Underneath the Red Trees

CHAPTER 45: ERIS

Masaki stared at the top of the towering white skyscraper. It was like a finger trying to reach the heavens. It was the epiphany of modern skyscrapers, it pretty much looked like every other skyscraper in Toshima City. There were more windows than actual walls. The base was round, he could see it by the curve of the windows.

Masaki stood in front of the revolving door. He was alone, stood with an umbrella in hand to shield him from the rain.

The door turned, and Ai Nakamura came outside. She ducked under Masaki's umbrella, smirking as she said, "Hey, there, cutie." His stomach turned. She still made him uncomfortable.

Masaki followed behind Nakamura. The lobby was freezing. The air-conditioning was on full blast. In the middle of the rainy season, it left goosebumps on Masaki's skin. He shivered.

It would have looked like an ordinary business lobby if it were not completely empty. There was a front desk, but no one sitting at it.

Nakamura led him into a lift. She had to swipe some kind of key card before the doors would open. The inside of the lift was plain and metallic.

Here, too, Nakamura had to first swipe her key card before she pressed a button.

The doors slid open with a ding. When they stepped out Masaki noticed there was not a single window in sight. No natural light. It was like the building was trying to hide something. The ceiling and floors and halls were black, and no doors could be seen, either.

They made a turn and stopped in front of a wall. Nakamura swiped her card again and a door appeared in the wall. It slid open with a shh.

It was more sufficient to say that the area beyond was a hall rather than a room. The ceiling was high. There was a group of people in his age group standing in a row. On the wall behind him was the emblem of ERIS, the same one the agents wore on their uniforms.

Nakamura leaned into Masaki. He felt her breath on his neck. His muscles tensed. "Go stand with them." Masaki did as he was told.

"Okay, listen up!" Nakamura's voice boomed through the hall. "Today is the day we determine the class of Wielder y'all fall into. There are four. Most of you will go into the classes of Sabre, Archer, and Lancer. The truly talented, however, will be in the Assassin class, like myself." Nakamura pointed at a glass window that shielded a room above the door where they had entered. There seemed to be around four people sitting behind a desk. "Those are your three judges. The fourth person is our immensely gifted Dr Soma. He will perform the surgeries. Any questions?"

"When do we get our weapons?" a girl asked.

"There is a minimum training period of six to eight months, howbeit, that timeframe may vary depending on which category you are placed in."

Next, the trainees were divided into three groups.

Masaki was placed in Group 1.

There were three stations. Group 1 went to station 1. They were paired up and started duelling with bokken. Group 2 was sent to station 2. They were ordered to spar with bo staffs. And Group 3 was at station 3, the archery ring. Each group spent about an hour on each station before they were ordered to move to the next.

Masaki—though unaware who Hayate was—had trained with one of the four Kings for two weeks, as well as with Tatsumi. He had been instructed by and learned from two Wielders, meaning he excelled at all three obstacles.

At the end of the day the trainees lined up where they had at the start of the day. Nakamura came to them with three other ERIS agents trailing behind her. She had a list in her hands.