The event had always remained etched in Kael’s mind.
Back then, the Rift Break had occurred frighteningly close to the hospital where his mother had been receiving treatment. Had Ferris Newman not staked his own life to hold back the endless tide of beasts, the hospital would have fallen, and his mother would most likely have become one of the countless casualties of that tragedy.
Because of that alone, Ferris Newman held a special place in Kael’s heart.
Looking at the man standing before him now, Kael couldn’t help but furrow his brows.
Why was he here?
A moment later, realization suddenly dawned on him.
Apart from becoming one of humanity’s greatest heroes in the future, Ferris Newman was also the current Branch Director of this Hunters Association branch.
Even then, it still didn’t explain one thing.
Why would someone of his status personally come to receive him?
And why was he acting so respectfully?
Before Kael’s confusion could deepen any further, Ferris smiled faintly before speaking first.
"Mr. Voss, your file has been granted VIP Clearance. According to Association regulations, that means I am required to personally attend to any business you conduct within this branch of the Hunters Association."
"VIP Clearance..."
Kael repeated inwardly.
The term was completely unfamiliar to him. Even with the knowledge of his previous life, he had never once heard of such a clearance level.
Still, he understood one thing.
If it was important enough to require the Branch Director of the Hunters Association to personally receive him, then this so-called VIP Clearance was undoubtedly something extraordinary.
What Kael didn’t know was that the clearance itself wasn’t the reason Ferris was treating him with such respect.
The clearance merely required him to appear.
It never required him to be respectful.
The reason Ferris spoke with such courtesy was far simpler.
He recognized Kael.
About a month ago, Ferris had personally reviewed the performance records of every promising candidate who had participated in the Hunter Examination held within this branch.
Among them, one name had remained firmly engraved in his memory.
Kael Voss.
During the combat examination, Kael had fought his way all the way to the eighth wave of the Goblin Horde simulation.
On the grand scale of the entire Hunters Association, such a performance couldn’t be considered unprecedented. Throughout the Association’s long history, there had been candidates who had reached even higher waves.
Even so, it was still an exceptionally impressive achievement.
More importantly, Ferris had taken the time to look into Kael’s background.
An ordinary family.
No influential backing.
No precious body-tempering treasures.
No famous master guiding his martial arts.
Everything Kael possessed had been earned through his own effort.
That alone made his performance far more remarkable than the numbers on the report suggested.
Ferris still remembered shaking his head while reviewing the recording, silently lamenting the Association’s outdated evaluation standards.
Had it not been for those rigid regulations, he firmly believed Kael’s final evaluation would have been significantly higher.
His written examination had been flawless.
A perfect score.
Even his combat performance had been exceptional.
The only reason his final rating had been lowered was because he hadn’t followed the Association’s recommended combat protocol during his battle against the goblins.
The Hunters Association didn’t evaluate candidates solely on whether they won or lost.
It also evaluated how they fought.
Every monster humanity had encountered within Rifts and Instances had been studied extensively. Through countless battles, years of research, and the sacrifices of innumerable Hunters, the Association had compiled combat strategies that they believed offered the safest methods of dealing with each species.
As a result, the combat examination wasn’t merely a display of strength.
It was also a test of knowledge.
A Hunter was expected to understand the safest and most effective way to fight every known monster.
The goblins Kael had faced were the perfect example.
Although individually weak, goblins were infamous for their cunningness. They frequently coated their crude weapons with every manner of toxin and poison they could obtain, making even the smallest scratch potentially fatal.
Because of that, the Association’s recommended strategy was simple.
Do not fight them at close range.
Humans naturally possessed greater reach than goblins, whose shorter limbs placed them at a disadvantage during direct exchanges. Hunters were taught to exploit that advantage, maintaining enough distance to strike while denying the goblins any opportunity to land a poisoned attack.
Even Hunters who specialized in close-quarters combat were advised to avoid entering a goblin’s effective range whenever possible.
Kael, however, had ignored that strategy entirely.
Instead of maintaining distance, he repeatedly stepped into the goblins’ range, dismantling them through close-range martial arts.
Although he had successfully avoided nearly every strike they threw at him, most of those attacks had missed by nothing more than a hair’s breadth.
To Ferris, it was a display of extraordinary control.
To the Association’s evaluation system...
It was considered unnecessarily dangerous.
That single factor had greatly reduced Kael’s final combat rating.
Ferris had disagreed with the assessment, but Association policy wasn’t something he could overturn simply because of his personal opinion.
In the end, he had no choice but to leave the results unchanged.
Even so...
Kael Voss had left an impression that Ferris couldn’t forget.
After all, it wasn’t every day that someone of such caliber appeared within a relatively ordinary Hunters Association branch like this one.
He had even placed Kael’s name on the list of promising Hunters the branch intended to actively recruit in the future.
Who would have thought...
The very next time he saw this young man, it would be for an A-Rank reassessment.
A leap of five entire Hunter ranks from his previous registration.
And not only had he attempted it, he had actually passed.
Looking at the calm young man standing before him, Ferris couldn’t help but feel genuine admiration.
He had always respected the strong.
He admired true geniuses and had spent his entire career striving to stand among them.
Now, faced with someone like Kael, someone who could only be described as a monster, he found himself letting go of the pride that naturally came with his position.
Even though they now officially held the same Hunter Rank, Ferris treated him with the utmost respect.
Not because the Association required it.
But because, in his eyes, Kael Voss had already proven himself worthy of it.