Professor Yang clapped his hands, and a young woman entered the classroom.
Her light step stood in contrast to Professor Yang's overbearing presence.
"This woman is Assistant Instructor Lin. She is an expert in combat between Tamers."
His eyes swept the room.
"And do you know why this is the most important course? However much theory you memorize, however many crystals you can identify, however many materials you collect, if you cannot defend yourselves? All of that knowledge will die along with you."
The rock-grain pattern over his skin rippled as his words went on, as though growling low.
"Out there, Beasts will not wait for you to process your crystals correctly. And in other cities...... some 'humans' can be just as dangerous."
Ren shrank down a little in his seat.
Unlike the other students, his contract with his Beast had earned him a mere 10% improvement in physical ability.
That alone would not be enough to keep up in this class.
"This course will set the standard for all of you."
His voice was as rough as the stone grain over his body.
He walked to the center of the arena.
"The final examination is simple. You must eliminate a real Beast. Not one of the weak things that wander near the city, but a true Beast from the outer zones."
Murmuring filled the amphitheater.
"Which is why I must know where each of you stands. Lin and I will draw up a training plan suited to each of you, based on today's results."
Assistant Instructor Lin began unrolling a scroll.
"You will be paired according to your Beasts and their attributes. The aim is to show us what your abilities are at present."
Professor Yang nodded.
"Some of you will be ahead in strength, others in speed. Some will have Beasts with special abilities. But right now, before any training, your own capability may matter more than your Beast. We want to see how you use it, and how you think in a fight. Ah, and one more thing."
Professor Yang smiled.
"In my course," his gaze came to rest on Ren,
"there is one rule above all others. No excuses. Only results."
The mushrooms in his hair pulsed uneasily.
His increase in strength was a mere 10%, which looked negligible beside his classmates' Beasts.
"First pair, Jin and......."
Assistant Instructor Lin began reading the names written on the scroll.
The tiger boy adjusted his posture.
His eyes were fixed on Ren.
Like a predator that had spotted wounded prey, waiting for its chance.
"......Taro."
Ren saw the disappointment flash clearly across Jin's face.
The tiger boy had wanted different quarry.
As the two students went down to the arena, the mushrooms in Ren's hair pulsed gently and laid out the patterns of both Beasts with astonishing clarity.
Knowledge flowed into his mind like a clear stream.
Spirit Tiger against Digger Beetle.
An interesting combination for Ren to study.
Each Beast's strengths and weaknesses were as plain as reading a complex map.
'The Digger Beetle has an innate skill. Earth Shield.
A mana barrier that strengthens the exoskeleton with the energy of the earth.
And that tiger...... can land five attacks in its pattern before Spirit Claw recharges.'
"Into the circle."
Professor Yang ordered.
His voice rang out through the amphitheater.
"Show us what you can do."
Taro went down to the arena tensely.
His Digger Beetle fused with him and revealed itself as a brown exoskeleton that covered his skin like living armor.
Jin followed with a predator's smile.
The tiger stripes grew more distinct on his face, and his movements were full of suppleness and confidence.
"Begin."
Jin drove straight in.
His movements flowed like water.
Taro instinctively switched on 'Earth Shield,' and the exoskeleton flashed a deep brown.
Jin's fist, carrying the Spirit Tiger's 30% strength bonus, hammered into Taro's exoskeleton.
The sound of the impact beat through the amphitheater like a drum announcing war, but it left barely a scratch on the exoskeleton.
"Not bad."
Jin smiled and stepped back.
"But how about this?"
His eyes blazed gold, and the Spirit Tiger bared its fangs.
The aura wrapping Jin's fist warped even the air around it.
'Spirit Fang.'
Ren murmured.
He was seeing straight through the Spirit Tiger's basic technique and the complex mana pattern that made it possible.
The next blow partially pierced Taro's defense, and a cry of pain rang out across the arena.
The energy particular to a Spirit Tiger bored into the weak points of physical armor with brutal efficiency.
"What's the matter, cockroach? Is breathing all you know how to do?"
The exoskeleton held, but the spirit energy seeped through like water boring into stone.
With every fresh attack it found another crack in a defense that looked impossible to break.
"Counterattack! Even the finest defense is useless if you never hit back!"
Professor Yang shouted from the side.
Irritation ran through his voice.
But Taro only retreated, shielding his body with his arms more and more desperately.
'The problem isn't the defense. It's that Taro isn't using the shield's recoil to hit back. Every time he absorbs an attack, he.......'
Ren observed the pattern with perfect clarity.
After the fifth spirit attack, Jin pulled back for a moment to refill his aura.
It was only an instant, but Ren saw the timing for the counter that Taro was missing.
The fight went on in the same pattern until the Earth Shield could not bear the pressure of one last 'Spirit Fang' and cracked like porcelain.
"Pathetic."
Jin threw taunts between his attacks.
"So this is the level of trash's friends? They really do say like gathers with like."
The fight ended soon after.
Taro collapsed on the floor, and Jin was not even out of breath.
His tiger stripes still gleamed with power to spare.
"Stop."
Professor Yang declared.
"Jin, your attack rhythm was good, but you need to manage your spirit energy better. Taro, your Earth Shield was solid, but you wasted every chance to counter. Even a perfect defense is useless unless you learn to convert it into attack. In a real fight, a passive attitude will kill you."
"A win is a win."
Jin smiled as he climbed back up to the seats.
He added in a low voice as he brushed past Ren.
"Tell your friend to find better company next time. Cockroaches have something in common, I'm sure...... but hanging around trash will only make him weaker."
Ren clenched his fists.
He could now see the Spirit Tiger's attack patterns, its limits, and its weak points clearly.
But that knowledge would have to wait for another time.
The matches continued, and Min handled his Water Snake with astonishing creativity, but he lost to a boy with an Earth Bear.
"Ren."
Assistant Instructor Lin called his name at last.
She frowned for a moment as she read the pairing list.
Ren stood.
He felt every eye in the amphitheater turn on him.
"You're matched against Kai."
The boy with the green scales smiled like a predator.
He was the very boy who had tripped Ren earlier, and confidence was clear in every movement.
"Trash against Kai? What a waste of time. I'd have finished him faster."
Jin laughed from his seat.
"Actually Kai's Stone Scale is the perfect opponent. I want to see how that weakest one handles someone who's practically immune to his level of strength."
Cass, the eagle girl, put in.
Her eyes sharpened with interest.
Ren swallowed dryly.
Stone Scale provided natural armor.
Even with his 10% improvement, his blows would be no more than mosquito bites against a defense like that.
As he went down to the arena, the mushrooms in his hair pulsed with knowledge.
There was a particular pattern to the scales, and there were areas where the protection was weaker, but even so.......
"Well, trash? Scared? You should be."
Kai flexed an arm covered in green scales that shone like polished jade.
This was not going to be an ordinary fight.
It would be nothing but a demonstration of how useless the weakest Beast was against a proper defense.
At least, that was the spectacle everyone expected.
"That isn't even fair! There'll be nothing fun to watch!" someone complained with a laugh.
"What did you expect? With that pathetic 10% improvement to physical ability......." another muttered.
"The mushrooms might glow brighter, at least." another offered, drawing more laughter.
"The pairings were decided at random. So I do not want to hear anyone complaining about favoritism."
Assistant Instructor Lin announced firmly.
Professor Yang nodded.
The lines of stone over his skin gleamed.
His gaze lingered on Ren.
"Though for some of them, of course, it hardly matters who they fight."
The laughter was immediate and cruel.
"Finish it quick, Kai! Then we can move on to a fight worth watching!"
Jin shouted from the stands.
Professor Yang watched with bored indifference.
What could the weakest Beast do against a Stone Scale?
This was plainly considered a waste of time.
Assistant Instructor Lin, on the other hand, looked...... rather more interested.
The mushrooms in Ren's hair pulsed as they analyzed Kai's scales, searching for a pattern or a weakness he could use.
"Begin!"
Professor Yang ordered.
Kai charged forward full of confidence.
His Stone Scale not only protected him by raising his resistance, it lifted his physical ability by 20% and strengthened his other abilities along with it.
Ren dodged the first blow.
It was not thanks to his reflexes.
Kai was faster, but Ren knew how the scales obstructed certain movements.
Kai could not raise his right arm past a certain angle without exposing the weak point between his ribs.
"Stop running and fight, you rotten bastard!"
"Those scales on your right arm."
Ren said as he gave ground.
"Don't they chafe every time you move?"
Kai faltered for a moment in surprise.
That brief doubt worked against him, and his next blow came slower and more awkward.
"Shut up!"
"There's a flaw in the growth pattern. Other Beasts' scales follow the natural grain of the muscle, but in your case......."
Ren continued as he slipped past another blow.
"I told you to shut up!"
Kai pressed harder, but his movements were visibly stiffer now.
The doubt had been planted, and he had begun to think about the small rigidity he had always ignored.
The mushrooms in his hair shone more fiercely.
The knowledge revealed more.
"Your scales ought to be closer to blue."
Ren slipped aside from one more strike.
"Green means they absorbed too much earth mana. That's why they're packed more densely on your right."
"You don't know anything!"
Kai roared, but uncertainty colored his voice.
The laughter in the stands died down.
Even Professor Yang narrowed his focus.
"Excess earth mana makes scales grow irregularly."
Ren went on as he moved.
"It's very slight, but your right side is heavier. That's why you always rotate to the left when you attack."
When Kai threw his next attack, everyone saw that minute imbalance.
The slight tilt revealed in the rotation, the unconscious correction for the extra weight carried on the right.
"Shut that mouth!"
That was Kai's mistake.
He charged forward with all his strength, and rotated to the left as he always did.
And Ren had been waiting for this one moment.