Betrayal x Abandoned

"Kazuki Matasuragi — F-Rank Essen-User, no Essen-Type."

"Huh?" Kazuki's eyes widened, and for a moment, all he could hear were the vice president's words repeating in his head. "No Essen-Type."

Murmurs broke out instantly, whispers spreading across the room—no one had expected this. F-Rank Essen-User? To make matters worse, his rank was so low he couldn't even awaken an Essen-Type.

"N-no way, it has to be a mistake." Kazuki insisted, this was his ticket out, and now it all came crashing down on his head.

"The Orb Of Awakening doesn't make mistakes, sorry kid, but an F-Rank Essen-User is all you're good for." As the vice president dismissed him, everything else faded into silence, the chairman's words echoing over and over in his mind.

He stepped down from the platform, eyes wide in disbelief, his hopes shattered. As he walked past the other Essen-Users, some looked at him with pity, others with disgust, and a few with blank, unreadable faces.

As the final candidate awakened his essence, the vice president cleared his throat, quickly drawing the attention of the newly excited Essen-Users.

"Now that the awakening ceremony is complete, we can move on to the next phase. The Essen-Hunter's examination which comes up in two weeks."

The crowd murmured, not because of the ceremony's scheduled date, but because of who was set to take part in it.

"I know many of you are nervous, you think you don't have a chance because of those that awakened Essen-Types ranked higher than yours. But fear not, because even a trained C-rank Essen-User is more powerful than a newly awakened B-rank Essen-User. So I say to you my future Essen-Hunters, train and develop your Essen abilities. Good luck, that will be all for now."

As the vice president and his associates exited, the hall buzzed with excitement, with newly awakened Essen-Users gathering to celebrate their successful awakening.

Kazuki walked out of the hall, his eyes still clouded with disbelief over the results of his awakening. That's when the goddess's words came back to him.

With a grunt, he slammed his fist against the wall as he left the building. To Kazuki, this was supposed to be the moment that turned his life around. But fate—cruel as ever—wasn't finished with him yet. The irony wasn't lost on him, considering it was the goddess of fate who had sent him on this mission.

"A well refined essence my ass."

"Hey, Kazuki." As Kazuki stepped out of the building, Kirito called out to him. He stood there with Takashi, almost as if the two had been waiting for him.

"Oh, Takashi, Kirito."

"Sorry for how your awakening turned out, after what that Virelia told us, I never expected you to awaken such a rank." Kirito spoke with warmth, offering his apology.

"No need to apologize, it's not your fault fate decided to turn it's back on me once more. Congratulations on your awakening, C-rank and A-rank Essen-Types? That's awesome."

"Well, there's no need thinking about it anymore. Thanks to this unforseen circumstances, there's been a change in our plans." Takashi spoke calmly, his fingers resting on his cheek as he silently worked through a new plan.

"Yeah, with the results of my awakening, I don't think we can still stop this apocalypse as effectively as we hoped."

"We?" Takashi turned to him, his brows raised with confusion. "What do you mean by we? With the results of your awakening, you're more useless to us than when we were in purgatory."

Kazuki's eyes shot open in disbelief. There were no words to describe it—how quickly Takashi's attitude shifted the moment his awakening didn't go as expected.

"Hey Takashi! Aren't you being a little rude!?"

"Rude? It's the opposite, I'm being realistic. The goddess sent us here to divert a world ending apocalypse, what can someone who couldn't even awaken an Essen-Type hope to achieve? Tell me Kazuki."

"Hey! Taka-"

"It's alright Kirito." Kazuki spoke up. He was shocked, yes—but it wasn't the first time. Being called out for his weakness was nothing new, by now, he had grown used to it.

"That's right, it's better to accept the truth now before anyone has to suffer for it. I mean, isn't that how it happened, isn't that the reason why your mother was hospitalized?"

Kazuki snapped, his eyes widening at the mention of his mother.

"Takashi!" Kirito called out to him.

Without a moment's hesitation, Kazuki lunged at Takashi, his fist clenched tight as he drove a right cross toward his face, with rage burning in his eyes.

Takashi let out a quiet sigh before effortlessly catching Kazuki's punch with one hand. "The reason your mother was assaulted and hospitalized, was because of your weakness."

In a flash, Takashi countered with a smooth, powerful right cross that sent Kazuki sprawling to the ground.

"Hey! What's going on over there!?" Another voice called out from a distance, just enough to halt Takashi's movement and give Kirito the chance to hold him back.

It was one of the associates of the vice president.

He moved towards Kazuki immediately, checking up on him as Taskashi's strength was remarkably amplified as a result of his awakening.

"You don't awaken to harm your colleagues kid, what the hell is wrong with you!?" The agent of the Essen-Hunter's Association shouted.

"Colleague? I have no connections with someone like him, I was simply defending myself after he came at me with the intent to hurt me." As Takashi spoke innocently, Kazuki could see it in his eyes, the true color of Takashi Tsuchibana, the reason why most boys disliked him.

"Tch, let's go kid." The agent helped him up to his feet, and together they left the premises trying to create distance between the two boys.

"Why did you do that Takashi!?" Kirito exclaimed, upset by his actions.

"Watch who you raise your voice at, we were given a task, all I did was extinguish a weak point. He should be grateful, otherwise he'd have gotten himself killed in the process."

..

"Are you alright?" The agent asked as he and Kazuki walked further ahead of the two.

"I'll be fine, just an aching jaw." Kazuki brushed off the pain in his jaws, trying to gather himself together after the blow he was dealt with.

"I can't imagine what you're going through kid, awakening a talent of F-Rank? It's unheard of, but don't let that discourage you. It's just like the chairman said, even a well trained C-rank Essen-User is more powerful than a B-rank Essen-User."

"What use is that idea if I couldn't even awaken an Essen-Type?" Despite his words of encouragement, it didn't change the fact that he didn't have an Essen-Type.

"Sometimes in life, you don't always get what you want, but that's where true strength comes from, when you are able to fully utilize what you have. That is what it means to be an Essen-Hunter, you may not be the strongest, but trust me, what you'll be able to accomplish if you put your mind to it, will blow you away."

His words sank deep into Kazuki, as if he truly believed that even without an Essen-Type, he could still make it. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Kazuki said with a faint smile. "By the way, if you don't mind me asking… where exactly are we?"

He came to a stop, taking a moment to survey his surroundings. It was only then he realized—he was now completely surrounded by trees and grass.

"It's just a path back to the city, you don't look like you're from around these parts." The agent walked ahead of him, then came to a complete stop.

"I'm not from around here."

"I see." Almost instantly, the agent's fist ignited with flickers of yellow flame. In the next second, he lunged at Kazuki, driving his flame-cloaked fist straight toward him.

The glow of the flames danced in his eyes as he closed the distance between them.

Then.

BOOM!

A sharp crack split the air, followed by a burst of light and sound as a small explosion erupted in the forest.

Leaves scattered and birds took flight immediately as flames briefly flared, sending a shockwave that rippled through the forest.

Kazuki lay on the ground, breathing hard. Luckily, he had dodged the blow at the last second, thanks to his slightly enhanced strength and agility. His heart pounded in his chest as he stared up, fully aware of how close he'd come to meeting his end once again.

"Oh? You dodged it? Despite being an F-Rank Essen-User? Impressive. I won't underestimate you again."

The agent's voice tore through the wall of flames standing between them, sharp and menacing, as Kazuki remained sprawled on the ground.

"Hey kid." With slow, deliberate steps, the agent emerged through the flames, his eyes burning with bloodlust and flickering fire hovering menacingly above his palm. "You mind telling me how you're still alive?"