"Bring it on you bastard!" Another voice exclaimed.

"....." Rentaro stood speechless, his eyes locking onto two individuals who were gripping each other by their clothes, as if on the verge of a fight.

The man on the left was Jackson Richards, and the one on the right was Aiden Matsui. Both were hot-headed members of the 14th Soul-Squad. They wore black-collared robes with the number "14" printed on the back, and it seemed to be the standard uniform for everyone in the guild.

"Hm?" Jackson muttered under his breath as his eyes caught sight of Rentaro standing at the doorway, utterly confused.

"Who the hell are you?" He said, stepping forward as if to question him.

"....." Rentaro remained silent, his expectations of one of the renowned Soul-Squads dropping sharply after seeing, with his own eyes, the two fools bickering right in front of him.

Now he understood why the fourteenth Soul-Squad was unknown to the public. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Hey! Don’t zone out me you bastard!" Jackson changed his fighting partner and threw one of his shoes at Rentaro.

Rentaro tilted his head slightly to the left, his movement calm and precise as the shoe flew past him harmlessly.

"Is that how you treat visitors?" Rentaro, his eyes hollow and distant. His expression remained completely unreadable, as if no emotion could be seen beneath the surface.

"What’s with that look? You don’t zone out on someone who is trying to question you! Are you looking for a death wish!" Jackson exclaimed in response.

"What’s with all the damn noise!? Can’t a man take a shit in peace!?" A loud and intimidating voice boomed throughout the building, and instantly, everything went silent as a huge, muscular figure stormed down the stairs with purpose.

The man had smooth, silky black hair that fell neatly around his face and piercing black eyes that scanned everything in his path.

His body was perfectly toned and muscular, each movement showing strength and control. He wore only a pair of black trousers, leaving his broad chest exposed, which added to his intimidating presence.

"Master! It was Aiden that started it!" Jackson said, trying to pin the blame on Aiden.

"I did not! He was the one who started it!" Aiden retaliated.

"Shut up! Why must you damn idiots keep interrupting my shit every single time!?" The large man shouted, and a powerful burst of Soul-Energy surged from his body, sending the two of them flying off their feet.

"..." Rentaro remained silent, watching quietly with his emotionless gaze as the two boys flew across the room.

’Judging by the energy I’m sensing from him, and his imposing authority, he must be the captain of the 14th Soul-Squad.’ Rentaro thought.

"Hm?" The captain of the 14th Soul-Squad spoke, his gaze locking onto Rentaro’s.

"What’s with that creepy look? Who the hell are you?" He also stepped forward to question Rentaro.

"I a-."

"Rentaro Mizuno." A familiar voice called out, making Rentaro turn around. When he faced the source, he saw Eliza standing there before him.

"Eliza?" He said, his expression shifting slightly as shock took over completely.

"Hm, you think you can just abandon us because you managed to pass the selections before us? Think again." She replied with a smile, before turning to face the captain. "He’s also the Soul-Hunter who managed to get an outstanding score in the final selections."

"Wait what?" Aiden rose to his feet the moment he heard Rentaro’s name. "You’re Rentaro Mizuno? The Soul-Hunter that’s got the whole fourteen Soul-Squads concerned after passing the second option of the second trial?"

"I guess you could say it like that." Rentaro replied casually, his eyes dropping as he kept hearing ridiculous descriptions about himself.

"HAHAHA!" Jackson couldn’t help himself and he burst out laughing. "Those nobility bastards and their self-proclaimed principles. Now because of that, they missed out on acquiring such a rare Soul-Hunter. HAHAHA!"

"But still, I heard that you, Timmy and Alexa failed the selections, so how did yo-?"

"I managed to gain consciousness just in time to create and develop my Soul-Techniques, however Alexa and Timmy’s injuries were more severe than mine, and when they fully recovered there wasn’t enough time to develop their Soul-Technique anymore, so they had to wait till next year." Eliza explained, a bit saddened at how her team had been dispersed.

"I see."

"It’s nice to see new faces around here every once in a while." A soft, feminine voice called out from behind, its sweet and angelic tone echoing through every corner of the building.

"Hm?" Rentaro muttered under his breath as he turned around.

And his eyes met a dazzling beauty with light blue eyes, pale skin, and flowing white hair. Her name was Lucy Mikasa, and her striking appearance seemed to reflect the very essence of her presence.

"Welcome to the Fourteenth Soul-Squad, Rentaro Mizuno." She spoke, holding a document clipped to a wooden board in her right hand, while her left hand held a black-collared neck cloak with the number "14" printed on its back. "Sign here please."

Rentaro took the document and pen from her and dove right in. The paper looked like any other legal form, full of clauses and terms, but he didn’t care about the details. Without hesitating, he signed it.

After all, once the document was complete, he was officially a member of the Fourteenth Soul-Squad.

Eliza arrived much earlier than him, so she already signed her own clauses.

"With this, you are now officially part of the Fourteenth Soul-Squad." She smiled.

"Alright." Rentaro said. Now there was nothing stopping him from ascending the levels of the sanctuary and growing stronger.

"Now that we are done with the formalities..." The fourteenth captain’s voice got deeper as he spoke. "If you ever interrupt my nap time like these two idiots, I’ll kill you." He said, imposing a stern warning to Rentaro.

"Yes sir." Rai said casually, with his eyes still blank and unreadable.

"Tsk." The captain’s brows jerked, and he glanced down at Rentaro a bit agitated. "Never mind interrupting my nap. If you look at me like that again, I’ll kill you."

"Sorry sir."

"Alright! Now we’re good to go! Yesterday was a free day so don’t you damn fools think about slacking off!" The captain shouted at the top of his voice, addressing his entire squad.

"Yes sir!" All the squad members responded with a thunderous roar.

"Eyes on the ball! Just yesterday the head commander ordered that all squads train their squad members in preparation for what’s coming. In response to that, we are all required to hone our Soul-Techniques and develop our Soul-Core, so for the next few weeks that’s all you’ll be doing!

"Yes sir!"

The members of his squad quickly moved forward, rushing toward the requested board mounted at the side of the squad’s counter.

"I know you’re new to the fourteenth, but we are at our job rush right now." Lucy said with her radiant smile, addressing both Rentaro and Eliza. "What jobs would you like to take?"

"Um, nothing too crazy I guess. I guess I’ll go with a D-tier quest just to get the hang of it." Eliza replied.

"That’s perfect then." Lucy said, then turned to Rentaro. "What quest will you take?"

Rentaro watched quietly as the members of the Fourteenth Soul-Squad rushed toward the request board, each one eager to secure the best quest before the others.

Then he turned his gaze to Lucy. With a straight face, he said. "I’m going to take the fifth trial of the sanctuary."