Leo turned toward Qaran, still frowning slightly as he tried to clear the confusion lingering in his mind.

"These many elemental crystals…" he said slowly. "No beast would ever be able to find them in the wild, especially when they're rare and mined from deep underground. Then how do beasts in the wild advance?"

Qaran nodded and began explaining.

"These elemental crystals are meant for Beast Masters," he said calmly. "Wild beasts don't need elemental crystals to advance. They only require extra fruit or treasures—like the Ascension Fruit your Dryad and Cedar Treant needs. However, once a beast is tamed using a taming talent, the Beast Master adds a clause involving elemental crystals."

He paused briefly, choosing his words carefully.

"That's because when you inherit a beast's skill, it isn't something born from your own inherent abilities. The power needs a medium. So elemental crystals are required by the beast to support the skills you've inherited. In a way," Qaran added, "these crystals are actually for the Beast Masters."

Qaran continued without waiting for interruption.

"So if you don't inherit a skill of a particular element from a beast, then that beast won't require that element's crystal to advance. Oh—and also, since a beast and its tamer are connected, they rank up or fall in ranks together. That's why there are no Beast Masters stronger than their strongest beast. At best, they're equal. Usually," he said with a faint shrug, "the master is slightly weaker in almost all of the cases.."

Leo nodded, absorbing the explanation, before another thought surfaced.

"Does my beast having so many attacks with different elements affect the power output of those attacks?" he asked. "Since the total crystals are always equal to 30… Shyra'a has skills from so many different elements, yet the number of crystals required for some elements is much lower."

Qaran leaned back slightly, his brows knitting together as he thought.

"To be honest," he admitted after a moment, "I've never seen a beast with that many elements. So I can't say for sure. But… if you ask for my personal opinion," he hesitated, then continued, "it probably affects the output to some extent. I'm not certain, though."

Then he quickly added, as if afraid of discouraging Leo—

"But I have seen a beast with three elements. Yes, it was a bit weaker in raw power of elemental attacks compared to its peers, but the versatility it had became its true strength. It confused enemies until they didn't even realise when they were about to die."

Leo clicked his tongue internally.

I unknowingly made Shyra'a weaker…

After finishing their discussion, it was Miho's turn to get tested. She turned out to be a Low 2-star.

"Wait," Leo said, turning toward Qaran. "Back in the city, we couldn't directly test a person's strength. So how is she being tested here?"

"It's the dungeon core," Qaran replied. "They're too bulky and too less to be transported everywhere…"

What? Shouldn't core cities have this technology…? Qaran thought inwardly.

Shaking his head to clear the distraction, Qaran proceeded with the test and finalized the report.

Miho's Report:

Name: Miho

Race: Human

Current Rank: Low 2-star

Talent: Spirit Reinforcer – 6 stars

Elements in Command:

Flexible

Advancement Materials required after reaching Pseudo 3-star stats in Intelligence and Agility, and obtaining intermediate-level comprehension of her talent:

1. Attributeless Elemental Crystals: 5

2. Spirit Crystals [Blue] – 20

3. Soul Crystals [Low 3-star] – 5

4. Spirit Dew Drop [Blue] - 30ml

Qaran froze for a split second.

"6-star talent?!" he blurted out, abruptly standing upright.

Realizing himself, he glanced at the group and, wearing an apologetic expression, sat back down and began rewriting the report neatly for Leo and the others to see.

Fuck! They even have a six-star talent as their servant… shit.She might not even be a servant.

Seeing how quiet Miho had been from the beginning, Qaran had assumed she was a servant. But he was clearly wrong. No one with a 6-star talent could be a servant.

She's definitely just a quiet type.

That day, Qaran truly understood the saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover'—and in the most literal way possible.

After reading the report, Leo and Lily both turned toward Miho.

"Wasn't her talent a 5-star one?" Lily muttered, scanning Miho from head to toe as if checking whether something had gone wrong.

Leo, however, had already guessed the reason. Her soul must have advanced. Professor Brant had mentioned something about that.

With everything completed, the total cost of all analyses came to 80,000 AC—15,000 for all 5 beasts and 5,000 for Miho. As Leo paid the amount one transaction after another, Qaran watched in disbelief.

A fresher… paying this much without hesitation…

In the end, Qaran earned himself a sweet 4,000 AC.

Within the academy, metal coins could only be exchanged one way—AC into metal coins. Never the reverse. So it simply suggested Leo had so many beast cores and mana crystals on him to exchange after coming inside the academy, or he earnedthat many trial points. Most people didn't know about the 1st term student for now, since, other than freshers, no one else is able to see the ranking till the freshers' competition. As it might only create confusion after the ranking drastically changes after the competition.

The reason the rankings drastically change is that many people are trained indoors and cannot fight wild beasts in a proficient manner. Thus, the low points in the trial make them fall in ranks. And after fighting in a safe environment, that is the academy, they once again rank up. But they are still talented enough to get into their choice of academy. Though by the end of a term, real talents take up the top ranking.

Before leaving, Leo handed Qaran a few Bloodwarm Cherries--vitality-boosting fruits, as thanks for his hard work. The man looked utterly exhausted after conducting so many tests, though he had done his best to hide it.

After Leo left, Qaran curiously bit into one of the fruits.

The moment the juice burst in his mouth, his eyes watered from the intense, delicious flavour. Warmth spread through his body, his mind clearing as the fatigue vanishing like mist under sunlight.

He looked down again—Leo had left ten such berries.

"These…!" Qaran choked up. "They're worth more than the 4,000 AC I just earned!"

Happy tears streamed down his face as he gobbled the fruits one after another.

"So good… sob… such good people still exist." His eyes suddenly gleamed with determination. "Wait! Do they have a magic plant that produces these fruits? If they do, I must approach them! I'll always secure the first batch—no matter what!"

Oblivious to Qaran's internal resolve, Leo and his group walked down the corridor toward Aurelius Hall, planning to purchase the required advancement materials.

"After my spirits advance, I'll defeat that man with the scorpion!" Lily said, brimming with excitement.

Leo nodded.

"After I complete my advancement, I'll head near a water source and tame some water beasts for our territory's water supply. After that, I'll join an advanced close-combat class. That Leon guy…" Leo's eyes narrowed slightly. "He was too proficient. I could only keep up because my stats were higher."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Yes. I'll join an advanced swordsmanship class as well."

Miho spoke meekly from behind them.

"I—I will too. I'll join a class in the Spirit Department… so I can better understand my talent."

Lily brightened and turned toward her.

"You've already decided which class?"

"Yes," Miho said, nodding. "From my talent's name, I think it's related to support abilities. So I'll join a class that teaches me in that field." She hesitated, then added softly, "T-that way, I can reinforce your weapons… or even your bodies, so you can fight better…"

Lily smiled and patted her back. "Whatever suits you."

Just then, Miho's phone vibrated.

Ting!

She pulled it out, and her eyes widened.

>Ranked Match Challenge Issued

>Challenger – Nord Birel – Rank 1004 - 15010 pts

>Accept / Delay for a day

>Note: After accepting, you must be present at the battle arena at the specified time. Failure to appear will result in a heavy fine and a ranking demotion. Repeated offence leads to investigation by Academy officials and eventually expulsion.

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