“Turn back around!” Lyra’s sharp voice made him stop on the last step. “Move! Miles’s waiting for you near the front desk!”
A pang of hate for his cousin shot through Galen, and he swore. He had waited for his authorized two hours in the library all week. He had trained diligently during his free time – his long hours of free time: building up his stamina, sharpening his accuracy, and consolidating his shield handling. It was hard without any proper training space, but Artem was ingenious with this kind of thing.
Climbing back down the stairs, Galen asked, “The insect’s on him?”
“Don’t ask dumb questions.”
Galen regretted that the library didn’t have a second entrance. It was his last opportunity of the week to use his time there. Alternating between tapping his fingers on his thighs and curling his hands into fists, Galen forced his mind to consider what he could do instead.
“What did you want to study?” Lyra asked, unaware of his resolution.
“I wanted to review my knowledge of the Apemios Monument and the Apemios Family.” Galen sighed. He’d love to pick up his research about spirit plants and pill making, but two hours were too short for that, and he was prone to lose track of time when he focused on it.
“Surely, Miles won’t stay there the whole morning. Find a hiding place nearby, and we’ll talk as we wait for him to leave or for an opportunity to sneak inside.”
Galen walked along the east wing of the building toward the administrative offices and found a bench to sit on. His coat and scarf kept the worst of the cold away, and he had built up his resistance in these last weeks thanks to all the time he had spent outside. Fortunately, Lucia’s new [heal] skill also helped keep the twins healthy.
“You can still hear him from here, yes?” Galen surveyed the deserted place. He was in plain view, but the offices were closed, so few people came by.
After giving her confirmation, Lyra tried to cheer up Galen. “By the way, you should be able to level up tomorrow at the latest. If there’s an accident and you don’t, I advise you to wait until after the exam, or else you won’t have the time to build back your chi reserve.”
Galen was a bit excited at the news. He was more eager for his reward than the notable chi. When Artem leveled up, he chose the “Market” as a new feature for their inner world. The other two choices – now almost impossible to obtain – had been the “War Council” and the “Grove”. Artem immediately dismissed the “War Council”, its bonus to attack offering no advantage to the twins’ pets. Then, despite his interest in the possibility for the fairies to enter the inner world thanks to the “Grove”, Artem prioritized the opportunity to exchange resources through the “Market”.
Like the “Warehouse”, which had recently been upgraded thanks to Lucia's reward from evolving her [heal] skill, the “Market” had several tiers. At its lowest tier, the twins could only exchange basic resources like low-grade spirit stones or spirit herbs. Galen had tested it: the “Market” accepted the spirit plants the youth had harvested at the Lush Steps Lake. When he put his harvest into the “Market”, a third option appeared: gaining In?, the inner world currency.
Curious, Galen hadn’t proceeded with the exchange and tried instead with one of his low-grade potions. The “Market” refused it. From Lyra’s explanation, Mr. Duval’s lessons, and his own understanding, the feature was at a tier too low to accept higher resources or processed goods.
Galen and Artem weren’t upset. They were playing the long game and saw the “Market” as an investment. It was a well-documented feature, even if each inner world was influenced by its owner. The resources accessible at the higher tiers would be profitable: the twins didn’t doubt it.
“There you are!”
Galen raised his eyes in surprise. Lyra hadn’t warned him that someone was coming.
“Hiding from your cousin?” Zane said with an awkward smile. He lowered his head when Galen didn’t answer. “Never mind. Here’s your letter.”
Lyra grimaced at her oversight. “Sorry. He’s not an enemy, so I don’t monitor him.”
Galen wordlessly took the letter. He didn’t need to look at it to know it was from the Third Elder. What worried him was the First Elder’s silence. Galen didn’t expect much from the Second Elder, Andreas Eos, because he was a Beast Warrior working as an Army officer. He had been stationed on the front line for several years. However, the First Elder, Loukas Eos, was a Beast Researcher. In the Eos Family, he was the one closest to the Head, and he had worked with Tana Eos on several projects.
Galen blinked and called a hurried thank you after Zane’s leaving form. The twins hadn’t spoken much with the shy boy since the Lush Steps Lake field trip. They didn’t want to burden him. However, Zane still did his work seriously, gathering their assignments or distributing letters as usual.
Thinking of Zane, Galen had half a mind to ask for his help to sneak into the library. Surely, the boy knew how to do it, and Galen amused himself by picturing the boy crawling through windows.
“What’s this? A festival?” Lyra’s irritated voice broke through Galen’s musing.
“What?” Galen focused his attention around him, ready to react to any danger.
“The strange insect, I’m also hearing it!” Lyra bitched internally about all these people bothering and spying on her hosts. They were acting like flies, the lot of them! “Wait! A moth, a Gale Moth? This one, remember? I said it sounded like a butterfly, but different. It sounds sturdier, with a stronger wind current. So, it might be a Gale Moth, right?”
“That’s a good supposition, but it’s hard to confirm.” Galen would keep it in mind. “Miles is still at the library?”
Lyra’s sullen quietness was a sufficient answer. Galen gave up, too irritated by his Family to wait there. He didn’t wish to waste more of his time, especially with so many eyes on him.
Galen returned to his room. He couldn’t do much pharmaceutical work there, but he was bored with physical training. Moreover, he had already used up most of the ingredients they had in the “Warehouse” to brew the limited simple potions he could with his personal equipment.
“Want to read the encyclopedia?” Like she had promised, the first thing Lyra did when Artem leveled up was to choose visual communication as her upgrade. It might be selfish of her when she could have chosen conference communication, but it wouldn’t be long before her next upgrade, and their system to communicate telepathically worked well enough.
With nothing better to do, Galen agreed. Most of the articles were only at the first tier. The Fire Fairy’s and the Light Fairy’s articles got to the second tier when the pets learned their first self-taught skill. Galen was curious to test if studying the other articles and finding more information about each pet could unlock the next tier for them. It was how the fairies’ articles got to the third tier, so it was worth testing.
Galen had already studied the common pets, trying to find a pattern in their evolution path or suggested training regimen. This time, he gave special attention to any skill dealing with light or fire. He began with the entries about the fire pets they had touched: the Fire Beetle, the Red Falcon, the Eternal Sky-Golden Phoenix, the Magma Tortoise, and the Fire Wisp.
Galen was soon engrossed in his reading, pondering over his pet’s training. The innate [ghost fire] skill used by the Fire Wisp was of little use to Ayden. Its draining effect wasn’t advantageous enough to balance its weak and slow attack. However, the encyclopedia hinted that it could be combined into the [mislead] skill.
This notable skill could be a perfect bridge for Lucia to learn [illusion] since it used globs of ghostly fire to lure the target away. It was fitting to Lucia because Galen was sure that globs of light could substitute for the fire and work similarly. Moreover, Lucia already knew how to form a sphere of light thanks to her [glow] skill, and the wisp was a fey.
Galen noted this skill and dropped his current perusal to study the Fern Heavenly Peacock’s article. This epic pet had two innate skills, one of them being [mesmerize]. When using it, the peacock opened its tail to capture its target’s attention, lowering their guard and putting them in a trance-like state. Larissa had used this skill several times in their practice dual combat class to prevent her opponents from attacking. Once mesmerized, the target was passive, and Larissa could set the field to her advantage. Once she attacked the target, it woke up.
It was different from the epic [charm] skill. The twins had received a piece of this skill from their last use of the shuffle. Ayden’s reward for her new [fire resistance] skill allowed them to obtain their first epic piece thanks to the lucky booster. While similar to [mesmerize], [charm] had a compelling side. The skill put the target under the user’s influence by using beauty and allure. A charmed target would refuse to attack the user, and if their mind was especially malleable, they could even defend the user.
[Mislead] also had a hypnotizing aspect to lure its target. All these skills had a psychic element, one necessary to learn and to master the [illusion] skill. Comparing all these skills gave Galen several ideas for training his Light Fairy.
Meanwhile, Lucia was diligently cultivating. She persevered throughout the day. The Light Fairy was determined to catch up to her sister. Her determination didn’t come from jealousy but a will to do her best for her tamer.
***
The next morning, as Galen was taking care of Mrs. Bousrani’s garden, Lyra gleefully sent her dear blue box in front of the youth.
The blue box wasn’t necessary, but since she got her upgrade, Lyra milked it for all its possibilities, testing every kind of message she could think of. It had the secondary effect of pushing her hosts’ patience. A blue screen popping in front of Artem had distracted him at the wrong moment and left him especially peeved about it.
Despite his excitement, Galen congratulated Lucia for her dedication and meticulously finished his work before returning to his room. He wanted to share this moment with his brother. Moreover, the changes induced by the stronger chi impacted the human body in such a way that Galen needed to lie down before proceeding with the concrete level-up.
Informed thanks to Lyra, Artem soon joined Galen in their room. When the youth next opened his eyes, it was to see another blue screen in front of him.
“The ‘Hourglass’ would have been useful before we upgraded the ‘Warehouse’.” Galen was pleased with this upgrade. He didn’t need to make incense and poultices anymore to preserve the Caladrius Bird’s body. Moreover, the timing couldn’t have been better with the restrictions preventing Galen from accessing the laboratories.
“It could also have meshed well with the ‘Grove’.” While agreeing with his brother, Artem was thinking about the training possibilities for the fairies.
“No point in dwelling on past things and unreachable features.” Galen paused to consider the other two features. Narrowing his eyes, he shared his input about the “Portal”. “I’m not sure how useful going into the inner would be.”
“To meet me!” The CSI beamed in a bubbly voice.
“We’ve met you, Lyra,” Artem countered her with a straight face.
“Like hell you did! I didn’t hold any home-warming party!”
Galen shook his head helplessly. He had recognized the gleam in his brother’s eyes. “Silliness aside, I believe ‘Sacrificial altar’ is meant to work with the ‘Market’ because both use In?.”
“We still don’t know what it’s for,” Artem voiced his reservations, “but I don’t have a better proposition.”
Lyra smiled secretly and kept her mouth shut.
After deliberating a bit more, the twins chose the “Sacrificial altar”. Lyra controlled her system to operate the new changes and implement the new feature. Then, she cheerfully sent her announcement.
The twins were glad that their reasoning gave them new rewards. They asked more questions about the conversion rate and immediately tested it. By sacrificing their piece of the common [slap] skill, they earned 10 In? while the piece of the notable [burning rage] gained them 20 In?. Any piece of unwanted features they chose to sacrifice counted as a rare-rank piece and would net them 50 In?. However, to buy one epic blank piece to try to complete the [charm] skill, the twins needed to pay 500 per piece. It was five times the value of the piece if they stupidly wanted to sacrifice it.
“See it as an investment. You did for the ‘Market’. Trust me. You didn’t like my encyclopedia or my shuffle at first. And look at you, now? Aren’t I awesome?”
Instead of thinking of Lyra’s cleverness, Artem’s instinct nudged him to think about Lyra’s sacrifices. This new option sounded a lot like something she would like to implement for herself. What did she sacrifice to give them what they needed?
Artem didn’t believe it was a coincidence if the “Warehouse” was among their choices that first time or that its upgrade came so soon. Lyra had claimed that the low possibility of getting the passed-over features was the balance, but Artem had the intuition that it was more than that.
The twins shared their inner world. Why didn’t they get one feature each from the beginning? Artem hadn’t pursued the thought because their situation was undocumented, but he believed it was one of the prices they had to pay to get the “Warehouse”. He had never put weight on Lyra’s claim that it was just luck.
***
The next week passed quickly. The twins seriously trained and reviewed for the exam, but they lowered their expectations because of Yaron’s claim. Unable to trust the dean or the teachers, Galen secretly recorded his conversation with Yaron when he went to refuse the boy’s proposal. He could only prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Another source of distraction was his worry about the Eos Family. Galen had stretched the Third Elder’s patience to its limits and believed Nicholas would soon change tactics. Artem concurred, his instinct telling him that something would happen soon. Nevertheless, it was useless to dwell on it, so they concentrated on their next goal: gaining credits to reduce their demerits.
The exam began on Thursday morning. The class was divided again by alphabetical order, and the twins’ group began with the papers testing their knowledge this time. When the young beast tamers went to measure their chi afterward, Artem’s results caused a commotion.
Mr. Carter’s sharp rebuff contained it at first. He scolded the noisy students and tried to cheapen Artem’s image by accusing him of seeking attention. However, the calm didn’t last. Galen’s chi measurement was as unexpected, and while Mr. Carter stood stiffly and pinched his mouth, Yaron and the Jamra boys loudly complained.
The twins were reluctant to respond, used to their secrecy. Lyra fidgeted. She wanted to gloat and show the fairies’ worth. She dreamed of making Amir eat his mocking words toward the fairies.
However, Mr. Carter didn’t stop Yaron and Nasir as they blackened the twins, so Galen decided to state clearly the advantage given by the fairies. Sharing the key to their success might even gain them some recognition.
Galen commanded attention as he cut off Nasir’s rant. “Feys impact the speed of the talent’s level-up.”
“You’re joking, aren’t you?” Amir scoffed. His scornful gaze fell on the fairies, underlining his meaning.
“Wait a moment,” Deborah blurted. “What are you talking about? What feys?”
“The fairies are feys, not beasts –” Galen asserted steadily.
“Stop lying to try to get out of your cheating!” Nasir shouted, rudely interrupting Galen.
“It’s rare for youngsters to know about feys.” The beast tamer from the Beast Tamers Association nodded in approval to the twins. She had a petite physique, with a silly, notable Leaf Parakeet perched on her left shoulder, but she exuded a soft authority that calmed down everyone when she spoke. Turning to Deborah, the woman gently explained, “The feys are more spirits than beasts, so their affinity for spiritual power is stronger.”
Yaron stomped his feet. “What nonsense! Mr. Carter, say something! Don’t let this woman –!”
The parakeet screeched, stunning Yaron. The beast tamer calmly raised one hand to pet her bird. “A nice showing from your student, Mr. Carter. I’m a bit fuzzy on the right amount, but I’d say this deserves at least 10 demerits, right?” The woman tilted her head and smiled sweetly.
The amount was double what disrespecting a teacher should cost, but Mr. Carter glared at Yaron and agreed. The boy flushed and lowered his head. Luckily, he saw his swan opening its beak and closed his hands around it. Letting his pet use his innate [scream] skill would only worsen his situation.
The beast tamer from the Association lazily checked the device that required her presence. Then, instead of calling up the next student, she glanced at Deborah and Galen. With a smile, the woman invited him to educate his classmates.
Galen shrugged off the incident. He didn’t pity the loud boy. “Feys cultivate more easily, so they procure more chi for their tamer.” Seeing his classmates looking unconvinced, Galen added. “That’s why Silas leveled up when he did.”
Galen pointed out Moses’s progress next. Despite having a common pet and a notable CSI, his recent assessment showed his chi was a dense white.
“You got your pet later than any of us, and the fairies are only common pets,” Cecelia said in a suspicious tone.
“Yeah, but we have a rare CSI.” Galen didn’t say more, allowing his classmates to find the answer themselves.
Naila could easily see where this was going and confidently explained, “You can convert 10% of your pet’s spiritual energy, but Silas’s CSI can only convert 5% of it. As for Chandler…” The girl was tactful enough not to mention Chandler’s low chance of leveling up with his common CSI.
“Hmm, that’s why Artem, Silas, and you evolved almost at the same time, despite Artem and you using your talent more often and getting your pet a week after Silas,” Yanna clarified. She was curious because she also had a rare CSI but didn’t make as much progress.
Galen nodded, comforted by the beast tamer’s input and his more moderate classmate’s intervention. He wondered if that was enough, but Mr. Carter cut the discussion short, dissing the students who didn’t know about the feys. “You’re a waste of space here! Miss Geller, you’re up.”
Under his lead, they rapidly finished the first part of the exam, confirming Sarah’s and Amir’s level-up to the notable rank. However, their achievement was anticipated and didn’t provoke much reaction.
The pets’ exam happened next. Few differences were expected because each pet was limited by their genetics. The improvements were contained within their rank. It was such for the fairies. Their physical body was still at the F rank, and their spiritual quality at the E rank, although the quality was much higher within that rank.
The pets near evolution had higher results, like Yanna’s Short-Tailed Cat. Hearing the cat’s progress, Artem remembered the beast tamer talking to Yanna during the last exam and suspected the girl of being sponsored. With her rare CSI and her unusual talent [Video], Yanna deserved it. Artem regretted that he couldn’t interact more with her.
The pets’ mind development didn’t have the same limitations. The pet’s genetics were only one criterion, and a high-ranked CSI combined with a diligent beast tamer could do much to improve the pet’s intelligence. This time, the evaluation was more complex and took longer per pet, so two Beast Researchers accompanied Mrs. Bousrani to take care of it.
The twins believed their fairies deserved to get at least the D rank, but they judged it more prudent to keep a low profile. They planned for their pets to lower their results. The fairies were obedient and smart enough to fake a high E rank.
However, Lyra strongly advised them against it, reminding them that they needed as many credits as they could receive. It was their classmates’ results that finally convinced them. Caleb’s Green Dog, Moses’s Water Elemental, Naila’s Blue-Eyed Pony, and Mavis’s Red Robin obtained a D rank. With so many common pets getting a high rank, the twins wouldn’t stand out. Galen particularly admired the Red Robin’s development because Mavis didn’t have any of the others’ advantages.
The rest of the morning passed peacefully. Nothing else of interest happened in their group if one ignored Nasir boasting about his new pet, the notable Flame Scarab. He was so eager to show off and prove he had caught up to his cousins that his classmates were embarrassed for him.
***
After a short meal break, the beast-tamer students gathered in the arena to hear the rules for the next part of the exam. It wasn’t simple battles this time. The teachers and invigilators wanted to see the students cooperating with their pets. In order to show the results of their training with Mr. Carter, the young beast tamers needed to enter a maze, find one of the eight trinkets hidden inside, and get out of the maze before the three-hour limit.
Their class was divided into three brackets, depending on their credits and merits. Only the lower bracket would enter the labyrinth that afternoon, so the exam would only end the next day, on Friday.
The maze was built by Dascalos High School’s beast-tamer teachers and the Beast Tamers Association’s representatives. The maze was huge, with all kinds of walls and fields influenced by these beast tamers’ pets and talents. There was no point in learning the maze map using the screens projecting the exam in the arena for the audience: the structure would change for each bracket, adding more traps and other obstacles for the best students.
As Yaron had predicted, the twins were in the lower bracket. In the same group were Nasir and Basic because of their demerits, and Yaron, Paula, Crystal, Tom, Chandler, Bruno, and Silas because of their poor results during the first exam.
Yaron was right that it was unfair. Basic and Artem should have been in the highest bracket, and Galen in the middle bracket. Despite his wishful thinking, Nasir was where he was meant to be. However, the new division messed up the placement of several students. Deborah, Shoshana, and Moses were forcibly put into the middle bracket instead, and this led to shuffling Melanie and Daniyal to the highest bracket.
Dealing with students from the professional combat elective class, like Basic or Artem, couldn’t compare with fighting the poorly trained Shoshana, whose hobby was crafting. Likewise, running into the notable Light Camel was nothing like facing off against Deborah’s common Yellow Bee. So, the students in the lower bracket complained a lot.
“I don’t hear you complaining about Crystal’s rare Grey Stone Wallaroo or Bruno’s elective class.” Mr. Carter smirked and twisted the blade. “I understand: they are so weak that they aren’t worthy of your notice.”
Crystal was outraged. She admitted her grades for this period were awful, but how could he talk about her like that? Having learned her lesson that it was useless to quarrel with her teacher, Crystal spat insults at her classmates.
Mr. Carter added fuel to the fire by listing her shortcomings and asking her to face reality. Unhappy with being pointed at as an unqualified beast tamer, she nastily turned on the twins. Since the rumors about them ran rampant in the school, most students were wary of Artem’s physical prowess and believed he liked to bully mundane people.
The twins helplessly ignored the glares and mutters. Half the people in the lower bracket with them could potentially bring them trouble, and the practical exam promised to be full of missteps.. Fortunately, Artem and Galen had done well that morning and should have gained many credits.