The man didn't bother to introduce himself, likely feeling as though it was unnecessary to do so to people so much lower than him in strength and status.
"You have proven your worth by making it here. This was the first step—a test not only of your strength but also your resourcefulness, intelligence, and resilience under pressure. But let be clear: arriving here is no guarantee of success."
Kain felt a ripple of tension pass through the crowd. Even those who had been lounging or speaking softly now stood at attention, their focus solely on the screen.
The man continued. "As you have likely already realized, the Eclipse Order is not a monolithic entity. Within our ranks exist nurous divisions, each with its own purpose, its own challenges, and its own expectations of you. The journey you undertake now will shape the course of your future, should you be deed worthy of continuing."
The grey haired man snapped his fingers, and a thin booklet materialized in the hands of each participant.
Kain glanced down at his, his na emblazoned in bold letters across the cover. Opening the booklet, he found a detailed profile of himself.
The first few pages outlined his basic information—his age, star rank, and what was known about his current contracts and their abilities.
The descriptions of his contracts were surprisingly thorough, detailing Queen, Aegis, and Bea, although Kain noted with so relief that all of them didn't seem to have been identified as being microorganisms. Bea was suspected of being one, however it doesn't seem like whoever wrote this has managed to correlate a Vespid Queen or a giant golem as having anything to do with microscopic creatures.
Flipping further, he found summaries of his recent accomplishnts, including his performance in each of the Black Missions he had completed over the past few months.
Each mission was listed with a grade, presumably reflecting the difficulty and his performance as well as brief notes on the skills he displayed when completing each of them.
Kain couldn't help but smirk slightly at the high scores, the average score was an A, with his lowest rating being an A- rating for taking down the latest laboratory, because he apparently showed a "willful oversight in his untily turning over of confiscated laboratory materials."
'That's fair…' Kain couldn't argue it, especially since he had intentionally delayed handing over the research notes.
On the final page was a neatly arranged list of subdivisions.
Each subdivision was listed followed by a note indicating their degree of interest in recruiting him.
"Based on your performance during this assessnt period, and while observing your performance in person today, representatives from each departnt have made a decision on whether or not they desire you in their ranks.
"So of you may have received offers from multiple subdivisions, while others only one or none."
Kain looked at a legend included with the list of subdivisions to better understand what each rating ant:
Optimal Candidate—The division considers the candidate an ideal match and will accept them without the need for further assessnt. Conditional Interest—The division is open to recruiting the candidate upon successful completion of a closed assessnt. Marginally Aligned/Low interest— The division is sowhat aware of the candidate but sees no pressing need to recruit them at this ti. Incompatible— The division is not interested and will not consider the candidate
"If you manage to receive one of the few 'A—Optimal Candidate' ratings from a division, then congratulations, you can imdiately join that subdivision without any further tests.
"For those of you with B and C ratings, you can consider applying to the division, and they may accept or turn you away upon further assessnt.
"As for the D-rating, any application to that subdivision from you at this ti will be unsuccessful.
"If you have not received a single A rating, and do not pass the assessnts for any of the subdivisions in which you have a B or C rating, then you will not be accepted into the Eclipse Order at this ti and may reconsidered at a later date.
"For those of you without an offer from your preferred division, do not worry, your profiles are being constantly updated, and an offer to join another division may present itself at a later date."
Kain eagerly looked at the offers from each departnt. He had an average rating of 'A' across his missions, therefore he should have quite a few offers—right?
1. Lunar Veils (espionage and infiltration): C—Low Interest
2. Dawnbringers (counter-intelligence): B—Conditional Interest
3. Night Hunt (assassination): D—Incompatible Celestial
4. Vanguard (military): C—Low Interest
5. Pathfinders (relic exploration): A—Optimal Candidate
6.Starchasers (wilderness exploration): D—Incompatible
Kain stared at the list in disbelief.
"Are you kidding ?" he muttered, his frustration about to overflow.
Despite his stellar performance on the Black Missions that averaged A ratings, the subdivisions had shown lukewarm interest in him.
Only the Pathfinders seed to consider him a good match, while most others either expressed little or no interest.
The Night Hunt, the most elite division, had given him a D, outright dismissing him as incompatible. However, this was expected by Kain. Most of the people the Eclipse Order would set as targets of assassination would likely be high-level beast-tars at 7-stars at least, or in possession of guards and protectors that strong. Kain was currently far too weak to be recruited by this subdivision. In fact, pretty much all mbers of the Night Hunt originated in other subdivisions before receiving an offer to join once they were strong enough.
Similarly, the Starchasers that needed to go deep into the wilderness and probably regularly needed to travel through areas inhabited by high-level spiritual creatures, was also out of depth.
Therefore, their low ratings for him were understandable.
However, the militaristic Celestial Vanguard, a division that was low in popularity, and much lower in entry strength requirents, had given him a C-rating. And considering they were supposedly understaffed, this was likely a rating they offered to all entrants to give them at least a chance at joining one subdivision.
And the Lunar Veils and the Dawnbringers, where intelligence gathering was important, and therefore he thought having a mind-attribute contract would be greatly valued, also didn't rate him as high as he'd expected.
"What more do they want?!" He exclaid. Sure, he received an A rating form the Pathfinder's, but his gaze couldn't help drifting to the other much lower ratings—after all, it's true that what one can't have becos more appealing…
Before he could stew further, he overheard snippets of conversations from the others in the room.
"Look at this. D for everything except a C in the Vanguard…don't they offer that to everyone? If I can't pass their assessnt I'm dood…."
"Everywhere gave a D-rating except for the Vanguard. Oh, and Dawnbringers gave a C too! Honestly, it's better than I expected after what happened in the forest at my last assessnt mission…"
Kain blinked, his ears perking up. He turned his attention to the nearest group, who were discussing their results openly.
"...D-ratings for 4 subdivisions. Not surprised, really. But at least they didn't give straight Ds, right?" one participant said, trying to sound upbeat.
Kain glanced back at his own report-card with only two D-ratings and suddenly, his frustration ebbed.
"So, I'm doing better than most," he murmured, before taking a peak at Serena's report card next to him.
Her ratings during the missions were similar to his, however aside from a C-rating from the Night Hunt, all other subdivisions had at least a B-rating.
'Goddamit!' The minuscule amount of pride he'd managed to re-establish was once again shattered.
Reviews
All reviews (0)