"You have the nerve—!" Dale's instincts screamed. His eyes constricted, and he snatched his hand back from Leo's shoulder as if it had been burned; he clutched his wrist, heart pounding.

"W-what happened, Master Dale?" one of the girls stammered, but he didn't answer. He only stared at Lily with wide, terrified eyes.

By now, Lily was sober. One hand hovered on the sword's hilt—just a fingertip grazing the metal—but the look she fixed on him was ice. Dale could feel it like a physical pressure, gnawing at his bravado.

"I suppose the misunderstanding has been dealt with," Leo said coolly, "but next time—be careful. Put your hand on me again and you'll bear the consequences." With that, he turned and walked off, his dismissal measured and calm.

"You! Master Dale—!" Dale stopped her, only watching their retreating figure.

"Let's head back. Today's mission was a failure." Dale forced his voice calm and strode away.

Shit! What was that stare?! I thought I would be cooked in that freezing atmosphere. She doesn't seem normal at all. No no no no—fuck! I don't want her.

Dale's instincts howled: press further and you might as well walk into a dragon's mouth. He kept moving, chest tight.

After they'd gone a short distance Leo halted and faced Lily.

"Lily, I didn't eye—" he started, but she pressed a finger to his lips.

"I know. I'm sure that guy was plotting something. No way in hell you'd look at those assetless bitches while I'm beside you. Hmph." She puffed her cheeks, still flushed from the alcohol.

Shit. She's self-aware now. All because of that bastard…

assetless. He looked at her again. Yeah—by her standards, everyone in front of her was assetless.

"What? What are you looking at? Don't tell me you're compar—" she narrowed her eyes.

"No! Not at all. You're the best for me. Always." He hurried to reassure her.

Fuck… it's going to be a long night, he thought, sliding his arm around her as they continued.

---

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

The city bell tolled in steady clanks.

"Oy! Come quick—the official notice for the trial has arrived."

"Keke. Nice. Finally, the interesting part begins."

People swarmed the noticeboards scattered around the city. When they read the announcement, faces drained. The trial would last one month—and it was a beast-hunting trial. That alone wasn't what frightened them. It was the rule that each applicant must go solo.

Any student with a combat talent would be sent. Spatial mages were assigned to each academy for the purpose: they'd teleport every student to a random location deep in the surrounding jungle—so far that even if someone knew the exact spot, it would take more than a month to return, even with a speedster skill. The students were to survive, hunt, and collect beast cores. Each beast core yielded different points based on level:

Low 1-star = 1 pt

Mid 1-star = 5 pt

High 1-star = 20 pt

Peak 1-star = 50 pt

Low 2-star = 150 pt

Mid 2-star = 400 pt

High 2-star = 1000 pt

Peak 2-star = 5000 pt

The academies had already cleared away the highest-level monsters, leaving Low 3-star beasts as rare boss encounters—kill one and you'd earn 50,000 points. How would the academies verify kills? Through the metal plates bearing each student's number.

After slaying a beast, a student touched their metal plate to the corpse; the beast would disappear and leaving only its core behind. The plate would store the information, and the spaced mage would teleport the corpse back to the academy. It was how the schools recouped the cost of feeding and housing applicants while they were in the city.

The crowd also noticed one chilling detail: there was no rule forbidding collaboration or fighting among contestants—so kill-stealing was implicitly allowed. Another line on the notice read: "In case an applicant is killed, the reason will be thoroughly investigated." That brief clause made several people swallow hard.

Figures… Leo thought. Humans are sending people to clash with beasts and other races. Now that there's a golden chance to find new talents, why would they want folks dead—killed by each other? If you're supposed to die, die fighting the enemy...

His expression hardened. That didn't mean he could relax—not with Lily's talent exposed. He'd noticed the circles of interest forming around them already. Having an 8-star talent must be rare.

Leo checked inside his spiritual space. Niri slept curled on top of Shyra while Shyra roamed the island. His gaze shifted to the piles of mana and soul crystals they had gathered over time. He counted quickly in his head—he wasn't short.

I am not actually short on mana crystal, and I am confident I can always gain more…

From what he understood, she needed mana to maintain her summons. He decided then: he would give her all the soul crystals and some mana crystals; the rest he'd keep for emergencies.

The following days were mostly spent making Lily digest the soul crystals. They kept to themselves and avoided joining the fledgling factions forming among the students. Better to stay under most radars.

Brant watched from his post. The Principal had told him not to miss the chance to recruit promising applicants. While most other academies eyed Lily alone, Brant saw the truth: the boy was the main player. He only needed the boy to secure the girl. Plans began forming in his mind.

"Hoho—how did this couple gain such power? Dual…? Ah, no, that's only known by the Emperor. The girl's side, I can work out—there's another Spirit Caller. But 'Bestiary of Souls'? Even that old fossil hasn't heard of anyone like that. How did he become a 2-star?" Brant's thoughts churned without reaching a conclusion.

Maybe he devours souls like that one fellow… who knows. I just need to make sure they join Aurelius Beast Academy. Should I tempt them with gifts? He mused, plotting their recruitment.

While the week swiftly came to an end.

And Lily's mana had already crossed 2000.

Intelligence: 109.2 -> 129.6

Mana: 4368 -> 5184

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