David was standing in front of the Hunter Association building.
"I guess this is it. There is no turning back from here."
While standing still he had a weird feeling, an aura of a strong being around him.
The line was shoving directly pointing to the Association building. David stared directly at the person.
…
Carter felt a sharp sensation while he was going downstairs. He looked outside from the window and saw David.
"He's here. He realized that I was here, before I became aware of him. He also located me perfectly."
"Wait, did he see you from that far? Could he be an assassin-type hunter?"
"We will see…"
…
"Ahhh! I stared at him for too long! He's gonna come after me. I'm dead. Okay David, get yourself together. I can do this."
He walked to the building and entered the large hall. There was a small crowd of people.
There are 2 C-classes and 5 B-classes. I guess even the A-classes are pretty rare. He thought.
David walked closer to the crowd; one of the B-class people saw him.
"This place is full of losers. Look at that little man for example." He showed David with his finger.
"But I'm 1,87 meters tall." David walked closer and looked down to the person who was pointing at him. "I'm longer than you."
"Who says so, do you think that you can answer me?"
"I mean you showed me and talked directly to me. I thought that you were trying to start a conversation."
The person got angry because of David's reply and walked over to him.
While this was happening Carter and others entered the hall.
"And they are already fighting" Professor Turner was annoyed.
"That's him. The young one is the new S-class."
"What!? We need to stop that. He could try to kill him."
"Let's watch and see." Carter's eyes were on David.
…
"Hey, I'm talking to you. Don't even try to look elsewhere."
"You stated this; you get angry just by yourself. What am I supposed to do?" David was calm, unlike the other guy.
"I'm gonna destroy your face!!"
When he tried moving into him, David leaned to the back. The guy stumbled and fell to the ground.
"I didn't do anything. You did that to yourself."
The crowd was laughing at the person on the ground.
"Let's not turn this into a circus."
Everyone turned their back to see the person talking. It was Carter.
"I'm Matthew Carter. I am an official S-rank hunter and the vice minister of The Hunter Association. Today I will be your guide and watch every movement of yours. End of the day I will give you points based on your behavior. If you can't pass my test, you can't be an official hunter." His gaze locked on the person on the ground. "And someone already gained a negative point." He looked at David and said, "Is there a problem?"
"No, sir. You should give me a negative point too. I didn't know that even low-level hunters could be that aggressive. I should have been more careful." David scratched his head while smiling awkwardly.
"Okay. If that's what you want." You can distinguish weaker hunters too, huh? Carter thought.
The young woman who was standing behind him whispered: "Really? Is he gonna give him a negative point? He didn't kill that guy, even though that was a positive point for an S-class."
Carter continued his speech. "Everyone, take your name cards from here."
He showed the box Turner was holding. "Attach them to your shirts so we can tell who is who. We're going to the registry machine first. After determining your classes, people right beside me will test your overall skills. I will be watching you all during tests, so behave well."
After everyone took the namecards, Carter started walking, and the crowd followed him.
There was a large, pure white tree-like structure at the center of the open hallway. Its branches were reaching the upper floors.
"This is the registry machine. It looks like a tree but it's machinery. It is based on the tree found inside the crack 01-01-03A, the first crack ever cleared by hunters." Carter said to the mesmerised crowd behind him. "So get in the line and get your rank checked."
His eyes searched for David in the group. After getting closer to him, he tried to put his hand on David's shoulder but David dodged him by reflex.
"Oh, sorry sir." I'm gonna die today. He's following my every step… Scary!! David thought.
Carter tried to put his hand again but this time David didn't dodge. "I want you to go last." While talking his hand was on David's shoulder. He was shaking but his face was looking emotionless for some reason. " Are you stressed?" Carter asked.
"Ah… Yes, a little. I didn't want to cause trouble, sir. Sorry." Please let me go…
Carter was in deep thoughts. He was one of the first awakeners. He saw numberless awakeners during the last 10 years. High-rank hunters, especially S-classes, are destructive and full of killing intent. They are monsters that can kill anyone and destroy the stuff around them without a second thought. But he was different. Not only he was calm, but he also apologized for this?
Carter has taken a back for a little while. Am I wrong? Is he an S-class? He thought.
"Sir, are you good?" David was looking at him.
"Hey, little man watch this!!" It was the guy from before. After David's eyes locked on him, he grinned and put his hand to the machine.
"B-class." Said by one of the employees.
"See? Past this you little twig."
David let out a deep sigh. He was the last one. After Carter let him go, he walked to the machine.
"Umm… What should I do?"
"Just put your hand to the machine and empty your mind."
"Okay, here I go."
David put his hand to the machine.
The screens near the registry machine started giving warnings. Which only means one thing.
"S-class, I'm repeating he's an S-class. Print the numbers, and record the waves quickly!"
Employees, who were checking screens, started moving in a rush to save the data. Everyone was in a hurry. Other employees around the machine leave everything and gather around screens. When David turned his back he saw the white face of that bully.
I guess this is where everything changes. I don't feel any different since I already knew. I'm an S-class. Should I celebrate, or should I make a sad face? I have no idea. While thinking this, David's gaze switched to the employees who were in a rush.
"I can stay like this. You don't need to be in a hurry."
The employee who announced his class stopped and stared at him. "Okay, thank you. Just stay like this for a minute"
"That boy, he's… He's weird. It was weird to see an S-class standing still instead of throwing punches. And now he's giving his sweet time to help employees? We have a unique case in our hands." Turner walked closer to Carter while talking.
"I thought my validation about him being S-class was wrong for a second. I also think that he's pretending like he's normal, just past the test. But he is genuine. He's not pretending." Carter replied.
"Did you do a background check?"
"I did but everything about him was classified information. So I don't know anything about him."
"What? Is he an agent or something? Also, I thought you could get any information you want as a vice minister."
"I can. But there is one exception. Minister banned us from reaching out to his sons after his wife passed away. He classified all the information about them."
"That means… He is the son of the 2 most powerful S-class hunters of the country?" She switched her gaze to David. He was giving instructions to one of the employees while his hand was still on the machine. The employee he's been talking, fixed the computer in front of them. David replied to their thanks by smiling.
"Since I couldn't learn anything about him, I asked one of his coworkers. According to them; David is a calm, collected, and warm-hearted person. During the times they worked together they never witnessed David get driven by anger. Even for once. He also graduated from one of the best universities in the country and works at one of the top technology companies right now."
"Long story short, he was a bright young man and now he cursed for the rest of his life… That's heartbreaking."
"Cursed huh? We are the only ones, cursed for the rest of our lives. The minister's son, the person who shouldn't even be close to the hunters, entered a crack and awakened as an S-class. I can't even imagine what minister gonna do when he learns about this."
"I'm glad that I took annual leave. Stay strong Carter."
"You are not going anywhere. As a professor, you should stick around until David's Acceptation Council.
"Umm… Agent Carter?" It was David. He was standing still with a mixed expression on his face while everyone looking at him with shining eyes.
"Ahem… So we might be witnessing the birth of a new S-class. He's a normal awakener; until he gets accepted by council so don't make a big deal out of it. Since everyone got their classes checked, let's move to the next step."
Crowd followed Carter. But the eyes were on David.
Man, this is embarrassing. Forget Carter, I'm gonna die from a heart attack. I wish Luci were here… He would have scared them off… David thought.
The group arrived at a large room. There was an empty arena in the middle. It was surrounded by a seating arena where people could sit and watch the action. The first row was for the registry staff. Also, there were some weapons on the side for the trainees.
"Welcome to the training room. This room is especially created for new ability users, so they can try their skills. Everyone, please take a paper from the desk and fill it with your information. I don't think I need to mention the fact that you should be as clear as possible while filling them. Do not hide your abilities. When you finish, come to the stage and we will start testing you. Also Mr. Blake, you can go and sit at the resting arena behind that door. You will be the last person." He showed the door.
"Okay, I will." That Carter guy, his eyes only seeing me. I want this to end quickly. David thought while walking.
Behind the door there was a small restroom with a small kitchen, a table and two sofas. David sat on the table and stared at the paper before him.
Like we planned. Hide glitched ones and only say crucial stuff, keep details to myself. He thought While filling the paper.
When David finished, there was no one left in the training room except him and the registry staff. I guess it's my turn. He thought.
David gave the paper to Carter who's sitting at a table with other staff members.
"I will read your abilities one by one and I'm gonna ask you to show us." Carter said while checking the paper.
"Okay." David replied.
"Your passive skills are The Awakener's Sense and The Awakener's Strength right?"
"Yes, they are both S-ranked abilities."
"You write here that Awakener's Sense allows you to sense awakened people, monsters, and weapons around you. There are 5 different swords on the wall behind us. They look the same but one of them is from the crack. Can you show it to us?"
"The second one from the right."
"Correct. Now we will test your Awakener's Strength skill. I want you to throw a punch to the wall behind you."
There were various sizes of holes on the wall.
"Punching the wall? But we are on the first floor. If I break through it, the situation will be dangerous for the people inside the building."
The young woman noted. -He's hesitating to destroy stuff. Boring…-
"Wall is strong enough to stop S-rank attacks. Do not hesitate." Turner replied.
"Okay if you say so." David clenched his fist, but he hesitated. Instead, he threw a punch into the air. It created a shockwave and hit the wall. Caused the whole building to shake. When he turned his back he saw the registry staff's shocked faces.
"Ahem… Let's move to your active abilities. The Engineer's Sight. The explanation on the paper isn't clear so can you explain a little more?" Carter asked.
"It's kinda confusing one. And I can't show it directly to you but I can tell you the way I used it before. If I hold an object and decide on a target, it calculates how much power I need to apply to hit the target. If I want to find something like a blue-dressed person, he changes my sight completely and marks the color blue only. I don't know what its limit is."
"So it's a calculation type skill. I never saw something like that." Turner said it while fixing her glasses.
"I think this is your main ability: The Summoner's Mark. I will read the thing you wrote first. Then we will examine it.
The Summoner's Mark: Allows user to tame monsters S-class or lower. When the skill is activated a red dagger appears. Monster slashed by the dagger becomes a summon of the user. Summons will follow the User's orders. Summons can take a human-like form. The ability allows user to share intel with their summons. User and all summons are connected by a link so they can locate each other. User can use all the active or passive abilities their summons have, but the summon needs to reach a pre-determined level first."
"Yes. That's what the skill does."
"Does your skill have a cooldown?"
Here is the question I'm waiting for. "No, it doesn't. But I can't use the skill again until I unlock all the skills that the newest summon I own. For each skill, my summon needs to level up 5 times. If we say that a new summon of mine has 5 active skills, I need to level them up 25 times."
"So you can't create a large monster force." Turner looked disappointed.
I'm glad that I'm also a good liar. If they know all of the skill's capacity they would lock me to the basement or something and use me to create a monster army for them. David thought.
"So you can use all the skills of your monsters. Do you need to master those skills after getting them or do you naturally know how to use them?"
"What does intel sharing mean? Can your summons talk?"
"Can you make a human your summon?" Young woman asked back to back.
"That's enough questions for now." Carter stood up and walked to David. "Why ask questions when we can see it in action? You tell the skill effects like you saw all of them happen, that means you already used them once."
David couldn't help but be amazed by Carter's conclusion. Fooling this man will be hard for sure. He thought. "Yes. I already used it, and I have a summon under my command. Since you guys wanted explanations I decided to tell first and show later. Since that's the case…"
…