Tamashii no chaser (Debiddo Arc)

Ch-14 It's Time! The Chaser Exams Begin!

Morning rises as Debiddo and Oshiro stand before Himawari and her family. "We are so glad to have met you all," Lapis says with a smile. "Yes, anytime you are in the area, please be free to come over and visit," Daigusto says patting Himawari's shoulder. "We have plenty of room for Himawari friends." "We thank you for having us," Oshiro says rubbing his head modestly. "The food was delicious and the bed was absolutely relaxing." "Yeah." Debiddo replies, "It's been a long ass time since I had a good meal like that." "What do you mean?" Oshiro asks Debiddo "You didn't like the food I cooked for you?" "I'ma be honest with ya old man, that food was ass." Oshiro suddenly punches Debiddo in the ground with a punch leaving a small crater. "Well, next time you fix the food then." Oshiro says upset "Alright mother, father, I'm off to the exams." Himawari says after taking a big breath. "I know you will do great Himawari," Lapis says rubbing the back of Himawari's head. "Of course she will, Hahahahaha. She's a Fujin after all!" Daigusto says while patting Himawari hard on the back. "Bye Hima, bye Hima," Dee and Gus say echoing each other. "We are going to miss you." Dee and Gus run up to a teary-eyed Himawari and hug her tightly. "Oh no, not you guys too!" Himawari says giving them a strong embrace. "You guys behave while im gone okay? Himawari says rubbing the back of their heads. Dee and Gus shake their head yes and run towards Oshiro. " Thank you for playing with us!" They reply while bowing. Oshiro fist-pounds the twins as they run back to Lapis.  Rai then walks up to Himawari and wipes the tears away from her eyes. 

"Wipe away those tears Himawari." He says. "A proud Fujin warrior doesn't show tears in public." Himawari then shakes her head yes and hugs Rai tightly. Himawari turns around and starts walking with Debiddo and Oshiro. Just before they make it out of Himawari's family's eyesight, Himawari starts waving to her parents with a smile on her face. The sight of her doing this made her family start tearing up as they waved back. Debiddo, Oshiro, and Himawari get in the carriage and travel down the mountain, and towards Tenchō Tower. They eventually arrive, and everyone gets out of the carriage. Himawari stops and hugs the driver goodbye as she jumps out of the carriage. The driver then tips his hat off to both Debiddo and Oshiro and drives off. Himawari then opened the door using her key, and the three of them walked into the building. The area was crammed with fighters from every different clan and every different background. "This is it huh?" Debiddo says to Oshiro. "Yep," Oshiro responds. "This is where your destiny will be molded and shaped into that of a warrior. The Chaser exams." "It's a lot of people arrived at this event," Debiddo says looking around at everyone in attendance. "That is because the payoff is high," Oshiro explains.

 "The Chaser exams are what decides the team you will be appointed to, what station you will be at, and if you do well in the exam, you will even be able to pick your own teammates." "Wait really?" Debiddo says shocked. "Shhh," Says Himawari. "It's about to start". Just then a man with an Orange and Green kimono with fiery red hair walks towards the podium. The whole area is dead silent as the man clears his throat into a Green device floating near his mouth. "HEEEEELLLLLOOOO Applicants!!!" everyone in the building cringes at how loud the man was. "Welcome to the 250 annual Chaser Exams!!! These exams have been going on for only 250 years?" Debiddo says confused. "From the history, y'all been telling me, I thought y'all would have exams for more years than that?" "The whole concept of giving exams to soon-to-be chasers is relatively new," Oshiro says. "Before then, anyone who wanted to become a chaser could have by just volunteering." "What changed that?" Debiddo asks. Oshiro then places his hand on Debiddo's shoulder and says. "Well Debiddo, a lot of innocent people got killed and eaten by demons because of the cowardliness and irresponsible nature of the young chasers that enlisted." "My name is Dechter Josephine." everyone just looks at him confusedly as he continues. "But you can call me DJ." He then points to the crowd of applicants smiling. "You guys all registered to take this exam because you believed you had what it takes to become a licensed chaser." Debiddo then clenches his fist with anticipation. "This year, we have one of the biggest turnouts in centuries. This year we have a total of 200 chaser applicants!" When hearing the news, the crowd starts a murmur filled with shock. "Wait why is everyone shocked by the number of applicants?" Debiddo asks Oshiro. "It's because," Oshiro responds "Only 30 people pass each year." 

"Only 30?" Himawari and Debiddo say together. "Wait why didn't you know Hima?" Debiddo says. "Didn't you say everyone including yourself knew about the chaser exams ahead of time?" Debiddo then starts teasing Himawari. "Ms. Princess of the Fujin clan doesn't know something?" Immediately Himawari punched Debiddo into the ground. "Shut it Stupiddo, i just wasn't there at the time to hear that information that's all," Himawari says as she folds her arms while blushing. The Announcer continues talking. "As you all know, only 30 people pass every year. This is because like every year, we need the best and strongest chasers to help with the demon threat. We choose these applicants based on power, battle intelligence, and adaptability, but most importantly, we choose our applicants on their will to live." Everyone in the crowd grows silent. "Everyday chasers face all types of strong threats that can kill them at any time, and in any place. So, to counteract that, we created these levels to truly test our applicants." Three images popped up behind DJ. "The first test is called the tunnel of death." An image of a contestant then pops up on the Tunnel of Death screen. "You and 199 other applicants will have to make it through the tunnel in 2 days to make it to the next test." "That sounds easy enough," Debiddo says confidently. DJ then continues. "During this run through the tunnel, you will have to deal with a multitude of different-level demons who can and will kill you." 

"Oh....Never mind." Debiddo putting his head down in disappointment. "Don't worry though." DJ says "If you get killed by a demon, our rescue team will quickly grab your soul and body. In which we will make sure you make a full recovery. This should go without saying, but if you get killed or don't make it within the allotted time, you will fail the exam and will have to take it again next year." Debiddo then starts looking with determination in his eyes thinking about the demon that killed his mother and friends. "The second test," DJ says pointing to two chasers fighting in the second image. You and 29 other applicants will then battle it out to see who is the strongest in the chaser class. The top 10 fighters will be chosen out of the bunch and will be made captains and will be able to choose two out of the 20 losing applicants to be part of their team. Each captain gets only two members because three-man teams are the most proficient unless the mission requires more teams." "Humph, that is going to be me," Debiddo says arrogantly to Himawari, who just rolls her eyes at the response. "Finally," Dj says as he points at the last image. "The top 10 chasers will then fight in a mini-tournament to see who out of you guys are the strongest. This ranking system will help the committee decide the difficulties of missions that you will be assigned. Don't be down though...because you guys' rankings are just among the graduating class of chasers. If you want to truly want to prove your worth, you can participate in the chaser tournament that occurs every 5 years." "There is a tournament too?" Debiddo says "This feels like an anime for real." Debiddo then says to himself. "I don't care how many tournaments I will have to do. I Will get stronger, and I Will avenge everyone that got killed that day." "Now that we got that long introduction out the way," DJ says as he causes the images to disappear. "Let's get this exam underway!" Everyone in the crowd starts to cheer as they prepare to enter the exam door. "I will avenge everyone," Debiddo says to himself. "I will restore my family's name," Himawari says to herself. "The First Stop is The Tunnel of Death!" Debiddo and Himawari say at the same time to themselves.

End of The Limbo Arc.