from the capital — Rowan Myung. He wore a long dark coat trimmed with silver, tall leather boots, and gloves marked with faint scars. A sword hung at his side, and his family's crest gleamed proudly on his chest, giving him the air of both a noble and a hunter.
'Great, now I have to put up with this capital brats.' Kazuki said in his thoughts, if there was one thing that he hated more than Mira in the franchise, it was the kids from the capital.
They were spoiled scum bags, you could smell their arrogance a mile away. Just because they were from the capital, they acted like everything and everyone outside was inferior to them.
Sure, nobles from the captal were born with Soul-Energy that surpassed even the average of the population, but they hadn't achieved anything that gave them the rights to see others as less. They acted off their family's name and power.
And Rowan is a living example of that.
"Well then, I leave them in your care." Livinus took his leave, closing the doors gently behind him.
"That's enough." Elias voice echoed through the hall, clear and commanding, and everywhere became silent.
"Now that we're all here, we can begin the first half of the second selection. Soul-Techniques."
"Soul-Techniques?" The crowd murmured.
"That's right, By now some of you should have grasped a concept of it." His attention turned to Kirito who used one in his fight against the Soul-Beast the previous day.
"Soul-Techniques as the name suggests, are abilities created to combat and kill magical beasts, most especially Soul-Beasts. But there are two things to consider when developing these techniques." He began.
He raised two fingers in the air.
"The two principles of creating a good Soul-Technique, Amplification and Enhancement."
"W-wait Vice captain, we don't understand what you're talking about. Amplification and Enhancement?" The participants murmurs only increased.
Elias sighed.
"That's right, before we move further I suppose I should mention that there's lot more to Soul-Energy than just Soul-Techniques. For the first part of the second selection, we'll be focusing on the Soul-Core."
"On the Soul-Core? Why?"
"In truth, The head commander only revealed a portion about Soul-Core, for instance Soul-Energy doesn't keep our cores alive. Soul-Energy is the energy produced by our cores when they are activated."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?"
".... Soul-Cores are only a gift when they are dormant our bodies, the moment the cores are activated and are unstable, the excess energy will kill you."
"What!?"
"Kill us!?"
"If you knew the awakening process had such risks why did you allow us to go take it without informing us!?" They all vented their frustrations.
They felt betrayed, any wrong move, any wrong assumptions could have led to their deaths, but in the end, if this information was revealed to them, they would all back out.
"However, the Soul Sphere was designed specifically by several S-rank Hunters over the years to stabilize this cores during the activation ceremony, that is the sphere's true goal."
The moment he spoke, they all kept quiet, realizing their frustrations were all for nothing.
"Now then, let's get back to the lesson." Stretching out his right palm, he concentrated his essence into a single point in his palm.
An immense pressure shook the grounds of the halls, the participants could all feel the vibrations flowing through the ground, immediately a blue aura emanated from his palm, escaping it like a cloud of smoke.
"W-whoa." They all marveled at the release of his essence, it was fluid and mistful like gas.
"I have an A-tier Soul-Core — the Elementalist Soul-Core, as a result my Soul-Energy takes on the color scheme of my core." He said, cancelling the concentration of his Soul-Energy.
"Sir, the Elementalist Soul-Core is considered to be a C-tier rank, does that mean you are a C-rank Soul-Hunter?" Kirito asked, especially since he fell under the Elementalist Soul-Core.
"No, my rank does not matter to you now, but this much I can say. Ranks and tiers are two different things, right now I believe the highest ranked Soul-Hunter here is A-rank. However, in terms of your cores, you all are on equal footing. Prior to your awakening, your Soul-Energy is what determines your rank as a Soul-Hunter at the start, and right now you all possess a C-tier Soul-Core."
Basically, what Elias said meant one thing. Newly awakened A-rank Soul-Hunters are hunters whose quantity of Soul-Energy surpasses that of the rest, but the same couldn't be said for their Soul-Core because it was still underdeveloped.
"Even a C-rank Soul-Hunter with his Soul-Core fully developed will defeat an inexperienced and underdeveloped core of an A-rank Soul-Hunter in battle. So right now, despite the difference in Soul-Energy, you're all on equal footing in terms of Soul-Cores."
This came as good news to Kazuki, if that was the case, that means his Soul-Energy was just underdeveloped. And given it's always depleted when summoning the shadow dragon, it was a good opportunity for him.
"Strengthening the Soul-Core is much like muscle building, what happens when you try to build muscle? It tears down but once it repairs itself it becomes even bigger and stronger. The same is applicable for Soul-Core, by working your Soul-Core to it's absolute limits, you give it room to grow. That is what we call, the amplification stage."
The participants listened with rapt attention, every information was vital and every step vital.
"And enhancement, concentrating this expanded energy into a single point to create your ultimate technique. That is the main aim of this first part, to pass the first half of this selection, you must create at least two Soul-Techniques."
It didn't sound that hard at first, but creating Soul-Techniques was much more than tossing Soul-Energy around.
"Now that you've been briefed, we will immediately commence with the second part of the this selection. Follow me."
No questions asked, no comments, he just walked past the participants, leading them further into the 11th division unit.
"Kazuki." A familiar voice called out to him, and he turned, only to see Kirito and Takashi. His jaw tightened, and he felt his blood boiling. He could only guess why Takashi approached him.
"What is it?"
"So is it true? Did you really have a reawakening?" Kirito asked, he couldn't hide his curiosity.
"Yeah... That's right."
"That's awesome! So what ranked Soul-Hunter are you?"
Kazuki had no intentions of hiding his rank. So he revealed it. "D-rank." That is, what Hiro told him to reveal.
"D-rank? Hm, not bad. All that matters now is that you can finally join us to complete the mission the goddess summoned us to!"
"That's right." Takashi stepped forward. "Now that you've reawakened, we can finally fulfill our purpose in this world.
"Excuse me?" His words only fueled his anger, now he wanted to accept him into the team? The same Takashi who moments ago, tried to humiliate him just so he could leave, all in the name of survival.
"We need you and you need us, you might have awakened but do not forget that individually you are weak. But your abilities along with us can make a difference and complete our mission." He said.
"Don't give me that crap you bastard." He blurted.
"Come on Kazuki." Kirito pleaded, especially since he found someone in this world who at least had something in common with him.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in joining your little squad."
"Don't get cocky just because you managed to activate a Soul-Core, you can't survive on your own. It doesn't matter if you're angry or not, you still have an obligation to fulfill." Takashi tried his best to control his annoyance.
"Angry? No, that's not it. I'm not acting cocky just because I think I activated a Soul-Core. To be frank, now, I really don't care if you threw me out of the team. I simply just don't need you anymore to survive."
During the final moments before his re-awakening, he felt a great unease within himself, something he never thought he'd feel again after dying.
Fear.
That became his source of motivation.
Never again. That weakness, that fear of death even if one seeked it. He loathed it, detested it, he swore he'd never let it hunt him ever again.
With nothing left to say, he turned his back to them, then walked away.
"Hey, Matasuragi." Takashi grabbed him by his arms, with a cold gaze. "No one said you ever had a choice in this. I was put in charge of this team by the same goddess who summoned you here, I won't let you become the reason we can't go home."
"Guys... I think we should all just take a breather." Kirito chuckled softly, trying his best to ease the tension in the air.
He pulled his hand out of Takashi's clutches, shrugging off his remarks with a sigh.
"And that, is where she made a mistake. I'm no hero of justice, or anything else like that. I am what I've always been even back on earth, a survivor, no matter what it takes... I'll survive." With his final words, he left their side.
Takashi was startled a bit, Kazuki... his new strength completely overwhelmed him, if he wasn't careful, he could have hurled him through the room just by withdrawing his hand.
"That bastard..."
"We're here." Elias announced. They finally arrived at the combat room of the 11th Soul Squad.
As he pushed the doors open, their jaws dropped.
"Huh?"
"Weak! Weak!! Weak!!! You're all weak!!" Their eyes met with a bald shirtless man who swung a wooden sword around raggedly, but also skillfully.
In a matter of seconds, he sent six men flying through the rooms, and some through a window.
"Who's next!?" The bald man shouted with a grin.
"Huh?" The participants couldn't believe their eyes.
"Vice captain... who is this madman?"