CHAPTER 21: PROVISIONAL

The dormitory room was small but functional, a bed, a desk, a bathroom that probably hadn’t been cleaned in weeks judging by the weird smell.

Rin collapsed onto the bed fully clothed, his shoulder still throbbing from the tracker implant, his body exhausted from the day’s fights, his mind refusing to shut down despite how much he needed sleep.

His phone buzzed.

Joy: you alive?

Rin: barely

Joy: what did ashford want?

He stared at the message, trying to figure out how much to tell her, whether she was genuinely concerned or reporting back to her senator father.

’Fuck it, I’m too tired to play spy games.’

Rin: they put a tracker in my shoulder. want to make sure i dont go rogue and kill people

Joy: WHAT

Joy: they cant just do that without consent

Joy: thats literally illegal

Rin: apparently not when youre classified as an anomalous entity

Joy: this is bullshit

Joy: im coming over

Rin: its fine. just need sleep

Joy: rin im serious. where are you?

He sent her his room number, figured if she was going to betray him to the Association she’d have done it already, might as well have someone to talk to.

Five minutes later there was a knock on his door.

Joy pushed past him the moment he opened it, looked around the room with disgust. "This is where they’re housing exam participants? I’ve seen nicer prison cells."

"It’s one night."

"Still." She sat on the edge of his bed. "Let me see the tracker."

Rin pulled his shirt aside, showed her the bandage on his shoulder.

She peeled it back carefully, revealing the small incision where the device had been inserted, the skin around it already bruising.

"Those bastards," she muttered. "This is the kind of thing my dad warns about, Association overreach, treating awakened like property instead of people."

"Your dad’s not wrong about everything then."

"He’s wrong about most things," Joy said, reapplying the bandage. "But on this, yeah, he’s got a point, they can’t just chip people without due process."

"They can when national security is involved, apparently I killed forty-seven researchers during the fracture event, my power destabilized a building three miles away while I was unconscious."

Joy’s eyes widened. "You didn’t know?"

"How could I, I was in a coma, they just told me tonight, said Leo was there grounding some of my energy or it would’ve been worse."

"Leo saved people even back then."

"Yeah." Rin sat down next to her. "He was always the hero, I’m just the guy who causes problems."

"That’s not true."

"Isn’t it? I closed one portal, now the Association thinks I’m a walking disaster, they’re talking about energy dampening injections, neural suppressors, basically want to keep me drugged so I don’t accidentally destroy a city."

Joy was quiet for a moment. "Are you going to let them?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"There’s always a choice, might not be a good one, but it exists." She turned to face him. "You could run, leave the country, go somewhere the Association doesn’t have jurisdiction."

"And then what, spend my life hiding, never getting strong enough to face Kazriketh, never keeping my promise to Leo?"

"So you’re going to let them control you."

"I’m going to play along until I’m strong enough that they can’t control me anymore." He met her eyes. "That’s the difference."

She studied his face, seemed to see something there that made her nod. "Okay, I get it, long game, I can respect that."

"Your dad’s going to love hearing about this."

"My dad’s not going to hear anything from me," Joy said firmly. "What we talk about stays between us, I meant what I said about being training partners, that includes keeping your secrets."

"Even from your senator father who wants stricter oversight on people like me?"

"Especially from him." She stood up. "Look, my relationship with my dad is complicated, he thinks awakened are dangerous, thinks we need to be regulated, monitored, controlled, I think he’s scared because his daughter became something he doesn’t understand."

"Are you going to tell him about the tracker?"

"Hell no, he’d use it as ammunition for his next bill, probably try to make tracker implants mandatory for all awakened." She walked toward the door. "Get some sleep, Stage 3 is in like six hours, you need to be functional."

"Joy."

She paused at the door.

"Thanks, for not being weird about all this."

"We’re both weird, might as well be weird together." She smiled. "See you at the assessment."

She left, the door clicking shut behind her.

Rin lay back on the bed, stared at the ceiling, his mind still racing despite how exhausted he was.

[Rest is required]

[Stage 3 will be challenging]

[You need to appear competent without revealing full capabilities]

’How am I supposed to do that when their machines are designed to measure exactly what I can do?’

[Provide partial demonstrations]

[Show enough power to justify your combat performance]

[But not enough to terrify the evaluators]

’So basically lie with statistics.’

[Essentially]

He closed his eyes, tried to force his brain to shut down, eventually sleep came but it was restless, filled with dreams of Leo, of Kazriketh, of purple light consuming everything.

The alarm went off at 0630.

Rin dragged himself out of bed, showered in the questionable bathroom, put on the clean clothes that had been left outside his door overnight, standard Association training gear in black.

His shoulder still hurt but the bruising had faded somewhat, the tracker sitting there under his skin like a constant reminder of who was really in control.

He checked his phone.

Joy: meet you at the assessment center. dont be late or ashford will have an aneurysm

Rin: on my way

The assessment center was in a different building, connected by an underground tunnel that was apparently how they moved exam participants without exposing them to media, smart considering the cameras were probably still camped outside.

The tunnel opened into a massive facility, looked more like a research lab than a testing area, walls lined with equipment, monitors displaying data, technicians in white coats moving between stations.

Nine other participants were already there, standing in a loose group, Joy saw him, waved.

Rin joined them, noticed everyone looked nervous, even Fiona who stood off to the side looking bored but with tension in her shoulders.

A door opened, Ashford walked in followed by Dr. Yumiko, Reva behind them with a tablet.

"Good morning," Ashford’s voice carried across the room. "Welcome to Stage 3, the final component of your Hunter licensing examination, today we will assess your abilities, measure your power output, determine your initial rank classification."

He gestured to the equipment around them. "Each of you will be tested individually in specialized chambers designed to safely contain and measure various ability types, the process takes approximately thirty minutes per participant, you’ll be called in alphabetical order."

That meant Rin was going last, great, more time to stress about what was coming.

"During your assessment," Dr. Yumiko continued, "we’ll ask you to demonstrate your abilities at various intensity levels, starting low, gradually increasing to your maximum safe output, our equipment will measure energy signatures, force generation, area of effect, all standard metrics used to determine Hunter classification."

"What if our abilities don’t fit standard categories?" someone asked, a guy Rin recognized from the wind manipulation match.

"Then we adapt the testing protocol," Dr. Yumiko said. "We’ve assessed over ten thousand awakened in the last two years, we’ve seen most ability variations, trust that we can handle whatever you have."

Most ability variations, sure, but probably not fracture energy manipulation that operated outside normal physics.

"First participant," Reva checked her tablet. "Castellanos, Joy, please follow me."

Joy shot Rin a quick look, something between nervous and excited, then followed Reva through a door marked Assessment Chamber 1.

The rest of them waited, some pacing, others sitting on benches against the wall, Fiona pulled out her phone, scrolled through something with zero apparent concern.

Thirty minutes passed, Joy emerged looking tired but pleased, she caught Rin’s eye, gave a thumbs up.

"Next participant, Thorne, Paul."

Wait, Paul made it to Stage 3? Rin had buried that guy under tons of rock, how did he qualify?

[Reviewing bracket results]

[Paul Thorne won his subsequent matches after recovering from your fight]

[He qualified as the tenth participant]

’Of course he did.’

Paul walked past Rin, shot him a look that promised violence later, disappeared into the assessment chamber.

The morning dragged on, participants called one by one, some emerged happy, others looked disappointed, one girl came out crying.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Reva called the last name.

"Matsuda, Rin, Assessment Chamber 3."

Rin stood, his shoulder throbbing, walked toward the indicated door.

The chamber was massive, had to be fifty meters across, walls lined with some kind of reinforced material that probably cost more than a house, cameras in every corner, sensors embedded in the floor, ceiling, everywhere.

Dr. Yumiko stood at a control panel outside a transparent barrier. "Mr. Matsuda, please step to the center of the chamber."

He walked to the marked spot, a circle on the floor with measurement lines radiating outward.

"We’re going to start simple," Dr. Yumiko’s voice came through speakers. "Please generate a small amount of your energy, whatever you’re comfortable with, hold it for ten seconds."

Rin channeled fracture energy into his palm, kept it minimal, just a flicker of purple light.

The sensors went crazy, alarms blaring, Dr. Yumiko typing frantically.

"Interesting," she muttered. "Energy signature is completely unique, not matching any known mana patterns, try increasing output to twenty-five percent."

He pushed more energy, the purple light growing brighter.

More alarms, one of the monitors actually sparked.

"Fifty percent," Dr. Yumiko said.

’Should I?’

[Recommendation: Comply]

[Demonstrate controlled escalation]

[Establishes you as cooperative]

He increased to half power, the chamber filled with purple light, the sensors screaming.

"Remarkable," Dr. Yumiko was grinning now, clearly excited by the data. "Your energy output at fifty percent exceeds most B-rank Hunters at full power, let’s see your maximum, full output please."

"Are you sure the chamber can handle it?"

"These chambers are rated for S-rank demonstrations, you’ll be fine."

Rin hesitated, remembered what happened when he went full power against Fiona, the arena floor disintegrating, reality itself straining.

"Mr. Matsuda, please demonstrate maximum output."

’What do I do?’

[Options:]

[1. Comply fully - Risk revealing true power level]

[2. Partial compliance - Fake maximum at 75%]

[3. Refuse - Appear uncooperative]

’Option two, fake it at seventy-five, make it look like I’m straining.’

[Acceptable compromise]

He channeled more energy, brought it up to seventy-five percent, made his body shake slightly like it was difficult to maintain, purple light flooding the chamber.

Every sensor redlined, alarms screaming, the reinforced walls actually cracked.

"That’s, that’s incredible," Dr. Yumiko’s voice was barely audible over the noise. "Power output is, this can’t be right, you’re reading at low A-rank, possibly high B-rank minimum."

She typed something. "Okay, you can release the energy now."

Rin let it fade, the chamber dimming, sensors slowly quieting down.

"Next test, energy projection, please fire your strongest ranged attack at the far wall, don’t worry about damaging it, that’s what it’s designed for."

He gathered fracture energy, compressed it, fired a bolt at the wall.

The attack hit, exploded, left a crater the size of a car.

Dr. Yumiko was furiously taking notes. "Destructive capability equivalent to military-grade explosives, incredible precision for that power level, now let’s test defensive capability, I’m going to fire a simulated attack at you, please defend using your abilities."

A turret emerged from the wall, glowing with energy.

It fired, a beam of concentrated mana heading straight for Rin’s chest.

He threw up a fracture energy barrier, the attack splashed harmlessly against it.

"Barrier strength is exceptional," Dr. Yumiko said. "Okay, final test, we’re going to gradually increase attack intensity, maintain your defense as long as possible, this will help us determine your stamina and sustained output capacity."

The turret fired again, stronger this time, Rin’s barrier flickered but held.

Another blast, even stronger, the barrier strained.

The attacks kept coming, each one more powerful, Rin maintaining his defense, feeling the drain on his energy reserves.

Ten attacks, twenty, thirty, his barrier finally collapsed on the thirty-fifth hit.

"Excellent endurance," Dr. Yumiko shut down the turret. "That concludes your assessment, please exit through the side door, someone will meet you with your results."

Rin walked out, his body exhausted from the sustained energy use, found Joy waiting in a hallway.

"How’d it go?" she asked.

"They broke their own equipment."

"Same, apparently my emotional range exceeds their measurement scales." She grinned. "We’re both problematic."

"What rank did you get?"

"E-rank, but the evaluator said I’d probably move up to D within a few months of field work, you?"

Before Rin could answer, Ashford appeared with a tablet.

"Mr. Matsuda, your results are, unusual."

"What rank?"

"That’s the problem," Ashford showed him the tablet, it displayed a bunch of numbers, graphs, error messages. "Your power output puts you solidly in B-rank territory, possibly low A-rank, but your energy signature is completely unclassified, our systems literally can’t categorize you."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means we’re giving you a provisional E-rank license with a notation for anomalous classification," Ashford said. "You’ll be required to undergo monthly reassessments, if your power proves stable and controllable, we’ll adjust your rank accordingly."

"E-rank? I just demonstrated B-rank output."

"And we can’t risk putting someone with unclassified abilities into high-rank operations until we understand them better," Ashford’s expression was firm. "This is non-negotiable, you start at E-rank, prove yourself in the field, earn your advancement like everyone else."

Rin’s jaw clenched but he nodded, arguing wouldn’t change anything.

"Congratulations," Ashford said without enthusiasm. "You’re officially licensed, welcome to the Hunter Association, don’t make me regret this."

He walked away.

Joy put her hand on Rin’s shoulder, the one without the tracker. "E-rank isn’t bad for a first assessment, we can work our way up together."

"Yeah."

His phone buzzed, a new notification.

HUNTER LICENSE ISSUED Name: Rin Matsuda Rank: E (Provisional - Anomalous Classification) Clearance Level: Standard Next Reassessment: 30 days

He was in, officially licensed, officially able to hunt.

One step closer to getting strong enough to face Kazriketh.

One step closer to keeping his promise.

[Achievement Unlocked: Hunter License Obtained]

[New quests available]

[Recommendation: Review quest log for advancement opportunities]

’Later, I need food and sleep, in that order.’

[Acknowledged]

Joy grabbed his arm. "Come on, they’re doing a group lunch for everyone who passed, free food, might as well take advantage."

They headed toward the cafeteria, past other newly licensed Hunters, past Association staff congratulating them, past cameras still recording everything.

Rin’s shoulder throbbed where the tracker sat under his skin.

But he was licensed now, that’s what mattered.

The rest would come with time.