This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The man didn't bother to introduce himself, likely feeling as though it was unnecessary to do so to people so much lower than him in strength and status.

"You have proven your worth by making it here. This was the first step—a test not only of your strength but also your resourcefulness, intelligence, and resilience under pressure. But let me be clear: arriving here is no guarantee of success."

Kain felt a ripple of tension pass through the crowd. Even those who had been lounging or speaking softly now stood at attention, their focus solely on the screen.

The man continued. "As you have likely already realized, the Eclipse Order is not a monolithic entity. Within our ranks exist numerous divisions, each with its own purpose, its own challenges, and its own expectations of you. The journey you undertake now will shape the course of your future, should you be deemed worthy of continuing."

The grey haired man snapped his fingers, and a thin booklet materialized in the hands of each participant.

Kain glanced down at his, his name emblazoned in bold letters across the cover. Opening the booklet, he found a detailed profile of himself.

The first few pages outlined his basic information—his age, star rank, and what was known about his current contracts and their abilities.

The descriptions of his contracts were surprisingly thorough, detailing Queen, Aegis, and Bea, although Kain noted with some relief that all of them didn't seem to have been identified as being microorganisms. Bea was suspected of being one, however it doesn't seem like whoever wrote this has managed to correlate a Vespid Queen or a giant golem as having anything to do with microscopic creatures.

Flipping further, he found summaries of his recent accomplishments, including his performance in each of the Black Missions he had completed over the past few months.

Each mission was listed with a grade, presumably reflecting the difficulty and his performance as well as brief notes on the skills he displayed when completing each of them.

Kain couldn't help but smirk slightly at the high scores, the average score was an A, with his lowest rating being an A- rating for taking down the latest laboratory, because he apparently showed a "willful oversight in his untimely turning over of confiscated laboratory materials."

'That's fair…' Kain couldn't argue it, especially since he had intentionally delayed handing over the research notes.

On the final page was a neatly arranged list of subdivisions.

Each subdivision was listed followed by a note indicating their degree of interest in recruiting him.

"Based on your performance during this assessment period, and while observing your performance in person today, representatives from each department have made a decision on whether or not they desire you in their ranks.

"Some of you may have received offers from multiple subdivisions, while others only one or none."

Kain looked at a legend included with the list of subdivisions to better understand what each rating meant:

Optimal Candidate—The division considers the candidate an ideal match and will accept them without the need for further assessment. Conditional Interest—The division is open to recruiting the candidate upon successful completion of a closed assessment. Marginally Aligned/Low interest— The division is somewhat aware of the candidate but sees no pressing need to recruit them at this time. Incompatible— The division is not interested and will not consider the candidate

"If you manage to receive one of the few 'A—Optimal Candidate' ratings from a division, then congratulations, you can immediately join that subdivision without any further tests.

"For those of you with B and C ratings, you can consider applying to the division, and they may accept or turn you away upon further assessment.

"As for the D-rating, any application to that subdivision from you at this time will be unsuccessful.

"If you have not received a single A rating, and do not pass the assessments for any of the subdivisions in which you have a B or C rating, then you will not be accepted into the Eclipse Order at this time and may reconsidered at a later date.

"For those of you without an offer from your preferred division, do not worry, your profiles are being constantly updated, and an offer to join another division may present itself at a later date."

Kain eagerly looked at the offers from each department. He had an average rating of 'A' across his missions, therefore he should have quite a few offers—right?

1. Lunar Veils (espionage and infiltration): C—Low Interest

2. Dawnbringers (counter-intelligence): B—Conditional Interest

3. Night Hunt (assassination): D—Incompatible Celestial

4. Vanguard (military): C—Low Interest

5. Pathfinders (relic exploration): A—Optimal Candidate

6.Starchasers (wilderness exploration): D—Incompatible

Kain stared at the list in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?" he muttered, his frustration about to overflow.

Despite his stellar performance on the Black Missions that averaged A ratings, the subdivisions had shown lukewarm interest in him.

Only the Pathfinders seemed to consider him a good match, while most others either expressed little or no interest.

The Night Hunt, the most elite division, had given him a D, outright dismissing him as incompatible. However, this was expected by Kain. Most of the people the Eclipse Order would set as targets of assassination would likely be high-level beast-tamers at 7-stars at least, or in possession of guards and protectors that strong. Kain was currently far too weak to be recruited by this subdivision. In fact, pretty much all members of the Night Hunt originated in other subdivisions before receiving an offer to join once they were strong enough.

Similarly, the Starchasers that needed to go deep into the wilderness and probably regularly needed to travel through areas inhabited by high-level spiritual creatures, was also out of depth.

Therefore, their low ratings for him were understandable.

However, the militaristic Celestial Vanguard, a division that was low in popularity, and much lower in entry strength requirements, had given him a C-rating. And considering they were supposedly understaffed, this was likely a rating they offered to all entrants to give them at least a chance at joining one subdivision.

And the Lunar Veils and the Dawnbringers, where intelligence gathering was important, and therefore he thought having a mind-attribute contract would be greatly valued, also didn't rate him as high as he'd expected.

"What more do they want?!" He exclaimed. Sure, he received an A rating form the Pathfinder's, but his gaze couldn't help drifting to the other much lower ratings—after all, it's true that what one can't have becomes more appealing…

Before he could stew further, he overheard snippets of conversations from the others in the room.

"Look at this. D for everything except a C in the Vanguard…don't they offer that to everyone? If I can't pass their assessment I'm doomed…."

"Everywhere gave me a D-rating except for the Vanguard. Oh, and Dawnbringers gave me a C too! Honestly, it's better than I expected after what happened in the forest at my last assessment mission…"

Kain blinked, his ears perking up. He turned his attention to the nearest group, who were discussing their results openly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"...D-ratings for 4 subdivisions. Not surprised, really. But at least they didn't give me straight Ds, right?" one participant said, trying to sound upbeat.

Kain glanced back at his own report-card with only two D-ratings and suddenly, his frustration ebbed.

"So, I'm doing better than most," he murmured, before taking a peak at Serena's report card next to him.

Her ratings during the missions were similar to his, however aside from a C-rating from the Night Hunt, all other subdivisions had at least a B-rating.

'Goddamit!' The minuscule amount of pride he'd managed to re-establish was once again shattered.