Ceremony!

"Oh, if you want then you can take it".

"No I don't have any particular preference. You can have it". I took another bottle of random flavor. The boy beside me didn't leave but just stood there while gulping on the orange juice continuously. He only separated the bottle after finishing it.

" Umai ". I thought to talk to him but someone called me from far away.

"Oi.. Subaru". I saw Theo waving at me. I just gave him a small wave as he walked toward me. Even he was shorter than me by almost one foot, the formal suit looked good on him.

"You came alone here?" He asked the first thing after he grabbed a glass of wine.

"Yeah, why?" I asked him while glancing at the surrounding. I didn't see Ririka or Yuno around.

" I mean you already have two girls fawning over you and still you are standing here as a single. Flaunt your superiority bruh. Tell them how big of a riajuu you are". He jabbed his elbow on my stomach lightly.

"Ha..ha..was I supposed to laugh? Anyway, do you know who he is?". With a bottle in my hand, I raised my index finger toward the flame boy who was now at the snacks counter.

" Oh, you don't know him. He was the candidate who finished the advanced practical test in the least time. I mean you didn't give that test so I don't know about you but the average time of advance test completion was 190 sec and just FYI, I am being generous here. And you know how much time did he took?" I just shook my head.

"11 seconds". I raised my brows after I heard what he said.

I was genuinely surprised and the itch to fight him increased even more.

" I don't know about his backing but I know he is the flame pillar of the Rengoku Clan. If you want to know more, then you can ask you gir-..ah there she comes". I followed his gaze and looked toward the entrance of the venue.

A doll-looking face with a light blush on her cheeks was making her really attractive. Her small supple lips had a pinch of beautiful glitter on them which I generally prefer over lipstick. A white one-piece dress reached up to her knee adorned with beautiful crystal white high heels. Her pale skin was totally complimented by her dress.

This was the first time I had been mesmerized by a girl so much that I even forgot to breathe for a second. Ririka was so much enticing that I wanted to go and take her hand right now, especially because of the unwanted attention she was getting.

"You are lucky you know that right, buddy?".

" Shut up and leave us ". I shooed him off before Ririka arrived near me.

" You are looking handsome Subaru kun". Before even I could have opened my mouth she complimented me while fidgeting on her own.

"*Ahem* you are looking beautiful too, Ririka." I took her hand and kissed the back of it while bowing a little.

My heightened senses ruined the mood when I heard 'awws ' and ' @/*#$% ' from various students around me.

I looked at Ririka and her face was now steamy red.

'How can she be this much embarrassed even we had spent so much time together?'. I was a little confused but didn't point it out and offered her a glass of wine.

We chatted casually for some minutes. Well, we flirted with each other, mainly. Ririka didn't talk about last night at all or to say she was particularly avoiding that topic.

I also didn't peruse that matter and talked about something else.

"You know anything about the Rengoku clan?" I asked her just for a change as I didn't care about his clan or backing. All I wanted was to fight him.

"Oh, the flame pillar? Yeah, I have heard about them from my father. During a certain period, they were one of the strongest clan. But everything changed after the clan leader died in a dungeon. You know their clan mainly focuses on manpower and warfare while our clan focuses on political matters. That was the particular reason why their clan was respected and feared by all. But now the situation is different." I asked as she finished.

"What happened to the clan leader?"

"I don't have exact details but I heard he and his son Kyojuro went inside a dungeon which had uneven mana fluctuation and only his son returned. " I just nodded in understanding and again looked toward the boy who was still feasting on the snacks.

"I wonder if there will be couple dance after the ceremony". Her voice suddenly pulled my attention.

" Oh so do you have anyone in mind to pair with?" I teased her and got a cute pout in return.

"I hate you". She turned away but before I could have teased her even further, a shrill voice resonated in the whole hall.

" You all have 30 minutes to get outside of the hall. Otherwise, you will lose your individual practical points. Best of luck". The voice disappeared before the gates of the hall got packed. And more to that, a huge steel barrier also appeared in front of the whole entrance. I checked the mana reading and found that the whole perimeter of the venue was enhanced with some kind of mana barrier.

" 3 seconds". I said.

"Huh?" Ririka looked at me with a little bit of stress in her eyes.

"Nothing. And don't worry, I will not let anything happen to you until I am here". I took her hand and reassured her.

The hall went into chaos. Almost everyone started mumbling and shouting.

" Isn't this supposed to be a ceremony?" "What the fuck is this?"

"Guys we have to figure out how to get out first."

"I can't use my magic on this wall..WTF". Even they were in a hunter school, it seemed unbelievable to them.

The walls were simply impossible to blast off with normal mana-originated spells as well as physical attacks. Theo found his way back to me with a beautiful pink-haired girl in a sleeveless black dress, beside him.

" Oh, my Subaru you look really handsome ". Even in the chaos, she looked comfortable as usual. And I liked that carefree trait of her.

" AAAAHHH HELP". Before I could have greeted her someone yelled from the corner of the room.

We all looked toward that side and found a boy burning head to toe. Behind him was a mechanical humanoid robot that was moving at a slow pace.

"Oh, and these are the bonus problems which you must have to face if you are preparing to become a hunter". The shrill voice again surrounded and disappeared after announcing.

________________________________________

The mechanical dolls were the advanced tech, exclusive to only hunter school. These techs have a mana barrier around them and could chant mana as well as hurt their enemy with their absurd strength. This mini practical assessment was simply taken to test whether the students were ready for the surprise dungeon appearance or not. No one would die in this test but it doesn't mean they won't feel the pain equivalent to dying.

Subaru was watching the whole scenario solemnly while sipping on a random drink. By 3 seconds he meant, the time he needed to destroy the whole surrounding walls of the venue in a single blast. Why he wasn't doing it then?

Simple, he felt it would be boring if he was to do all the job by himself. His focus was simply on Kyojuro that how he handles the situation.

And to Subaru's surprise, Kyojuro didn't even care about this whole situation and was still eating. Subaru chuckled at him as well as the reaction of Theo who was panicking all over the place.

" Hey, Subaru. We are friends right. You know I am weak at this type of situation". Theo was trying to get the protection of Subaru while blabbering nonsense.

Subaru checked the time and found that only 4 minutes had passed so he decided to see this ' drama ' for some more minutes.

Ririka panicked a little in the start but after Subaru reassured her and majorly after she saw Yuno, all her fear faded at once and she returned to her cold attitude.

Students were trying to use different classes of spells on the walls and gates but it was all futile. The mechanical dolls were spreading in the hall and surrounding the students slowly.

"Subaru why don't you do something?" Theo asked in disbelief as he saw the amused look of Subaru.

"What can I do? Can't you see mana doesn't work on them nor on the walls. So just sit back and wait for your salvation". Subaru made him more flustered.

Some minutes passed and Subaru started to get bored. He was about to erase the wall around him and get out but something caught his attention.

A wheel of flames erupted in the corner of the hall where the snack counter was present. Kyojuro split the mechanical doll which approached him, in a single slice with his blade.

From where he got the blade, no one knew as no one who came here was carrying a visible weapon with them.

Not only that, a row of those techs who were suppressing the students until now, were moving toward Kyojuro. Subaru perked his ears and heard him saying...

" Flame breathing, first form..." The flame started enveloping his whole body and in the next second, he was standing past all the tech leaving only flames behind.

"....Unknowing Fire". With his blade returned to its scabbard, all the dolls fell on the ground, split in two.

Everyone was looking at him with their eyes wide and it was no different for Subaru.

It was the first time, he had seen this kind of swordsmanship.

' I knew it was worth coming here.'