"W-what?" He couldn't believe his ears, an F-rank Soul-Hunter? "Wait... Does that mean..."
Arthur sighed, he could tell just from the look in his eyes that he had waited all his life for this day. But this world was cruel, not everything you wished for would be granted to you. "Your energy wasn't enough to activate a Soul-Core, sorry kid."
Kazuki's eyes went wide, he felt the entire weight of the commander's words crashing on him like a collosal tsunami. It was bad enough that he awakened as an F-Rank Soul-Hunter, but he couldn't even activate his Soul-Core?
Whispers flew around, buzzing like swarming bees. There was a first in everything, and in the awakening ceremony, this was the first ever recorded event, where someone couldn't even activate his Soul-Core.
"F-Rank? Is that even supposed to be possible?"
"Forget that, he couldn't activate his Soul-Core? Holy shit... He really is a loser."
Some whispers were heartfelt, some pitiful, some neutral. While others were mocking.
Kazuki climbed down the platform devastated, his thoughts lost to the abyss. This was his ticket out, and now it all came crashing down on his head.
"That's it for the first selection, the second selection is in one week, however we decided to do things differently this year. The second selection will also consist of team efforts, after all if you wish to join the 14 Soul-Squads, you'll need to be able to work as a team. You are required to form a three man team and report back here tomorrow, that'll be all for now. Congratulations on your Awakening."
The halls turned upside down the moment the head commander and his associates left, the second selection was the most difficult stage amongst the three, and now that it's a team effort, the difficulty level skyrocketed.
The newly awakened Soul-Hunters wasted no time in requesting for team ups, with most awakening as low as D-rank, they were desperate.
So many appealed to Kaira and Takashi, but Kaira simply turned them down. She refused to team up with anyone for one reason only, her father.
He was the head commander of the 14 Soul-Squads, there were requirements for becoming the captain of the 14 Soul-Squads, they all had to be S-Rank Soul-Hunters. But the requirements for becoming the head commander transcended that, you had to be stronger than the 14 captains!
If she couldn't beat the second selection all on her own, how would she ever surpass her father?
Kazuki walked out of the hall, his eyes still clouded with disbelief over the results of his awakening. That's when the goddess's words came back to him.
With a grunt, he slammed his fist against the wall as he left the building. To Kazuki, this was supposed to be the moment that turned his life around. But fate—cruel as ever—wasn't finished with him yet. The irony wasn't lost on him, considering it was the goddess of fate who had sent him on this mission.
"A well refined Soul-Energy my ass."
"Hey, Kazuki." As Kazuki stepped out of the building, Kirito called out to him. He stood there with Takashi, almost as if the two had been waiting for him.
"Oh, Takashi, Kirito."
"Sorry for how your awakening turned out, after what that Virelia told us, I never expected you to awaken such a rank." Kirito spoke with warmth, offering his apology.
"No need to apologize, it's not your fault fate decided to turn it's back on me once more. Congratulations on your awakening, C-rank and A-rank Soul-Hunters? That's awesome."
"Well, there's no need thinking about it anymore. Thanks to this unforseen circumstances, there's been a change in our plans." Takashi spoke calmly, his fingers resting on his cheek as he silently worked through a new plan.
"Yeah, with the results of my awakening, I don't think we can still stop this apocalypse as effectively as we hoped."
"We?" Takashi turned to him, his brows raised with confusion. "What do you mean by we? With the results of your awakening, you're more useless to us than when we were in purgatory."
Kazuki's eyes shot open in disbelief. There were no words to describe it—how quickly Takashi's attitude shifted the moment his awakening didn't go as expected.
"Hey Takashi! Aren't you being a little rude!?"
"Rude? It's the opposite, I'm being realistic. The goddess sent us here to divert a world ending apocalypse, what can someone who couldn't even activate a Soul-Core hope to achieve? Tell me Kazuki."
"Hey! Taka-"
"It's alright Kirito." Kazuki spoke up. He was shocked, yes—but it wasn't the first time. Being called out for his weakness was nothing new, by now, he had grown used to it.
"That's right, it's better to accept the truth now before anyone has to suffer for it. I mean, isn't that how it happened, isn't that the reason why your mother was hospitalized?"
Kazuki snapped, his eyes widening at the mention of his mother.
"Takashi!" Kirito called out to him.
Without a moment's hesitation, Kazuki lunged at Takashi, his fist clenched tight as he drove a right cross toward his face, with rage burning in his eyes.
Takashi let out a quiet sigh before effortlessly catching Kazuki's punch with one hand. "The reason your mother was assaulted and hospitalized, was because of your weakness."
In a flash, Takashi countered with a smooth, powerful right cross that sent Kazuki sprawling to the ground.
"Kazuki!" Kirito rushed over to him and checked up on him, thankfully, he was just barely doing alright.
"Why did you do that Takashi!?" His brows twitched as he shouted. Clearly, he was upset.
"Watch who you raise your voice at, we were given a task, all I did was extinguish a weak point. He should be grateful, otherwise he'd have gotten himself killed in the process." He turned his back at them.
"Surely you've realized it by now, we aren't on earth anymore. The rules of survival are much more brutal here, I'm simply doing him a favor by telling him the truth." He walked away. He wasn't sure where he was going, but he needed to gather information about this new world.
"Are you alright Kazuki?" Kirito offered his hand.
"Tch, Kazuki pulled himself up to his feet, then walked away.
"H-Hey!" Kirito chased after him.
"What is it? Aren't you going to follow your leader?"
"Just because he was tasked as our leader doesn't mean that every decision he makes is a good one, especially what he just did now. I apologize on his behalf." He bowed, offering his apology.
Kazuki stopped, glanced at him for a moment and sighed. "No."
He looked forward. "He's right, we aren't on earth anymore, the rules of survival aren't the same as it was back then."
"I'm sorry..."
"It's alright, life isn't fair, and it's something I'm already used to. You've gotten back your memories right?"
"Memories? Oh yeah, come to think of it, the moment I woke up my head started banging, then I started remembering things I never did. Transmigration, who knew it was real? I mean I only ever read about it in Perfect Cell, but I never thought I'd actually be a victim of it."
"Wait, you've read Perfect Cell?" Kazuki's eyes went wide a bit, and for the first time in his life, he felt a surge of excitement. In his previous life, novels and manhwas were one of the things that kept him happy despite his hardships.
And some of those novels included Perfect Cell, and his most favorite — Path To Ascension.
"Hell yeah, it was some peak shit, one of the best in my opinion." Kirito grinned. At first glance, he knew he was talking to a fellow otaku.
"One of the best huh? You sure about that? When there are novels like Shadow Slave and Harem Incubus?" Kazuki replied with a smile.
"Harem Incubus?" Kirito burst out laughing. "You're actually comparing that to Perfect Cell?"
Kazuki scratched the back of his head, it's been a while since he had someone to talk with like this. It's been a while since he smiled like this.
"Well whatever, you're a fun guy despite what everyone says about you, let's get out of here." Kirito walked past him, and Kazuki followed suite.
As the two boys left the building, the wind rushed past them, whipping their hair in every direction as they traveled through the streets.
From their memories, it was a one hour walk back to where they lived.
They took the shortest route back home through the forest. Their house and the academy they once attended were in the village, while the Soul-Hunters' Association was in the capital, the two separated by the stretch of trees and bushes.
"Won't you stay behind and choose a teammate since I can no longer participate in the second selection?"
"Nah, there's no need for that anyways, with Takashi's awakening, it wouldn't be difficult to pick a replacement last minute."
"That's true. Damn... Activating the Knight's Soul-Core... He really is something else." Kazuki muttered under his breath.
"Honestly, I don't understand the deal between these Soul-Cores, isn't it the rank of these... Soul-Hunter the head commander talked about that matters?"
"Huh?" Kazuki's brows jerked. If Kirito was a fellow manga reader like him, then he should have known that where they transmigrated into was actually the Path Of Ascension.
'He said he regained his memories, maybe he hasn't read the story?'
"Kitito, We-"
Suddenly, the air wavered, moving as if stirred by an unseen force. Far ahead, a blinding light burst into view, spreading across the horizon in a sudden flare.
Kazuki and Kirito stayed frozen where they stood, their eyes narrowing against the brightness, and the uneasy air pressure around them hinting that something powerful was drawing closer.
"W-what is that..." Kazuki stammered, unable to find the proper words.
A wide grin curled up Kirito's lips. Although he was terrified, it was the perfect opportunity to test his talent. "Only one way to find out."
He dashed forward, running towards the source of the light.
"Hey! Don't go rushing into situations you don't understand! What part of only the strong will survive didn't you get!?" Kazuki shouted, but Kirito had already left a great distance between them.
"What a pain." He ran after him.
As Kazuki finally caught up to him, he found Kirito frozen on the spot, and instinctively, he glanced forward.
And he froze too.
The air shimmered, rippling like heat waves. And in an instant, ripples tore open into a swirling ring of blazing orange light, its edges crackling with sparks as if fire itself had been bent into a perfect circle.
And there it was, a shimmering orange gate, pulsing with a mystical energy.
"W-what is that..."
Before they could gather their thoughts, their eyes went wide to it's limits as a dark figure emerged from the gates, it seemed like a human, but this creature was in no way human.
"W—what is that.... ?" Kirito muttered under his breath instinctively, he had no idea what that creature once, but yet he did, from the new memories he got.
Kazuki's rubbed his eyes, took another glance at the beast, and it all came to him.
It was a Soul-Beast.