The next day passed without any accidents. The twins trained and studied as much as they could. Galen was especially satisfied with Lucia’s progress. She managed to find a way to improve her skills depending on the type of light she used. From her continuous experiments with light, Lucia found out the dawn light was better for healing and nurturing, and the sunlight was more efficient when using [glow] and trying to overcharge it. She was still trying to determine which light to use for her shield, but she was almost sure moonlight would have the best effect.
Her training to get the [light shield] skill was progressing more or less smoothly. Lucia could get her light energy to form the shield but couldn’t yet give it the property necessary to block damages. The next step should be to give intent to the shield like in the match against Naila. However, Galen wanted Lucia to understand what she was doing. He knew spiritual power was like magic, and everything couldn’t be explained. Regardless, Galen hoped science could help her to control the intent and effect of spiritual energy. Since just looking at the physics book didn’t seem to be enough, Galen explained it to Lucia.
The skill offered by the CSI came with a detailed explanation and several suggestions to teach the skill to the pet. Most manuals from the library gave only general explanations, and the beast tamer had to adapt their content to their pet’s particularities. The [light shield] differed from other shield skills because it didn’t block incoming attacks. In its first tier, it manipulated the light toward absorbing damage, inverting the natural physics properties through which matters adsorb light. At first, Galen understood it as the [light shield] healing damage before it landed on its target. However, since the process involved absorption, Galen hoped Lucia could add a reflecting effect to the shield once she mastered it and evolved the skill.
Seeing Lucia and Galen working so seriously, Artem refused to be left behind. Ayden needed to work on learning a rare skill too. After sharing his concerns with Lyra and Galen about how Ayden could learn the skill [heat detection], they agreed Marcus was a classmate they could trust. Artem contacted Marcus via his connected bracelet to make an appointment.
During their meeting, Marcus and Artem made a deal. Marcus accepted to let his Magma Tortoise help Ayden train to learn a rare skill, and in exchange, Artem accepted to be Marcus’s partner to help him practice using his armament talent. They didn’t schedule a regular training time and decided to wait to see how it went. Both were satisfied with this arrangement.
***
Monday morning, the twins came to the classroom earlier for homeroom. Mr Carter wanted to hold a debrief after the exam. The writing papers were quick to mark because they mainly consisted of multiple-choice questions. Only the essays took more time, but the teachers had enough time to grade the thirty-four papers during the weekend.
Mr Carter came to the classroom with everyone’s grades and reports. He didn’t give any congratulations or compliments. The teacher criticized all of his students, blaming them for making him look incompetent. He took it as a personal insult. He humiliated Crystal and Jax again for their poor performances: raising a rare pet, they shouldn’t shame the school.
However, he also berated those with very low results during the fights, ignoring their performances in the other parts of the exam. Two other beast tamers ended the practical exams with zero points like Crystal: Silas Kouris and his notable Green-Haired Nymph, and Paula Lamar and her common Grey Tillandsia. Mr Carter didn’t spare them at all.
“Mr Kouris, was it your purpose to not get any points? Isn’t your father researching how to evolve a nymph? Maybe losing so pathetically was part of your pitiful research. A waste of time, all of it! Mark my words!”
This research was the main reason why Silas hadn’t been bullied like Artem and Galen for having a weak pet. His father – a respectable Beast Researcher – had a theory to evolve a nymph into a dryad. However, Mr Carter’s scorn planted doubts in the students’ minds, leading some of them to look scornfully at Silas.
“Did I tell you that I hate this teacher?” Lyra seethed when she witnessed such abuse. “Because, really, I do.”
“We should talk with Silas,” Galen suggested to distract Lyra. Her strong reaction was puzzling, but Galen respected her privacy. “His father is on the right track: there are dryads in the Spring Court.”
Artem recognized the value of discussing with Silas but emitted his reservations.“His father’s theories are kept secret for now.”
“That’s why I’m curious about it,” Galen answered. “But Artem’s right: I doubt Silas will be open to any discussion.”
Mr Carter didn’t stop there. He targeted the other loser of the fights next.
“And you, Miss Lamar, one wonders what you’re doing here. Did you choose the worst pet possible to hide your uselessness behind it?”
It wasn’t fair to Paula and Silas because students with a plant or water pet couldn’t do much in the early stage. It was also unfair because Paula had had poor luck during the matches. She had first lost against Yanna, then against Nasir, leading to heavy injuries. Her tillandsia had soon been overwhelmed, so Paula and her pet had been powerless in the last matches.
Moreover, Paula came from a common household. As such, getting the money for the carved spirit stone had certainly taken most of her family resources. Left without funds, Paula had to have chosen from common eggs of low value for her pet. The twins had heard from Zane that Paula had tried to get a scholarship, but her results were too low to be selected while her financial situation hadn’t been low enough. So, in a way, her condition was now worse than Zane’s.
Five others only got one point like Jax. They were Moses Bayoumi, Bruno Stein, Yaron Cantor, Nasir Jamra, Tom River – whose pet was the common Small-Headed Salmon – and Chandler Roth – the beast tamer of the common Fire Wisp. Mr Carter had a nasty remark for all of them.
“I think the only one who deserves it is Nasir,” Galen commented. “Mr Carter isn’t taking into consideration the unfairness of some matches or the draws.”
“Yaron deserves it too. This guy is seriously loud!” Artem complained.
“Does this teacher understand that if there are winners in a competition, there are necessarily losers?” Lyra couldn’t help but ask in disgust.
“You think he is over-compensating for something?” Artem suggested to lighten the mood.
It could have been bearable if the insults had stopped after the homeroom period. However, Mr Carter used his lessons to bully them again. He didn’t forget anyone, degrading everyone. He scolded Galen and Mahlon for their thrown match, he pointed out Zane’s cowardice for his early forfeits, he made sure to tell Artem not to be proud of his victory, he reminded Larissa that her results were beneath her…
During the practical pet training period, Mr Carter targeted again the students with the lowest results. He concentrated on Crystal, Jax, Yaron, and Nasir, dismissing the others as too poor, weak, or unskilled to ever amount to anything.
Mr Carter called over his pet – an epic Night-Shadow Ominous-Clawed Lemur. The pet was disturbing with its dark fur that seemed to adsorb the light, its round glowing eyes, and its long distorted fingers that ended in razor-sharp claws. It was one of the final forms of the common Big-Eyed Monkey, obtained through a difficult super-evolution.
Mr Carter proudly brought his pet to every machine. The lemur pulverized every score, humiliating the students again. Each time, Mr Carter didn’t forget to belittle his students and their pets.
“That’s stupid,” Lyra complained again. “The students’ pets are young. Of course, they can’t compare with a pet in its final form!”
“But if his purpose is to push them over the edge, it’s working,” Artem quietly stated. “Look at Nasir and Jax.”
“They’re going to explode at the teacher,” Galen agreed as he saw Nasir’s red face and Jax’s tightly clenched fists.
The students had Mr Carter for three periods on Mondays: the pet training theoretical class and the pet training practical class in the morning, then the dual combat theoretical class in the afternoon after Mr Tawil’s beast-tamer combat training class. The students had to suffer through Mr Carter’s abuse for five hours that day.
The dual combat theoretical class could have given the student some respite, but that wasn’t the case. Indeed, it was worse. Mr Carter used recordings of Friday’s matches to point out mistakes and things not to do. The teacher pretended to use these as teaching materials to help the students improve their dual combat competencies. However, every humiliation or awkward moment was projected in front of everyone, accompanied by Mr Carter’s commentary: Nasir’s arrogance and erratic behavior, Crystal’s incompetence, Mahlon’s lack of motivation, Yaron’s showy and inefficient strategies, Deborah’s misuse of her talent, Paula’s weak martial art and pet, Tom’s inability to find a way to let his salmon fight...
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When Mr Carter dismissed the class, it was under the groans and whines of most of the teenagers. Jax rushed out of the classroom without looking at anyone. Nasir stood up, staying still for a while.
“If you’re searching for the right words to explain your uselessness to your Family, do it outside the classroom, Mr Jamra. Don’t monopolize the place!”
This last mean remark from Mr Carter was too much for the boy. Nasir couldn’t help but announce he didn’t need the teaching of such a prejudiced teacher. He would rather train at his Family villa. Amir stopped him from speaking further while sending cold glares at Mr Carter. The teacher didn’t seem to mind and answered with a gloating smile.
Like the others, the twins had had enough of Mr Carter. The last period of the day was free. Galen and Artem wanted to use this time to relax but couldn’t afford it. The twins chose to go to the library with Zane. They still hadn’t told their friend about Nasir’s threats. Seeing how much the Jamra boy had suffered today, Galen and Artem feared what Nasir could do. It didn’t sit right with them to leave Zane alone.
Zane had long finished giving the twins remedial lessons. Nevertheless, he appreciated doing his homework in the library with them. Galen had once asked him why.
“My roommate hates studying.” Zane had sighed. “He’d rather spend time outside with his pet or training with some friends from his professional combat class.”
Now that the twins knew Zane’s roommate was Bruno, they understood his answer better. At the time, Galen and Artem hadn’t dared to ask if anyone else could come to the library with Zane. They knew Zane was mostly disregarded in the class, but at least Bruno and Julius talked to him. They had hoped he had other friends from the normal classes, but that wasn’t the case.
However, the situation was different now. Once the three boys were installed at a table, Galen decided to breach the subject in the hope of finding people to accompany Zane so that Nasir would never find him alone.
“I spent a lot of time taking care of my siblings or helping at the farm before I became a beast tamer,” Zane explained with a sad smile. “That didn’t leave me much time to be with people my age.”
Left with no choice, Artem talked to Zane about the threats Nasir had made at the end of the fights last Friday.
“You didn’t need to warn me. It was obvious that Nasir wouldn’t let go of his anger toward me.”
Face with Zane’s bitter acceptance of the situation, the twins didn’t know how to react. In an awkward silence, the three boys took their books to work on their assignments and personal research.
Artem was reading the last book Mr Duval had recommended about spirit stone carving. The whole subject left him frustrated. He felt the information given by the books was restricted. He couldn’t help but wonder if the students taking the spirit stone carving elective class had access to more information. Artem wondered aloud who was in this elective class.
“I don’t remember,” Zane replied with a pensive look when Artem asked him. “This elective is no more popular than the advanced pharmacist class among our classmates. Why don’t you ask your cousin? I think I noticed the Eos surname on the call list.”
“Miles’s in the spirit stone carving elective class?” Galen asked him in astonishment. He couldn’t understand why a boy as motivated as Artem to become an Army officer would choose such an elective.
“You know what all our classmates chose?” Artem stirred the conversation away from his cousin. He wasn’t as surprised as Galen because he had already suspected Miles’s change of heart when his cousin didn’t choose the professional combat elective class. Galen and Artem would ponder the meaning of Miles’s choices later.
“Only those I had papers to hand over to as a teacher aide. For instance, I can name all the beast tamers who take the law and administration elective class. Mrs Bonemine – the teacher for this elective class – often asks for our help to prepare materials, hand over papers, or pick up assignments.”
“Mr Duval doesn’t give the scholarship students any work?” Artem asked in confusion.
“He is a laid-back teacher,” Zane corrected, “so it’s more that he doesn’t need our help since he doesn’t have a lot of materials to hand out.”
Galen had already noticed Zane was a good source of information. However, he hadn’t realized the scholarship students knew so much about the teachers. It might be a good way to learn more about Mrs Bousrani. Galen had studied in her pharmacist classes since his first year but didn’t know her background or what her colleagues thought of her.
“By the way, do you have any idea why Mr Carter is so… disagreeable?” Galen asked to mislead his intention. “Is his behavior even allowed?”
“Why are you asking about this asshole?” Lyra complained.
Galen briefly explained his intention to her and his brother.
“Oh, I do have an idea,” Zane softly answered.
The twins looked at him with inquiring looks. Zane put down his pen and looked out the window briefly before explaining. “Do you know the school has a lot of difficulties recruiting beast tamers as teachers?”
“No, we had no idea. Why is that?” Galen replied while wondering what this had to do with his question.
“Teaching new beast tamers is a boring, ungrateful task. Beast tamers who teach high school students won’t advance their career,” Zane went on with a strange soft smile.
“It can’t be so bad!” Galen automatically retorted as he didn’t understand.
“It is. Think about it. Beast tamers know they are part of the 15% of the population who should be on a path of wealth and honor. Having awakened their talent, most of them think they are above the mundanes and become proud. So most beat tamers want adventure, glory, or recognition. Teaching at a high school is not only seen as a dead end for any career: it’s perceived as being used as an underdog.”
“If it’s such a hateful job for beast tamers, did anyone stop to wonder about the psychological impact such unmotivated teachers could have on young minds?” Lyra asked in anger and hopelessness.
The twins didn’t have an answer for her. They listened as Zane went on with his explanations.
“The school’s solution is to make the students it financially supported come back to teach.” Zane paused his explanation, waiting for them to understand his meaning.
“You mean the scholarship students? They are forcefully employed? Like indentured labor?”
“Yes, in a way. Mr Carter became a beast tamer thanks to a scholarship from Dascalos High School. He didn’t choose to work here. He must do it to pay back the school.”
“Wonderful! They just made the teachers resentful of this on top of everything!” Lyra exclaimed in a fed-up voice.
“That’s no reason to take out his anger and bitterness on his students,” Artem commented sternly. “They aren’t responsible for his situation.”
“Wait,” Galen interrupted, as his mind was still on his subtle inquiry about Mrs Bousrani. “Does that mean all our beast-tamer teachers are also ex-scholarship students of Dascalos?”
“That’s the case for Mrs Bousrani. The other two have more complicated situations.”
“How many years do they have to do? As far as I know, Mrs Bousrani has been there for at least three years,” Galen went on, hoping to gain more information about Mrs Bousrani.
“The scholarship contract suggests several ways to repay the school,” Zane answered. “For instance, donations can reduce the time owed to the school, though never completely. One year is always owed except in particular circumstances.”
“So what went wrong with Mr Carter’s plan? He had a plan to avoid coming back, didn’t he?”
“From what I overheard, Mr Carter is a very ambitious beast tamer. His Night-Shadow Ominous-Clawed Lemur is his first pet, the one the school gave him. He worked hard to train and evolve it. He proved his skills as a trainer, so he was given some work and recognition that allowed him to gain a decent sum of money. Another proof of his skills is that his second pet is also already at the epic rank. If he had been recruited as a special trainer by the Army or as a private tutor by a Family, he could have escaped teaching here. But if I believe his rants in the teachers’ lounge, someone stole his job. Fortunately, he still achieved to reduce his indenture time to two years.”
“I think I can understand his bitterness,” Artem commented thoughtfully.
“You overheard all of that in the teachers’ lounge?” Galen chose to ask to continue his investigation.
“Most people overlook me,” Zane answered with a shrug and a slightly bitter smile.
“You know as much about the other teachers? Mrs Bousrani doesn’t seem as bitter,” Galen asked to stir the conversation where he wanted.
“I don’t know if Mrs Bousrani is less ambitious or less talented. Or maybe less lucky. You know, the rare Sunset Blooming Marigold is the last evolution of her first pet – the common Orange Flower.”
“A weak plant pet as a first pet is hard. Just look at Paula!” Artem absentmindedly commented to keep the conversation going as he thought this could have made the teacher an easy target for the spies.
“I heard Mrs Bourasni has just managed to acquire the rare Light Praying Mantis as her second pet. I also heard she will have to do the maximum indenture time. Maybe she used all her money to buy her rare pet.”
“Do you think it’s her handler who bought her the mantis? A rare pet is expensive.” Galen shared his thoughts.
“Don’t you find it interesting that her rare pet is an insect?” Artem agreed it was a worthy hypothesis.
“You think it’s the school or someone else?” Lyra asked the twins while wondering if that wasn’t too far-fetched. “Mrs Bousrani could just love working with students.”
“Being a Beast Healer is a recognized job. Moreover, she’s also a pharmacist. She might be less sensitive about her situation than Mr Carter,” Galen added to see how Zane would react to the idea.
“I never really heard Mrs Bousrani complain about her job, but she is more reserved than Mr Carter.”
“What about Mr Duval?” Artem asked to bring back the conversation to the teacher of the spirit stone carving elective class.
“He is a new teacher, so the gossip about him is less known. But his reputation as a lazy teacher comes from a rumor that he applied for the job because one of his pets needed some rest. There are speculations about what his last job was, but no true information.”
“Do you think that is suspicious?” Galen asked for Lyra’s and Artem’s opinions.
“I don’t know. Is it weird to become a teacher to take a rest?” Lyra answered.
“What about Mr Tawil? He was a Beast Ranger for the Army, so how did he end up here?” Galen asked not to leave out any teachers and seemed suspicious.
“Mr Tawil was discharged from the Army after his injury and the loss of his pets. With his disability and without pets, he didn’t have a lot of job propositions coming his way.”
“Shouldn’t the Army give a pension for his discharge?” Artem frowned with disapproval.
“The pension is enough to live his everyday life. Not enough to buy a new egg.”
The twins digested all this information for a time. Suddenly, Galen realized the other reason why Zane would know so much about this topic as a scholarship student.
“Are you okay with having to teach here?” Galen asked with a frown.
“I’m not very ambitious. Or rather, I can’t be ambitious. What could I do with the rank of my talent and my pet? I don’t mind. At least, I’m sure to have a job later. I won’t be a burden for my family.”
The twins felt awkward again at Zane’s answer. They didn’t know how to comfort their friend or if they should comfort him. Zane noticed their reactions.
“Don’t worry about me. I’m not the unlucky one, and neither is Mrs Bousrani for this matter. The real unlucky ones are those who got the scholarship but were unable to awaken.”
“Since they couldn’t awaken, are they still indebted to the school? That seems unfair.”
“Not as much as Naila, Benjiro, and me. The carved spirit stones they tried to harmonize with are out of spiritual energy. They only need to pay back the price for recharging the carved spirit stone they used up so that another student next year can try to harmonize with it. Being unable to awaken is punishment enough.”
With no idea of what to add to that, the twins concentrated on their studies. Artem switched to hunting manuals to learn how to track wild beasts after checking on his fairy. Galen continued to look for the spirit plants best suited for the fairies’ super-evolution.