Skill: Blackening

"Yeah, it's an E grade skill called Blackening "

Saying that Martin showed his Mom his skill, his hands suddenly became black and steam started to rise from them. Martin felt that his fists could punch through a wall.

Skills were ranked by grades (F-S) and F grade Skill was the lowest and S grade Skills were the highest grade skills. As Blackening was E grade growth type skill it could grow and eventually become an S-grade skill. The first skill is always a growth type skill. But, some skills start at an F grade and some might even start at a C grade. The stronger the Beast and the more potential it had the higher the initial grade. Although the Gorilla had immense potential it was still not a Mysterious Beast but a Normal Animal on Earth so an E-grade skill was expected. Its strength was at the bottom among Mysterious Beasts.

After talking with his mom for a bit he quickly got ready and headed for school.

On his way, he met up with Bruno

"Hey, Martin how was your contract?"

" It was fine, I got an E grade skill"

"Haha, nice even though it is lower than mine you have a chance to get into MHA if you upgrade your skill to D grade in 10 months"

Bruno's Fire Blast was a D grade skill

If someone did not know Bruno they would think that he was showing off, but Martin knew that Bruno would only act like this with him like this as he knew that Martin wouldn't get offended. Normally, Bruno had a fiery temper and was known for often getting into fights. It only increased after he contracted the Fire Lizard.

...

The day soon ended and after returning home Martin started planning his training for the next 10 months. After some thinking, he decided to first get in perfect shape and then learn to control his Blackening. In this world, because everyone had abilities they didn't research much on strengthening the body. They relied too much on their skills. But, Martin had his knowledge from Earth which was a huge advantage. Back on Earth, he spent a lot of his savings to learn MMA(Mixed Martial Arts) so he had some knowledge on Kick Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and submission techniques. Martin soon planned a sophisticated training regime that included his diet and all the exercises he needed to do throughout the day.

The days turned into months and 10 months flew by like a breeze.

...

MHA Exam Center, Eastern Branch

Martin looked at the Huge Building in front of him with clenched hands, he had worked hard for this Exam, and it could be seen from the changes in his body that the training regime he made for himself was worth it. In these 10 months, Martin went through a complete transformation. He grew to be 5 feet 11 inches feet from 5 feet 8 inches tall. Because of his Contract Beast, he gained muscle fast and in order to not bulk up too much he only did Bodyweight Exercises which resulted in him having lean muscles but they were filled with explosive strength. Most of all his entire Demeanor seemed to have changed and he looked more mature and although he did not release any aura, he gave the feeling that he was like a Ferocious Beast and his black eyes gave off a powerful and dangerous vibe.

Martin walked into the building and saw a huge auditorium inside, he found a seat in a corner and closed his eyes. Within the darkness, he entered his Dream Space and checked on his Silverback Gorilla. The Gorilla was still an infant, it was floating around in space and eating fruits. Its big black eyes lit up when it saw Martin and crawled towards him and hugged his leg and rubbed its face on it. Martin could not help but smile see this,

"Blacky, did you miss me so much?"

During the 10 months, he had been feeding it all kinds of Ripe Fruits and it was growing well

After playing with Blacky for a while Martin left the Dream Space and opened his eyes.

He noticed that there were a lot more people in the auditorium but there was not much noise and everyone had tense expressions on their faces,

Soon the hall was filled with people,

"SILENCE!"

A deep voice echoed in everyone's ears and everyone stopped talking,

Nobody noticed when a Middle-aged man got on the stage, he seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

The man had military cut hair and was wearing a tight black T-shirt and pants. He had a no-nonsense expression on his face and was built like a Bear.

"I will get straight to the point, this year's exam is a bit different than before. You guys will be fighting real Monsters. There will be injuries, we will try our best to save you if you are in danger but some of you may even die. Being a Monster Hunter means to risk your lives against the Monsters, life or death is decided in a single moment. Those who want to leave can leave now, it's your only chance."

The students started discussing in low voices but except for a few nobodies else left because everyone here had confidence in their Contract Beasts, they had been ready to face all kinds of challenges in order to become a Hunter.

Although Martin was shocked he did not leave, he had confidence in his strength and did not think that the MHA would want the students to die so the Exam must be passable.

Seeing that most of them choose to stay the Instructor had a smile on his face.

"Good now see your groups on the Screen and line up accordingly"

...

Somewhere in the MHA Eastern Branch,

"Principal are you sure you want to go ahead with this kind of exam"

"Moonlight. it's not that you don't know about the Monster King successor, he is very Ambitious. He broke the agreement between us Monsters, Humans and Beasts, and declared war on us. He wants to rule the world again and we need more Hunters. The Monsters have been accumulating strength for years and are stronger than before but we humans have gone soft after the war."

"But is there a need to have a life and Death battle?"

"Hah... it's not me who decided this, it's the Headquarters. I am also helpless here."

"The HQ?"

...