Divine Heritage: Only I Can Judge The gods-Chapter 45: The Squad Selection Begins

A wide smile spread through Ethan’s face as he stared at the three squads that had invited him.

Ark expected him to just jump at whichever one but to his surprise, Ethan actually looked rather thoughtful.

Eventually, he walked up to the representative of the first Squadron and stood behind him.

"Ethan Donavo, First Squadron."

A wave of applause spread through the area.

The same man walked forward and watched Luke, unlike last time he didn’t need to think much.

They had all watched the performances of the students so they already knew who they were aiming for.

It seemed he was just slightly unsure about Ethan.

"Luke Heither, First Squadron invites you.

The other representatives stepped forward as well.

"Luke Heither, Second Squadron invites you."

"Luke Heither, Fourth Squadron invites you." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The seventh, eighth, eleventh and fourteenth squadron representatives invited him as well.

Everyone gathered was stunned.

The amount of invitations you got translated to just how valuable you were in the eyes of the government, and in turn how valuable you were in the eyes of the guilds as well.

Most of them here would be lucky to even receive an invitation from one of the squads and yet Luke had gotten Seven!

It was beginning to dawn on those staring up at the podium just how superior these three students were compared to them.

But Ark was not too concerned about what was going on, he didn’t really care if he got fourteen or even one single invite.

He would be okay as long as he didn’t have to go without a squad...

After a short moment of contemplation, Luke walked behind a blonde woman with striking red eyes.

The woman smiled as he stood behind her before focusing on the last student on the podium.

As usual, the dark haired man started first, there was not an ounce of hesitation in his voice as he spoke.

"Kiera Stormwind. First squadron invites you."

The man standing next to him spoke afterward:

"Kiera Stormwind. Second squadron invites you."

And then the other followed.

"Kiera Stormwind. Third squadron invites you."

"Kiera Stormwind. Fourth squadron invites you."

....

"Kiera Stormwind. Fourteenth squadron invites you."

By the time the man standing at the end of the line had spoken, the crowd was completely silent.

In total, Kiera had received an invitation from all fourteen Squadrons. Even the professor seemed rather surprised by the development.

Kiera remained as aloof as usual, giving it only a little thought before she walked up to the blonde woman.

This time, the woman could not hold back her laughter as the other representatives glared at her.

She had gotten the two best curse bearers among all of them, two exceptional talents in one squad which was an obvious cause for envy.

The selection then continued, starting from those who finished earlier down to those who finished later.

At the end of the day, all curse bearers had now lined up behind their respective squads, leaving the person who had come in last place behind.

Ark stood alone in front of the fourteen representatives, wondering who would invite him.

The first squadron was rather prestigious because it was the first official squad among all of them and the third squadron was considered the most affluent.

The city they served was rather rich and so they received massive funding from the government.

There were a lot of good choices but Ark knew he wouldn’t be choosing today, that was because he was unlikely to get more than one offer.

Not only did he arrive last, he arrived unconscious and badly wounded. No one knew what he had to go through to get here so they probably just assumed that he was weak...

Several seconds passed, seconds turned into minutes but no one came forward. Very soon it was rather clear what had happened.

Among the fourteen squadrons, no one had chosen Ark.

When they were sure that no one would pick him, the squad representatives alighted the stage, barely sparing him a glance as they walked past.

As much as they tried to hide it, in the hopes of looking professional in front of their new squads, Ark could still sense the mocking gaze of his pairs.

As Ethan got closer, his lips twisted in a smirk. "One hit wonder."

Ark glanced at him and Ethan met his gaze with a glare, but there was something else hidden within that gaze, a slight degree of wariness that had not normally been there.

His friends didn’t even meet his gaze, they just simply walked past him, without mentioning a single word.

Only Kiera had a different expression than the rest. To others, she probably looked as aloof as usual but Ark could notice a slight difference in her demeanor.

She looked a little angry, but she had to go along with her squad.

Ark was left alone with the professor, staring up at the podium with a lost expression.

"So that’s how it is..."

Ark didn’t notice when the professor walked up to him.

The old man held onto his shoulders softly. "Don’t feel too down boy, you passed! In a flashy manner to boot."

"There are a lot of people who don’t even make it this far. Just keep training, I’m sure something good will come your way."

He tapped Ark’s shoulder in a comforting manner and began to walk away.

Ark watched as the man moved to meet some of the other officials and began discussing with them.

He sighed and walked up to the podium, using the wooden surface as a seat.

Right now, he didn’t know what to feel, he could not join a squadron unless he was selected and he could not join a guild since he had to go through a compulsory four year service.

Even though he had passed the exam, he was stuck.

And yet he was still hopeful.

Failing to get selected was not the end of the world for a curse bearer, it just meant his journey would be far more troublesome than before.

He would have to earn his own money by trading beast parts he could now hunt by virtue of being a curse bearer, he would be responsible for his own training and pay for his housing...

And then finally, he would need to gain the recognition of one of the squads in order to finally be invited.

His life was technically still better than before, but joining a squad this way was an unnecessarily longer process that often resulted in failure.

’I guess I should check my stats.’

He had killed a lot of beasts during the exam and was wondering how much he had improved by.

"Console."

The familiar gold screen appeared in front of him.

[—:god-Console Initiated:—]

[~Ark Lysander~]

[Current Class: Knight]

[Next class ~ 17/200 :|: Beast Tamer: LOCKED]

[Other Classes: Archer (LOCKED), Mage (LOCKED), Craftsman (LOCKED), Healer (LOCKED)]

[Please unlock previous class to access later classes]

[Artifacts: Untainted Valor]

[Curse: Dragon Strike]

[Forms: First Form (2/10)]

[Second Form (INEPT), Third form (INEPT), Fourth form (INEPT), Fifth form (INEPT)]

[Blight: Soul Taint]

His point to progress to the next class had increased from zero to ten.

’I guess I have to kill more monsters to rank up faster.’

As for his curse, it had increased by a measly one point, but it was progress.

Although a part of him was still disheartened that he wasn’t selected, strangely, a small smile appeared on his face.

Because he knew—that they would need him one day.

He just had to get stronger...