Nine people walked into the class, seven men and two women. All of them wore black skin-tight shirts and dark green cargo pants tucked into polished black boots.
"Kane?!" Nanami yelled as he lay eyes on the large black man. The entire class broke out into whispers and squeals at the sight of nine experienced Hunters standing before them.
"Silence."
All conversation ceased at Kane's voice.
His cold black eyes surveyed the children in front of him, and he sighed.
"We shall begin the introductions. All of you will tell us your names one by one, and then we shall tell you ours."
And so began a new round of name calling, and Liam paid attention this time so he could note the people he did not know.
"I am Jason Wing."
Already know that one.
A tall girl with grey skin, black hair, and yellow eyes stood up from behind Lisa. Her voice was husky, and her tone was extremely gloomy.
"I'm Nelly Point. Nice to meet you."
Liam shivered a little as Nelly sat down. Why did that sound like she was talking to a dead body?
The girl with stark white hair and blue eyes was Elsie Glacier, and Liam noticed Kane's eyes linger on her for a while before looking away.
"I get the feeling she really doesn't like me," Lisa whispered to Liam.
"I don't think she likes anyone," Liam whispered back.
A short, black-haired boy who carried himself like a giant proudly announced himself as Steve Hagan. A tired-looking, dark-skinned boy wearing his hair in cornrows was Kofi Mosion.
Liam gritted his teeth and glared in their direction. They were leading part of the pack that forced me to help out with the homework!
A bubbly, roundish girl spent ten seconds babbling about how she was honored to be in front of renowned Hunters and introduced herself as Jane Cristal.
She seems like a nice person. And an extrovert. Better keep my distance.
The girl behind her was an alluring girl with a vine braided into her dark green hair, and in a low, husky tone introduced herself as Jade Demeter.
A few boys blushed when she glanced their way, and Liam found himself wanting to hear her voice for just a little longer.
He blinked, then shook his head. Is this what they mean by a girl being extremely attractive?
A boy roughly Liam's height stood up. He was incredibly pale and thin, but his voice was surprisingly strong. He was called Jeremy Axel.
The last person in the entrance exam. He looks... sick?
Liam decided to observe the Hunters and wait for his turn in the meantime.
I can't believe I'm in the presence of LEGENDS! He thought with stars in his eyes.
There's Kane, KANE of all people, standing in my classroom. Not only is he a powerful Hunter, he's BROKEN CLASS! The person who has held the tenth position in the Elite Hunter Division for eight years straight! And those ten are the only Broken Class Hunters in the world! Kane's a frickin' monster! Too bad not all Hunter kills are recorded, and none of them ever reveal their Venma.
Liam then looked down the crowd and struggled to keep his face from breaking out into a wide grin.
A man with blue eyes and black hair, standing tall with a stern look on his face.
That's Rapido! He saved my life on the very first day of school! It's like all my good deeds have finally decided to come back and bless me!
Liam took a proper look at two more men and froze, his eyes as wide as saucers.
THE ASURAN LEGEND?! JET?! Kane's partner, arguably the fastest man in the Asura rankings, a holder of the Solitary Trail Medal for holding off an entire wave of Mo during the Insurgence two years ago?! That Jet?! Hold up... didn't Kane get that medal too?
The other man was the tallest amongst them, standing at more than six and a half feet. He had eight arms that radiated out from his shoulders-two of which were folded across his chest, two more holding his waist, and the other four hanging loosely-four on either side of his body. His skin was dark and covered in small black fracture lines.
That's Anansi! Liam grinned. Rapido was in contact with him the day he saved my life! He's a Spider Muta, and if I remember correctly he's a Hunter with some of the craziest raw maneuverability in the Asura Class.
The next man had a body that looked like someone took a bodybuilder and downscaled him into a monk's body. His eyes were narrowed to slits, and there was a straight vertical dark line in the center of his forehead. His bald head reflected the light shining on it, and hanging from his neck were large red prayer beads.
Confucius the Enlightened, Liam lowered his head. A monk who joined the Hunter Association to avenge his brothers. He's like, one of the most secretive Hunters alive! It's so frustrating! No one knows his real name, his Venma, his kills, his achievements, nothing! The only thing known about him isn't even his powers; it's the fact that he hasn't gotten any medals despite the number of Mo he's hunted alone! And he's Teiki class! Below Asura! How is that fair?!
Liam moved to the next man and narrowed his eyes at him.
The man was extremely handsome, with a body and face that looked like they belonged to a Greek god. His hair was black and well styled, his eyes were hidden by a pair of thin rectangular shades, and Liam couldn't get rid of the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.
Sixteen, Teiki Class. He's a pretty popular guy, the rising star of the Hunter's Association. I've always admired the fact that he reached his rank in less than two years, even though it took most Hunters like five! But I've never seen him up close, so why do I feel like I've seen him somewhere before?
"Liam! You're next!" someone hissed.
Liam snapped out of his reverie and noticed the girl in front of him, Tiffany, sit down. He stood up quickly, looking at the Hunters in excitement.
"My name is Liam Paxton. I'm honored to meet you all—"
"Repeat the name," Kane ordered.
Liam flinched at his sharp tone and cleared his throat before glancing down.
"My n-name is Liam Paxton."
He glanced back at Kane, and was surprised to see Kane looking steadily at him.
"Sit. Next."
Liam sat with a relieved sigh, then glanced at Lisa, who was looking at him.
Thanks Lisa.
You owe me idiot.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue and looked out the window. She could have just said "you're welcome" like a normal person.
He turned his gaze back to the remaining three Hunters.
The last man was a red-haired man with ear and nose piercings, and a bored look on his face.
Liam sighed internally.
Diamond, a Teiki Class Hunter. Extremely high defense related to his Venma, a battle maniac, and a man who spent two whole months in a Haunt with only two other Hunters.
Liam turned his gaze away.
And one of them was my Dad. And he never liked Diamond. Though I still think he's alright.
Liam looked at the other two and stopped. He rubbed his eyes for a moment and looked at them properly.
Bullseye... and Code?! These two?!
Bullseye had chocolate-colored skin, short permed hair, and green eyes that had red crosshairs in them. Code on the other hand, was shorter, wore her hair in a messy bun, had smooth, fair skin, and metal-grey eyes with faint blue X's in them.
Liam began to vibrate in his seat. Bullseye is the youngest woman ever to reach the Asura Class with nothing but pure marksmanship skills! She broke the world record for shooting a target from two thousand two hundred yards away with nothing but a handgun! They even gave her a Venma Inhibitor, and she did it again! She even beat the sniper world record by hitting a diving Ptera from three miles away! And Code's a computer goddess! She managed to hack into a supercomputer for crying out loud! She's Teiki Class despite never having been on the field, and they say she's one of the most valuable people on earth, apart from having one of the highest IQs of the modern age!
Liam paused to calm himself down—
"Alright. To keep things short, all of you are fourth-rate."
"...Eh?"
Everyone fell silent and stared at Kane.
He stared right back.
"Some of you have received guidance, training, and a lot of either ridicule or praise. From this point onwards, I want you to forget everything about the last one."
Suddenly, Kane wasn't standing there anymore.
Liam didn't even notice till the deep voice was right behind him.
"You, Caesar."
"GA—!" Liam jumped, clamped a hand over his mouth, and turned around.
Kane was standing a foot away, staring down at Caesar.
"You have very likely experienced long days filled with ridicule. There is no need for that nonsense to take up space in your mind. Find a way to get rid of it, because it will hinder your growth."
Liam blinked repeatedly as Kane suddenly disappeared.
"You," he said, standing beside Jason at the center of the class. "Get rid of that arrogance in your tone, otherwise you'll end up regretting it."
"How are you doing that?!" Nanami yelled.
"I was raised in a home where it was disrespectful to talk back to adults, raise your voice at them, or speak whilst they are speaking."
Nanami yelped and jolted as a large, scarred, and heavy hand fell on his shoulder.
"Don't tell me none of you were raised to respect your elders?"
"N-n-n-n-n-no sir!" Nanami stuttered, shivering and sweating profusely.
"Good," Kane said as he walked back to his previous position in front of the other Hunters.
"Since you will all be under our tutelage, your training will begin tomorrow at dawn. We will keep it low-intensity and military style. For the next two weeks, all of you will undergo rigorous preparation before embarking on a trip to a training facility. Am I clear?"
There were murmurs of agreement, and Kane's eyebrow twitched. Then he growled so deeply even Zantos shivered.
"From now on, whenever one of us speaks to you, you will answer clearly with a 'Yes, sir' or 'Yes, ma'am.'. Whenever we enter this class, you will stand at attention and sit only when we tell you to. Am I clear?"
"YES SIR!" the class chorused as they surged to their feet.
"Good." Kane nodded. "We will be leaving now, and no one sits before we leave."
Liam's heart was beating wildly as the Hunters began filing out.
What... what the heck just happened?! That was so fast I could barely follow! I did hear everything, but there's so little time to process it. Is this how Hunters are trained? Whenever Dad joked about Mom giving me orders, I thought that was hard. This is a completely—
"Ah, almost forgot."
All the students flinched as Kane walked back to the front of the class.
"I hear you all got into a fight with the Hero Course, and won."
Are we dead? Liam thought.
"Keep this fact steady in your mind; unless I say so, you haven't won a single thing. Am I clear?"
"YES SIR!"
Kane nodded, then looked at Kazumi. "I hear you were the instigator. Is that true?"
Kazumi's jaw tightened for a moment, then he answered: "Yes, sir."
Kane narrowed his eyes at him. "From now on, refrain from causing problems for your class."
"Yes, sir."
Kane turned away from him and addressed the entire class. "From now on, I am sanctioning fights between classmates on the condition that both sides learn from the fight. This is not a rule allowing you to take out your personal feelings on each other without reason. That is all."