Beast-Tamer: Limitless Evolution
Chapter 81: Studying Hard

Chapter 81: Studying Hard

Studying hard

July 3rd, 2036

Quite a lot has happened over the past month in the Blossom Citadel.

The damage sustained due to the beast tide had mostly been repaired, though there were still a few things here and there that needed to be fixed or remodeled.

In fact, due to most of the turrets on the east wall getting destroyed, they decided to use that as a chance to swap them out for new, more advanced turrets that had a higher damage output and were also more durable.

They also started rebuilding the Outpost that had been destroyed after giving its inhabitants a proper funeral. Moreover, activity in the Black Rock Chain was slowly getting underway once more as investigations had been mostly wrapped up.

From what they found, the Harbinger seemed to have emerged from some sort of cocoon that ended up deep underground. What was strange is that it wasn’t in any sort of cavern that could be accessed by the surface, and had instead just been there, indicating that the earth had been manipulated. However, there were no traces of such manipulation, and the Mana showed no signs of ever being interfered with, which made the whole situation even more suspicious.

Knowing this, was it smart to continue operations? Probably not. However, the resources obtained from the location were simply too valuable to the Citadel as a whole.

As such, they made sure that any and all mining activities had far stricter protocols and supervision was a constant. Moreover, beasts with an earth affinity would always be on ground and use their abilities to sense deep in the ground for any anomalies. At the same time, all mined products would he scrutinized intensely before being shipped off to the Citadel.

The official story was that the Harbinger had managed to sneak into the cavern by chance through a complicated underground network that existed beneath the mountain chain and happened to encounter a natural resource that caused it to hibernate before evolving into the disaster it became.

This naturally sparked a lot of outrage as a lot of people felt as though such a thing was nonsensical and that the people in charge of monitoring the caves should be fired or incarcerated. Both because they felt like this situation could have been avoided if they did their jobs properly and because they felt like it was a waste losing the ’natural resource’ to a creature like the Harbinger.

Naturally, this was a lie, but the truth would have caused a far worse reaction than this explanation, so they left it at that.

Other than that, they were also making good use of all the loot they had gotten from killing so many beasts. While a lot of the bodies weren’t salvageable, the number that could be salvaged was still a lot.

As such, there was a sudden spike in items related to beasts appearing on the market. Weapons, armor, pharmaceuticals like tonics, etc. This caused the general market price to drop as the value of things decreased, but the higher-ups didn’t think it was a bad thing.

Moreover, one must remember that quite a few Expert rank beasts had been killed during the beast tide. This also meant that their territories were now uninhabited, giving the humans a free avenue to rob... claim their riches and whatever rare natural treasures they held within their lairs.

All in all, it was a bountiful harvest, and while one couldn’t say it was worth it considering the number of lives lost, they could attack least say they didn’t come out of the situation empty-handed.

However, all of this didn’t really tie in much with what was happening with the younger generation, more specifically, those who intended to write the college entrance exam.

All schools without exception spared no expense to help their students prepare as much as possible. As for what there was to expect, well, there wasn’t too much to be hidden.

Essentially, the Entrance Exam would be split into two parts, the theory and practical examination, and depending on how well one scored on both exams, different doors would be open to them.

For instance, one could do horribly on the Theory exam but excel in the Practical exam. If that happened, chances were that there would still be a bunch of colleges willing to accept such a result, and the same applied the other way round.

However, while this was the case, it was still advised for one to get as good a score as they could in both parts of the exam, because the better one did in both exams, the more paths would open up for them as they entered college.

Contrary to what one might think, beast tamer colleges weren’t just looking for kids whose beasts had the greatest potential. They also looked for people who were intelligent and innovative. Essentially, getting into a college didn’t depend solely on the potential of a beast, though, that certainly was a determining factor as well.

The written exam would take a week, and the practical exam would take 4 days.

When the exam was around the corner, the already concentrating students pretty much went into overdrive as they were determined to inhale as much knowledge as their brains could take.

Due to Mana, students were able to retain things a lot more easily as their memory and cognitive abilities improved due to its gradual enhancement. However, this caused their syllabus to increase in difficulty as well due to the previous syllabus not being as ’challenging’ with their new capabilities.

As such, if one had to make a comparison, then the education of Azure Star would be about three times more difficult than the education on Earth.

"Geez, I feel like my brain is full," Ellie complained as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples. She currently wore a loose sweater over some dolphin shorts and her hair had been tied into a messy bun. If she had to describe her appearance, she’d probably say she looked haggard, but virtually anyone with a pair of eyes would disagree heavily.

On the desk, there were about four books and numerous screens with all sorts of topics related to different subjects, all of which were being studied by her in different ways she believed help her retain the information better.

’Hungry.’ A small voice echoed in her mind, distracting her from her woes of studying as she turned to the side with a small smile.

Sugil had grown quite a bit over the past month, which was only natural since snakes grew the fastest when they were young, but more than that, there was also nutritious food for her, so she’d been growing steadily.

By now, she was over a meter long and roughly as thick as two and a half fingers. Her crystal-like scales had become even more prominent now, and they weren’t just for show as they were actually quite durable now. Ellie was certain that there weren’t a lot of things that could break through the scales. At least, not at the same rank.

Her wings had also grown, and while she was nowhere near as smile as a bird like Gale, she could still handle herself in the air. Moreover, she had venom now.

It wasn’t your typical venom, definitely nothing like the necrosis Inagi could inflict. Instead, if she bit anything with living tissue, as the venom spread, that thing woukd slowly turn into crystals. So sort of like petrification, but instead of turning to stone, you turn to crystals.

But then crystals are also rocks, kinda. So maybe it’s not so different.

As for the most notable change? Well, besides the green undertone to her aura, that was pretty much it.

But yes, Sugil had managed to break through to the Apprentice rank. It was completely unexpected as one day, she just curled up on the bed and went to sleep, and when she woke up, boom, Apprentice.

That’s also how she unlocked her venom, and Ellie experienced a period of strengthening when the process ended as some of the strength was fed back to her through their bond.

It was a surreal experience, if she had to be honest.

With that, she was pretty certain she’d do okay in the Practical examination. So what remained was preparing for the written exam, and boy was she preparing.

Ellie wasn’t dumb. Far from it, she always scored among the top in her school. However, as wilful as she was, she was keenly aware of the expectations placed on her. If she wrote the exam without much preparation, then even if she passed, there was still a chance she wouldn’t do that well, which isn’t what she wanted.

Hence, she threw herself into her studies and revised as best as she could. But she needed a break every now and then, and Sugil’s request for food was a welcome distraction.

She stood up and held out her hands, allowing the snake to fly into them. She stepped out of her room while humming a vague tune as she headed to the kitchen, passing some maids and butlers here and there.

Once she reached the kitchen, which made most middle-class kitchens look like inferior products, she took out a bowl and got some processed beast meat made from the remains of stronger beasts. There’s been a lot of that on the market recently.

"Ellie." A voice caused her to turn, not at all perturbed by the suddenness of it. She let Sugil eat as she faced her father, the man standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

"Dad? Is everything okay?" She asked curiously as she gave him a look over.

The man wasn’t too tall, roughly 5’11, with a lean build and piercing green eyes that seemed to stare into one’s soul. His hair was tied back into a ponytail and he wore a button-up shirt with the top buttons undone and some light pants. He looked like a model.

He was also one of the now 12 Exoert Rank Beast Tamers in the Citadel

"Everything is alright, i just say you here and decided to pass by." The man shrugged and stepped into the kitchen. Ellie blinked before nodding slowly.

She always thought her father was a bit of an oddball. Whenever he initiates a conversation, he gives you the sensation that he’s going to talk about something serious. But if you ask what, he says that’s not his intention, and it might seem like a lie at first, but he usually means it.

"How are your preparations going?" He asked as he walked over to their fridge and took out a glass of wine. Ellie just shrugged.

"Well enough. Sugil said she was hungry so I decided to feed her." Ellie replied promptly and spared a glance at the snake that was swallowing her food without chewing any of it. Well, snakes didn’t chew so it was fine.

"Right, she can communicate with you directly now?" He enquired and Ellie nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah, nothing complex. Usually just single-word questions and requests, but she’s getting smarter now." She explained and he nodded.

"That’s good to know. The smarter she becomes, the better your coordination will be in the future." He acknowledged and poured himself a glass before downing it.

"So, any more developments between you and that Osho kid?" He finally said.

’I knew it.’ She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"We’re still taking things slow, and he is still training as far as I’m aware, so we haven’t had many chances to meet up." She explained slowly.

"Interesting. What sort of training is he doing anyway?" He asked as his tone got a bit lighter. He seemed genuinely curious. However, Ellie shrugged.

"Not too sure. He mentioned something about sensory deprivation but I didn’t pry too much." She answered.

"Why?" He raised a brow.

"It didn’t seem too important. Besides, I didn’t want to come off as overly curious."

"Curiosity never hurt anyone."

"... I’m pretty sure curiosity is a leading cause of death in cats."

"Then you can take solace in the fact that you aren’t a cat."

Ellie: ( ￣-￣)

Her Father: ( ・_ゝ・)