Beast-Tamer: Limitless Evolution
Chapter 41: Second Exercise

Chapter 41: Second Exercise

Second Exercise

Soon after eating, everyone was shown to two large bathhouses divided between males and females. Even though their Synthetic High Durability Suits were dust resistant and adapted to the temperature of the students, making it hard for them to sweat, it doesn’t make them incapable of sweating at all. Not to mention, the wilderness was filled with various smells, granted, the Concealment powder made them smell a lot less.

In the end, the students just wanted to feel clean, so they took showers. It was also at that point that Ellie told Osho he didn’t need to give Gale a bath so often, both because it wasn’t necessary and birds, especially birds capable of using Mana, could clean themselves easily.

So, to the delight of the bird, it didn’t have to bathe again.

Also, they were given casual clothes to wear once they were done. Well, not casual per se. The clothes were military-themed but still comfortable. As for why they weren’t sleeping with their suits, well, they were gonna be washed by some people.

"Phew, I need some sleep." Ellie collapsed on the padded floor of their tent, her hair sprawled messily on the floor.

Osho just hummed and sat down cross-legged on his sleeping bag. Seeing this, Ellie raised a brow at him.

"You want to cultivate?" She asked with a raised brow and Osho just shrugged.

"I mean, yeah. Why not?" He asked back and Ellie groaned.

"Why are you always so diligent?" She turned on her side and propped up her elbow before resting her head against her hand. Osho found the gesture attractive but he answered the question regardless.

"You say that like it’s a bad thing. Besides, every bit of strength I gain is welcome." He answered honestly and closed his eyes to start circulating his Mana.

Ellie saw this and pouted slightly. She had the vague urge to go over and tease him a little, then again, seeing him concentrating so much kept her rooted to the spot. Both because she respected his diligence... and because she found it kinda hot.

’What am I thinking about?’ She shook her head and rubbed her face as she felt her cheeks grow warm.

With a huff, she also sat down cross-legged and started to run her cultivation techniques. She refused to be outdone by Osho. At least, not so easily.

***

The next day, everyone was woken up around 7 am to eat breakfast before they were given their suits again, clean and ready to be used again.

For some reason, Gale insisted on standing on Osho’s head. According to their bond. The bird wanted to be seen, and it was succeeding a bit.

At this point, everyone knew that Gale was a special beast, so he tended to attract stares wherever he was.

’So much for avoiding attention.’ Osho sighed in his heart. At least the students had the decency to not swarm him with questions.

Once everyone was done eating and changing back into their gear, they gathered near the buses once more where Mrs Jane and the teachers were waiting.

"Alright, everyone. I’ve gone through the reports you all handed in yesterday. Some of you did good, some of you did bad. However, I will not release the details until this outing is over. The reason being that I want you all to get nervous." She said it so matter-of-factly that the students didn’t know how to react for a moment. She WANTED them to get nervous.

’I can only assume she’s doing this to teach us patience or something.’ Osho thought with some exasperation, barely stopping his brow from twitching. Still, no one dared speak up, which she seemed to find satisfying.

"Anyway, we’ll be moving on to your next exercise today, and that is going to be controlled engagements with beasts." Everyone’s eyes widened as she continued.

"This time, everyone assigned to a teacher will follow them into the forest. They will pick out a beast and each squad is to engage them under the supervision of the teacher who will step in if things get out of hand. Just like yesterday, this exercise will last for 8 hours. However, it isn’t just about winning. Remember, it’s a team exercise, going solo and ignoring whatever plans you have with your teammates will get points deducted from you, even if you win." Everyone nodded at this while Osho fell into thought.

Before his thoughts could spiral too much, though, he was brought back to the present when Ellie nudged him.

"There they are." She said with a smile as the rest of their teammates came over, looking rested and refreshed. Osho noticed Inagi had pretty much healed entirely, the only indication of a wound being that the spot on its back was a bit lighter than the rest, something that wouldn’t remain for long.

"Heh, combat training huh? I’m sure Osho is happy for something like this." Irene sent a jab at Osho, to which he just nodded.

"Indeed, we can all benefit from more experience. Granted, it’s probably going to be much safer than when we encountered the Raptors, but some is better than none." Seeing him take the statement in stride, Irene deflated as her attempts to make him feel flustered fell flat.

Ellie just patted her shoulder.

"If it is any consolation, he wasn’t intentionally trying to avoid being flustered." She said and Irene groaned.

"That’s even worse."

"Hey guys, look what I can do." The four of them turned to Kurt who was holding Clyde in his hands.

He took a few steps back, then he stepped forward with purposeful strides. They were confused for a moment, then they realized, they hadn’t heard his footsteps.

"That’s not all." He grinned and stopped walking. However, they realized that they could now hear footsteps despite him standing still.

"Kurt, that’s awesome. You and Clyde already figured out how to pull that off?" Sam said with genuine surprise and the boy grinned proudly.

"When Osho suggested it, I had to take the challenge. After all, it’s just sound mimicry, and we all know that Clyde is capable of unleashing high frequencies, he just can’t control them. So instead of focusing on controlling said high frequencies, I just focused on improving his control over the lower frequencies." He stared at the fox fondly and scratched behind his ears, causing the creature to let out the long, drawn-out laughing sound unique to foxes.

"Anyway, I can start implementing that distraction idea Osho suggested. Pretty cool right?" This was met with words of praise from his teammates and Kurt’s grin just grew.

’Hm, this opens up many more options for us when it comes to fighting now. If Kurt and Clyde can use this effectively, then the applications to a fight are many, especially with how versatile our squad is.’ He nodded and looked to Clyde who was still basking in the praise of the three beautiful girls and spoke, his voice cutting through the rest like a knife.

"Good job, dude." Kurt’s eyes widened a fraction, not expecting Osho to give him a genuine compliment, and for a moment, he was flustered.

"W-Well, you’re the one that gave me the idea in the first place, so uh... thanks for that." He said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck. Osho offered a small smile before his attention was drawn back to Mrs Jane speaking.

"Osho, your group will be with me." He blinked before doing a double take, it wasn’t just him, but everyone in their group stared at Mrs Jane in shock, and the students all turned to them with wide eyes.

"Your team already engaged with multiple late stage Novice ranked beasts. So your exercise will be more intense." Hearing this, the surrounding students stared at them in shock as Mrs Jane’s words landed.

"Hold on, they fought multiple late stage Novice ranks and WON?!?!"

"I knew that Osho guy and Ellie girl were capable but... damn."

"They looked so out together when they came back too. Wait, is that why that lizard got bandaged? It didn’t even look that bad..."

The murmuring immediately set Osho off and made him deeply uncomfortable. A sentiment Gale noticed as the bird started spreading his wings to blow away everyone nearby, but before Osho had to step in, Mrs Jane clapped her hands twice.

The sound wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it clearly, and it rattled their bones, literally.

"As impressive as it is, that doesn’t give grounds for your impromptu chatting." Her voice was calm but stern, and everyone fell silent.

"As I was saying, your group will move with me and battle with things more... fitting, for your level." At this, Ellie raised her hand and asked, her voice a bit tight.

"If I may, what is ’fitting’ for our level?" At this, Mrs Jane just smiled at them, then she turned away, refusing to elaborate.

’Aw hell no.’ Osho wanted to shout.