"Listen."
Liu leaned forward.
"I'm telling you this because I like you, and frankly because I feel a bit sorry for you. Don't hold on to empty hope. Focus on surviving eight years. Learn what you can learn. But don't expect a miracle."
Liu lowered his voice.
"If I were you, I'd focus on recovering at least part of that expensive tuition. Work hard in the gathering zones and they double whatever resources you earn, so over eight years you can get back at least a fifth of it."
"Double? How is that possible?"
"There's a belongings inspection tomorrow."
Ren's expression visibly stiffened.
"Relax."
Liu snorted at his reaction.
"It isn't what you're thinking. It's just a procedure for registering the value of what you brought in with you."
"Why?"
"Because of what you just asked. The academy counts at double value everything you obtain for yourself in the designated zones. It's a kind of merit scholarship. The better a gatherer you are, the more support you receive. His Majesty has always encouraged those who bring in resources from outside."
"So if I find valuable materials......."
"The academy pays you for their value. That's why they record what you brought in at the start. They need to know later what you obtained here."
Liu leaned back against his bed.
"But like I said, don't hold out too much hope with that Spore."
The mushrooms in Ren's hair pulsed gently, as though answering his growing resolve.
"And if you're wrong? If there's more to a Spore than everyone believes?"
Ren asked.
Liu looked at him for a long moment.
"In that case," he said at last,
"you'd have to find a way to prove it. But I'm warning you, the academy isn't run by idiots who waste resources on empty promises."
'It isn't an empty promise! I just need a chance to prove it.'
Ren thought.
As the thought took shape, the mushrooms in his hair pulsed again, reminding him of the secret sleeping beneath their feet.
Perhaps there was a way to achieve both things at once: to obtain the materials he needed and to secure his place at the academy.
"Did you hear that? They count double whatever we find! And...... a hundred crystals a day at the Silver grade! With that much I could......."
Min flopped down flat on his bed.
His Water Snake materialized around his neck like a blue ribbon.
"Don't get your hopes too high. We have to get there first."
Taro murmured.
"Oh, come on."
Min smiled and turned toward Taro, who had been quietly sorting his things.
"You can't tell me you don't dream about it too. Imagine what you could do in the mines with your beetle!"
Taro muttered something unintelligible and went on arranging his tools meticulously.
"Min has a point."
Ren put in.
He had noticed that Taro's shoulders tightened every time someone mentioned his Beast.
"Even Beasts everyone thinks are weak can......."
"That's exactly it!"
Min shot upright.
His Water Snake squirmed enthusiastically.
"My Water Snake is Iron grade, but if I study like mad I can break the mold, just like the Headmaster said. The point is that all of us have a chance, right?"
He got up, went over to Taro, and threw an arm around his shoulders.
"Even this tight-lipped fellow here! That Digger Beetle will be a sensation once it evolves, won't it, Taro?"
Taro's face reddened slightly, but a small smile rose at the corner of his mouth.
"If it evolves." he murmured, though a trace of hope colored his voice.
"Of course it'll evolve!"
Min turned to Ren.
"And your Spore...... well, at least it glows prettily."
"Min."
Liu sighed from his bed.
"Stop jabbering and finish unpacking. The inspection is tomorrow and the area around your bed looks like a disaster site!"
"A disaster? It's organized!"
Min protested, but he started tidying all the same.
His snake helped him, shifting things with its tail.
Taro quietly went back to sorting, but Ren noticed now that his movements had grown easier.
Min's enthusiasm seemed to have that effect on people.
The mushrooms in Ren's hair glowed softly.
He watched his roommates.
Perhaps Gray Wing was the perfect place for Ren after all.
***
That night, while his roommates slept, Ren went over his options in the darkness.
The mushrooms in his hair cast a faint glow, holding their light down so as not to disturb his companions.
Obtaining the materials himself would be difficult.
Even knowing exactly what he needed, if those resources were as expensive as Liu said, it could take years without the academy's support.
'And all that time my parents will be keeping up the rite every day. Their runes first, and then.......'
No, he had to be more efficient than that.
The academy had a merit system.
Everyone expected him to fail, and that could actually work in his favor.
Because no one expected anything of a Spore, even the smallest progress would draw notice.
If he could prove even a fraction of the Spore's potential, if he could pull even a little of the academy's support out of the system Liu had mentioned.......
"Limited resources are better than none, aren't they?"
Ren murmured quietly.
He thought of what his father always said in the kitchen.
That even leftovers could become a feast if you used them properly.
Meeting the academy's expectations to earn a little support, while finding the rest of what he needed himself and having it doubled.
He needed to do both.
It would be slower than having immediate access to every resource, but faster than trying to do everything alone.
The mushrooms pulsed gently, and Ren felt again that strange resonance with something beneath the dormitory.
"One step at a time. First, let's prove that I'm worth even the minimum support." he promised himself.
Tomorrow was his first class.
His first chance to show that the Weakest Tamer was not rotten and useless the way everyone thought.
Ren closed his eyes, but his mind went on making plans and calculating possibilities.
Eight years was a long time.
If you knew exactly how to use every day of it.
***
The classroom was circular, its seating arranged in tiers.
Ren had been placed in the same group as Jin, the tiger boy, and his friends.
They sent threatening looks his way from a distance.
Fortunately his roommate Taro was there as well, though he arrived late and had to take an empty seat on the opposite side of the room.
Luna was there too.
Her Shadow Wolf showed itself faintly beside her, like a shadow wavering at her side.
Before long Professor Wei, one of the academy's professors, took the lectern.
He was a man of powerful build, and the pattern of a Silver stage 2 Manticore surfaced in silver over his skin.
"For this first term, every student's classroom is assigned at random. After that you will be distributed according to marks and results, so pay attention unless you wish to be driven out of your seat. Let us begin."
Ren studied the pattern etched into the professor's skin.
'That Manticore was trained while taking in sunlight irregularly.
I can see traces of other techniques that were never put to use, too.......'
Professor Wei began drawing a diagram on the board.
"The basic principles of Beast training have been studied for centuries. Every successful method follows three basic stages, and has a proven maximum duration."
He drew three circles on the board.
"First, mana absorption. A Beast must receive energy suited to its nature. Second, processing. That energy must be converted within the crystal so that it suits the Beast. And last, fixation. That power must be stabilized and made permanent by some means."
Professor Wei paused meaningfully.
"The important point all of you must understand is that a training method lasting more than six months is no longer effective. This is a fact proven through countless studies. The most common methods run for 150 days, and while certain frauds advertise longer processes, the evidence is clear. Past six months, any training attempt becomes inefficient, or else entirely useless."
Ren shifted uneasily in his seat.
He knew why this received wisdom was wrong, that every training method without exception was a 100-day process, but.......
"Luna Starweaver."
Professor Wei called on her.
"Will you explain how these stages are applied in practice?"
As Luna rose, her Shadow Wolf emerged from within her like living darkness.
"In practice one must first obtain a suitable mana crystal. These must be processed in the appropriate manner; in the case of my Shadow Wolf, they are processed under moonlight. After that they go through a sealing process using a specific technique before the Beast absorbs them."
"Correct."
Professor Wei nodded.
"The type of crystal, the method of processing, and the manner of sealing determine the final effect when the Beast absorbs it, and guide it along the correct path of its potential."
"Professor, excuse me."
Ren spoke before he knew what he was doing.
"That explanation is...... not entirely accurate. Where crystal processing is concerned......."
A silence fell over the classroom as though cold water had been poured across it.
Even the tiger boy seemed so startled by the 'trash's' boldness that he forgot his hostility.
"Oh?"
Professor Wei turned slowly, glaring at him with irritation in his eyes.
"So the student with a Spore has something to say about training?"
Stifled laughter leaked out.
"Mana crystals must be processed far more specifically than by a blanket method like 'moonlight.' For example, Luna's wolf crystals must be processed not simply at night, but on a night when seven moons are in the sky. Another example would be your Manticore, Professor. Had you used crystals processed under the first light of dawn, you would have reached Silver stage 3. The first light of dawn raises the efficiency of that line enormously."
"Enough."
Professor Wei cut him off.
"Another 'expert' has graced us. One who believes he knows more than generations of research. Boy, I studied for thirty years before I trained this Manticore. We reached Silver stage 2 by following methods proven across generations. What you are proposing about that......."
Professor Wei drew himself up and his silver pattern rippled unpleasantly.
"Student...... what is your name?"
"Ren Partinder, Professor."
"Ren Partinder, five marks deducted."
Now the laughter broke out openly.
"Though I doubt it will matter much. I question whether a Spore will be earning many resources at this academy."
Professor Wei sneered.