A few days later.
“The dark blue stone is a rank 1 material: current limit copper, an excellent material for electrical energy shielding while also one of the most durable rank 1 lightning-path metal in exchange of its tremendous weight. In its alloy form, it's an excellent material in exchange for goat bones as my base skeleton. Current limit copper is extremely hard to refine with our facilities, but we’ve managed to successfully refine a small skeletal frame out of it...”
Mordred inspected the silver-dark blue metal alloy skeleton that he had refined after sleepless nights.
This humanoid skeletal frame weighed over four hundred kilograms despite having 150 centimeter height. There are various holes, lines, circuit plates-like parts and other components that made the skeletal frame look non-human. It was refined from twelve hundred kilograms of current limit copper ore, five hundred kilograms of magnetic storm ore and myriad other precious beast materials after going back and forth to the proximity of the underground lake multiple times.
In other words, it was extremely durable and dense. Since it was made from rank 1 lightning-path material, rank 0 methods are ineffective against it. That is why it took him several days for Mordred and Kasumi to refine it.
“Main soul, I am fully capable of replacing your role in refining the mechanical body parts you needed, you can proceed with the soul quality alteration.” Kasumi reported in her usual electronic voice.
Mordred pondered for a few moments, “Very well. Thanks to the discovery of cave shrimp, our material options were expanded. The lenses refined from translucent shrimp shells have begun its first stage. Also, the refinement of [Liquid Metal Blood v0.4] from various lightning-path beast blood is almost finished, you just need to proceed to the last step. That leaves you with the [Wisdom Crystal Processor v0.0.314] and [Rank 0 Kevlar Muscle Tissue].”
The issue with Mordred’s main soul is the lack of thought-generation organs. All of his actions require thought accumulation or external support. This weakness is nonexistent in Kasumi since her baby’s fist-sized nucleus is both a mana pool and a slime brain. Furthermore, after the 3rd upgrade and artifact soul bestowal, her progress in cultivating mind rune progressed rapidly.
Having over 40 mind runes, Kasumi has become a slime magus more powerful than Mordred.
“The core skeletal frame needs to be treated with soulfire refinement so it can accommodate my truesoul. I will also need to alter my soul quality. These procedures will take around a week. During that time, you have to supply me with souls worth 10-man each day as refinement materials. Can you multitask within the given time frame?”
“Calculating variables… deadline plausible. Objective set, confirm?” Kasumi answered.
Mordred nodded, “Command confirm!” He then activated a soul-path method, “[Spectral Soul Genesis]!”
The new spectral soul was made by expending a quarter of Mordred’s 42-man soul foundation. It was robust and powerful enough for his needs.
Kasumi detaches the soul phylactery from Mordred’s undead body but the spectral soul takes possession of it before it collapses. Mordred’s former skeletal body moved under the control of the spectral soul, supporting Kasumi in embedding the soul phylactery into one of the spinal segments of the metallic alloy skeleton.
“You will take the identity of Nyx; an early-stage rank 0 skeletal mage. You are to aid Kasumi in procuring whatever she needs by using the kobolds and bonelings.” Mordred grants the spectral soul inhabiting his former body an identity.
Spectral souls have limited natural wisdom, but Mordred’s creation received various augmentations. Also, due to the raw material used was a part of his own truesoul, it took some quality out of Mordred, Nyx was as smart as a mage of the same rank. However, Nyx inhabits the body of a skeletal mage who has no thought-generation organ, therefore it has the same flaw as Mordred.
Nyx nodded soundlessly as he received the tasks of his main soul. He was imparted with a large amount of memories regarding the kobolds and the bonelings, it shouldn’t be a problem for Mordred to be absent for a while.
“Now then, proceed with your assignments.” The metal skeleton ignited in purple refinement soulfire.
….
At the same time.
In a field crowded with hunters, Violet Sword Blaze team members waited for their captain to arrive. Each of every team was armed to the teeth, the best weapons, armor and supporting artifacts are brought for the upcoming event.
“Captain is late, this is rare.” Said Ramiel in wonder.
Violet Sumire was very well known in her team for her punctuality. Her arrangement would always arrive on time even when she was not present, it was rare for her to be physically late.
“In less than 5 minutes, the opening ceremony will begin. Should I fetch her?” Kurogane asked her sister.
“No need, she’s here.” Sakuya gazed at the figure approaching them.
“There was a slight miscalculation on my end, my deepest apology.” Sumire said the moment she arrived. “Well, is everything ready?” She took a glance at her teammates.
She saw two greatswords hanging on Kurogane’s armored body with a tower shield as big as a door on the side. On Shirogane’s back, there was a giant katana wrapped in a special bandage while her practice katana was on her waist. Seraphina held her signature staff and Yamamura’s two swords were on his back. Ramiel brought various contraptions and his signature crossbow on his back while Sakuya wore a black-red glove that wrapped her hands up to her armpits.
“Yes.” They all answered with visible fighting spirit in their eyes.
Sumire’s expression turned solemn. “Great. I want to use the chance to announce something. Alanis, come!”
A cute wolf beastman with glasses approached the Violet Sword Blaze team. Her back long obsidian black hair is nicely combed, she wore the attire of a receptionist of the association and from the looks of it, she was rushing from her post to this location.
“Let me introduce you, this is Alanis, she worked at the Hunter Association as a part time receptionist. I’m sure you all have seen her a couple of times before.”
Alanis bowed, showing the etiquette of nobles. “Pleased to meet you, please take care of me.”
Violet Sword Blaze members replied with the same level of etiquette, but Kurogane raised a question, “Captain, are we going to receive a secret mission from the Hunter Association?”
Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy has close relations with the hunter association, with its information network; it wasn’t weird when students of the academy suddenly received special requests from the association, especially since the Violet Sword Blaze team is one of the most promising junior teams of this generation.
“No. She’s not here as the representative of the association. She’s a student of the academy, and she is our eighth team member.” Sumire dropped a sudden announcement.
They were shocked to find that they will receive a new team member so suddenly. It needs to be said that a new team member meant a lot. The synergy between each team member could be broken if someone new suddenly joined in. This was really important since the hunting festival is literally going to start soon.
“Captain, this is so sudden.” Sakuya was obviously against new members joining in. The captain was putting in someone as she wanted, how could she accept it?
“No need to worry about her for now, her role in our team won’t hinder cooperation during battle. Hmm, there might be some doubt about why I chose her but let me assure you, it’s not simply because I wanted to fill up our team members. I know some of you think that our team of seven is enough to handle all adversaries, but you are all overestimating me.” Sumire explained.
“Captain, I accept your decision.” Seraphina said, “Sakuya, we shouldn’t be arrogant to decline any hands we can get. Don’t you trust the captain?”
“Tch.” Sakuya expressed displeasure, but didn’t say anything else.
“I also accept the captain’s decision.” Kurogane added, “It was already a miracle that our team of seven could rise to this level thanks to her ability, we shouldn’t push our luck. Other team must’ve prepared hard countermeasures for us and I believe captain Sumire is trying to fight an invisible battle from the start.”
Kurogane’s role as the tank often forced him to see things on a strategic level. Therefore, he was able to get an inkling of Sumire’s goal.
“It is as he said, Alanis’ presence in our team is to add another layer of countermeasure for our foes. She will mostly act with me and Shirogane until all of you are familiar with her.” Sumire said. “As we advance to our current level, I need to fill the gap of our team members’ sooner or later. You can’t expect me to defeat the top three teams with our 7-man team.”
“Fine, we’ll see her performance sooner or later.” Sakuya took a step back, she was also feeling the same. They were a team of elites and so did their rivals. The typical team possessed eight to twelve members with 75% being combatant and rest as support. The Violet Sword Blaze team however, merely possessed six combatants and Seraphina as support. Just as Sumire had said, if the team wanted to be on top, they should stop pushing their luck and fill the gap of members with talent.
Alanis' appearance was a surprise for most Violet Sword Blaze members, but not to Ramiel and Yamamura. The two glanced at each other, as if confirming each other’s thoughts. The two were not the same level of the three crazies of the team, therefore they were not as arrogant as Sakuya. Any new blood is welcomed with open arms since that meant the burden would be shared amongst the rest.
“Captains of every team, please gather.” Suddenly, an announcement was made in the center of the field.
“Alright, the ceremony is about to start. Please take care of Alanis while I handle this.” Sumire left the team as she headed towards the stage in the center of the field.
Sumire was gathered with 29 other captains. The juniors of this year numbered over five hundred, but not everyone decided to participate in the hunting festival. Some decided that they wanted to stay as low-rank hunters that could only do odd jobs, the rest wanted to participate in the hunting festival so that they could receive higher education and to get resources for cultivation.
“Oh, you’re here. I can’t wait to mop the floor with your team.” An arrogant laugh taunted Sumire from behind.
“Takeshi, it’s been a while.” Sumire showed a faint smile, “I almost forgot about your shameful scream from the entrance exam. Are you here to remind me of that moment?”
Takeshi clenched his teeth while forcing a smile, “Hahah, yeah. But this time, I’m the one who’s going to make you suffer. Your team of seven is declining already. Maybe, they all know that you are not a worthy team, so nobody wants to join you.” He tried to hint at something.
Sumire ignored the blue haired youth as if he was air. She didn’t want to waste more energy engaging in nonsense with her rival team. Sumire already knew Takeshi was the one who spread a bad rumor regarding her team, it was one of the main reasons why her team merely consisted of seven, now eight personnel.
“Oh? Why so quiet? Did a devil get your tongue?” Takeshi was annoyed by the lack of reaction so he tried to instigate something, but Sumire was too calm to be triggered with artless nonsense.
“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me.” Someone behind Takeshi stopped him. She is a blue-haired beauty donned in light azure religious garb. “My Blue Wave team displayed shameful behavior, I apologize.” She bowed. “Go away, you’re not supposed to be here.” she nudged at Takeshi.
Sumire merely nodded and then closed her eyes in meditation. As long as there was nothing important, she would use the time to meditate to recover her wounded soul. Even now, she could not exert 100% of her computational power after refining a spectral soul. The efficiency of meditation within a crowded area was less than desired, but Sumire could not choose a better option.
“Moriko, you better hold back your second-in-command. We all know that Sumire is vengeful.” A youth joined in the conversation jokingly.
All the captains of the team are in some capacity, nobles. Mostly 2nd or 3rd in line of succession, they have a great responsibility of studying under a competent mentor. Therefore, this hunting festival where the new blood of the academy gathered is a platform for them to compete. Needless to say, this new arrival is a noble just like Moriko.
“Izanagi, you always meddle in my matters.” Moriko was annoyed at the red-haired Izanagi. A part of her did not like him because of their conflicting family interests. Furthermore, this handsome and talented youth with endless potential was showing interest in Sumire. Moriko was attracted towards Sumire but she was bad at expressing it, making Sumire see her in a bad light.
In other words, she sees Izanagi as a love rival.
“We are the elites of the new generation. It won’t be a good thing to showcase disgraceful behavior amongst our peers.” Izanagi calmly retorted. “Anyhow, I have heard you recruited a new member today, Sumire.”
Sumire opened her eyes while showing her dissatisfaction. “Were you always this unpleasant to the eyes, Izanagi?”
The fact that she recruited Alanis was very recent, it was new information to the point that even her own teammates just knew about it a few minutes ago. To Sumire, the more information she could withhold meant more edge that she can use against her foes. After all, her team is the second lowest in number. If she could catch her enemies off guard, then that’s an advantage that she’s willingly to commit to the fullest.
Unfortunately, Izanagi just blurted out her secret to the public, showing one of her trump cards early.
“Oh?” Some of the other team captains took interest. Now, everyone knows about Alanis.
“If I recall correctly, her name was Alanis. She took a mission as the association’s receptionist a while back, I think I’ve seen her a couple of times before.” Izanagi revealed some more.
Surely, the action of the top 5 teams was under scrutiny of others. The lower ranked team wanted to replace them, while the higher ranked team wanted to keep their position. Sumire didn’t try to hide it anymore but she wasn’t willing to commit energy for useless banter. She returned to her meditation and closed her eyes.
In the eyes of the other captains, Sumire’s reaction was a confirmation. They started to discuss Alanis, the newcomer of Violet Sword Blaze.
“I invited her a few times before, but she said that she was a lone wolf so she declined multiple times.” A female captain muttered carelessly.
“Do tell.”
“Yeah, tell us.” The other captains weren’t willing to let go of this chance to undermine Sumire.
Due to the pressure of the other captains, the female captain could only reveal the information she had. “Alanis is a wolf beastman, she cultivates in transformation-path and the only information I had on her is that she possessed a method called Bloodbane Wolf Transformation…”
“Bloodbane Wolf?”
“Bloodbane Wolf is a poisonous wolf-beast that salivates blood poison. Needless to say, their poison is so lethal that it could kill mortals or melt metal in seconds!”
Secretly, the captains increased their vigilance against Sumire’s Alanis. Thankfully, Izanagi told them early, otherwise, the consequences could severely affect them in the future. Despite the presence of priests or clerics in most of the team present, some poison requires a special antidote to be effectively cured. After knowing it was a Bloodbane wolf’s poison, the countermeasure could be properly prepared for the inevitable battle.
Izanagi coldly watches as his plot ensues. He mentally sneered while donning the expression of humility and civil, hiding his scheming nature deep inside his bones.
‘Just like the saying of the Great Archmage a hundred years ago, information is a weapon. When one’s weapon is revealed to the public, they would be cautious against it.’ Izanagi thought. By revealing a small clue, he had cut off one of Sumire’s wings. In the battle between experts, these small advantages will eventually accumulate and could determine the result of battle.
Izanagi’s sadistic obsession towards wanting to conquer Sumire was deeply hidden. All of his perverted fantasies of wanting to subjugate women with strong personalities are concealed under a display of fake civility. Of course, Sumire was not unfamiliar with it since she was the receiving end of that obsession. Izanagi was not the first, and won’t be the last. She merely ignores his existence as if it was less than air.
“Cut all your nonsense and gather up! We’re going to start the Hunting Festival.” A red armored middle aged hunter loudly speaks with power. His voice was loud, it traveled wide and far.
The team captains turned silent, other hunters followed suit. The speaker continued, “Today marks the 3rd month of your stay in Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy, it is time for the biannual hunting festival!”
Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy possessed a large number of veteran hunters acting as professors. The amount of professors could not be compared to the amount of students. Therefore, the hunting festival is held to force new students to compete in earning a master’s favor.
The hunting festival is, in essence, a competition that decides who will receive a professor’s tutelage. It is designed so that mentors could decide whether to accept or decline the new blood depending on their performance.
In some cases, a veteran hunter becomes exceedingly desired by juniors as their professor because of their methods, deeds in the past, or a special reason. To curb this inherently imbalanced popularity contest, the academy limits the amount of students a professor could accept depending on the mentor’s capability.
The veterans are after all, cultivators themselves. They became professors so they could gather cultivation resources. If a particular mentor gathered a mass of students but could not perform their desired responsibility, wouldn’t the academy face a loss? That’s why not only juniors who wanted to show off their skills, even the professors sometimes are required to show off their worth.
The red armored hunter, Lord Knight Tatsuya, was one of the senior professors who possessed a great influence and admirer. “The theme of this year’s hunting festival is… endurance!” he explained.
“The competition will be held in three stages; in each you will be assessed accordingly. In the first stage, each team will be grouped together with two other teams. Your mission is as follows: To reach a designated location within the limited timeframe. The means of transportation are free for your groups to select, as long as you reach the target location.”
Tatsuya was known for his sharp and cold attitude, he disdained making jokes and only focused on cultivation. As he explains the first stage, the team captains were eying each other. The moment he said they will be grouped with two other teams; the captains have already started making plans of their own.
“Lord Knight Tatsuya, regarding the group allocation…” a team captain raised her hand in question.
“That’s why you’re all gathered here. We’re going to draw a lot.” He signaled an associate professor that facilitated the need.
As the 15th one who drew the lot, Sumire scrutinized the number in the paper. “Group 4.”
A black haired youth in a beast leather trench coat approached Sumire while having a disinterested expression. “Violet Sumire, was it?” he scratched his unshaven facial hair. The youth’s body frame was smaller than Kurogane, but Sumire could feel the savage brutality behind every single one of his movements. He didn’t have a striking feature that made him stand out in one glance, but Sumire couldn’t forget about this youth.
“Arakawa Kenji, what luck.” Sumire released a rare smile. “My team will be in your care.” she extended her hand.
“Likewise.” Kenji shook her hand lightly; he wore five rings on his right hand. “It’s like three months ago during the entrance exam all over again. Well, whatever. You’ll do the thinking and the troublesome things while I do the grunt work.” He then silently stood behind Sumire with closed eyes, probably meditating.
Sumire was secretly delighted. With him by her group, getting into the objective is assured. The only uncertainty was the other team paired with group 4. As she waited, she finally found out who was the last one.
“S- Sumire!” a frail-looking light blue-haired petite elf bowed at her, “We- we are group ma-mates. P- please t take care of me.”
The petite elf was timid; she was unable to utter a word after she noticed the one behind Sumire. “Ke- Ken… Kenji. P-... pleased t-... to m… meet…” she never finished her sentence.
“It’s alright, we’ll be together as a group.” Sumire tried to meditate between the two, but Kenji didn’t even register the petite elf in his consciousness, she was completely ignored. “It’s just the way he is, we’ll also be in our care, Minatsuki Maya.” Instead of shaking her hand, Sumire just went ahead and patted her soft silky hair.
“Grrrrr…” she growled angrily, but the effect of having a petite body and soothing voice made it unbelievably cute, “D- don’t pat me!!” Even though she said no, her body was honest as she closed her eyes and enjoyed her hair being rubbed.
“Alright, alright.” She ceased her teasing and got serious. “With Kenji in group 4, we are seriously lacking in numbers… but that’s alright.” At the very least, her group consists of Maya’s team whose relationship with her is on the cordial side. With this, there won’t be an internal infighting during the first stage.
“Cut the nonsense and shut up. Now that you’re all in groups, every group had an hour of time in academy grounds before our staff kicked you out ourselves. The objective of the first stage is as follows: to march towards the designated location within a week. That is all.” Tatsuya immediately left the podium in a hurry.
“Huh?” The junior hunters were confused. Wasn't this supposed to be a ceremony? Won’t there be a speech from a senior professor to motivate them?
The opening ceremony itself was weird and not so informative, but those that knew Tatsuya personally knew how he hates troublesome things. It was completely natural that he merely said what needed to be said.
“Anyway, we have some time to prepare, let’s procure our means of transportation… wait, this location is… Thunderpeak Mountain? That’s weird.” Sumire muttered in surprise when she activated the tablet-like artifacts handed out to every captain. These small information-path artifacts produce a holographic map with a timer that constantly went down. The timer shows 6:23:57:14, indicating the remaining time.
“Just call me when you get a ride. I’m sleepy.” Kenji left without saying a word to Maya while casually ordering Sumire.
“H- he just left?” Maya became less timid the moment Kenji left her proximity.
“You don’t have to worry about him, he’s always like that. Some say, he has a problem in his head, that’s why he has no friends and is forced to make a team consisting of himself…” Sumire casually explained.
Maya was sure that Sumire is currently in a good mood. After all, Kenji of ‘Wild Savage’ was the team that ranked first during the entry examination three months ago.
A few days later.
“The dark blue stone is a rank 1 material: current limit copper, an excellent material for electrical energy shielding while also one of the most durable rank 1 lightning-path metal in exchange of its tremendous weight. In its alloy form, it's an excellent material in exchange for goat bones as my base skeleton. Current limit copper is extremely hard to refine with our facilities, but we’ve managed to successfully refine a small skeletal frame out of it...”
Mordred inspected the silver-dark blue metal alloy skeleton that he had refined after sleepless nights.
This humanoid skeletal frame weighed over four hundred kilograms despite having 150 centimeter height. There are various holes, lines, circuit plates-like parts and other components that made the skeletal frame look non-human. It was refined from twelve hundred kilograms of current limit copper ore, five hundred kilograms of magnetic storm ore and myriad other precious beast materials after going back and forth to the proximity of the underground lake multiple times.
In other words, it was extremely durable and dense. Since it was made from rank 1 lightning-path material, rank 0 methods are ineffective against it. That is why it took him several days for Mordred and Kasumi to refine it.
“Main soul, I am fully capable of replacing your role in refining the mechanical body parts you needed, you can proceed with the soul quality alteration.” Kasumi reported in her usual electronic voice.
Mordred pondered for a few moments, “Very well. Thanks to the discovery of cave shrimp, our material options were expanded. The lenses refined from translucent shrimp shells have begun its first stage. Also, the refinement of [Liquid Metal Blood v0.4] from various lightning-path beast blood is almost finished, you just need to proceed to the last step. That leaves you with the [Wisdom Crystal Processor v0.0.314] and [Rank 0 Kevlar Muscle Tissue].”
The issue with Mordred’s main soul is the lack of thought-generation organs. All of his actions require thought accumulation or external support. This weakness is nonexistent in Kasumi since her baby’s fist-sized nucleus is both a mana pool and a slime brain. Furthermore, after the 3rd upgrade and artifact soul bestowal, her progress in cultivating mind rune progressed rapidly.
Having over 40 mind runes, Kasumi has become a slime magus more powerful than Mordred.
“The core skeletal frame needs to be treated with soulfire refinement so it can accommodate my truesoul. I will also need to alter my soul quality. These procedures will take around a week. During that time, you have to supply me with souls worth 10-man each day as refinement materials. Can you multitask within the given time frame?”
“Calculating variables… deadline plausible. Objective set, confirm?” Kasumi answered.
Mordred nodded, “Command confirm!” He then activated a soul-path method, “[Spectral Soul Genesis]!”
The new spectral soul was made by expending a quarter of Mordred’s 42-man soul foundation. It was robust and powerful enough for his needs.
Kasumi detaches the soul phylactery from Mordred’s undead body but the spectral soul takes possession of it before it collapses. Mordred’s former skeletal body moved under the control of the spectral soul, supporting Kasumi in embedding the soul phylactery into one of the spinal segments of the metallic alloy skeleton.
“You will take the identity of Nyx; an early-stage rank 0 skeletal mage. You are to aid Kasumi in procuring whatever she needs by using the kobolds and bonelings.” Mordred grants the spectral soul inhabiting his former body an identity.
Spectral souls have limited natural wisdom, but Mordred’s creation received various augmentations. Also, due to the raw material used was a part of his own truesoul, it took some quality out of Mordred, Nyx was as smart as a mage of the same rank. However, Nyx inhabits the body of a skeletal mage who has no thought-generation organ, therefore it has the same flaw as Mordred.
Nyx nodded soundlessly as he received the tasks of his main soul. He was imparted with a large amount of memories regarding the kobolds and the bonelings, it shouldn’t be a problem for Mordred to be absent for a while.
“Now then, proceed with your assignments.” The metal skeleton ignited in purple refinement soulfire.
….
At the same time.
In a field crowded with hunters, Violet Sword Blaze team members waited for their captain to arrive. Each of every team was armed to the teeth, the best weapons, armor and supporting artifacts are brought for the upcoming event.
“Captain is late, this is rare.” Said Ramiel in wonder.
Violet Sumire was very well known in her team for her punctuality. Her arrangement would always arrive on time even when she was not present, it was rare for her to be physically late.
“In less than 5 minutes, the opening ceremony will begin. Should I fetch her?” Kurogane asked her sister.
“No need, she’s here.” Sakuya gazed at the figure approaching them.
“There was a slight miscalculation on my end, my deepest apology.” Sumire said the moment she arrived. “Well, is everything ready?” She took a glance at her teammates.
She saw two greatswords hanging on Kurogane’s armored body with a tower shield as big as a door on the side. On Shirogane’s back, there was a giant katana wrapped in a special bandage while her practice katana was on her waist. Seraphina held her signature staff and Yamamura’s two swords were on his back. Ramiel brought various contraptions and his signature crossbow on his back while Sakuya wore a black-red glove that wrapped her hands up to her armpits.
“Yes.” They all answered with visible fighting spirit in their eyes.
Sumire’s expression turned solemn. “Great. I want to use the chance to announce something. Alanis, come!”
A cute wolf beastman with glasses approached the Violet Sword Blaze team. Her back long obsidian black hair is nicely combed, she wore the attire of a receptionist of the association and from the looks of it, she was rushing from her post to this location.
“Let me introduce you, this is Alanis, she worked at the Hunter Association as a part time receptionist. I’m sure you all have seen her a couple of times before.”
Alanis bowed, showing the etiquette of nobles. “Pleased to meet you, please take care of me.”
Violet Sword Blaze members replied with the same level of etiquette, but Kurogane raised a question, “Captain, are we going to receive a secret mission from the Hunter Association?”
Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy has close relations with the hunter association, with its information network; it wasn’t weird when students of the academy suddenly received special requests from the association, especially since the Violet Sword Blaze team is one of the most promising junior teams of this generation.
“No. She’s not here as the representative of the association. She’s a student of the academy, and she is our eighth team member.” Sumire dropped a sudden announcement.
They were shocked to find that they will receive a new team member so suddenly. It needs to be said that a new team member meant a lot. The synergy between each team member could be broken if someone new suddenly joined in. This was really important since the hunting festival is literally going to start soon.
“Captain, this is so sudden.” Sakuya was obviously against new members joining in. The captain was putting in someone as she wanted, how could she accept it?
“No need to worry about her for now, her role in our team won’t hinder cooperation during battle. Hmm, there might be some doubt about why I chose her but let me assure you, it’s not simply because I wanted to fill up our team members. I know some of you think that our team of seven is enough to handle all adversaries, but you are all overestimating me.” Sumire explained.
“Captain, I accept your decision.” Seraphina said, “Sakuya, we shouldn’t be arrogant to decline any hands we can get. Don’t you trust the captain?”
“Tch.” Sakuya expressed displeasure, but didn’t say anything else.
“I also accept the captain’s decision.” Kurogane added, “It was already a miracle that our team of seven could rise to this level thanks to her ability, we shouldn’t push our luck. Other team must’ve prepared hard countermeasures for us and I believe captain Sumire is trying to fight an invisible battle from the start.”
Kurogane’s role as the tank often forced him to see things on a strategic level. Therefore, he was able to get an inkling of Sumire’s goal.
“It is as he said, Alanis’ presence in our team is to add another layer of countermeasure for our foes. She will mostly act with me and Shirogane until all of you are familiar with her.” Sumire said. “As we advance to our current level, I need to fill the gap of our team members’ sooner or later. You can’t expect me to defeat the top three teams with our 7-man team.”
“Fine, we’ll see her performance sooner or later.” Sakuya took a step back, she was also feeling the same. They were a team of elites and so did their rivals. The typical team possessed eight to twelve members with 75% being combatant and rest as support. The Violet Sword Blaze team however, merely possessed six combatants and Seraphina as support. Just as Sumire had said, if the team wanted to be on top, they should stop pushing their luck and fill the gap of members with talent.
Alanis' appearance was a surprise for most Violet Sword Blaze members, but not to Ramiel and Yamamura. The two glanced at each other, as if confirming each other’s thoughts. The two were not the same level of the three crazies of the team, therefore they were not as arrogant as Sakuya. Any new blood is welcomed with open arms since that meant the burden would be shared amongst the rest.
“Captains of every team, please gather.” Suddenly, an announcement was made in the center of the field.
“Alright, the ceremony is about to start. Please take care of Alanis while I handle this.” Sumire left the team as she headed towards the stage in the center of the field.
Sumire was gathered with 29 other captains. The juniors of this year numbered over five hundred, but not everyone decided to participate in the hunting festival. Some decided that they wanted to stay as low-rank hunters that could only do odd jobs, the rest wanted to participate in the hunting festival so that they could receive higher education and to get resources for cultivation.
“Oh, you’re here. I can’t wait to mop the floor with your team.” An arrogant laugh taunted Sumire from behind.
“Takeshi, it’s been a while.” Sumire showed a faint smile, “I almost forgot about your shameful scream from the entrance exam. Are you here to remind me of that moment?”
Takeshi clenched his teeth while forcing a smile, “Hahah, yeah. But this time, I’m the one who’s going to make you suffer. Your team of seven is declining already. Maybe, they all know that you are not a worthy team, so nobody wants to join you.” He tried to hint at something.
Sumire ignored the blue haired youth as if he was air. She didn’t want to waste more energy engaging in nonsense with her rival team. Sumire already knew Takeshi was the one who spread a bad rumor regarding her team, it was one of the main reasons why her team merely consisted of seven, now eight personnel.
“Oh? Why so quiet? Did a devil get your tongue?” Takeshi was annoyed by the lack of reaction so he tried to instigate something, but Sumire was too calm to be triggered with artless nonsense.
“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me.” Someone behind Takeshi stopped him. She is a blue-haired beauty donned in light azure religious garb. “My Blue Wave team displayed shameful behavior, I apologize.” She bowed. “Go away, you’re not supposed to be here.” she nudged at Takeshi.
Sumire merely nodded and then closed her eyes in meditation. As long as there was nothing important, she would use the time to meditate to recover her wounded soul. Even now, she could not exert 100% of her computational power after refining a spectral soul. The efficiency of meditation within a crowded area was less than desired, but Sumire could not choose a better option.
“Moriko, you better hold back your second-in-command. We all know that Sumire is vengeful.” A youth joined in the conversation jokingly.
All the captains of the team are in some capacity, nobles. Mostly 2nd or 3rd in line of succession, they have a great responsibility of studying under a competent mentor. Therefore, this hunting festival where the new blood of the academy gathered is a platform for them to compete. Needless to say, this new arrival is a noble just like Moriko.
“Izanagi, you always meddle in my matters.” Moriko was annoyed at the red-haired Izanagi. A part of her did not like him because of their conflicting family interests. Furthermore, this handsome and talented youth with endless potential was showing interest in Sumire. Moriko was attracted towards Sumire but she was bad at expressing it, making Sumire see her in a bad light.
In other words, she sees Izanagi as a love rival.
“We are the elites of the new generation. It won’t be a good thing to showcase disgraceful behavior amongst our peers.” Izanagi calmly retorted. “Anyhow, I have heard you recruited a new member today, Sumire.”
Sumire opened her eyes while showing her dissatisfaction. “Were you always this unpleasant to the eyes, Izanagi?”
The fact that she recruited Alanis was very recent, it was new information to the point that even her own teammates just knew about it a few minutes ago. To Sumire, the more information she could withhold meant more edge that she can use against her foes. After all, her team is the second lowest in number. If she could catch her enemies off guard, then that’s an advantage that she’s willingly to commit to the fullest.
Unfortunately, Izanagi just blurted out her secret to the public, showing one of her trump cards early.
“Oh?” Some of the other team captains took interest. Now, everyone knows about Alanis.
“If I recall correctly, her name was Alanis. She took a mission as the association’s receptionist a while back, I think I’ve seen her a couple of times before.” Izanagi revealed some more.
Surely, the action of the top 5 teams was under scrutiny of others. The lower ranked team wanted to replace them, while the higher ranked team wanted to keep their position. Sumire didn’t try to hide it anymore but she wasn’t willing to commit energy for useless banter. She returned to her meditation and closed her eyes.
In the eyes of the other captains, Sumire’s reaction was a confirmation. They started to discuss Alanis, the newcomer of Violet Sword Blaze.
“I invited her a few times before, but she said that she was a lone wolf so she declined multiple times.” A female captain muttered carelessly.
“Do tell.”
“Yeah, tell us.” The other captains weren’t willing to let go of this chance to undermine Sumire.
Due to the pressure of the other captains, the female captain could only reveal the information she had. “Alanis is a wolf beastman, she cultivates in transformation-path and the only information I had on her is that she possessed a method called Bloodbane Wolf Transformation…”
“Bloodbane Wolf?”
“Bloodbane Wolf is a poisonous wolf-beast that salivates blood poison. Needless to say, their poison is so lethal that it could kill mortals or melt metal in seconds!”
Secretly, the captains increased their vigilance against Sumire’s Alanis. Thankfully, Izanagi told them early, otherwise, the consequences could severely affect them in the future. Despite the presence of priests or clerics in most of the team present, some poison requires a special antidote to be effectively cured. After knowing it was a Bloodbane wolf’s poison, the countermeasure could be properly prepared for the inevitable battle.
Izanagi coldly watches as his plot ensues. He mentally sneered while donning the expression of humility and civil, hiding his scheming nature deep inside his bones.
‘Just like the saying of the Great Archmage a hundred years ago, information is a weapon. When one’s weapon is revealed to the public, they would be cautious against it.’ Izanagi thought. By revealing a small clue, he had cut off one of Sumire’s wings. In the battle between experts, these small advantages will eventually accumulate and could determine the result of battle.
Izanagi’s sadistic obsession towards wanting to conquer Sumire was deeply hidden. All of his perverted fantasies of wanting to subjugate women with strong personalities are concealed under a display of fake civility. Of course, Sumire was not unfamiliar with it since she was the receiving end of that obsession. Izanagi was not the first, and won’t be the last. She merely ignores his existence as if it was less than air.
“Cut all your nonsense and gather up! We’re going to start the Hunting Festival.” A red armored middle aged hunter loudly speaks with power. His voice was loud, it traveled wide and far.
The team captains turned silent, other hunters followed suit. The speaker continued, “Today marks the 3rd month of your stay in Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy, it is time for the biannual hunting festival!”
Hartina Southeast Hunter Academy possessed a large number of veteran hunters acting as professors. The amount of professors could not be compared to the amount of students. Therefore, the hunting festival is held to force new students to compete in earning a master’s favor.
The hunting festival is, in essence, a competition that decides who will receive a professor’s tutelage. It is designed so that mentors could decide whether to accept or decline the new blood depending on their performance.
In some cases, a veteran hunter becomes exceedingly desired by juniors as their professor because of their methods, deeds in the past, or a special reason. To curb this inherently imbalanced popularity contest, the academy limits the amount of students a professor could accept depending on the mentor’s capability.
The veterans are after all, cultivators themselves. They became professors so they could gather cultivation resources. If a particular mentor gathered a mass of students but could not perform their desired responsibility, wouldn’t the academy face a loss? That’s why not only juniors who wanted to show off their skills, even the professors sometimes are required to show off their worth.
The red armored hunter, Lord Knight Tatsuya, was one of the senior professors who possessed a great influence and admirer. “The theme of this year’s hunting festival is… endurance!” he explained.
“The competition will be held in three stages; in each you will be assessed accordingly. In the first stage, each team will be grouped together with two other teams. Your mission is as follows: To reach a designated location within the limited timeframe. The means of transportation are free for your groups to select, as long as you reach the target location.”
Tatsuya was known for his sharp and cold attitude, he disdained making jokes and only focused on cultivation. As he explains the first stage, the team captains were eying each other. The moment he said they will be grouped with two other teams; the captains have already started making plans of their own.
“Lord Knight Tatsuya, regarding the group allocation…” a team captain raised her hand in question.
“That’s why you’re all gathered here. We’re going to draw a lot.” He signaled an associate professor that facilitated the need.
As the 15th one who drew the lot, Sumire scrutinized the number in the paper. “Group 4.”
A black haired youth in a beast leather trench coat approached Sumire while having a disinterested expression. “Violet Sumire, was it?” he scratched his unshaven facial hair. The youth’s body frame was smaller than Kurogane, but Sumire could feel the savage brutality behind every single one of his movements. He didn’t have a striking feature that made him stand out in one glance, but Sumire couldn’t forget about this youth.
“Arakawa Kenji, what luck.” Sumire released a rare smile. “My team will be in your care.” she extended her hand.
“Likewise.” Kenji shook her hand lightly; he wore five rings on his right hand. “It’s like three months ago during the entrance exam all over again. Well, whatever. You’ll do the thinking and the troublesome things while I do the grunt work.” He then silently stood behind Sumire with closed eyes, probably meditating.
Sumire was secretly delighted. With him by her group, getting into the objective is assured. The only uncertainty was the other team paired with group 4. As she waited, she finally found out who was the last one.
“S- Sumire!” a frail-looking light blue-haired petite elf bowed at her, “We- we are group ma-mates. P- please t take care of me.”
The petite elf was timid; she was unable to utter a word after she noticed the one behind Sumire. “Ke- Ken… Kenji. P-... pleased t-... to m… meet…” she never finished her sentence.
“It’s alright, we’ll be together as a group.” Sumire tried to meditate between the two, but Kenji didn’t even register the petite elf in his consciousness, she was completely ignored. “It’s just the way he is, we’ll also be in our care, Minatsuki Maya.” Instead of shaking her hand, Sumire just went ahead and patted her soft silky hair.
“Grrrrr…” she growled angrily, but the effect of having a petite body and soothing voice made it unbelievably cute, “D- don’t pat me!!” Even though she said no, her body was honest as she closed her eyes and enjoyed her hair being rubbed.
“Alright, alright.” She ceased her teasing and got serious. “With Kenji in group 4, we are seriously lacking in numbers… but that’s alright.” At the very least, her group consists of Maya’s team whose relationship with her is on the cordial side. With this, there won’t be an internal infighting during the first stage.
“Cut the nonsense and shut up. Now that you’re all in groups, every group had an hour of time in academy grounds before our staff kicked you out ourselves. The objective of the first stage is as follows: to march towards the designated location within a week. That is all.” Tatsuya immediately left the podium in a hurry.
“Huh?” The junior hunters were confused. Wasn't this supposed to be a ceremony? Won’t there be a speech from a senior professor to motivate them?
The opening ceremony itself was weird and not so informative, but those that knew Tatsuya personally knew how he hates troublesome things. It was completely natural that he merely said what needed to be said.
“Anyway, we have some time to prepare, let’s procure our means of transportation… wait, this location is… Thunderpeak Mountain? That’s weird.” Sumire muttered in surprise when she activated the tablet-like artifacts handed out to every captain. These small information-path artifacts produce a holographic map with a timer that constantly went down. The timer shows 6:23:57:14, indicating the remaining time.
“Just call me when you get a ride. I’m sleepy.” Kenji left without saying a word to Maya while casually ordering Sumire.
“H- he just left?” Maya became less timid the moment Kenji left her proximity.
“You don’t have to worry about him, he’s always like that. Some say, he has a problem in his head, that’s why he has no friends and is forced to make a team consisting of himself…” Sumire casually explained.
Maya was sure that Sumire is currently in a good mood. After all, Kenji of ‘Wild Savage’ was the team that ranked first during the entry examination three months ago.
