"What was that all about?" Kirito crossed his arms as the ambulance took Darius and his friends away.
"Who knows? It might have been his first time in a dungeon, maybe the shock of it all and what he saw inside was too much to handle." Kazuki shrugged it off, he believed it was the appropriate punishment for them. He had every reason to kill him, but he made damn sure Darius wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again.
"Maybe you're right, well whatever, I gotta go meet up with Takashi, after this first phase, I'm sure he knows the next phase will be a lot more difficult." They fist bumped, and Kirito met up with Takashi to discuss their next move.
One by one, the contestants returned to the association, a little over an hour was left till noon. Which meant they had until then to rest, or even polish their Soul-Techniques.
Those that remained in the dungeon site were the two Soul-Hunters assigned to watch over the first phase. The vice captain of the 9th Soul-Squad — Elias Lior, and the Second Seat of the 11th Soul-Squad — Zarek Veyl.
"That was one hell of a phase, who would have thought the dungeon boss would be defeated in under thirty minutes?" Elias began the conversation, despite knowing Zarek wasn't particularly fond of his presence.
"The head commander's daughter was involved, what else did you expect? She took her father's genes. It's as simple as that." Zarek replied with his arm crossed, staring at the Soul-Hunters that returned to the association.
"What is the matter?" Elias noticed his lack of attention, and followed his gaze all the way to a single Soul-Hunter. "Ah, I see, it's that D-rank Soul-Hunter. It seems you have your eyes on him, why? I thought you were interested in strong people?"
"Yeah... I am."
"Then why him?"
"What?" Zarek raised a brow. "What's that supposed to mean? You were the one that brought him to my unit, I thought you sensed it as well?"
"I only brought him on orders from Captain Hiro, it seems both you and your captain has taken a liking to that boy. It's a surprise he was amongst the top ten participants in this exam."
"Yeah." Zarek glanced back at him, but by then, he vanished into the distance. "It's no surprise that he passed, after all, to be able to cut off someone's arm that cleanly requires not only precision, but skill."
"What?" Elias turned to him. "Are you suggesting that the arm of that C-rank Soul-Hunter was cut off by that kid?"
"That's right."
"That's against the rules of this exam, and how are you sure of it?"
"Because." Zarek thought back to the moment they pulled Darius through the stretcher. "I'm positively sure that he was looking at the boy when he lost his senses."
"Kazuki Matasuragi was it?" He grinned. "He didn't enter the dungeon with a sword, and no one would believe that a mere D-rank Soul-Hunter overpowered a C-rank Soul-Hunter and cut off his arm. You're more interesting than I thought."
He squeezed his fingers, and his eyes lit up at the thoughts of the glorious battle he envisioned between the two of them. "I can't wait to crush him."
..
They candidates all returned to the Soul-Hunter's association, and they all occupied a large room with tables and chairs. It was the main cafeteria of the association building.
There, they could relax, eat and build up their energy for the next phase.
"Hey Kazuki." Takashi called out to him as he walked out of the door.
"Hm?" Kazuki turned around, and felt like hitting his head on the wall the next second. It was Takashi again, and he was already tired of him.
"What do you want?"
"I'm not here to fight, I just wanted to know what happened between you and that Soul-Hunter that made Kaira cut off his arm?" He said.
"Huh?" Kazuki turned around. "Kaira huh, unfortunately I can't tell you anything about that because she wasn't the one who cut off his arm. She was with you remember?"
"I'm aware, I assumed she took that action before she went after the boss."
Kazuki chuckled, even with his Soul-Energy, he refused to accept the facts. Just how much longer was he going to look down on him?
He left the cafeteria, leaving Takashi puzzled and even more confused.
"It seems like you two know each other." A voice spoke behind him, and he turned around the next instant. It was Elene Castelle.
"He and I share the same relationship as we do, we're just contestants. That's all there is to it." Takashi said, rejecting any thoughts that bonded both of them together now that he refused to join the team.
"Is that so? What a shame. He's such a specimen isn't he? Kazuki Matasuragi, the Soul-Hunter who doesn't appear to be what he says he is." She put her hands behind her back and walked away.
"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Takashi called out to her, her words captured his attention immediately.
"Hm? You mean you didn't notice?" She stopped, and glanced at him over her shoulders.
"Notice what?"
"That boy that had his hands cut off, who do you think he was looking at?"
"Kazuki of course, but I figured it had something to do with his other teamate Kaira."
Elene chuckled softly, she didn't know if his beliefs clouded his better judgement, or if he chose not to see it that way. But thanks to her ability, it all became clear.
"If that's what you think, then fine. But I'll leave you with this. How well do you know Kazuki Matasuragi? And where do you think he's headed now?"
Silence.
Takashi didn't know what to say.
Elene smiled, then walked away to enjoy her break. "A word of advice, I don't know how long you've known him. But do not assume Kazuki Matasuragi is the same person you once knew."