On Tuesday afternoon, the young beast tamers had a first period with Mr Carter for the beast combat practical class, then a second for the dual combat practical class.

The day before was the first time the students had seen Mr Carter’s lemur because the teacher had never used his pets in class. The young beast tamers surmised Mr Carter had an inner feature allowing him to keep his pets in his inner world. However, the teacher could also have left his pets in a specific place to train. As it stood, the students still didn’t know the species of Mr Carter’s second pet.

Mr Carter began the period as usual, giving instructions to his students and their pets. He supervised them seriously as the pets were practicing fighting each other. The young beast tamers discreetly sighed in relief, believing Mr Carter had exhausted his vitriol.

However, Lyra suspiciously observed him. She believed this teacher had only restrained his resentment temporally. Indeed, he soon showed his true intentions.

Mr Carter was more subtle this time. He released his pet and let the Night-Shadow Ominous-Clawed Lemur patrol the training hall independently from him.

The students had witnessed the lemur’s strength the day before. The young beast tamers were uneasy with this epic pet that was watching intently their pet’s training. It was worse for the young pets who didn’t know how to protect themselves from the higher beast’s aura.

The lemur’s frightful appearance aggravated their unease. Mr Carter’s scornful glances and nasty comments didn’t help, leading some students to complain under their breath. Their friends told them to shut up: Mr Carter was their main teacher so they shouldn’t provoke him. At least, the lemur didn’t fight the students’ pets.

Galen wanted to know why the teacher suddenly increased his harassment after the first exam. Zane hadn’t answered the twins when they asked if Mr Carter’s behavior was allowed. Artem was reluctant to speculate, but Galen argued it was significant to determine if this teacher was another tool used by the spies.

***

Once it was time for the dual combat class, the pets cultivated to recuperate as their beast tamers did their warm-up. During the previous dual combat practical classes, the beast tamers and the pets had used no talent or skills. Firstly, teaching how to use talents was the prerogative of Mr Duval. Secondly, just getting the beast tamers to cooperate with their new pets was hard enough.

Mr Carter’s lessons during September had allowed the students to get used to moving with their pets. Each pair had begun to develop some tacit understanding thanks to specific exercises. This training program helped the tamers and the pets to be aware of each other, teaching them to avoid getting in each other’s way when they dodged or attacked. However, it rarely allowed the young beast tamers to practice actual dual combat. Mr Carter argued they should learn to run together before learning to fight.

In this way, the beast-tamer students had gone to their first exam without much – if any – practical experience in dual combat. Some diligent students and those from established backgrounds had trained by themselves and had aptly used the knowledge given during the dual combat theoretical classes. In Mr Carter’s opinion, this diligence confirmed he was right to limit his involvement during the dual combat practice. It was his way of determining each student’s innate capabilities and resolve.

This day, Mr Carter also used this argument to justify his actions. He targeted Crystal first by choosing to be her practice partner. Her shameful results during the exam proved she was so lacking in capabilities that she needed some personal guidance.

Fighting in dual combat against a student was already something he had never done before, but the teacher went further and used his talent to buff his pet. Mr Carter’s notable talent was classified as buffing because it allowed him to create and summon mechanical weapons for his pets. His Night-Shadow Ominous-Clawed Lemur already had a demented look. Equipped with a shoulder laser gun, it was worse.

With such an offensive talent and pet, Mr Carter could have certainly become any sort of beast fighter, but he chose to become a Beast Trainer instead. This beast specialization should logically make him a qualified teacher, one that Dascalos High School should be glad to see working for it. And despite his sternness, Mr Carter had looked the part for the past month.

However, as he now faced his student with an epic buffed pet, he looked like an abusive teacher.

Crystal had only reluctantly come to stand before the teacher with her rare Gray Stone Wallaroo. Once she saw the shoulder laser gun, she backed away. “Do you want to kill me or my wallaroo? I won’t fight! No way!”

Crystal was furious and ashamed. She had felt awful since the exam, and Mr Carter’s bullying was worsening her feelings of self-loath and unfairness. Crystal was rich. She managed to awaken. She had a rare pet. She was supposed to live a better life. Why was nothing going as she wanted? Hate and resentment shimmered inside her, and Crystal didn’t know where to direct animosity.

“You won’t fight, Miss Petit?” Mr Carter retorted in a dangerous, soft voice. “Are you saying that you’re not a beast tamer? That your pet isn’t of the rare rank?”

“That’s an unfair fight! Anyway, my CSI is only of the common rank, so, of course, my talent is weak! I won’t fight!”

“Think carefully about your decision, Miss Petit.”

However, Crystal was too agitated to be rational. The girl left the training hall in a fit of temper. Mr Carter looked over as she left but didn’t try to stop her. Instead, he leisurely walked around to check on the other small groups of students training to execute the specific moves he had taught them.

He suddenly called his next victim. “Mr Canter, I can see you need some personal guidance. Come: I’ll train you.”

Yaron was even louder than Crystal in his refusal to fight. “My talent isn’t for fighting, and it’s of the common rank. What do you mean by calling me to train with you? What do you want me to train? I’ll never be any sort of beast fighter! That’s ridiculous.”

Yaron knew he had no chance in a real fight with a talent like [Beautification] and his Musician Swan – which wasn’t an offensive pet. He had complained during the exam because it was his habit to complain. He didn’t lose four times during the exam, so by his reckoning, he didn’t deserve only one point. Yaron was proud and used to having his way at home. However, he wasn’t oblivious to his own values and capabilities.

Moreover, Yaron had chosen the Art elective class with a lucid mind. His goal was to become a celebrity, and he had chosen the Musician Swan for that purpose. Yaron aspired to become a singer – or even better: an idol similar to the ones from the Old World. The youth loved to daydream about the stars he read about in old books.

Anyway, the Army had done a good job these last decades, and it had been almost fifty years since the last time an Abyss monster army attacked a City-State. Yaron didn’t need to learn to fight. His father had told him the Beast Tamers Association was only trying to control beast tamers by pretending that all of them needed to be reserved soldiers to fight the Abyss monsters.

The youth was sure his father would support his decision, so Yaron firmly refused to obey the teacher. To prove he didn’t wish to learn how to fight, he even went to sit idly on a bench until the end of the period.

Strangely, Mr Carter didn’t stop the boy either and just threw some nasty words at him. The teacher continued his round before calling out to his next target.

Jax had a temper and had been very proud since his parents bought him a rare pet. His losses during the practical exam had been a hurtful wake-up call. Jax had understood then that having a rare pet wasn’t enough. Larissa, Sarah, Amir, and Marcus had a rare or epic-ranked CSI. Jax couldn’t compete with that since his talent was only of the notable rank.

Nevertheless, Jax couldn’t let it go. He didn’t want to admit it. Why would the rank of the CSI determine everything? His pet was a good pet, and if the exam had allowed him to fight against his other classmates instead of only letting him fight these powerhouses, he would have proved it. He couldn’t swallow his rank at the bottom of the class.

With the will to improve himself and the determination to prove he wasn’t worthless, Jax courageously went up to confront Mr Carter and his lemur. Unfortunately, the poor boy ended up being trashed by the teacher. Mr Carter was relentless in his snarks and nasty remarks during the practice.

As Jax fell without strength and his rat fainted, the teacher called out to the twins. Mr Carter first ordered Artem. “Mr Eos, make yourself useful! Carry this pitiful loser out of my sight! Then come here for your training.”

Artem obeyed without a word. Firstly, without his Family’s support, he couldn’t refuse, so he didn’t waste his breath trying. Secondly, he could learn a lot by challenging powerful opponents. Artem was getting used to being injured during training and thought it was the perfect way to improve his toughness.

Moreover, he had carefully watched Jax’s and Mr Carter’s fight. The teacher’s moves looked careless as if Jax was beneath him, but each move flew to the next one. It was like a choreography between the teacher and his pet. Artem felt this was what a dual combat should look like.

While the dark-haired teenager was carrying Jax and his rat to a bench, Mr Carter pointed at Galen. “And you, Mr Eos, let’s see if your ridiculous fairy can heal them.”

When a student was gravely hurt, he was transported to the infirmary so Mrs Bousrani could heal him. Despite his conspicuous ruthlessness, Mr Carter wasn’t crazy enough to injure his students severely. Mr Carter had perfect control over his pet, so the cuts and bruises were superficial.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Lucia easily healed these injuries. The main problem was the loss of endurance and the tiredness because the Light Fairy didn’t have the skills to heal that. The fairy looked incompetent when the rat didn’t regain consciousness, and Jax still couldn’t walk. Amir noticed this result and led his goons to jeer at Galen.

Galen ignored them and encouraged his fairy. Meanwhile, Artem endured Mr Carter’s harsh training without complaining. He was a better warrior than Jax, and his body was sturdier, so Mr Carter was more ruthless with him. The only thing Artem had difficulties tolerating was how the lemur shot at Ayden with its shoulder laser gun. The gap in strength was so much that Ayden couldn’t dodge and soon fainted.

However, Mr Carter didn’t stop his attacks and concentrated on Artem instead. Despite the teacher’s taunts, Artem refused to use his talent and conserved his chi.

“Pathetic. Look at you now! What’s the use of your power if you refuse to use it? You think you’re some vigilante?”

“Who does he think he is, then, huh? A first-grade asshole?” Lyra ranted in frustration. The twins were so tolerant, that she felt it was her duty to rant for them. “If Artem is a vigilante, is he the villain? What? He’s filming a superhero movie? Where’s the script? I’m giving it one star!”

The twins ignored their CSI since they didn’t understand half of her raving.

When Mr Carter finally let Artem go, Marcus came to help him walk to Galen. Ayden was lying on her tamer’s shoulder. The teacher didn’t forget to throw a last nasty remark to the twins. “Maybe now that the one needing healing is your brother, you’ll put more energy into it.”

Without waiting to see Galen’s reaction, Mr Carter focused his attention back on the other students, probably to choose his next victim.

“Sir!” Orsella suddenly came over.

“Miss Mancini. Shouldn’t you be training with your partners?”

“It’s boring. I want to train with your lemur. The shoulder laser gun looks fun!”

“You don’t need my guidance, Miss Mancini.”

“Of course I need it, Mr Carter! Your talent is unique, I need to experience it for myself.”

Orsella insisted because even if Mr Carter had a powerful pet and a beneficial talent, his talent and CSI were only at the notable rank. So, the teacher had a limited pool of chi. If Mr Carter targeted the same students as the day before, Orsella wouldn’t have any chance to test herself against his buffed pet. She wanted to know how good her bear’s defense would be against the lemur equipped with the shoulder laser gun.

Mr Carter thoughtfully looked around the training hall. He suddenly raised his voice. “Anyone else wishing like Miss Mancini here to profit from my training?”

Most students looked away awkwardly. However, some reacted differently. Marcus seemed to be considering it, while Larissa and Sarah both completely ignored the teacher to continue training together. As for Amir, he stared fixedly at Mr Carter with an expressionless face. The teacher’s gaze passed over Amir to stop on Nasir.

“Mr Jamra? You need personal training. You should come over to receive my guidance before I take care of Miss Mancini.”

“I told you yesterday that I didn’t need your teaching,” Nasir stubbornly retorted.

“But it’s obvious that your Family doesn’t share your opinion. You’re here today in my class, aren’t you?” Mr Carter replied with a taunting smile.

Nasir gritted his teeth in rage. He had informed his mother of what had happened the day before, but she hadn’t taken his side. On the contrary, she scolded him for bringing shame and trouble to her.

His mother was only one of the Jamra Family’s kept-women. Her lover – though maybe it was more accurate to call him a keeper – was one of Aziz Jamra’s youngest brothers. Aziz Jamra was Amir’s father and the head of the main branch. He was the eldest, and rumors said Aziz Jamra kept tight control of his Family, leaving few responsibilities to his brothers.

As such, Nasir’s mother didn’t get many spirit resources. She had hoped birthing a son would improve her situation. Getting offspring with good genes and good talent was one of the reasons so many women were kept in the minor branch by the men of the main branch. The Jamra Family was actively trying to produce more and better beast tamers by practicing eugenics.

However, Nasir’s results were disappointing, and his attitude left much to desire. Even if her son was an illegitimate cousin of Amir – the rightful heir of the main branch –, that didn’t amount to anything. Nasir needed to prove his value and achieve some kind of results to be truly accepted by the Family. In the worst case, the Jamra Family would exile Nasir once he reached his majority.

Nasir didn’t understand that. In his mind, he belonged to the Jamra Family because he managed to awaken and got a talent in line with the Family’s specialty. Some children from the minor branch didn’t manage to awaken this year, and their exile had already been decided. Nasir believed he wasn’t a failure like them.

The boy was still jealous of Shahin’s and Basic’s notable pets. Nevertheless, he had relieved some of his temper on his weaker classmates. After calming down, he had found some advantages to his common pet. The Fire Beetle could evolve into a Flaming Scarab, which was of value to the Family.

So Nasir didn’t understand why his mother didn’t support him. His results during the exam weren’t his fault.

Nasir glanced at Amir in askance. He might distrust his mother’s judgment, but the youth would obey his young master. However, Nasir didn’t find any help there. Amir was still looking at Mr Carter with his expressionless face. Nasir knew that meant the young master shouldn’t be disturbed.

Before he could make a decision, Mr Carter talked to him again. “It shouldn’t be that like Miss Petit and Mr Canter, you think you’re not fit to be a fighter. So, is it that you’re a coward? Even Mr Miller dared stand before me, and his elective isn’t the professional combat class. Just how low do you intend to go, Mr Jamra?”

Nasir couldn’t stand the teacher’s belittlement any longer. Enraged, he went to train with Mr Carter. However, he still hadn’t learned to control his temper. He got trashed as fast as Jax.

Basic carried his cousin over as Shahin took care of his pet without Mr Carter having to tell them to. Once again, the teacher ordered Galen to heal Nasir and his pet. Galen did it without complaining.

“Why are you healing this asshole?” Lyra asked in a grumpy tone.

“Lucia hasn’t got many opportunities to train her [small heal] skill. Moreover, the Hippocrates Oath states that I should heal everyone.”

“Don’t take that oath later,” Lyra said since she disagreed with the content of the oath.

“It’s tradition.”

“Tradition is stupid,” Lyra retorted as she always automatically did when her mother used to tell her that to justify her requirements for her daughter.

While Galen and Lyra were debating, Lucia healed what injuries she could. However, the Light Fairy still couldn’t do anything to soothe the tiredness and muscle aches. Basic, Shahin, and Nasir insulted and belittled Galen and his fairy.

“See, a bunch of ingrates! Leave them to die!”

Meanwhile, Mr Carter finally allowed Orsella to train with him. The more the girl couldn’t land a hit, the more she was excited. She used her chi without constraint, though it didn’t change the outcome of the practice. Her Cave Bear tanked some damages but couldn’t hold for long. The gap between a young notable pet – even one specialized in defense – and an experienced offensive epic pet was too wide. As this fight ended, Galen and Lucia gained some more patients.

The end of the period was nearing, but Marcus finally refrained from soliciting the teacher’s personal guidance. Mr Carter patrolled the training hall again and turned his attention to Mahlon. Seeing the teacher coming his way, the young pharmacist put a smile on his face. Mr Carter had been explicit enough the day before in his reproof, but the boy was ready to justify his lack of motivation again.

“Let me guess, Mr Ruh,” Mr Carter said sarcastically. “You’re going to tell me you’re a pharmacist, not a fighter, aren’t you?”

“You know me so well, sir,” Mahlon gushed in an exaggerated but sincere admiration.

“So what are you doing here in my combat class?” the teacher asked in disgust.

“A bit of exercise is good for the health, and learning more about my pet is great for my experiments,” the boy answered in a lighthearted tone.

Mr Carter sneered but didn’t push it as it was time to end the training. He gathered the class to give instructions for Thursday’s dual combat practice. The students hurriedly left the hall afterward.

The twins weren’t sure what to think of Mr Carter’s behavior. He didn’t treat the students equally, targeting some more than others. Nevertheless, each of his actions was done to teach and improve the students, or so it seemed. However, the twins didn’t have much time to ponder this mystery because they had to go to their elective class next.

Before Galen could go far, Tom River stopped him. Galen silently looked at him, but the other boy hesitated to speak.

“Can I help you?” Galen said to break the awkward silence.

“I wanted to apologize,” Tom muttered without looking at Galen.

“Why?” Galen asked in confusion.

“I could have helped with the healing, but I didn’t,” Tom answered guiltily.

Galen pondered his classmate’s answer. As far as he knew, the Small-Headed Salmon hadn’t got any healing skills. Galen took a guess. “Is it your talent?”

“Yes, my talent is [Refresh], a sort of healing talent. I mean, it’s useless to heal injuries but it works for tiredness and soreness. I think, I mean, I haven’t used it yet. I don’t want to use my chi.”

“As you should,” Galen replied in a firm voice. “This isn’t a chi class, and even Mr Duval allows us to spare our chi.”

“But you were scolded,” Tom muttered.

“That’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it.”

As the boy awkwardly nodded, Galen went on his way. Tom wasn’t a bad guy, but he lacked confidence. He usually followed the flow in class, so Galen had seen him laughing at him or his brother several times.

“Could be what he was apologizing for was his behavior toward you since the beginning of school,” Lyra said. Now that Tom was suffering too, maybe he regretted his past behavior.

Galen thought it over and felt that Lyra might be right, but it didn’t matter. He had more important things to think about. He went to Mrs Bousrani’s class while planning how to organize his future research and personal training.

***

The rest of Mr Carter’s classes this week passed similarly. Mr Carter focused his attention on some students, pushing and harassing them. Crystal skipped all his classes, and Yaron acted willful, training only when he felt like it. Artem, Jax, and Nasir suffered through the teacher’s harsh training, while Orsella and occasionally Marcus came asking for more.

However, the twins didn’t focus their minds on all this drama. They wanted to find more information about their fairies’ evolution. For that, Galen continued researching which plants could be used for the pills. Even if they couldn’t buy them yet, knowing what they needed would allow them to better plan for it.

After some days of thinking, Galen came up with a theory by analyzing the Beast Explorers’ reports again. Their description of the Spring Court focused on three spiritual elements: water, wood, and light. So it was reasonable to think the spirit plants needed for this Court had to be of these spiritual elements. From there, Galen inferred the other three seasonal Courts were also a combination of three spiritual elements. The youth had to determine the combination for the Summer or the Autumn Court.

After Galen shared his hypotheses with Artem, the twins decided to choose first which Court they were aiming not to waste their efforts. If they were wrong, they could only hope the failed attempt didn’t hurt the fairies or stunt their evolution.

Galen decided to try for the Day Court. This Court should be easier to obtain as it seemed safe to assume that it should only need spirit plants of the light element. Moreover, when Galen asked Lucia for her opinion, she indicated she favored this Court. As for Ayden, she agreed with Artem when he suggested the Autumn Court. Artem was hoping that this Court was a better fit for hunters.

With a clarified goal, Galen tentatively chose to look for fire and earth spirit plants, hoping to get inspiration for the third element along the way. He thought of Autumn as a windy and rainy season, so he couldn’t choose between water and air. Galen was befuddled by the possibilities and spent hours considering each spirit resources and pouring over botanic books in the library.

During this time, Artem was training with his fairy and preparing himself for the training camp when he wasn’t tutoring other students. The teenager wasn’t as excited as he thought he would be. He had always wanted to go to a military base and meet soldiers since it had been his dream to become one. However, his situation had changed and Artem didn’t like leaving Galen alone, even if it was only for two days and two nights.