On their way back, Cyrus was walking behind the two. His excuse was that the pot was heavy. Not known to the other two, he took another crystal from his bag since Adriana stole the crystals that he was previously using. He then used his light energy on the crystal discreetly. In just a few seconds, the plant started to grow again. Its height reached close to 3 meters and its roots started to crawl out of the pot. Unfortunately or fortunately, Adriana caught wind of what Cyrus was doing when she looked back.

"Stop stop! The pot might break!" Adriana shouted, taking the pot from Cyrus.

"Come on! Its just a pot!" Cyrus laughed, downplaying his wrongdoing. He was just happy that his experiment was a success.

"Just a pot? That is our grades!" Kron was giving Cyrus a stern look. Studying was one of Kron's way of life to escape his hardships so he was really conscious with his grades. It doesn't matter that he was not planning to be a scout or a pathfinder.

The three continued to banter along the way. What the three didn't know was that they just started to form a close bond with each other and it would have a huge impact on the future.

"Hey Cyrus! Are you sure you two are just acquaintances? You two look really close!" Kron grinned watching the two tease each other.

Cyrus looked at Kron with disgust. "Close? Eww!! Are you implying something? Unless.." Cyrus then looked at Adriana. "You actually have a cru-"

"Stop with what you are saying if you don't want me to make your wound get worse." Adriana then stared fiercely at Kron. "You are lucky that I am carrying this pot!"

"But really, I only know her because of our families. Most of us are homeschooled when we are young." Cyrus added with a firm tone, trying to make Kron believe him.

Adriana smirked. "I think you are forgetting something. Didn't you always come with your father because you had a crush on my sister?"

"Come on! That was years ago! Can you just forget that!" Cyrus started panicking. He thought that Adriana has forgotten it since she never brought it up the whole time.

"Well, you started it!" Adriana started chuckling, seeing Cyrus panic.

Kron laughed, finally starting to piece the puzzle together. "I see! So that was the reason you don't want her to join us! Its not because-"

"No! I just hate Adriana! That's it!" Cyrus shouted.

Not a moment later, they arrived at the meeting point. Their classmates around them was surprised by their haggard looks. It was as if they were from a fierce battle which they were correct. But it was not what surprised their classmates the most. What was more surprising was the plant that Adriana was carrying. They had faces of either awe or jealousy. It was the same for Kron's group. They didn't think that most of their classmates would only have a little sprout.

"Hahaha! Look at their plants Kron! Did they even try watering it?" Cyrus started laughing, seeing the pitiful results of the others.

Kron was ignoring Cyrus, looking down. He started walking behind the two. He might have gotten some confidence but he was not courageous enough to mock others. "Please don't notice me."

Adriana was just smiling and nodding at everyone looking at them.

"How is that possible?" "Did they cheat?" "Its definitely Adriana! Her family is Earth attuned." "No. Its Cyrus! His family is Light attuned." The surrounding discussions circled around these words. Full of disbelief or praise. Their feelings though are divided into two because Adriana and Cyrus was together. They hated seeing Cyrus laughing at them but they loved how Adriana just kept humble. Still, there were really curious people who started to approach them.

A short woman approached the group. She was one of the more vocal people that Kron saw at the start of the class. She exudes confidence with both of her body language and words. She was able to command a lot of them to filter by group based on their designated row letter so they could easily find members for their group. Kron thought that she had qualities that would make a her a good class officer. She had her two teammates following her but they stopped quite a distance away before reaching Kron's group. Either they are being shy or just out of respect. "Adriana! I didn't notice that you were actually in this class. Otherwise, I would have invited you earlier."

"And why do you think would she team up with you?" Cyrus interjected. He doesn't seem particularly angry but more protective.

Adriana looked displeased at Cyrus. "Cyrus. She is a friend." She then turned to the girl. "Naranya! Please forgive Cyrus!"

"Its fine! I was just surprised to see you here!" Naranya then looked up to Cyrus with a smile. "Nice to meet you too Cyrus!"

Seeing her being kind, Cyrus' outlook of her seemed to have softened. Embarrassed, he looked away. "Hmph! Nice to meet you."

"I'll be honest. I'm really curious what you did to grow your plant that tall." Naranya asked Adriana, staring at the healthy plant.

Adriana bit her lower lips as if she doesn't know where to start. "Its really a long story."

Seeing that someone was able to successfully approach Kron's group, other people started gathering around them. Kron was starting to get anxious as he does not know where to look. A lot of the people around are starting to notice him. The most particular ones are the group of Sidir. Sera for instance was staring at him with eyes like daggers. Sidir, on the other hand, was more concerned at Cyrus and Adriana. Ultimately though, it was still the large plant that took the most attention.

"Ehem... I believe we have met earlier." A man who seemed a little bit older than the bunch interrupted their talk with Naranya. He pushed away the other people in his path. He was being followed by a short man wearing brass colored goggles, carrying their pot. Their plant seemed to be more than half a meter tall. Their other teammate seems nowhere to be found.

"Ah.. yes!" Adriana nodded repeatedly, giving him a fake smile. She doesn't really seem to remember him or even his name.

The man was actually one of the first people who approached Adriana. Naranya seeing the guy caused her to frown. She couldn't quite remember when but she knew that he was not a noble and she hypothesized that he was a son of some government official. Indeed, she was right and that is also how he got information about other remarkable individuals. In fact, he already heard of Adriana as one of the talented and beautiful daughters of the Eresmus Family. Seeing her personally, confirmed one of the rumors. When he was rejected, he thought that that was normal since she didn't know him yet. Still, he thought he was much better than most of the people here and he would show Adriana that she should have chosen him. Unfortunately, it seemed that won't be happening now. "I'm actually here to congratulate you. I already knew that you would be one of the best students here."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Thank you!" Adriana said. She didn't think much of the praise as her whole family are mostly of the vanguard path. Pathfinders, Scouts and even Assassins. Their family's attributes and abilities excelled at those.

"You probably did a lot for your team," The man looked at Cyrus for a bit but Cyrus was looking back at him with knitted brows. He immediately moved his focus to Kron who was trying hard to avoid everyone's eyes. His eyes rested for a while at Kron before turning back to Adriana and smiling. "But if you still need another competent teammate then I am always open. I know how hard it is to carry heavy baggage."

The first person to get angry of what he said was actually the short man behind him but the short man just kept quiet and frowned.

"What did you say shithead?" Cyrus shouted. He then saw the plant that the guy's teammate was holding. This turned his anger to mockery. "Heh! Do you want me to piss on your plant? That might help it grow further."

"Stop Cyrus." Adriana said, giving him the pot. Cyrus thought that she would let that disrespect go but he was badly mistaken. Adriana's face contorted as her forehead had creased and her brows furrowed. She seemed to be trying to keep herself calm but her fury can't seem to be hidden. "Are you looking down at my team? Do you actually think that you are better than them?"

Surprised. Startled. It was the emotions that the natives who knew or have seen Adriana before. It was like the first time they actually saw her this angry. Naranya's eyes opened wide. She knew Adriana even more than Cyrus. She knew that Adriana usually kept her feelings to herself and only releases them to those close to her. Naranya was starting to think if Adriana and Cyrus was actually that close. The same was going on in the mind of the other onlookers. Only Cyrus understood Adriana's actual feelings. They know that the man in front of them was looking down on Kron. If these happened before today then they probably won't care but right now, they have a really high respect for Kron.

"I--I don't mean.." The man voice started to fill with fright. He didn't expect Adriana's reaction. He was starting to think that Adriana and Cyrus might have misunderstood him. Unfortunately, there was no misunderstanding and the two knew exactly who he was talking about.

*Clap* *Clap* The sound of a loud clap reverberated around the area. The source of the sound was Professor Anori who was trying to take everyone's attention.

"Don't disrespect my friends again or you would face the consequences!" Adriana whispered to the man as she passed by him. Her voice was laced with a clear threat.

Cyrus, on the other hand, intimidated the guy by invading his personal space. His aggressive posture as he looked down at the guy with just a few centimeters between them was meant to make the guy uncomfortable. Contrary to what the man thought, there was no fear on Kron's eyes as Kron passed by him. Kron just shook his head then continued on his way.

The man felt fear, anger and humiliation. His fists were clenched as he looked at the back of the three. He knew that he might not be able to do something to the other two but as for Kron looking at him with pity, he can't let it pass.

The students all gathered around the outdoor amphitheater. Professor Anori and her helpers checked each of the students' plants. A few of them have plants that are still considered to have just sprouted. Most of them have saplings that are more or less half a meter in height. Lastly, there were 5 groups who were able to reach a height of at least a meter. The bottom two of the 5 have a plant that reached a meter tall. The third one was actually Sidir's group having a plant with the height of a meter and a half. The second one reached just a little bit short of 2 meters. And of course, not surprisingly, the best one was Kron's group with just a little above 2 and a half meters.

The five teams were all called in front to be recognized. They were then asked what particular thing that they had done for it to grow that high. The first one was lucky to find another good patch of land. The second one had a member whose lineage are good with spells. He didn't particularly divulge what spell he used but he said that it was helpful for growth. Sidir's group obviously has Sera who is an invoker that specializes in plants. It is pretty easy to deduce that she was able to make a good connection with it. Additionally, they also got the purple soil.

The second team was quite pecular. Unlike the other 3 teams, that are all natives. This team was composed of only 1 native and 2 transported. In fact, the leader of the team seemed to be one of the transported. Kron have seen the leader before. Once in the Dracanae cabin when they just arrived. Like him, he was also quiet and just observing everyone. The next time he saw him was in his basic world knowledge class and he seemed to be also one of the people already accepted as a Scholar. Just like before, he had an erect posture and carries himself with an effortless poise, displaying his calm demeanor. The only change in reaction that he saw from him was when his eyes sparkled with curiosity as he inspected their plant and the members of their group. The reason that they gave to the class for their results was that they concocted some kind of fertilizer from the natural resources they found in the forest.

As for Kron's group. They mentioned that they got lucky with a soil that they found and they used the light energy of Cyrus. Many of course didn't believe that fact. It was more so for the other top teams. They could recognize that there is something else they used. As for the leader of the second team, he was smiling as if he already understood what they did.

Professor Anori congratulated the top 5 and as a matter of fact, gave them extra credits. It was not just grade credits but actual money credits. Kron immediately checked his information screen.

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Resident# : 245,671,143

Name: Kron Alpas

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Academia: Dracanae Institute (Probationary Phase)

Affiliations: None

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Classifications: Enhanced

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Credits: 10850

Notes: Most likely attuned to Earth with Metal specialization

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Kron was ecstatic with the amount of credits that he saw. There was an additional 10,000 credits that he had received. More food and clothes for him. As for Cyrus and Adriana, they didn't seem to care much about the extra money. There was one thing he noticed though which is the notes regarding him. Did they update it after his combat class or was there someone watching them in the forest. If there was then would they know of what happened earlier?

After giving away their prizes, Anori dismissed the class but asked Kron's group to stay. It was quite unfortunate for some of their more inquisitive classmates who wanted to ask more things from professor Anori but Anori seemed to be in a hurry to make them leave.

"Okay. Spill it out. What happened after you fell into the pit?" Anori asked, crossing her arms on her chest.

"So they really are observing us! But they seemed to not know what happened underground!" Kron thought, nodding slightly.

"It was really hard for us but we managed to find a path." Adriana answered with a soft tone. She was giving this pitiful face as if reminiscing their hardships. Of course, this was just an act.

Anori frowned, not buying the act. "And how were you able to dug out of there?"

"We are not required to divulge our whole capabilities don't we?" Cyrus asked with a combative tone.

Anori sighed, knowing that Cyrus is right and she would not be able to get much from them. She then looked at Kron. "Fine. But tell me, you used an energy quartz right?"

Kron jerked, didn't think that professor Anori would suddenly focus on him. "Uh.. yes!"

"Oho! I knew it. Energy quartz are do found mostly underground. So how where you able to find it and," Anori smiled, she finally got something and this other student of hers looked easier to talk to. "why are you all injured and disheveled?"

"Uhh.. We tried to make.." Kron then finally saw the reactions of the two. Their heads are both shaking and their eyebrows are both furrowed. He started to panic and think what he should say instead. "Yes. That's right. There was a path we found. It's... It's not stable. It-It collapsed. Weee almost got burrried. We followed it to a cave. The crystals are just scattered there." Kron said, stuttering and faltering in his speech.

"A path? An underground cave?" Anori said in utter confusion.

"Yes. Professor Anori. Do you not know of that path? Is that cave not something made by this forest's keeper?" Adriana asked, trying to pressure her instead.

"No... No... Of course we know about that!" Anori answered in haste. She started to ponder since that pit was not checked for a long time since no one was getting caught in that trap until today. Maybe there really was something there that they didn't know.

"Then can we leave now? We still need to rest." Adriana added.

"Uh! Yes! Of course!" Anori nodded.

When the team was a distance away, Cyrus and Adriana immediately called out to Kron.