Humiliation

The young man bent down and placed one knee on the ground, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. His long gray hair seemed to be passed through by a calm current of air and his hands relaxed.

He slowly got up, under the eyes of a predator whose irises had shrunk, and looked at his hands.

"… Huh? Where… Ah! Yeah, the test. Let's do our best!"

He clenched his fists in front of his face as if to motivate himself and moved towards the end of the tunnel, when he passed Hope, looking devastated.

"Hey bro, are you okay? Why do you look so depressed? You were amazing there."

"Amazing? Don't try to cheer me up... That idiot Barron took all the praise. How is this guy an E-rank?

"Hm, well, yes he's very strong, but that doesn't mean you should feel down, you're amazing in your own way."

He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder to cheer him up.

"If it's praise you need, you still get mine, so don't let that bother you, okay?"

"… Bro… *sniffles* You're right, Barron may have won this battle,