Chapter 73 - Graduation

Every high school graduation ceremony includes fighting as part of the ceremonial rites. Someone from the Hunter Association that had a good fighting experience would be invited by the administration of the school to give the students the spotlight to show off their talents and skills.

And as an examiner visited the school, the examiner was given the privilege to do things on his own. 

"So, welcome to the annual rites the school does for graduated students. I welcome Sir Rojert, from the Hunter Association, as the examiner and the sparring partner for the rites." An announcer said, standing at the center of the auditorium where a wide mat was laid out widely.

And as everyone had their nominations before the rites started, everyone decided to nominate Roger as their representative for the rites.

It was not expected, but Roger just calmly accepted the nomination, just like his batchmates did. He stepped forward, then went to the ring that was created in the auditorium.

The examiner was a tall man in his late 30s. He had a strong demeanor and also a tough aura that made anyone think he was a veteran fighter. 

Roger calmly walked his way to the ring, then lowered his head to greet the examiner.

"Here was Roger Wyles as the representative of the batch of '40s." The announcer said and faced Roger with a fixed beaming face. "Are you ready for the rites?"

Roger slowly nodded, then went to fix his clothes so he could move comfortably. 

The examiner looked at Roger with discerning eyes, starting from the bottom to the top. He then jokingly smirked and looked at the audience. He was expecting them to be worried, but they all seemed to be confident in putting Roger as their representative.

Noticing this reaction from the audience perplexed him. He wanted to learn why the usual expression from the previous batches wasn't the same as theirs. They all seemed to deem Roger a tough person to fight.

'I don't believe that these kids were confident with their representatives. Why don't I feel that they were nervous or something? I mean, this is the rites and every student that graduated here dislikes it.'

Roger had himself stood in front of the examiner. Then, as the announcer announced the fight, the examiner just stood still and watched Roger initiate the attack.

Roger calmly faced the examiner and raised an eyebrow.

"Who should make the first move?" Roger asked, making the examiner shrug.

"I don't know, kid. Maybe you should make the first attack." 

Roger smirked, then nodded. Instantly, with his swift movement, he disappeared slowly, as if fading into thin air. This scene made the examiner widen his eyes in surprise. He was so baffled that it immediately raised his senses and made him vigilant for possible attacks.

He lost his understatement of Roger.

'I think this kid has something to offer,' he thought then continued to look out for Roger.

But then, Roger appeared behind him. The truth was that Roger did not vanish; rather, he moved to the examiner's blindspot and gave a luxurious effect with his movements.

It was only a simple move, yet, they considered it a Skill.

However, it wasn't what was important there. Now that Roger appeared behind him, he could attack or delay his movements.

The examiner didn't know what Roger's intention was, but as a reaction, he swung his elbow to have a potential clean hit on Roger.

Roger raised his hands and caught the elbow. After that, he raised his other hand to try to grab the examiner's forearm.

Roger just moved in a slightly calm movement. There were no extras except for his first move. And just as he easily grabbed the examiner's forearm, he pulled it and dragged it to his back.

He successfully pinned down the examiner as he also hit behind the examiner's knee to weaken his firm stance. And just by that simple movement, the examiner was left discombobulated.

"How?" he muttered as he looked at Roger behind him.

Roger returned to his calm face and then gave the examiner a look. He then nodded and sighed.

"Sorry about that." Then he released him.

The examiner stood up and fixed his clothes after that. He wasn't humiliated, or even embarrassed that he was defeated. In fact, he was amazed at Roger. He couldn't remove that amused gaze he had on Roger.

And after the rites, he approached Roger to have a small talk. He was so curious about him that he couldn't think to pass up the chance to have a conversation with him.

"Do you mind if I ask for a small amount of your time?" The examiner asked as Roger was about to leave the auditorium.

Roger shifted his attention to the examiner and then shook his head. 

"I don't mind. What is it?"

"Ah... I am Rojert, by the way. Maybe you already heard my name earlier, but I want to introduce myself to you."

Roger smiled and gave Rojert a pleasing and humble gaze. He lowered his head in a reply to his introduction.

"I am Roger Wyles, Sir."

"I know."

"May I ask now, why are you seeking to talk with me?" Roger asked, which instantly brought back Rojert's attention. He almost forgot that.

"I want to know if you are already an Awaken. I am from the Hunter Associaton and it would be my honor if I assisted you."

"Just a coincidence. But, I haven't had my assessment yet. However, I am sure that I am an Awaken since I already possessed some Awaken potential." Roger said.

Rojert raised an eyebrow and was surprised by his words. He didn't expect that he would feel honored by the kid. He then gave a suggestion.

"Then, if you don't mind, will you give me the honor to assist you?" Rojert asked.

"Ah... Of course." Roger was confused at first, but he just ignored it as he couldn't see anything suspicious about him either. It was that he could only see the admiration in his eyes.

Roger released a sigh and then continued, "I will be visiting there within this month. I would be willing to ask for your help."

"Thank you very much."

***

Their batch had a small celebration outside of school. However, when Roger was about to leave and go on a different path, his classmates called out for him.

"Uhm, Roger, would you like to come with us?"

Roger was speechless for a short while. He did not expect that invitation since he thought that they were afraid of him. But as this question emerged in his head, he couldn't dare ask about it.

It wasn't because of the content of the question but of the atmosphere around it. They were about to celebrate their graduation with the whole batch, but if he tried to spoil it, it wouldn't turn out to be good.

He smiled and gave them a nod. "Sure."

Roger followed them to the nearest karaoke club. There were drinks and food bought by the class, but Roger didn't give anything to them.

He was confused at first since they declined his offer to add up the expenses, but as he inspected that they were trying to be good to him, he accepted the offer.

"Why did you suddenly invite me? I thought that everyone was scared of me." Roger suddenly asked, and that made everyone awkwardly silent. But as he noticed the atmosphere had changed, which he was afraid to destroy, he immediately declined to further ask the question.

"No, it is okay." One of his classmates answered. Then, he continued to talk about what was on his mind since he was the one who got the idea to invite Roger.

"We thought that you were not as bad as you were in public. We just judged you too much. That is why you might think that we are afraid of you."

"Oh, it was about that. I didn't know it. Sorry.

"No, that was our fault as well. That is why we invited you. I hope that you don't mind us befriending you even if it is too late."

Roger was silent for a few seconds and looked into their eyes to see if they were sincere. Their voices were low, and he could feel that they were trying to soothe him with their words and tone. However, he could not just think that they were trying to be cunning in front of him.

First of all, not by underestimating, he didn't think that they would be stupid enough to go against him. He knew them as he had studied with them for almost a year, and as he inspected them closely, he knew that they were still afraid of him.

Their words earlier were sincere, but they were gambling with the resolution they had. It wasn't a bad thing to consider, as they were just trying to be humans after all.

They thought that Roger might have been outdated because of their treatment of him.

Roger sighed and then smiled.

"You don't really have to worry about it. Let us just continue to celebrate." Roger said and canceled any further negative wind in the atmosphere.. He snatched a large glass of drink and chugged it until it was empty.