F Rank Hunter

Ushio closed his eyes and laid back on the bench. The trees blocked the sun making the surroundings cool and calm.

"Hey, mister."

Ushio heard and got his head up to see who called him. He saw a young, tall, muscular guy in a white t-shirt – purple eyes and purple line pattern under the eyes – standing with a smile.

"Let me join your guild," Hasha said.

Ushio quickly stood up. "For real," he shouted. He was happy. "Then let me tell you about my plans - ah! No, let me first introduce myself - my name is - " he stopped in the middle. Ushio realized something and looked at Hasha with a serious look.

Hasha was taller and built than Ushio. Hasha got surprised by the way Ushio was looking at him.

Ushio had a serious expression, "You - they sent you to make fun of me didn't you. Those Rising Star bastards. You are one of them aren't you."

Hasha was surprised, "No! I am not with them. And I wasn't sent by anyone nor am I here to make fun of you. I approached you simply because I really want to join your guild." he said. He thought, "Looks like he had been made fun of by his past Guild."

"You are not a Rising Star's hunter then," Ushio asked.

"Ah! Yes, I'm not," Hasha said, "And actually... I'm not a hunter."

Ushio calmed, "So you're not one of them. Then why to do …" He stopped - he had a surprised face. "Wait, what did you say? you're not a hunter."

"Yes," said Hasha with a calm expression.

Ushio was confused. He asked angrily, "You are one of them aren't you?"

"Believe me, I'm not," Hasha replied.

"All right!" Ushio said, "But why do you want to join my guild?"

"Uh … I thought since we both are beginners in our own ways why don't I just follow you?" said Hasha, "Besides I have heard about you like you used to work for Rising Star Guild and many other stories."

Ushio stared at Hasha. He was confused about whether he was serious or playing a joke with him.

Ushio said, "If what you are saying is true then I would love to hire you but - you want to join as a hunter don't you?"

"Yes," Hasha replied.

"That's the problem," Ushio said, "You are not a hunter. And one needs to be registered as Hunter for them to be called Hunter and to join the Guild you know. So you can't join without being a Hunter."

"So if I registered as a Hunter now will you let me join," Hasha asked. "How long does it take."

Ushio was shocked, "You don't know how the Hunter things work do you? - you cannot just come and register. You need to be awakened in other words you need to have mana. So let me ask you, do you have mana, or have you felt some different energy within you?"

"I do know little about Hunters," Ushio answered, "Besides I wouldn't think about being Hunter if I wasn't awakened."

"So you are awakened. Congratulations on that," Ushio said.

Hasha smiled a little, "Thank you."

"But still you are not a hunter yet and I am not talking about registration," Ushio said and sat down on the bench. "Sit down," he told Hasha."

Hasha sat down beside him.

"Once you are awakened you are registered as a Hunter Trainee or F Hunter if one wants to be a hunter," Ushio said, "But you are not a Hunter yet - a Frank Hunter or Trainee hunter must go through the training period. You must learn to fight, wield suitable weapons, learn some magic, and many others - in short, you need to be able to fight and have some magic powers. After that, you are considered an E rank hunter - and that takes about a year or more if you are not talented. And you need to prove that you have trained by bringing some certificates or others."

"He really knows a lot about it," Hasha thought. He was smiling and listening to his brother Ushio's explanation.

"I know how to fight and I know some magic powers," Hasha said.

Ushio looked at Hasha, "Well looking at your build I do think you have trained - so do you have a certificate of your training."

"Certificate?" Hasha flustered a little.

"Yes, you must provide them to prove that you have trained in a certain institution, facility," said Ushio.

"Well," Hasha paused to think. He thought, "Should I tell him that I am self-trained - but I don't think he will believe it." He said, "You see I am trained but I don't have anything like that to prove - can't I be a hunter without that?"

"You - you are really suspicious you know," Ushio said, "You aren't lying are you?"

"No, Why would I?" Hasha replied, " I can show you if you want."

"Don't get cocky!." Ushio stood up, "I have seen guys like you who think that they don't need to train or think that they can be hunters just because they know how to fight little."

Hasha also stood up.

"Then let's see if you are a real deal or just a talk," Ushio smiled.

They walk into the wide box-shaped building in front. Inside was a lobby consisting of counters, benches, sofas, tables, and a waiting area. It was the building for the Registration of Hunters, Evaluation, and other services.

"You wait here, I will bring the registration form for you," said Ushio and walked to the counter.

Hasha sat on the bench. He looked around. There were people around. Some were on counters, some were sitting and filling some forms.

Then he saw a few people in suits surrounding a beautiful, long red-haired woman. She was wearing light red armor and a red dress. They had come out of the evaluation room. The people had their company cards in their hands and were trying to recruit the woman.

All the people in the lobby were watching them.

"She must be highly ranked for so many people trying to recruit her," Hasha thought while looking from being seated on the sofa.

Ushio came and handed him a form. He looked at those recruiters and the woman. "A C-rank huh!" he said.

"So she is C rank," Hasha said while flipping at the forms. He stopped and looked at Ushio, "I forgot to ask what rank hunter were you trying to recruit."

Ushio sat on the sofa in front of Hasha. "Any rank would be okay. I cannot be picky and besides it's not like I could afford to recruit high-rank hunters," he said, "Now fill up that form."

Hasha started filling up the form. He was taking longer to fill the form. Hasha was a game player character who didn't have much info, hence Hiro was carefully filling it so that he doesn't mess up.

"Let's fill the other information with mine (Hiro's)," Hashsa thought. He mostly filled in Hiro's information besides his name.

After that, they went to the Registration counter. There was a brown bob-cut female staff.

"Is he the one Mr. Ushio," the female receptionist asked?

Ushio handed her the forms, "Yes he is the one." He made Hasha stand at the side of the counter in front of a small camera to take Hasha's photo for the form. "If anything is missing we will come again tomorrow."

At that moment another tall blonde woman in uniform came to the same counter.

"Hello, Mina. How are you?" Ushio asked.

"Doing fine Ushio," Mina replied, "Is he the one whom you wanted to go through the trial."

Ushio showed Hasha, "Yes, he is Hasha."

Mina observed Hasha. A 6.6 ft. tall, muscular guy, wearing a white t-shirt, black pants, and white shoes. He had purple eyes and a purple line pattern under the eye

Hasha just stood there with confusion. "Trial?" he thought.

"Follow me," Mina said.

They followed Mina to a large empty room. In the middle was a large square lined ring and inside was a man in red armor wielding a long yellow sword.

"Woah! He looks tough!" Ushio said after seeing the red armored man.

"Who is he," Hasha asked.

Mina answered, "His name is Murama Suzuki, a C rank hunter and your opponent for the trial."

Hasha looked at Murama. Murama was tall, blonde, and handsome.

"So I have to defeat him huh!" Hasha said.

Ushio and Mina looked at Hasha after hearing what he said. They were confused.

"Wow! You don't look like you are afraid. He is a C rank hunter you know," Ushio said, "A C-rank - stronger and more experienced than a F-rank or trainee."

"It's a test," Hasha said, " And I don't think I can complain, can I?"

Mina smiled, "That's right - Do your best."

"You really are something you know," Ushio said, "Just don't get hurt." He tapped Hasha's shoulder.

Mina and Ushio stood away from the ring by the walls to observe.

Hasha entered the ring. He looked at Murama who was fully armored and had a weapon. Then he looked at Mina and Ushio. He asked, "Am I supposed to fight him like this, bare-handed."

Mina smiled and said, " I thought you were trained, Mr. Hasha. Didn't you come here to be a hunter thinking you are already strong enough?- Only those who have become F-rank or hunter trainees and have trained are allowed to have armor and weapons not just here even on the outside. For a self-trained or those who think they are strong enough like you should prepare by yourself."

Ushio thought, "This may be unfair: battling with a high-rank hunter without protective gear or weapons but I guess this is exactly what the trial is about. This trial isn't about making you a hunter but showing cocky people who think their normal strength is enough to be a hunter."

Mina thought, " Being a Frank or hunter trainee may not mean a person has become a hunter but it is an important step to become one. During that time they are trained. They learn and prepare themselves to be hunters; learning to fight, learning with armor and weapons, learning magic, and any other stuff related to hunters, gates, and monsters.

However, not all want that. There are people who think they don't need to train or learn when they don't have any idea or those who don't want to waste time training or think they already know enough. This trial was designed for those. A trial to show they are not ready just because they have awakened."

Ushio thought, "This trial may be to shut those people who just bluff but- it is also a trial to see whether you have trained as those F-ranks or not. - I wonder which you are."