Extra's Awakening: I Became The Dragon Sage Of The Underworld

The other participants murmurs multiplied tenfold after Mizuko made it clear that the exams was now all about survival. After a thorough throat clearing by the principal into a megaphone, the hall became silent.

"That's right, Mass elimination is the method we are adopting to achieve our desired number. The elimination will be decided in the first phase of the exams, however before that you are to all split into teams of three within the next five minutes. Once the time limit is elapsed, whoever hasn't found a partner will be automatically eliminated."

As she declared, the whole hall sunk in the uproar that ensued. The whole participants searched thoroughly for capable partners.

"Alright! We have our team!" Mei and Yui exclaimed, clutching Mizuko's hands tightly. They didn't offer him the option to choose who he wanted to pair up with.

'Damn.' He sighed in his thoughts, he intended to form a team with Rentaro for one reason, to confirm Lucy's speculations, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Hey Rentaro, are you down to be my partner?" With respect lingering in his voice, Daichi requested for Rentaro's aid.

"You know it." With a radiant smile, Rentaro accepted his request to team up.

"Great-" Before he could celebrate, he was interrupted by the piercing gaze of Lucy behind them. Her eyes radiates an intensity that disturbed both of them.

"I guess I'll be the final member of your team! Is that okay Rentaro?" The allure of her request hung in the air as she leaned closer to him, an invitation they found hard to dismiss.

"Okay, I guess." He replied, feeling uncomfortable as she got closer to him.

"Damn it." Silver chuckled, surprised at the fact that Lucy actually wanted to team up with him, he had hoped to be the final member of either his team or Mizuko's.

"Well then, I guess it's just me and you left." He said, directing his gaze at Miyuki.

"Yeah... I guess so." She replied shyly.

Before the time limit elapsed, a total of 670 were formed.

"Okay time's up. Now that you've all paired together, let the first phase of the exams begin!"

[You will be transported to the first stage in 00:59]

As she declared, a translucent screen materialized in each and every one of the participants field of vision.

'Transported?' He thought.

"We should use this time to access each other skills and abilities for the battle ahead. We already know you don't have a specific Soul-Type, so what about you Rentaro?" With her hands behind her back, she attacked Rentaro with the question.

"Oh, um so far all I've got is a spiraling ball of energy." He replied, realizing her true intentions.

"Oh? Is that so?" She leaned even closer with a smile stretched across her face, the cold piercing gaze from her eyes revealing her displeasure on not getting the answer she wanted.

"Scary, what the hell.." He muttered under his voice.

"What was that?" She questioned, retaining her icy gaze.

"Nothing."

[Transporting in 3..2..1]

SWOOSH!

In the blink of an eye, the entire 2,010 participants disappeared without a trace, leaving the halls empty as the time limit for their transportation elapsed.

They arrived in the middle of what appeared to be a torn apart city, buildings shattered and half destroyed, an absolute deserted land. Each team was scattered throughout the city by the teleportation.

"Where are we?" Rentaro asked softly.

[This is the first stage of the Soul-Hunter Exams, a survival stage. You have to survive the upcoming wave of magical beasts for a given duration in order to advance to the next stage]

On receiving the notifications of the first stage, they all nodded in affirmation, the three of them went further into town cautious of their environment as they didn't know what to expect.

"Keep your eyes open." Lucy spoke sharply, both Daichi and Rentaro nodded in response as they moved.

[50:00]

In their line of vision, a translucent screen displayed the time duration which indicated that the survival stage had officially begun.

Their movements came to a sudden stop after perceiving a large roar from all around the city. It sounded like several beasts had roared at once.

"Alright!" Excited, Daichi dashed forward towards the location of the roars, forgetting that this was supposed to be a team effort.

"Wait, you fool!" Lucy exclaimed, running after Daichi and leaving Rentaro behind.

"H-hey!" He exclaimed, undoubtedly surprised at how they abandoned him

"Don't move, for your own sake." In a cold voice, she advised him. Irrespective of whether or not he had a good Soul-Type, he had just awakened and possessed little understanding and control of his abilities while she has had years of training. Essentially, she viewed both of them as a burden.

"So much for team work." He sighed, heading off in the direction his teammates ran off to.

[Ding!]

[Hostile intentions detected!]

As the system displayed a warning, he realized that something was headed towards him. Instantly, he ran behind a huge chunk of a building and hid behind it.

A few second after hiding, the silhouette of a man-beast slowly approached the chunk of building Rentaro hid behind, it's body resembled that of a wolf except it stood on its two feet and was 7foot tall. It took sniffs of the ground below him and recognized the scents of three humans.

'What kind of place is this?!' He exclaimed within his thoughts. The principal wasn't joking around when she said it was a fight for survival. The whole 670 teams went in with the assumption that they would have to survive against each other, but that wasn't the case.

As terrified as he was, he had no choice but to fight. He couldn't level up if he ran the other way. Slowly, he snuck up behind it using the other broken pieces of the building as cover. As he got closer to it, he summoned Muramasa's Fangs.

However, he neglected one thing. It was a wild animal with a keen sense of smell.

At that moment, he could feeling a violent aura choking him and he instantly realized the difference in power between this wolf and Muramasa. But that didn't stop him, as the wolf-beast turned to confront him, he immediately stabbed the twin daggers into the beast's chest.

[Target is at a higher level than (Muramasa's Fangs)]

[Target is immune to the paralysis]

[Paralysis Effect cancelled]

Crippled with disbelief, Rentaro's eyes wavered as he stared at the beast raising its sharp claws into the air. In that moment, he felt an overwhelming force looming above his head.

However, as the claws of the beast struck down at him, the momentary fears he harbored shut off like a switch that was flipped.

[Skill (Bloodlust Of The Assassin) has been activated]

As it's claws sliced through the air with deadly precision, Rentaro felt a surge of instinct propel him to the side. In an instant, he was swallowed by shadows, the world around him blurring into a haze.

The ground trembled beneath the impact of the beast's strike, sending debris flying as he vanished from view. As the wolf-beast lost sight of him, it swiftly followed it's nose.

Perceiving the scent of a young human, it turned to it's back and Rentaro standing in it's field of vision, he was silent, his silky hair casted a shadow over his eyes and he had no expression on his face.

The wolf-beast growled fiercely, lifting its massive right hand into the air once again, sharp claws glinting ominously. It swung down with ferocity toward Rentaro's face. In a split second, Rentaro tilted his neck to the left, narrowly avoiding the deadly swipe. Seizing the opportunity, he thrust his right palm forward, pressing it firmly against the chest of the towering wolf-beast.

Electricity surged through his arm and into his palm, building into a powerful burst that erupted with blinding intensity. The energy shot forward, blasting a gaping hole through the wolf-beast's chest. The brilliant light illuminated the area, visible to everyone, including Daichi and Lucy, who stood in awe of the display of raw power.

Instantly, they both realized that the bright light that illuminated the sky was the exact same location they left Rentaro in.

"Rentaro!" In a flash, they both raced back towards him. Before Lucy had caught up to Daichi, he had taken down two beasts. They never thought to assume the light came from Rentaro himself, instead they assumed the worst.

The wolf-beast slumped to the ground dead, Rentaro stood still with his head facing down at the ground as though he was controlled by a mysterious force.

[Skill (Bloodlust Of The Assassin) has been deactivated]

He came to his senses as the skill [Bloodlust Of The Assassin] was automatically deactivated. His head spun ferociously, almost as if he was spun several times over. In the most crucial moment, his system automatically activated his dormant skill to save him.

"Ugh, my head. What happened?"

[You have killed a C-rank Beast!]

[You have gained ×4 Soul-Essence!]

[Level Up!]

"Wait what? A C-rank beast?" He pondered, gazing at the dead body of the wolf.

It seemed the principal left out some key details which was very essential in clearing the first stage.

"Rentaro!" Daichi exclaimed as he caught a glimpse of Rentaro from afar. Turning to his back, he sighted both Lucy and Daichi approaching him quickly.

"Thank goodness your okay...wait, you're...okay?" Lucy said with disbelief as she glanced at the dead beast at Rentaro's feet, she certainly wasn't expecting this.

"Okay that's offensive." Rentaro replied softly before crouching to his knees, examining the creature thoroughly.

After recalling the details of this beast after it's death, he got to his feet swiftly, his eyes widened after realizing what was happening.

"Come on! I know what to do!" He exclaimed, running further into the city after the discovery he made, they stared at him, still taken aback after seeing the hole in the wolf-beast's chest.