Chapter 53
Now the next day came faster than renji anticipated
The sun shone brightly that morning, warm light spilling through the windows
Renji sat on the edge of his bed, tying his shoes, his mind calm but focused.
"Sighh today is the day" renji mustered quitely
The day he would finally step into the light,
A Knock came at his door
Knock knock
"Ready?" Choji asked, leaning against the doorframe with his usual lazy grin.
Renji stood, with a deep sigh
"Yeah c'mon Let's go."
The Hunter Evaluation Center was buzzing with noise.
Dozens of aspiring hunters crowded the lobby, filling it with chatter and nervous excitement.
"Oooi I'm an A ranker now I can finally make some money and take care of my family someone shouted ...
Renji and Choji stepped inside, the cool air from the building's enchantments brushing over their faces.
Renji glanced around
"wow" there's so many people, all here to prove themselves.
His expression stayed calm, but Choji noticed the tightness in his shoulders.
"C'mon what's with that look renji?" Choji teased, elbowing him lightly, don't tell me you are getting cold feet's now
"Ehh shut up I'm not I'm just.. but before renji could respond fully, the room seemed to shift.
A presence so calm and commanding passed through the crowd, drawing every eye.
Arisa.
Her long hair swayed as she walked, her sharp gaze scanning the room.
For a moment, Renji froze, and when their eyes met everything around them seemed to quiet.
"Renji?"
Her voice was softer than he remembered, but it made his heart skip all the same.
"You… what are you doing here?" she asked, taking a step closer.
Her face flushed almost red almost immediately.
"It's been a year no, not almost a year. It has been a year since I last saw you. Where have you been?you just completely disappeared and went under the radar
Renji smiled faintly, slipping his hands behind his back.
" Yeah I wasn't around I decided to go overseas."
"Overseas?" Arisa tilted her head.
Her expression softened but there was something searching in her eyes.
"So why are you here?"
Renji's smile widened just slightly "well i'm here for the hunter evaluation."
Arisa blinked .. stunned then glanced at him again, searching for even the faintest trace of mana.
Nothing.
She forced a small smile.
" Are you sure of what you are saying you know why am I asking good luck renji"
Renji nodded politely and walked past her, Choji following behind him with a grin like he knew a secret.
Arisa stayed behind, staring at Renji's back.
He still feels like a normal human… she thought, biting her lip.
So how.....??
She shook her head.
"No, I'm overthinking again. He's probably just been busy overseas… did he perhaps met someone"....
Her face turned bright red as she covered her face with her hands, screaming internally.
What the fuck Why am I even thinking about that right now?!
Renji, meanwhile, was calm as he approached the testing area.
Now he was confident he had grown stronger than he ever thought possible.
So strong that he could completely erase his magical presence ..making himself appear almost entirely different
"Renji kurogane," one of the proctors called.
"Please come in ."
Renji stepped forward, pulling off his jacket and revealing the tightly coiled muscles he'd worked so hard for.
Choji whistled low from the sidelines.
"Show them what you've got, big guy."
Renji stepped into the mana measuring circle, and exhaled slowly.
A wave of golden mana slowly erupted from his body, so dense it cracked the reinforced floor beneath him.
The monitors began to spike, alarms blaring as the readings shot through the roof.
Everyone in the hall gasped.
"What the hell , no way he had no presence at all before this!"
Arisa, watching from a distance, felt her breath catch.
This mana… she thought, stunned.
"it's not just powerful it's overwhelming even surpassing mine
Renji slowly opened his eyes, golden light shimmering faintly in them.
The proctors scrambled to stabilize the instruments, but the mana readings refused to settle as renji's power was far beyond anything they'd measured for a newcomer.
Even the scouts watching from the observation deck leaned forward, whispering to each other with barely contained excitement.
The evaluation chamber was vast .. a hall of stone and enchanted steel, reinforced by countless layers of magical barriers. It had been built for one purpose to measure and contain the mana of the strongest beings humanity had to offer.
Renji stood at the center of the glowing circle, his expression calm but focused.
Choji stood off to the side with a mischievous grin.
"Don't blow up the building stupid They'll charge us for repairs."
Renji exhaled slowly,
The evaluator adjusted his glasses and gestured.
"You may begin whenever you are ready."
Renji nodded.
The first thing everyone felt was pressure.
As though the air in the room had suddenly turned heavy, compressing down on their lungs and making their knees weak.
Then came the light.
Golden mana burst from Renji's hands that cracked the meter
The instruments lining the walls began to shriek.
"Mana output rising ...50,000!"
"No, wait it's still rising now at 75,000!" he screamed
"Systems are spiking! We can't cap the readings!"
A deafening alarm rang out through the facility as the evaluators scrambled.
"Reinforce the magical barrier! Hurry!"
But even as they did, Renji's power kept rising higher and higher, until the glow of his mana consumed the entire meter
The other hunters in the waiting hall pressed against the glass windows, their faces pale. Some stumbled back, clutching their chests from the sheer pressure in the air.
"Is this possible
"He feels like… like a top-tier SS-Rank."
"No… stronger. It's closer to...."
One of the veteran evaluators, a man with silver hair and a scar over his right eye, stepped forward and stared at the readings. His mouth went dry.
"This level of output…" he muttered.
"It's comparable to Hiroto, the 10th SS-Ranker five years ago."
Those words sent a ripple through the room.
The scouts on the upper balcony stood abruptly, some whispering urgently into their comms. It wasn't every day that someone a complete unknown .. displayed power on that level.
And in the center of it all, Renji stood perfectly still, golden light swirling around him like a living storm, his hair whipping wildly in the surge of magical energy.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
Golden.
The evaluators could only stare..
The mana surge slowly receded as Renji deactivated his aura, allowing the instruments to stabilize.
When the last echo of his power faded, the room fell into a stunned silence.
Then the chief evaluator cleared his throat and glanced at the readings again.
"There's… there's no doubt," he said slowly, as though he could barely believe his own words.
"Renji kurogane is to be officially registered as the 11th SS-Rank Hunter in Japan."
Gasps filled the observation hall.
Choji let out a loud whistle and slapped the glass in front of him.
"You hear that, Renji?! 11th SS-Rank, baby!"
Renji stepped out of the circle, sweat glistening on his skin but his expression calm.
Before he could think too long about it, the doors to the chamber opened.
"Wow, wow, wow."
That voice Renji knew it immediately.
Hiroto stepped inside, his usual confident grin plastered on his face. His presence caught the light, and the other hunters in the room visibly straightened this was one of Japan's strongest, a living legend in the making
"Well, well," Hiroto said, striding toward Renji, hands in his pockets.
"Didn't I say you'd get strong enough to stand next to me one day? well It looks like I was right."
Renji gave him a faint smile.
"You sound like you were waiting for this."
"Of course I was." Hiroto clapped him on the shoulder, grinning wide.
"Now I have a rival. This is gonna make my days so much more fun."
Hiroto looked Renji up and down, his expression softening just a bit.
"You know, you've really changed
Renji's faint smile turned into a quiet laugh.
" Well change is good and guess I had a good teacher."
Somewhere outside the chamber, Arisa stood in the hall, frozen.
She had watched the entire thing from the observation deck had felt that surge of golden mana that shook the entire building.
But her mind couldn't reconcile what she saw with what she remembered.
Hiroto ?? What's is going on ?
How is renji ,m, so ordinary standing at the center of the room as a newly crowned SS-Rank.
How? she thought, clutching the railing tightly.
I still can't sense a trace of mana from him… until he released it. How is he hiding something so enormous so perfectly?
Her heart pounded in her chest, not just with confusion, but with something else.
Pride.
And something dangerously close to fear.
The evaluators completed their paperwork in a rush, clearly eager to process Renji's results while the excitement still lingered.
"Renji kurogane," the chief evaluator said, handing him his new hunter license a sleek black card embossed with a gold SS at the top.
"Your official registration is complete Mr Renji
Congratulations you are now recognized as the 11th SS-Rank Hunter in Japan."
Renji took the card quietly, staring at it for a moment before slipping it into his pocket.
He wasn't one for loud celebrations, but inside, something warm bloomed in his chest.
This was proof that everything he had worked for and it meant something.
Outside the center, reporters had already gathered, word of a new SS-Rank spreading like wildfire.
Renji stepped out into the sun, Choji whistling behind him.
"You know your quiet little life is over now, right?" Choji said, elbowing him
"You're gonna be on the news, on billboards, on every hunter forum tonight."
Renji sighed, but there was a faint smile on his face.
"hmmm well it doesn't change anything for me "
Hiroto, who had followed them out, clapped him on the back again.
"Well you have to get used to it because You're one of us now. And trust me you're not allowed to slack off anymore.
Renji turned to look at him, and smiled briefly
"Dont worry I'll try not to
Hiroto laughed loud and long, throwing his head back.
"Oh now , this is going to be fun."