I Can See Evolution Paths

Chapter 32: Exam End

The examination grounds were in complete chaos.

Students were talking over one another. Parents were demanding explanations. Representatives were arguing. Recruiters were already trying to approach promising candidates. Every conversation somehow led back to the same two names.

Leon Draken.

Arthur Cronwall.

Professor Roland Hayes finally had enough. A silver pressure rolled across the examination grounds. The crowd felt it and quieted in the way crowds quieted when they remembered they were in the presence of a professional.

Roland folded his hands again.

"The Entrance Examination has officially ended."

The shouting gradually stopped.

The crowd settled.

Immediately afterward, several recruiters began moving.

Toward Leon.

Toward Arthur.

Toward Athena.

Toward Mithra.

Toward Cassian.

Roland’s eye twitched. "No."

Everyone froze.

One recruiter frowned.

"Professor Hayes—"

"They are Pathfinder students now." His voice remained calm. "You may approach them after enrollment at Pathfinder Academy. Not before."

One recruiter began to object, but Roland looked at him. The objection did not complete.

"Thank you for your patience."

The recruiters looked unhappy. Several representatives looked even worse. But nobody argued or wanted to challenge a Pathfinder instructor in public.

Roland silently exhaled.

At least one disaster had been avoided.

For now.

...

The acceptance ceremony was surprisingly brief. Those who passed gathered before Roland while everyone else quietly stepped aside.

"Congratulations."

The tension broke immediately.

Students laughed.

Parents cried.

Several beasts jumped into their Tamers’ arms.

Roland waited until the celebration settled. Then continued. "Before you leave, one final demonstration." He gestured. "All Beast Tamers possess a Mana Realm, a spiritual space connected to your soul where your contracted beast can be safely held. Touch your beast. Will it inside. Then summon it again."

Arthur’s hand was already on Vedas.

The Goblin Commander vanished.

Arthur stared at the space where he had been. "...That’s so cool."

Arthur immediately summoned Vedas again.

The Goblin Commander reappeared. "...Again?" Vedas asked.

Arthur dismissed him.

Then summoned him again.

Vedas stared.

Arthur’s eyes sparkled. "This is amazing."

Vedas sighed. "...I’m starting to regret evolving."

And then dismiss.

Mithra burst into laughter. "I was wondering how long it’d take."

"How could I resist?"

Mithra laughed. "There’s more to it than that."

Arthur leaned forward. "Can I store other things in there?"

Roland answered before Mithra could. "No."

Arthur looked genuinely disappointed. "...That would’ve been useful."

Mithra laughed. "For now, let’s pay attention."

...

Roland ran through the remaining enrollment briefing with the efficiency it deserved: housing assignments, class schedules, district orientation, and answered questions where questions were useful and noted the ones that indicated which students had done their research before arriving.

He paused longer than necessary on the activity calendar.

Not because it required extra explanation. Because it was, in Roland’s private opinion, the section that made students understand for the first time what they had actually signed up for.

"Close to the end of the semester," he said, "the Academy runs One Above All."

Several parents in the crowd sat up.

The students who had done their research went very still.

"For one week, each day belongs to a different year." Roland kept his voice even. "Monday belongs to the first years. The Academy grounds are closed to all other activities, and every first-year student and their beast can participate."

Someone in the crowd said. "What do we win!?"

"One month of complimentary meals from any establishment in the Academy district," Roland said. "The ability to skip one examination of your choice. And one week of personal training directly under Principal Steven."

The crowd took this in.

Then someone said: "What’s the Principal like?"

Roland thought about cold tea and feet on a desk and the phrase ’almost certainly.’ "Experienced," he said.

A first-year student near the front whispered to the one beside her: "One Above All is real?"

"I thought it was a rumor," the other whispered back.

He moved on before they could continue.

"The Academy also runs a student field trip each year," he continued. "Three options are presented, and students vote on the destination." He paused. "Last year’s options were a week at the Aldshore Coast, a fully covered seven-day visit to the capital of Sefriot, and access to a restricted Secret Realm with supervised exploration."

Silence.

"The first years," Roland said, "voted for the beach."

More silence.

"The beach," someone repeated.

"Yes," Roland said.

Arthur slowly looked around. "...Was the Secret Realm dangerous?"

Roland looked at him. "Extremely."

Arthur nodded. "...That explains why I would’ve voted for it."

A long pause from the crowd.

He then asked again. "Which secret realm?"

Roland looked at him. "Not important," he said. "The vote was for the beach."

Arthur looked like he had several follow-up questions.

Roland moved on.

Eventually Roland finished. "You are dismissed."

Nobody moved.

Roland waited.

Still nobody moved.

He sighed internally. "...Right."

Everyone wanted answers.

...

The crowd immediately exploded again.

Everyone wanted to know what happened inside the Verdian Secret Realm. Roland stood near the front of the examination grounds with his hands folded behind his back. He looked calm, professional, and absolutely dignified.

The perfect Pathfinder instructor.

In reality?

He was listening harder than anyone.

Beast Tamers acquired many things after reaching the Silver Rank. Further enhanced physical capability. A deeper understanding of beast mana. The ability to perceive threads of power at distances that normal people could not access. Roland had always maintained that this last ability was primarily useful for threat assessment in field conditions.

And Roland was currently using that ability for something he would never publicly admit.

Information gathering.

Professional information gathering.

Definitely not gossip.

...

The stories started with Leon.

Naturally.

"He wiped out six Beast Tamers at once."

Roland nodded slightly, as that was reasonable. That sounded like Leon.

Another student quickly added. "Then he beat over twenty more."

Roland nodded again. A Golden Dragon was one of the strongest beasts in existence. Plus it was Leon Draken.

Another student jumped in. "The crater was insane."

"Oh, you saw that too!? Half the forest disappeared."

"His dragon’s Mega Blast was ridiculous."

A group immediately began arguing over how large the crater had actually been. Then someone mentioned evolution.

The crowd became excited again. "The dragon started glowing!"

"A golden pillar shot into the sky!"

"It was incredible!"

Roland silently agreed.

Then another student groaned. "Forget that."

"Do you know how much money I lost?"

Several students looked depressed.

Roland sighed. "Were these kids betting?"

And then he glanced at a brown-haired boy and knew he was the source. The child of a merchant. Apparently he had somehow convinced everyone to place bets. Every single one of them had bet on Leon and every single one of them had lost.

Roland decided not to ask further questions.

He wasn’t sure he wanted answers.

...

A student suddenly said, "Honestly..."

"I thought Leon was going to go through the entire exam... Undefeated"

Several immediately nodded.

"Everyone did."

"Of course we did."

"Who else was supposed to beat him?"

Then another student spoke. "Then Arthur showed up."

Silence.

Roland’s eyebrow twitched.

He kept his expression perfectly calm. Mostly because instructors weren’t supposed to visibly suffer emotional damage in public.

Then someone finally said it. "Cassian lost."

Silence.

Roland’s head snapped around. "What?"

The word escaped before he could stop it. Several students jumped.

One looked oddly honored.

An instructor was listening to his story.

Roland immediately straightened. Completely professional once again. As if he hadn’t reacted harder than everyone else.

"Continue."

The student swallowed. Then pointed toward Arthur. "Arthur beat him."

The crowd turned and saw Cassian talking with one of his butlers nearby. Around him, his followers laughed and talked.

Someone asked. "Is that true?"

Cassian raised a brow and nodded. "Yes."

The crowd exploded.

Roland felt a headache forming.

And then someone finally asked the obvious question.

"What about Leon?"

Silence fell.

Everyone turned.

Leon thought for several seconds. Then calmly answered. "We fought, and Arthur’s beast won."

Silence.

No excuses.

No explanations.

No denial.

Then the students started describing the fight. At first, Roland assumed they were exaggerating, and then they continued talking. And things somehow became worse.

"Mephistopheles dominated the beginning."

Another nodded. "Completely."

"But then the Goblin seemed to have changed? When Arthur shouted at it... It seemed to gain its second wind."

A third jumped in. "Then it injured the Golden Dragon."

Roland frowned.

Impossible. The defense of a dragon was immense; it should be way too much for a Goblin to even pierce.

Then another student spoke. "Arthur was helping predict the dragon attacks."

Nonsense.

Another. "The Goblin forced the Dragon to take it seriously."

Absurd.

Another. "It blocked dragonfire with a shield."

Ridiculous.

Another. "It launched itself into the air."

Roland froze.

Then the final student finished. "And strangled the Dragon until it lost."

Roland almost choked.

Several adults looked toward him.

Roland immediately coughed into his fist. As he quickly became professional again, he must remain professional. He was a Pathfinder instructor. Not a man currently having his understanding of Beast Tamers repeatedly beaten with a chair.

The crowd stared at the students talking in disbelief.

Whether it was Arthur Cronwall defeating Leon or the fact that his Goblin was able to somehow strangle a damn dragon!

It was utterly absurd.

...

Arthur was nearby, and the crowd around him had developed the specific energy of people who wanted to ask questions and were not sure how.

One student finally said. "Why does a Goblin know how to fight a Dragon?"

Arthur looked at him. "He doesn’t, specifically. He’s just been paying attention."

The crowd processed this.

Arthur looked at the expressions around him. "Why does everyone keep acting like that’s strange?"

Athena immediately pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because who expects a Goblin to beat a dragon?"

"That sounds like their problem."

"Please stop talking."

Mithra burst into laughter.

Roland heard all of this and all of it replay in his mind. Leon Draken evolving once was a miracle. Arthur evolving twice was impossible. Arthur defeating Cassian was absurd. Arthur defeating Leon was impossible.

Arthur doing all of them on the same day...

Roland wasn’t sure what category that belonged in anymore.

’W-What would Principal Steven do in this situation!?’

Roland’s mind, against his better judgment, produced Principal Steven.

The man would be in his office with his feet on the desk. Tea was going cold because he had forgotten it was there and drank it cold anyway.

Roland imagined telling him what had happened today. He imagined Steven’s face doing absolutely nothing for three seconds and then saying.

"Oh, wonderful."

Roland imagined himself blinking. "Wonderful?"

"Yes." Steven would reach for the cold tea.

"A Goblin Commander. First day. I was wondering when something interesting was going to happen with this cohort."

"You were wondering," Roland would say. "When something interesting... was going to happen?"

"The last three years have been quite straightforward."

"The last three years were normal!"

"Yes." A sip of cold tea. "Exactly."

"Principal... The student has an F-Rank Talent."

"Mm."

"And his beast is a Goblin."

"Mm."

Roland imagined grabbing the tea. "You’ve lost the right to drink this calmly."

Steven calmly takes it back. "Don’t be like that, Roland, I’m listening."

"... And he defeated Leon Draken!"

"Mm."

"AND EVOLVED HIS GOBLIN TWICE!"

Steven set down the tea. He appeared to be thinking. "So he’ll be fine for One Above All, then," he said. "This year’s students seem more interesting. I have hope."

’...’

...

Leon left first. He crossed the grounds toward the exit and stopped beside Arthur for a moment, his eyes finding Vedas’s absence before finding Arthur’s face.

Arthur waved his hand and said. "Don’t fall behind."

"I’ll try." Leon smiled. "I know you won’t."

Leon walked on.

Cassian left shortly afterward. He stopped beside Arthur. "Next time."

Arthur looked up.

Cassian’s eyes were completely serious.

"I want a rematch."

Then he walked away.

"Sure, anytime!"

Arthur waved at him before Athena came over. She sighed. The long-suffering sigh of someone already regretting future decisions.

"Try not to get into trouble before enrollment."

Arthur blinked. "That’s a strange thing to say."

"No." Athena adjusted her notebook. "It’s a very reasonable thing to say. Or did you forget all the things we went through in the Secret Realm?"

Arthur opened his mouth. Then slowly closed it again.

Athena continued. "We’ll talk about the Student Council later."

Arthur immediately brightened.

She was actually willing to help.

Before he could ask more questions, she walked away. Athy, on her shoulder, looked back at Arthur once and waved its wings before turning back around.

Across the grounds, Mithra was in conversation with a young man who appeared to be having a difficult time with something. Roland did not recognize him until he recalled the brown-haired boy who was betting on his fight with Leon.

"I’ll help." The boy crossed his arms while his monkey was tugging him. "Happy?"

Mithra smiled. "Very."

He groaned.

Mithra waved. "See you at the Academy, Sun."

Sun visibly flinched. "Stop saying it like we’re friends."

Then immediately left.

Arthur watched this for a moment. Then Mithra drifted over.

"What are your plans now?" she asked.

"I’m going home," Arthur said. "I have a lot of stories to tell."

Mithra smiled at this. "I’m sure your mother will be delighted."

"She might also be angry about some of the details."

"I would count on it," Mithra agreed.

"What about you?"

Mithra thought for a moment. "Well, I need to make a call with a Communication Crystal to—"

"Arthur Cronwall ." A voice interrupted her.

Arthur and Mithra turned to see Roland Hayes standing there. The instructor’s expression was serious.

Mithra raised an eyebrow. "Instructor?"

"Miss Lucis." Roland nodded. "Could you give the boy and me a moment?"

Mithra crossed her arms. "Normally I wouldn’t." She studied him and then nodded. "But I know you’re not the type for tricks."

Arthur smiled faintly. "You trust him?"

"Enough to know he isn’t a corrupt one."

"Then I feel safe."

Mithra laughed. "Come find me afterward."

Arthur waved as she left, and then he looked at the instructor who stared at him for several seconds.

Finally—

"I wanted to talk to you about your Goblin."

Arthur blinked. "My Goblin?"

"Yes." Roland’s expression became complicated. "Because what happened today..." He paused. "...should be impossible."

Silence.

Arthur blinked.

"Is it?"

Silence.

Roland stared.

Arthur frowned. "I thought all Beast Tamers could do that."

Roland’s soul briefly left his body.

For the third time today. He questioned his profession.