Free Web NovelChapter 20: Debriefing
"Because the last time humanity ascended to the fifth trial using the second option... was 150 years ago. And the person that ascended, was no other than the legendary hunter we all know as, the Soul-King."
"The Soul-King?" Rentaro muttered as he raised his back, a faint groan escaping his lips as soreness spread through his exhausted body.
"Yes, the Soul-King. He is regarded as the strongest Soul-Hunter, he could level mountains with merely a word, split the skies with just a finger. He was the first human to have ever been granted a Soul-Core. Just like you and your teammates, he also passed through the second option and led a squad of humans up to the fourteenth sanctuary."
"I see... So that’s how the fourteen Soul-Squads ascended through the levels?"
"You’re quick to catch on, humanity didn’t conquer the fourteen levels of the Sanctuary. Thanks to the Soul-King and his elite squad which he divided across nine levels, humanity managed to bypass up to the fourteenth trial. The fifth sanctuary is where all of humanity who were lucky enough to survive the first four trials finally rests, even the main headquarters of the fourteen Soul-Squads resides here. For us, it’s like a new earth."
Rentaro stayed silent, quietly pondering everything the 5th captain had said so far. The truth that humanity’s safety ended at the Fifth Sanctuary was already shocking enough, yet the existence of the Soul-King left him even more stunned.
A being rumored to split the skies and shake the heavens effortlessly sounded less like a human and more like a god.
"What is your name, boy?" The 5th captain stared directly at Rentaro, his face straight and serious as if his very fate depended on the answer.
"Rentaro, Rentaro Mizuno sir." He answered.
"What is your goal in the sanctuary?"
"Goal? Rentaro’s brows jerked. "To survive, obviously."
The fifth captain sighed, then turned around and faced the door. "We all aim to survive each passing day, whether we’re fighting a war or struggling to provide for your family, or to keep yourself fed. We all fight to survive, but to survive... you must be willing to do whatever it take-"
The 5th captain slowly turned around to face Rentaro, only to be met by his cold, unwavering gaze. What stared back at him was not just an awakener, but a survivor, someone willing to do whatever it took to achieve his goals.
’This kid...’ The fifth captain said in his thoughts as he could feel Rentaro’s resolve pulsating through his body.
"That’s right... I almost forgot." A soft smile slowly appeared on the 5th captain’s face as realization finally dawned on him. The boy he tried advising on survival, was the same boy who came out unscathed and barely injured from the second option.
"The fifth trial’s debriefing has begun, are you going to wait for your teammates to regain consciousness?" The fifth captain asked as he opened the door in front of him.
Rentaro glanced to the side at his unconscious teammates, his eyes lingering on them for a moment as he silently pondered his next course of action.
Thinking back to the first two trials, he realized that not only had he cleared the first trial far easier on his own, but there had also been far fewer casualties.
Not to mention, everything that had happened so far suggested that something was truly watching them. The constellations... the examiner... and especially the moment he cleared the second option.
The examiner’s piercing gaze alone had said it all.
"Maybe you’re right." Rentaro said calmly as he looked at his unconscious teammates, his expression showing that their current condition was no longer a problem to him.
"Maybe I never really had a clear goal, but now... I do."
"And what is that?" The captain asked, a bit intrigued.
With a single finger, Rentaro pointed to the ceiling above his head. "The peak." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
"The peak?"
"My goal isn’t just to clear all fifty levels of the sanctuary and survive, it’s to ascend beyond the Sanctuaries itself. I am going to break through the fifty levels of the sanctuary."
’If there truly was something using our lives as entertainment, I will find it, and I will kill it.’ He thought to himself.
He refused to be a subject of someone else’s pleasure, he refused to suffer for someone else’s amusement.
Not anymore.
"Clear the fifty Sanctuaries huh?" The captain chuckled, it was a noble ambition. However, history proved it to be unattainable.
’Sorry, Eliza... Alexa, Timmy. But this is where we go our separate ways.’ He thought as he glanced at his unconscious teammates, paying them homage one last time before splitting for good.
Rentaro and the captain of the Fifth Soul-Squad quietly left the infirmary before walking through the large and spacious hallways of the base.
After several moments, the two finally arrived before a massive double steel door standing at the end of the corridor.
"This is it kid, are you certain you want to proceed without your teammates? In the sanctuary, a team is one of the best ways to survive and ascend."
"I’m sure, I have no intentions of dragging them into this anymore."
"Alright then, I look forward to seeing your progress in the near future, Rentaro Mizuno."
The fifth captain pushed the large doors open, and their eyes locked on the eyes of the several participants of the Awakeners who had also ascended to the fifth trials just recently, and a man who stood in front of them all.
"Hm?" The man turned, then said with a bit of surprise. "Captain, what a surprise. I never imagined you’d come down to one of these briefings."
"Well, there were a few unexpected events." The captain turned to face Rentaro, who stood quietly beside him. "This is a new Awakener who just passed the second trial of the sanctuary."
At the captain’s words that Rentaro had passed the second trial of the Sanctuary, the room fell into a stunned silence. freewёbnoνel.com
Then, almost instantly, every pair of eyes widened in shock, all of them snapping toward Rentaro in disbelief.
"H-he just passed the second trial of the sanctuary?" One of the awakeners in the room whispered.
"But we’re in the fifth sanctuary... right?" Another one said.
"Impossible..."
"Captain." The man spoke with a trembling voice. "You don’t mean..."
"That’s right, he passed the second option of the examiner’s second trial of the sanctuary."
