"True hordes..." Wei loosened his robe’s collar, visibly sweating, "follow a cycle of several years and appear in specific seasons... and require the intervention of the complete army." Another glance at Ren. Was he sick? Had the encounter affected him more than it seemed? "Does anyone want to... add something?" he looked meaningfully at Ren. "Comment on any error in my explanation?" "Actually," Ren straightened up, and Wei almost sighed with relief, "I’d like to know more about the defensive tactics used against different types of abyssals." Several students laughed discreetly at seeing the expression of total bewilderment on Wei’s face. "Well… Tactics against asarous monsters like those are just about finding the weakness by trying multiple options and… This... this isn’t normal," murmured Wei, passing a hand across his forehead. "Are you feeling well?" "Why do you ask, professor?" Ren tilted his head innocently. "Because you seemed like someone who always had something to say!" Wei finally exploded. "Have you learned your lesson and become a new person in these months?" "Oh," Ren smiled. "It’s just that I don’t know anything about this, professor. My mushrooms don’t have information about abyssal beasts." "Your mushrooms... don’t know anything?" Wei blinked in confusion. "No sir. That’s why I’m listening. Although," and here the mushrooms in his hair pulsed, "according to what Taro has told me about your cultivation classes, you’re still wrong about many things..." Wei’s face went through several shades of red in rapid succession. "YOU… I THOUGHT YOU HAD CHANGED YOUR…!" he began, but stopped, breathing deeply. "You know what, I prefer when you don’t know anything. Let’s continue with the lesson about what you DO want to learn... And I hope you remember that soon you’ll only have less than half the semester left to fulfill your word in our bet!" "Of course, professor," Ren nodded seriously. "Though about the cultivation method you mentioned to Taro last week..." "NO! ENOUGH!" Wei raised his hands in defeat while the students burst into laughter. "Ten points less for... for...! For existing!" The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed to the rhythm of laughter while Wei tried to regain control of the impromptu class, muttering something about "thinking he had changed" and "returning his pity." ♢♢♢♢ The day of the second exploration is near, but it’s not the only thing happening soon... "Well?" Liu observed while Taro absorbed another processed crystal. "Do you feel closer to becoming a living tunnel yet?" "Don’t be like that," Min laughed. "Clearly Ren is transforming him into a deep assassin. Can’t you see how his mouth is lengthening and his shell glows differently?" Taro almost choked while dealing with the crystal absorption. "Don’t joke while I’m cultivating, idiots!" The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed with amusement while he continued absorbing the next crystal for his own cultivation. "Though..." Min moved closer to examine Taro more carefully. "Your mana does flow differently lately." Liu nodded with fake seriousness. "And your markings are more defined. Maybe the fungus knows what he’s doing after all." "Of course I know," Ren smiled while finishing his absorption and storing the saturated tentacle. "That’s why you too should..." "No no no!" Min raised his hands defensively. "First let’s see if Taro survives." "Thanks for the vote of confidence," Taro muttered. "Hey, you’re our brave guinea beetle," Liu patted him on the back. "If you survive and evolve like Ren says, we’ll be first in line begging for help." "And if I don’t survive?" "Then we’ll be first at your funeral," Min smiled. "With flowers and everything." The four laughed, though Taro looked slightly darker as he finished absorbing. "Well, I’m off," Liu stood up. "Some of us still have to study normal and safe cultivation methods at this hour and Professor Agatha is just as bad as Wei..." "Coward," Taro shouted as he left, provoking more laughter. Once alone, Ren, Taro, and Min also prepared to leave while discussing something more serious. "Professor Yang’s mid-semester evaluation..." Min began. "We need a strategy," Taro nodded. "We’re the only team without an offensive beast and I don’t know if I’ll have time to rank up... Hope they delay the date more because of the horde problem." Ren studied his companions thoughtfully. The mushrooms in his hair pulsed while analyzing each one’s capabilities. "We have to use our strengths," he began. "Min, your snake has our best attack range. Taro, your beetle is perfect for defense, especially now that your mana flows better. And I..." "You have the brightest mushrooms," Min completed with a smile. "Also Lin’s training," Taro added. "True," Ren straightened. "And lots of normal beasts knowledge... Which means we can use interesting strategies depending on who we face..." "Well, I’m off to Professor Dorothy, good luck with Wei and Lin, haha," Min mocked while walking away. Taro clenched his fist, Ren frowned, that lucky one had the calmest teacher of first year. The boys separated to go to their first classes and Ren went to hide from Lin. He failed again. ♢♢♢♢ After a brutal training session with Lin, a punishment that had been going on for several days after his escape to the caves... Ren was dragged by Lin to Yang’s class, for more training. "Five more laps!" Yang watched while the students ran around the training field. The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed steadily… it wasn’t actually so bad since training with Lin had significantly improved his endurance. Min, on the other hand, was breathing heavily beside him. "How... do you... do this... 4 times... every day?" he managed between breaths. "Lin is worse lately," Ren smiled, remembering his morning session. When they finally finished, Yang gathered all the students. "Well, I have an important announcement," his voice resonated across the field. "As you know, you would normally have the gathering trip in the middle of the fourth month of the semester..." "Would have?" Cass, Jin’s friend, interrupted. "What do you mean by ’would have’?" "Professor Zhao will be... indisposed," Yang continued. "Therefore, we’ll take advantage of that day to hold a small friendly mid-semester tournament." Murmurs of discontent spread quickly among the students. "But we need those materials!" someone protested from the back. "The collection is crucial for generating profits and paying for our cultivation!" Ren also felt some disappointment. The collection trip would have been an excellent opportunity to obtain many materials again... though thinking about it, without Zhao present and the noble kids being targets, it could be more dangerous than last time. "Silence!" Lin’s voice cut through the complaints. "To compensate for the loss of the trip, special prizes will be awarded to the teams with the best performance." This immediately caught everyone’s attention. "The prizes," Yang smiled, "will include materials equivalent to what you could have obtained on the trip. Possibly more, depending on your performance." "Now," Lin took out a small box, "we’ll proceed to draw the matches for the first round."