Beast-Tamer: Limitless Evolution
Chapter 100: Seeds

Chapter 100: Seeds

Seeds

Osho blinked, and then he felt a small smile appear on his face.

’... Interesting set of information.’ He thought as he considered this piece of knowledge.

He could tell that a lot of people were satisfied. Having to be on guard against other students while also facing beasts was going to be taxing, both physically and mentally.

Also, the reason why this was a surprise is that while the general theme of the practical exam was the same, with students hunting beasts, there were always small or large changes each year to keep things more interesting while also making ut so that one couldn’t just perfectly plan for the exam a year ahead.

Anyway, it was certainly surprising, but Osho also saw the logic.

When one went into the wilderness, especially areas that held important treasures and were thus being contested by other humans, most of the time, beasts weren’t the only things you had to worry about.

It was rare in controlled environments, like spots closer to the Citadel, but farther out in the wilderness where one couldn’t be monitored as effectively, rules became a lot more blurry.

Take Fredrick for example. The unfortunate incident that fell upon him happened out in the wilderness where he couldn’t be watched, and with his limited influence, everyone just went along with the lie strung up by his family concerning what truly happened.

This part of the exam was meant to mimic such situations. If one went out into the wilderness and found something valuable, or encountered other humans in the process of doing so, or just encountered other humans in general, there was always a chance they would get robbed, or worse.

So for how unsavory it sounded, it made sense.

"Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I will now explain how the students will be ushered into the area." Mira continued, acting as though she didn’t just drop the news she did.

"From the point system, it’s easy to infer that, for this exam, we encourage students not to clump up together and spread out more as point acquisition will become a pain. So here’s how this will go. There are several entrances to this testing area, and students will be scrambled before being divided equally to go through these different entrances. So sorry, but you aren’t immediately going in with someone you know, unless you’re lucky, or unlucky, depending on your relationship with that person." She chuckled and there was a collective eye roll among the spectators.

"Now for some general rules. Attacking your fellow students isn’t forbidden, but the same way the beasts will be immobilized if they attempt to attack someone fatally, the same will apply to you if you attack your fellow student with the intent to kill, and you may be ejected from the exam early if you do something of the sort.

You can willingly step out of the testing area. However, note that doing this will automatically mean you’ve chosen to end your examination early, so whatever points you have accumulated up until that point will be what you leave with.

Ganging up on someone to prevent them from accumulating points isn’t forbidden, but remember, your reputation still matters, and some of the colleges and scooters observing may not take kindly to acts of cowardice.

Killing the beast of your fellow student is also strictly forbidden, and not only will you be automatically disqualified, but your chance to enter a college will be revoked effective immediately. The only exception to this is self-defense." Osho raised a brow at this. The punishment for killing someone else’s beast seemed a lot stricter than trying to kill the actual tamer.

’Oh! Maybe it’s because the same protection for tamers don’t apply to beasts, so there’s no way to protect the beast in that situation.’ Gale offered and Osho paused.

’That... makes sense, actually.’ He rubbed his chin. It was already stated that students would be protected in case of the ’health’ falling below a certain point, and even if they tried anyway, the same way beasts would get immobilized when trying to kill the students, the same would apply to students trying to kill each other. Or at least land a fatal hit, making it a non-issue.

This didn’t apply to the beasts. They could only protect themselves, and there weren’t many measures that stopped them from being killed or crippled. So Gale’s point made sense.

’Hm, I think that’s it. Good thinking, Gale.’ Osho thought and moved his hand to his head to gently scratch the bird’s chest.

’Hehe.’ Gale cooed with joy.

"Moving on, the exam will last for exactly 24 hours. Students will be given rations that will allow them to last for 12 hours. After that, they need to scavenge for themselves, but worry not the test area is filled with everything they’d need, and the beasts are a readily available food source. They just need to be somewhat competent when it comes to survival. After all, traversing the wilderness isn’t all about combat strength. You need to be resourceful." Mira exhaled before doing a spin that was completely unprompted, and the viewers were here for it.

"Now then, the part I’m sure you lot are curious about, but now is the time to show the seeding for our dear examinees!" She grinned and pointed at the Mana screen above her and the rest around the place also followed suit as a long list appeared. It listed the names of the students and what school they came from along with a number that was their seed.

Seeded Candidates

01. Han Jiwon — Vermillion Academy

02. Eleanor Trost — Bright Spark Academy

03. Ren Yamada — Vermillion Academy

04. Clive Malloran — Obsidian Tamer Hall

05. Sasha Irwin — Vermillion Academy

06. Tarek Suleiman — Northwind School of Beasts

07. Nari Hwa — Vermillion Academy

08. Felix Rood — Glasspine Academy

09. Liora Vanth — Jadewood Institute

10. Grady Thorn — Vermillion Academy

11. Alina Cress — Bright Spark Academy

12. Yong Ren — Vermillion Academy

13. Helga Miras — Southern Spire Academy

14. Marco Trask — Dawnveil School

15. Leah Forsythe — Vermillion Academy

...

34. Osho — Bright Spark Academy

"Now would you look at that. Vermillion Academy dominating the competition once more. But would you look at this? Someone from the Bright Spark Academy got the second seed? But seeing the name, it’s not that surprising. The only daughter of Sir Trost, it’s only natural that she ranks so high. As for the top seed. Well, he needs no introduction. Han Jiwonhas been nothibg short of exemplary this year." Mira said with a sly smile as the screens changed to show both Ellie and the Han Jiwon in question.

Ellie just waved while the other person, Han Jiwon, a person of obvious Korean descent stared at the screen with an unreadable expression, his arms folded.

There was no sign of his beast, hinting at the fact he most likely had a beast space.

The crowd cheered as soon as the top two seeds were shown, and Osho stared at the screen with a curious expression.

’Hm, they did a really good job in making sure I didn’t attract any attention after the whole debacle with the beast tide. Nice.’ He nodded with satisfaction. However, he noticed that his classmates didn’t share the same sentiment.

Almost as soon as the screen disappeared, one person complained.

"Osho not having that top spot is simply criminal."

This seemed to trigger a domino effect as most of them complained, either about how low Osho was placed or the fact that someone who wasn’t Osho placed above Ellie, something that naturally didn’t go unnoticed.

"Oh? It seems like the students from the Bright Spark Academy aren’t happy with the seeds. Well, sorry to say, but these can’t be changed. However, if you are truly not convinced..." Mira grinned. "Then just do better than the people who placed above you during the exam. That’s one way to prove this list is wrong, isn’t it?" The statement made everyone go quiet as they thought about it.

Osho and Ellie shared a glance, their eyes equally sparkling with untold mischief. They k ew what they needed to do.

’Say, Gale. What do you think about obliterating the competition?’ Osho asked the bird who flapped his wings defiantly.

’You and I ranked so low? I don’t like it! We will show them!’ Gale said with obvious distaste, his inherent pride shining through as Osho chuckled.

’That’s the spirit.’

Mira gave a few more rules before saying.

"Alright. That’s enough yapping on my part. Now, let’s get things started? She we?" She grinned.

"The schools will have a couple of minutes to address their students before we begin. So teachers and principals, now is your time to give your students one last pep talk before the exam truly commences." When she said that, runes activated before each of the grandstands dedicated to each school was surrounded by a barrier that isolated sound and obscured those within.