--- [???’s perspective] A few days before the D-rank exam, in The Dwarfs Guild HQ

The D-rank exam is being held in only a couple days.

I didn’t feel ready last year, but now I do.

The battle festival is happening soon too.

I need to rank up if I want to enter it.

The prize money is too high to pass up on!

But I wonder…

“Babe, what do you think about the D-rank exam coming up? You gonna participate?” – ???

“I thought I told you to stop calling me that, Jade!” – Rin

“Aww, but you’re so cute!” – Jade

“Yes… I’ll be there.” – Rin

“Awesome! I didn’t think you would, you became E-rank so recently.” – Jade

The last E-rank exam was held only a couple months ago, that’s when she was promoted.

Ranking up from E to D in only a few months would be almost unheard of…

But if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s her…

“Even though we became hunters at the same time, you have totally eclipsed me… I’m still F-rank, and now you’re going to take the D-rank exam…” – Dan

“Chin up! You’ll catch up one day, Dan. Once you learn SDM, I’m sure you’ll rank up immediately!” – Rin

Dan lets out a sigh.

I know exactly what he’s thinking…

Not everyone can have a specialty as perfectly suited to them as you do, Rin…

--- [Lucas’s perspective]

The D-rank exam is coming up soon…

Should I take it or not?

I’ve been thinking about participating in the battle festival too, but I haven’t made my mind up yet.

On the one hand I need to take the D-rank exam now if I want to be in it, but on the other hand, the exam itself comes with a lot of risk.

There will be strong people there, and killing might not be off the table.

On top of that, my SDM is still lacking.

I guess my perfect muscle control makes up for that though…

Gah!

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I don’t know…

“What’s with that look? Worried about the exam?” – Kate

“Yes…” – Lucas

“What? Worried you’ll fail?” – Kate

Before I even get to respond, she immediately follows up.

“Well don’t be. We both know how strong you are. You’re a freak of nature. Literally…” – Kate

“…” – Lucas

“You’ll be fine. Go for it!” – Lucas

I know I’ll probably be fine, it’s just that…

What if there’s a monster like him there?

What was his name again…?

K…

Kuro…

I fought Alex myself; I know how tough he is.

Despite that, he didn’t even stand a chance against him.

It was almost like watching a toddler fight an adult.

He was in another league entirely.

Honestly, even now, more than two years later, I still don’t know if I could win against the version of him that Alex fought…

No…

No!

What am I thinking?!

I already decided I wouldn’t let anybody hold me back.

Being a hunter is the only thing I’m good at, I can’t let the potential of a really strong opponent appearing be the reason I don’t take the exam.

I’ll simply have to overcome them!

--- [Alex’s perspective]

The exam is only a few days away now…

The past few months flew by in the blink of an eye.

Despite us all being so close, and despite us all training for the same goal, we’ve barely even spoken to each other.

Training is all we’ve done; there was no time to waste on chatting.

We were all certainly strong E-rank hunters, but that doesn’t mean we’re ready to become D-rank.

Not even remotely.

To prepare as well as we could for the upcoming challenge, we had to devote our lives to the pursuit of strength.

Even so, there is no guarantee we’ll pass.

The D-rank exam…

It’ll be unlike anything we’ve faced before.

During the first exam, the F-rank exam, I was way stronger than my opposition.

The only people who could compete at the time were Shin and Leon.

During the months leading up to the E-rank exam, we all grew in strength, but none more than Lett.

By the time we were competing in it, we were already stronger than most of the people there.

There were some strong people for sure, especially the 10 of us that reached the second round.

However, this time, I’m not so sure it’ll be the same.

The thing that weighs us all down…

The thing that has finally caught up to us all…

Time.

Time has finally caught up.

Most people end up hitting a plateau early on in their career.

Most hunters never make it past F-rank.

Out of the ones that do, most of those never make it past E-rank.

This is true for all ranks.

Every rank contains only a fraction of the people from the last.

When Vic first came to my village to train me, he told me about how long it takes for people to rank up.

To reach C-rank like big bro, it takes 50 years on average.

While it’s true that this is the D-rank exam we’re talking about and not C, the point still stands.

Me, Shin, and Lett all became hunters at the same time; that was about two and half years ago now.

And now, time has finally caught up.

We’re going to enter an exam that we really don’t have any business participating in for at least a few more years.

Despite the odds, we’re all going to try our best.

Our training was brutal, but it was worth it.

We’re stronger now than we ever thought we could be by this point.

The idea of passing the D-rank exam went from a fleeting dream, to real possibility.

It’ll be hard, but we can do it!

--- [Leanne’s perspective] At the office of a high-ranking royal guard in Adamas

“Sir, I’d be honored to be the host for the D-rank exam this year. Please let me do it.” – Leanne

“I don’t have a problem with you being in charge of the exam, Leanne. I’m just curious… How come you’re suddenly so interested in the D-rank exams? I mean, for over 150 years, all you’ve hosted were F and E-rank exams.” – Zeke

I can’t let him know my real reasons, not when I’ve hidden them for so long…

“I’m just growing tired of only hosting exams with low ranked people. I want to experience more specialties in action for myself.” – Leanne

It looks like he’s buying it…

“And besides! When I first took this job, I originally wanted to host middle ranked exams, but you told me I needed experience hosting lower ranked ones first.” – Leanne

“Very well. You have shown yourself to be more than capable. Your exams are tough, but fair. The ones who truly deserve to rank up, almost always do. That’s better than I can say for most other hosts…” – Zeke

“Thank you, sir.” – Leanne