It was morning in White Bone City and the sun had just risen. Linus woke up from his bed and readied himself for school. It would be his first school day as both a pet trainer and since his transmigration.
After understanding his ability yesterday evening and waiting for Nyx to recover. He concluded the following two points after having Nyx try to fight against her shadow avatar which each time resulted in an instant kill. The first point was it took Nyx 5 minutes to recover from being defeated and knocked unconscious. The second point was that it took 10 recoveries before his body started feeling exhausted and weakened together with mental lethargy.
He had determined that currently, he could only let Nyx recover 20 times before he collapsed while to stay healthy a limit of 15 times had to be set. He then went to sleep which had recovered his soul strength, but his body needed energy and food to recover. He did, however, not immediately eat but would do so at school where he could eat as much as he wanted for free.
His current plans for the coming three months as preparation for the National examination are having Nyx train 15 times against her avatar while trying to last as long as possible aside from having her train her dark petal skill and absorbing dark shadow energies. She would train her skill with the aim to imitate and use it as proficiently as her avatar.
Linus also planned to train himself during those three months to strengthen his physique while meditating to cultivate his soul space. At last, he would try and earn some money as an assistant to a professional pet cultivator.
At school, he would also undergo some changes as he had now become an apprentice pet trainer and would have to follow 2 hours of mandatory practical lessons after school together with other apprentice pet trainers to gain some combat experience.
Those lessons are split into two groups, the first was the casual group for people who had weak pets and weren't aiming to enter a taming university through pet training. The second group was the elite group who focused on training their pets for combat and trying and join a taming university to primarily become professional pet trainers.
Linus aimed to join a taming university as a pet cultivator and develop his pet training capabilities from there, so he wasn't very interested in joining the elite group. Another reason would be that they would laugh at him for contracting Nyx, which he wouldn't tolerate.
He would also ask the school to permit him to skip theoretical classes about beasts as his passing the apprentice pet cultivator exam already shows that his knowledge already exceeds the curriculum.
Linus had finished readying himself for school and started his new daily schedule. He had decided to run the 5-kilometre distance to the school as physical training for both his development as well as shedding away his weak and thin body which had frustrated him since his transmigration as on Earth he had been lean and fit due to him going to the gym.
It took him an hour to reach the school and he was sweating and puffing as he had run for his life, but he had persevered the entire run while also discovering that his body was even weaker than he thought it was. His first stop was the secretary's office where he reported his return to school together with his awakening and his becoming an apprentice pet cultivator.
The secretary was shocked when he dropped all the three pieces of news. She remembered him as the boy whose parents died in an accident a week ago and had received a week of leave to settle the funeral and everything else. She had sympathy for the boy, but when she saw him entering utterly exhausted while informing her about his awakening and passing the apprentice pet cultivator exam the previous day, her thoughts stopped for a moment.
After she woke back up to reality, she started doing her work and successfully adjusted Linus's schedule. Firstly he had been settled in the after school practical combat classes, secondarily he was pardoned for his pet-related theoretical classes and as of last she had registered his return to school with no external guardian.
Linus was happy with her fast work and thanked her, before heading towards the canteen to finally have breakfast. After arriving, nobody he knew was present so he took a plate and took double what he would normally eat.
The chef was shocked after seeing a thin boy taking so much, but Linus explained that his appetite had increased since his awakening, which was true, and thus the chef calmed down while reminding the boy to come back if he was still hungry after his meal.
After Linus sat down, he devoured his double portion within minutes and even returned a second time for another double portion before his hunger was sated and he was full. He then checked his new schedule and learned that he only had to follow three classes daily. One was the first class with his class tutor who was responsible for the class's students and their future trajectory while also teaching the class common knowledge which taught them all necessary knowledge related to the Global Federation and its laws.
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The second class was combat tactics which was the last theoretical lesson of the day, where they discussed battle tactics for students to use during the National Examination. The last and third class was the practical combat class after school hours.
The free time in between he could spend at his leisure and he planned to spend the morning at the library studying books from the list provided by the Pet cultivator association for apprentices to read to further themselves. In the afternoon he and Nyx would train themselves, with Nyx battling her shadow avatar after a session of training her dark petal skill. Linus on the other hand would train his body.
After the last class when they returned home, they would rest with Nyx absorbing the dark shadow energies while Linus either learned in his personal space in the digital world or him searching for a job at the association to earn money.
The time, before the first class Linus spend resting his body while reading about pet cultivation. When it was five minutes before class, he left the canteen and arrived at his classroom on time before taking his seat. Many of his classmates were already present, but nobody approached him.
The previous Linus's had no friends at school due to him only focusing on studying together with his poor heritage. This had even become more amplified after they learned that he had become an orphan while Linus's aura had changed since his transmigration and awakening.
It had become colder and distant since he had a clear cut goal in front of his eyes while he didn't care about any of his classmates. Aside from that the awakening of his shadow kingdom ability resulted in this colder and distant aura becoming amplified and become a bit regal due to the shadow king's influence while the elements of darkness and shadow played their role too.
The classmates did, however, start gossiping about Linus's return and change. Some sympathised with him while others were jealous of his top student status and mocked him for being poor and weak which would result in him never becoming a professional pet trainer.
This didn't last long though as the class tutor arrived not long after, before starting her class. She is a young female teacher known as the frost queen due to her cold personality coupled with her also being responsible for the practical combat lessons of both the casual and elite groups. Her name is Ms Winter and she also expects to be called that way by both students and teachers.
After she settled down her teaching materials, she started the school day with a roll call. The first student to be called was Linus due to his last name being Black. After he affirmed his presence, she lowered the paper and directed her attention towards him before speaking:
"Welcome back Linus, It's tragic what you had experienced a week ago but the world doesn't stop moving and so doesn't school. The school system notified me about your awakening and successful contracting of a pet, so I expect your presence during the practical combat classes after school."
Linus nodded before she started reading the roll call again. When she was done, she took the podium and projected two words onto the board which read National examination, before announcing the following:
"Only three months remain before the National Examination occurs which test students on their theoretical knowledge, the practical capability of applying that knowledge and their combat and survival ability in the wild.
The examination is divided into three rounds that take place in a special examination venue in the digital world where you will undergo a theoretical exam, a practical exam and a combat exam.
The first part counts for 15%, the second for 35% and the third for 50%. To make the last exam fair for all students, you will not be required to fight against other people, beasts or students. You will have to survive for as long as you can in a simulated wilderness filled with iron and bronze rank monsters.
According to the time since your awakening and the rank and level of your contract space, your score will be calculated accordingly with 1000 being the maximum. To prepare your students for the coming three months you will be tested three times, one's per month in the digital world where you will have to try and survive for as long as you can.
The first survival test will take place Friday this week. Everyone in this class has already awakened and contracted their pet thus no one is excused from participation."
After the announcement, Ms Winter started teaching her class which ended after another 45 minutes. Then all the students started leaving the classroom and when Linus was about to, he was called by Ms Winter. He turned around and headed towards her before he stood before her desk.
When she noticed his arrival, she looked up and spoke:
"I already learned about you becoming an apprentice pet cultivator and congratulate you for not giving up after last week's accident. I can also assume that due to your low financial state and achievement, you will mostly focus on becoming a pet cultivator instead of focusing on your development as a pet trainer. This is a good choice, but I have to advise you not to neglect it as every accomplished pet cultivator is also a powerful pet trainer.
Focus during those three months not on increasing the power of your pet, but on its and your survival capabilities which you can further enhance if you apply your theoretical knowledge of beasts correctly. Remember that even the weakest of beasts can survive by relying on their advantages otherwise, they would already have become extinguished! Now you leave as I already told you everything I wanted to tell."
Linus left the classroom deep in thought, but he silently agreed with her words so he adjusted his plans slightly by having Nyx focus more on the defensive capability of her dark petal skill than its offensive usage.