It was a given that I would join the faction of recruits who were willing to take the risk, even though I knew there were no risks in consuming the Elixir at all.
…Well, except for one night of terror.
Many of those who refused to take the tonic would have changed their minds if only they had given it deeper consideration.
The rate at which Dungeons appeared in the world was more than the number of Hunters available to handle them, even if there were positive signs of an increase in that number of Hunters churned out every year from this place.
If they thought it through, it wouldn't make any sense that the Elixir, designed to create more Hunters, would have any side effects or consequences and even if it did, it would be on a mild scale.
How would that help the situation?
It was basically their Super Soldier Serum and they had no choice but to churn out Hunters if humanity was to continue to survive even after 800 years since the first dungeon appeared.
I'd picked to take the Elixir.
However, that would give me no advantage against Terrence since he did the same.
Nonetheless, with this catalyst, I would enter the Initial Step of the Ore Stage after a night of gut-wrenching pain.
After that, I would go for the next thing on my list—Skills.
I already knew what Skill I would awaken but there was an obstacle I needed to scale through, thanks to my pre-knowledge of that event.
The problem with that now was finding a suitable candidate—a candidate that wouldn't arouse suspicion towards me.
Against the intentions of the United Government, German remained adamant about administering the Elixir to only those who were willing to take the risk.
Of course, the other Hunters present took caution and possibly gave their pieces of advice and opinion… but German proved to have steady hands on the tiller.
He controlled the entire situation calmly with his wealth of experience and influence, assuring them that nothing was going to happen.
German Barns had only been made an Instructor some time in the previous year and we were his first batch of admission. That was the reason for the wariness exhibited by other Hunters.
No Head Instructor, before German's time of taking the position, had ever not administered the Elixir to every recruit present at that time.
"Alright! It seems to me that not everyone wants to drink from my little juice right over here. Tsk," German said as he shook his head.
His choice of words and manner of delivery also did not help the situation in any way.
Listening to him now, for the second time, I was convinced that he intentionally wanted to reduce the number of people that wished to take it even further.
I chuckled at this realisation.
'What a crazy man.'
German cleared his throat, garnering the attention back on himself. "Anyways, those who are willing to take that risk, please step forward. However, do not say that you weren't warned or informed."
After he was done talking, or more like scaring the recruits, a few more declined the request.
Those who decided not to take the Elixir were barely almost one half of the total number in this batch of admission.
With that, the administration of the Gold Grade Potion began.
I purposely went to the back of the line. I had done that not to delay receiving the potion but to observe and recall.
I watched every recruit that had taken theirs and returned to their spots in the general rows and columns.
For each person, I tried to remember the Skill that they awaken because it would come in handy for me in selecting someone who would not make me stand out.
I watched every single one of them take their potions, drink them and walk away.
"Name?" one of the hunters asked me, his finger ready to press the tablet next to him.
"Lux—sigh—Luxane," I corrected myself immediately. "Luxane Enstar."
I felt a crawl inside my throat as I mentioned this name.
Why the fuck would they register me with it even?
I'm sure the Cube knew that I had denounced the name and the organisation, not wanting anything to do with them.
Well, not until later anyway.
"Drink."
The Hunter handed me the purple potion and without any hesitation, I glugged the entire thing in one gulp.
"Yuck!"
Like many before me, I felt a bitter taste that caused a crawl to race through my entire body.
I continually smacked my tongue at the roof of my mouth with a distorted, disgusted face.
'Eww! That Elixir still tastes as terrible as I remember it.'
On the brighter side, I was done with that part.
As I climbed down from the stage after consuming the Elixir of Awakening, my eyes strayed into the crowd, darting around until I caught sight of him.
…There he was.
Calm, collected and standing among those in the first row.
'There you are. Fucking Terrence Kenton.'
Had it been that any action I took now would come without repercussions, I would have jumped that little, blond brat without giving it a second thought.
There he was, standing and looking cluelessly at me like he wouldn't become the worst devil that I know.
I'm sure he was wondering why I kept fierce eye contact with him and yet, he never broke his… not even once until I stepped out of his sight.
Even as a kid, he did have very high shoulders.
Terrence scoffed and turned frontward, once again, focusing his attention on the Instructors.
Beside Terrence was the second person I wanted to kill the most—Claudia Emberton.
As usual, she was all over Terrence, clamouring for his attention.
"What's that kid's deal, Terrence?" she asked the young prodigy of the Kenton Family. "Did you see how he was looking at you?"
Terrence gave a light shrug of dissent. "Maybe he wants my autograph."
"Do you know him from somewhere?" she inquired further. "He was looking at you with such a malicious gaze that had me worried. I really don't want anything to happen to you, Terrence."
Terrence took another glance behind to look for me but I had gone into a part of the crowd where he wouldn't find me that easily.
'Yes, Hero. Be wary of me for I'm that shadow that will always follow you around until I strike.'
Terrence felt a desperate tug on his shirt and finally turned his eyes to the desperate, attention-deprived Claudia.
He merely gave her a look and said nothing else.
"Are you okay, Terrence ?"
After a few seconds of silence, Terrence faced his front and answered her before keeping mum again.
"I am fine, Claudia."
With that, he subtly removed her hand from his shirt without looking her way, an act that left the daughter of the Emberton Family exasperated.
German monitored the young faces in front of him.
He had paid no more than surface-level attention to them the previous day but today, he took the time to check them out a little bit.
'Hmm, the boy from Kenton Family,' he thought, mentally singling Terrence out from the recruits of the frontmost row.
'...Even an Emberton and a Vernon. In the same year. That's wild, haha.'
German's eyes moved indistinctly across the crowd, picking out the offsprings of various notable Hunter Families.
'Looking forward to an interesting year with this lineup. I hope they don't disappoint,' he thought with a satisfied smile on his bearded face.
After the final address and a few announcements which had to do with our classes and the proper resumption of activities within the Cube, we were discharged to our various dormitories for the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, my mind drifted away from this hall and a smile etched on my face after having met Terrence eyeball to eyeball.
'Just you wait…'