Gleam Karma Cultivator Isekai

He raised a hand and strode away, leaving them staring at his back. Yeo harrumphed once the proctor was out of range.

“I thought we’d somehow managed to fail.”

“So did I,” Chance said with an anxious chuckle. “He really had me going for a moment. Thank god we passed.”

“Which one?” Yeo asked.

“Huh?”

“You said thank god.”

“Oh – not the ones from here,” Chance said. “It’s just a saying from Ear – wait. You know that.”

Yeo snickered. “Had you for a moment, though. More importantly, do we even want to bother going somewhere while we wait for the individual rankings? I’d rather just stick around.”

“Same,” Chance said. “I’m too anxious to do anything else to be honest.”

“The individual rankings don’t matter,” Bella said, her face pensive. “All that mattered was the exam we just passed. We’re all a Shikari team now. The numbers are just ego.”

“They’re more than ego. They’re proof that we put in hard work and trained to get where we are.” Yeo crossed his arms. “And I’ve heard people say that the best Shikari in every rank division are given access to special jobs.”

Bella shrugged. “I haven’t heard anything about that. Does it matter? We’ll have access to all the jobs we need.”

“Of course it matters. Besides, how many people did you even talk to before us? I don’t think anything you’ve failed to hear is going to count for much.”

Bella pursed her lips, then inclined her head slightly. “Okay, I can’t argue with that too much.”

“In the end, I’m sure we’ll all do our best,” Chance said. “And, like Bella said, we got the most important thing already. Why don’t we just go over to the next testing arena and wait?”

The others agreed, and so they went. The field was fairly uniform, and all the training areas were roughly the same – a large patch of dirt enclosed by walls to ensure that fights didn’t spill over into each other.

Several of the fields were being used by older Shikari, but it only took them a short while to find out where the next ranking exam was taking place. A large section of the training arenas had been sectioned off, and several armored men sat on the benches near it, talking amongst themselves.

Chance and the others approached them, slowing to a stop as a few gazes turned in their direction.

“We’re here for the ranking exams,” Chance said. “Is this the right place?”

“It is,” a black haired man with a salt and pepper colored beard said, not bothering to rise from his seat on the bench. “You Foundlings?”

“As of a few minutes ago,” Yeo said. They all flinched as a loud explosion echoed through the field and a Shikari staggered out of one of the arenas, smoking. Several men ran over to him.

“Congratulations,” the man said, not perturbed in the slightest. “You’re early. Good quality to have, that. I’m Drake. I’ll be one of the proctors for the localized exam.”

“Wait, localized?” Bella asked, turning away from the scene behind them and tilting her head to the side. “What’s that mean?”

“It’s not realistic to bring in every single Foundling Shikari whenever we have a ranking exam,” Drake explained, leaning his chin on a palm. “Can you imagine that? Every few weeks, dragging all of you little buggers into a stadium. It would be chaos – not to mention a huge waste of time.”

“That’s a good point,” Chance said. “How many Shikari are there?”

“No damn clue. Ask Gibson, but there’s a lot,” Drake said. One of the men beside him nodded.

“Too damn many,” he muttered.

“Thus, localized,” Drake continued. “You’ll be going against several teams rather than the whole lot, and we’ll give you a rough estimation of you rank. You can get a more detailed ranking once you participate in the periodic tournaments that anyone can join – there’s one in a few months, I believe.”

Yeo pursed his lips in annoyance. “I guess I see why you’d do that, but it’s a bit disappointing. So this basically just determines where we start in the real tournament?”

“Exactly,” Drake said, chucking at the expression on Yeo’s face. “Don’t look so put out. This is a great opportunity to test yourself against some of your fellows and see what they have to offer. But – no offense meant – I’m off duty right now. There’s a good bit until this starts, so I’m going to be relaxing until then. Feel free to wander around.”

He leaned back and put his hands behind his head, ending the conversation. The Whiteheart team made their way over to another bench and sat down, content to wait. Despite their success, Chance felt like a black hole had formed in his stomach, causing everything to twist in around it.

Leaning back against the bench, Chance closed his eyes and focused on controlling his breathing, making it slower and deeper. He pictured a faint golden circle surrounding him, blocking away anything that could bring him harm. It wasn’t exactly meditation, nor was it cultivation, but it seemed to do the trick and help get his nerves under a little more control. It had worked for years on earth, particularly after his parents had been killed.

Time slipped by, and dull chatter started to build around them as more Foundling groups and contestants started to arrive. Chance let his eyes opened as the voices grew louder. Drake and his group of proctors had left their bench and now stood in front of the sectioned off training arenas.

His eyes narrowed as he spotted Jake, the boy from Yeo’s hometown, and his team lounging on the ground near the arenas. A quick glance at Yeo showed that the boy was very pointedly not looking in their direction.

Chance considered asking him about it, but dismissed the idea. If Yeo wanted to talk, he would. Distracting him right before the exams probably wasn’t a good idea. Bella noticed his pensive expression and raised an eyebrow. Chance gave her a small shrug.

“Just feeling the nerves a little,” Chance said. “I’ve never done anything like this. I always hated tests in school, and this is like that on another level.”

“My dad told me about those.” Yeo grimaced and adjusted his seat on the bench, trying to get more comfortable. “Sitting around and writing on paper for hours on end sounds so boring. I’m so glad we’re doing something more interesting than that. Our school just taught us what we needed to know. If we didn’t remember, that was our problem.”

“Well, I suppose that’s one way to go about it.”

Yeo opened his mouth, but paused as Drake clapped his hands loudly. The conversations going on all around them ground to a halt as everyone turned toward him. From Chance’s count, there were somewhere around twenty to thirty other Shikari their age in the area.

“Times just ‘bout up.” Drake covered a yawn with the back of his hand and shook his head. “I’ve got some stuff to do, and I’m sure you’re all eager to start beating each other up, so let’s get this rolling, shall we?”

He looked around, as if waiting for something. Everyone stared at him expectantly, and Drake let out a heavy sigh.

“Man, the excitement is deafening. Suit yourselves. For those of you who don’t know me yet, my name is Drake. I’ll be the lead proctor for the individual ranking exam. You do what I say. If you don’t, things go poorly for you – and I mean that. If I say stop and you’re midair, you better freeze and fall like a rock. Understood?”

A murmur of understanding ran through the cluster of teens. Drake gave them a satisfied nod.

“Good. In that case, let’s have ourselves a little fun. The rules are simple. Fight until I stop you, or until your opponent surrenders. Leaving the arena for any reason also counts as a loss. You may use anything you have on you.”

A wiry boy with dirty blonde hair raised his hand. Drake inclined his head toward him.

“Can we use magical weapons?”

“Your proctor will check the weapon before your fight. Any magical weapons of Foundling rank or lower are permitted. Any further questions?”

Nobody said anything.

“Fantastic.” Drake pulled a roll of paper out of a pocket and unfurled it. The other proctors all did the same. “In my arena, we’ll be starting with Bella and Anton.”

The other proctors all started calling names out as well, but Chance didn’t hear his or Yeo’s called. He went to wish Bella good luck, but she’d already walked up to stand before Drake.

The wiry boy who had asked about magical weapons joined her, and Drake gestured for them to walk out onto the dirt. Chance sat down in front of the arena to watch Bella’s fight and Anton handed Drake a sword. The proctor looked over it, then nodded and returned it to the boy. He and Bella both took up positions on either end of the dirt circle.

“Begin,” Drake said without an ounce of fanfare.

Flames erupted along the blade in Anton’s hand. Chance winced in sympathy. Of all the weapons he could have chosen to fight her, a fire based one was probably the worst. His prediction was proven right when – not even a second later – a powerful wall of water slammed into Anton, soaking the boy and causing his weapon to sputter like a candle in the wind.

Bella’s foot dug into the ground and she launched forward, water gathering around her hand. Anton raised his weapon defensively, his eyes going wide, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop her fist from driving straight into his stomach.

Anton flew back and skidded across the edge of the arena, rolling to a bewildered stop at another boy’s feet.

“That’s got to be a record,” Drake said. “Bella wins.”

“What! But she didn’t–”

Anton’s words froze in his throat as Drake’s eyes narrowed. His flaming blade snuffed out and he slunk away without another word. The head proctor called up two more students and dismissed Bella from the field.

“That was awesome!” Chance exclaimed.

Bella’s cheeks reddened slightly. “It really wasn’t. I just surprised him.”

“Have you done this before?” Yeo asked. “I mean, if you’ve been a Shikari for a while…”

“No. I never participated in any ranking battles,” Bella said uncomfortably. “I’m not used to this kind of thing. I liked to stay out of sight, you know? This is… I don’t know. I just feels wrong.”

“No need to get stage fright,” Yeo said. “I’ll show you up, so fear not. The spotlight will be on yours truly.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Every time you open your mouth, part of me wishes I’d stayed a shut-in.”

“Impossible. Everyone loves my charming wit and beautiful face. I mean, look at me. I should be a model.”

“Do they have those here?” Chance asked.

“What, models?” Yeo thrust a thumb against his chest. “You’re looking at one. Of course they do.”

“They don’t,” Bella said through a sigh. “Not in the purposes I think Yeo is implying, at least.”

“Yeo, Timothy. You’re up,” a proctor whose name Chance didn’t know called.

“Watch this, Chance. I’m gonna show you another one of my special moves.” Yeo leapt to his feet and sauntered over to the arena, along with a tall, thin boy carrying a bow.

“I hope he wins,” Chance said under his breath. “He’d be crushed if he doesn’t.”

“Would be kind of funny if he got last place,” Bella muttered. She caught Chance’s look and cleared her throat. “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”