Belle walked through the train while he navigated through a shallow sea of other students and the general public that was heading to the Halo Capital.

He listened to the sounds of the train as he walked into an empty train car, made several turns, and then entered a large room.

There was already 2 people inside but from the looks of it they seemed to be minding their own business. Belle muttered a greeting before he chose a bunk bed. He threw his bag at the top and climbed up to sit down on the bed cross-legged.

He began to meditate.

As an orphan, he had to cultivate seriously!

Just as Belle relaxed he felt the Nine Nodes in his body vibrate lightly in response to his premature circulation.

All children were taught the same cultivation technique of Nine Sacred Sutra which was an Elite Technique of Zoran.

It was only until recently that they were allowed to cultivate at the age of 15 due to several circumstances. One is the Spiritual Race Pact made by Ancestor Ling Ran 700 years ago.

‘The Instructors said to study history seriously as it might benefit cultivation but I have my doubts. I mean, other than preventing past mistakes, what else is the benefit?’ Belle brushed the thought aside and began to use Vibration and Circulation, two basic techniques that make up cultivation.

It was only cultivation that was restricted, during that time they were taught all sorts of useful knowledge to prepare them for the world. Like general knowledge on fighting and weaponry so they could better choose their Armament Companion in the future.

Belle took a breath and guided the essence of the world into his body through his Nine Nodes as he slowly filled them up. The withering and flowing of his essence in conjunction with his amateur manipulation enthralled him and he pursued a deeper connection.

At that moment when he was about to concentrate deeper into his meditation a voice sounded out in the room.

“Good afternoon! My dear juniors, if you haven’t already noticed. We are already approaching our destination. Please leave the train cars and come to the lobby.” Welf told them all. “Your partners will be announced soon enough.”

‘What partners?’ Belle was stunned. ‘I thought we had to do this thing alone? Damnit, if I get grouped up with some slackers I might fail this thing.’

Belle looked at the other kids his age that was in the train car. He hadn’t bothered to take second glances at him when he entered. After the fiasco that happened earlier today, he didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

Belle clicked his tongue before he began to gather his things like the others.

In that small amount of time, he heard several noises throughout the train which he figured came from the other rooms.

It seems that he lucked out in meeting Welf and Jen, as the loud, mean voices boomed at the other potential students of Astavia – The House of Learning.

Compared to them, those two looked like angels and even the Hero Instructor from before looked extremely caring.

‘How is it already afternoon? Did I spend all that time cultivating?’ For some reason, this irked him. ‘Fortunately, my Golden Jelly Apples wouldn’t spoil or lose their texture and taste so quickly. Especially after being put in the bag, Mother Jayne gave me.’

After getting his stuff he followed behind Welf and the others to the ‘Lobby’ which was just a gathering of examinees with proctors everywhere.

‘A crowd… I hope no one recognizes me from earlier. What if my partners are the ones who were glaring at me earlier because Welf rebuked them?’ All sorts of thoughts assaulted Belle but he tuned in to what the person at the very front was saying.

He was a Fairy.

He sat cross-legged in the air as he began to address them all, “I see you have all been assembled. Good. I’m going to keep this brief… You guys are not ready for this test at all.”

Belle’s brows scrunched up in anger and frustration, “You don’t have to rub it in.” He grumbled.

While Belle’s reaction was quite mild, the same could be said for some of the others. As expected of rowdy teenage combatants some of them expressed their outrage quite vocally with some even walking toward the Fairy only to be stopped by their proctors.

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One example was a taller-than-average Dwarf who was being held by the head by another one of the Elf proctors but they had a different scarf from Welf. It is red-black. She also had longer ears and silver hair.

“Did I offend you? My apologies, it seems you still don’t understand. If you had been ready for this test then that means that I, and the other examiners have failed to construct a fitting challenge for you,” The Fairy smiled.

“Even without seeing your prowess, I can already tell you all are near the top of the barrel. This must be why you chose the Placement Exams instead of the Entry Exams. Instead of steadily climbing through the lower ranks of apprenticeship you all intend to jump straight to the top of the list by becoming Inner disciples on the spot.”

By his tone and the people he looked at. It was telling that he was talking to some more than others and that not everyone here was “top of the barrel” as he claimed.

It was more than likely that he was addressing those who would take the Placement Exams rather than the Entrance Exams. The other demanded much more skill and even a recommendation, not just mere talent for cultivation or bare minimum aptitude.

“The old man is giving the same speech as last time,” Welf whispered to them. “I laughed the first time I heard it and Jen scolded me. Now I’m cursed to listen to it on repeat, over and over.”

“Stop talking,” Jen, who was nearby, came to scold him.

Welf clicked his tongue.

Belle looked at the group of girls behind Jen. All of them were Beastkin who had gold ears like that of a Lion with hair of a similar color and their eyes were piercing, all of which being the same shade of cyan.

One of them looked more like a squirrel with her ears and tail, along with her soft brown eyes. Her posture was less confident than the rest as she directly hid behind Jen.

‘Triplets and an outlier. Though they could all be siblings so I’m not sure,’ Belle turned his gaze away from them, not interested in anything else. ‘I don’t want to catch their gazes accidentally, who knows how girls from the Capital Regions act. If they’re anything like the girls back home…’

Belle shivered.

‘Breanna and Grychia were already enough to have me fighting for survival every day. Not to mention three older girls,’ He gulped.

Faintly, he heard them talking and unfortunately, it was about him. Belle mourned, for luck seemed to be constantly against him today. Or was it a result of his actions?

“Hey wasn’t he looking at us, Nataly?”

‘It was just a passing glance. Are you guys so bored you talk about me for that!’ Belle didn’t make any large movements, merely rubbing the ring on his right index finger.

“I don’t know,” Nataly blew on her bangs. “Why do you care anyway? It couldn’t have been anything more than a glance. Don’t tell me… you’ve already taken a ‘liking’ to him?”

“I thought we were over this back at home Nana,” Belle shivered as one with glasses entered the conversation. “No falling for guys at school. I’ll drag you back home otherwise. I hope you get married to a good family. Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding,” she laughed.

‘Why isn’t Jen stopping them from talking?’ Belle paid attention to their whispers while he continued to listen to the Fairy that was speaking.

“No,” Nana scrunched her nose. “He looks weak, not to mention scrawny. A handsome face isn’t enough for me Nayu, I need someone strong.”

Belle’s eyebrow twitched just as the Fairy who called himself Marcius began to address the proctors along with the professors that were there as overseers.

“Strong, huh,” Nayu flicked her glasses as her gaze landed on Belle, who rubbed his arms.

She licked her lips, “He looks like he has a fair bit of muscle on him. I wonder if…”

Nataly made a sound in disgust, “Ew. Enough with the muscle fetish Nayu. Do that when we’re not in public.” She rolled her eyes as they all stopped talking.

In the train, numerous people like them whispered to each other. The other proctors like Jen and Welf didn’t stop them from speaking as they too spoke among themselves.

Belle sighed when he saw Welf give him a pitying look. A glance between him and the three girls told him all he needed to know about what ran through the senior's mind.

‘Hey if you help me out I might join the exploration club, please grant me some assistance!’ Belle nearly called out but he held himself.

‘Why is it always like this? Should I talk back? But I don’t think they meant anything by it, even though they were a bit rude about my appearance, but to be fair I do look a little scrawny…’

A depressive state fell over Belle as he mulled over the self he was so confident about just moments prior.

‘It shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter but…’ He thought as the image of two girls pinching his cheeks emerged from within the recesses of his mind. ‘Damn… Even though cultivation is supposed to bring you toward your optimal physical condition, why am I still so lanky? Can’t I be a bit bigger? Is this really where my body is heading or am I just a late bloomer?’

He felt a soft pillow-like object brush past his hand and he raised his head, then he saw a girl with a brown squirrel-like tail with ears and eyes of a similar color. She was the same girl he noticed was behind Jen.

He looked at her and she looked at him. Latching onto the other, their gazes sparked.

Her eyes looked at him kindly as her tail brushed past his arm once more. Her smile was soothing, like nothing he had seen from a girl his age or close before. Gradually, he forgot about the words the girls from earlier said about him and soon the images of his pseudo-siblings faded from his mind as well.

He quickly peaked at the front where Marcius was as his voice continuously drifted into his ears like a sea brought wind, but it brought more than salt with it. It brought information, something he could access for this Test without having to pay attention to the man himself.

Quickly he realized something amiss.

A loud sound surfaced from the tracks and, the windows which were dark from the lack of light in the underground transport tunnel began to light up gradually.

The train was stopping.

“Now all of you will be transported to the Lost Grove of Luigoupe.” Marcius laughed. “She sees, so be aware.”

She? Who is she? Belle wondered before the train doors opened up and all the other examines began to step and he too along with the girl with the comfy tail.