A week flew by in the blink of an eye, and before anyone knew it, the final part of the second selection had arrived.
Kazuki got up early, throughout the week he tried his best to develop at least one Soul-Technique from the Sub Elementalist Soul-Core. But Steelfang's core was just too strong, each attempt left him with an injury, if not worse.
At least he had the Shadow Recovery ability.
He left early for the second selection site they were all informed about the previous day, he didn't want to worry his sister anymore, so he didn't tell her about the second selection.
Kirito and Kazuki went together, and they arrived at the site.
"So this is it huh." Kirito said, with a wide grin stretched on his face.
"Yeah..." Kazuki replied, in all honesty he wasn't thrilled on becoming a Soul-Hunter, but in order to get stronger it was mandatory. After completing the daily quest for today, he discovered that he didn't receive a key.
The 14 Soul-Squads were granted access to several types of dungeons according to their numbers and strength. He couldn't count on the broken system's rewards all the time so this was the only alternative.
'This is it.' He thought, squeezing his fist as he glanced at the association from afar.
"I guess this is where I say see you around." Kirito smiled, then walked away towards the crowd in an open field.
"Hm? That's odd." They were far more than usual, plenty infact. At the first and second part of the second selection, they weren't above fifty in total, but now, they were far more than that.
"They are Soul-Hunters from the upper section of the kingdom, unlike the participants from the lower section who have no one but the Soul-Hunter's association to guide them on the second selection, in the upper selection, we are already blessed with such knowledge." A gentle, angelic voice spoke from behind him, sweet enough to make him pause his thoughts.
Kazuki turned around, and laid his eyes on the sum total of beauty itself. A young woman stood before him, her golden hair falling like sunlight over her shoulders. Her blue eyes shone bright and clear, holding a calm grace that seemed to quiet the very air around her.
She wore a fitted armored top, cropped to allow swift movement, paired with sleek pants that shaped her form. From her waist, two long cloths draped like twin capes, flowing besides her thighs to give both elegance and command.
"Uh, who are you?" He furrowed his brows, trying his best to remember who this character was, but he couldn't.
"Where are my manners, I'm Elene Castelle, it's a pleasure to meet you, Kazuki Matasuragi." She said with a smile that could lit up the room at it's peak.
'Castelle? As in the renowned nobles!?' From his memories back on earth, the Castelle family was one of the most powerful families in the kingdom, the head was part of the 12 council members that oversaw the affairs of the kingdom.
'She's definitely a known character.'
"You know my name?" His brows jerked, she wasn't part of the Soul-Hunters that joined them in the selection.
"How could I not? You're the Soul-Hunter who couldn't activate a Soul-Core."
"So even the upper section has heard of it? Word really spreads like wildfire over here."
"But it's strange isn't it?"
"What's strange?"
She circled him. "We also heard you re-awakened as a D-rank Soul-Hunter, so what's a D-rank Soul-Hunter doing at the final part of the second selection?"
"What? You said it yourself, I re-awakened, I'm now qualified to participate in the second selectio-"
"No." She chimed in. "I don't know if you are aware, but the requirements to actually participate in the second selection... Is to awaken as a C-rank Soul-Hunter and above. No D-rank Soul-Hunter is ever allowed in for their own safety."
Silence.
He had no idea what to say.
In the novel, at least at the beginning chapters, it wasn't mentioned, so he had no idea.
"You may have fooled everyone, but you can't fool me, especially not with my abilities." She placed her fingers on his chest, then smiled cunningly at him. "You say you're a D-rank Soul-Hunter, but I can sense it, that dense Soul-Energy, and I can feel it, gnawing at all parts of me like a starving predator."
"Huh." Kazuki raised his eyebrows, a flicker of confusion crossing his face as he tried to make sense of what Elene was saying. "What are you talking about? That's creepy as fuck."
"Hmph." She drew back, then walked away with an innocent smile. "I'll be watching you, Kazuki Matasuragi."
As Elene left, a tall man stepped forward in front of them.
"Dear candidates, we welcome you to the final part of the second selection, and this final part, is the Soul-Hunter's exams."
"Soul-Hunter's exams!?"
"I don't understand, you mean we actually have to take exams to become Soul-Hunters!?" The candidates from the lower section weren't aware of this, so it came like a blow to them, given they were up against well-trained hunters from the upper section.
The man cleared his throat, and they all fell silent.
"I am the vice captain of the 5th Soul-Squad and the examiner for this year's exam, this year we are going to be doing things a little bit differently than the previous years." He began, his voice resonating through the entire hall.
"A bit differently?" Takashi asked with crossed arms, unclear to what he meant by that.
"That's right, you may not be aware, but the final part of the second selection is the Soul-Hunter's examination and it is usually divided into three phases. But given the recent events in the past week, it has been trimmed down to 2 phases. As a result the numbers of candidates must be reduced drastically as well." The vice captains words caused a huge murmur to occur within the hall.
"R-reduced drastically?" Kirito, along with some other participants stammered.
"Y-you don't mean.." Another participant stammered, their mouths agape as they realized what the captain was asking for.
"Yeah... I remember this part." Kazuki muttered under his breath. "Mass elimination." He spoke softly, summarizing the 5th captain's intentions in just two words.
The participants grew unsteady, mass elimination? That meant most of them would fail? After coming this far?
"That's right, Mass elimination is the method we are adopting to achieve our desired number. The elimination will be decided in the first phase of the exams, however before that, in the second selection you were all told to create a team of three, I hope you've fulfilled that order. But for benefit of doubts, it has been reduced to a team of two while retaining the teams of three as an option, you have three minutes to assemble your team, once the time limit is elapsed, whoever hasn't found a partner will be automatically eliminated."
"A-automatically eliminated!?" Kazuki couldn't believe it, he was already failing the exams before he could even take it!
"Where the hell am I going to find a teammate before the time elapsed?" This was one of the disadvantages of being branded as a D-rank Soul-Hunter, no one wanted him.
They believed they'd fail, and they weren't wrong. D-rank Soul-Hunters were considered one of the weakest Soul-Hunters in history.
"Kazuki right?" A voiced called out to him.
"Hm?" He turned around, and his eyes went wide like he'd seen a ghost. "You're..."
"Join my team, Kazuki." She was one of the candidates that activated an extraordinary Soul-Core during the Soul Awakening Ceremony.
The daughter of the Head Commander of the 14 Soul-Squads, Kaira Daemar.