Chapter 101 Magic Beast Cultivation Exam
Rishi was practicing his sword technique when he received a phone notification. After finishing his training, he checked his phone and discovered that he had received a pdf file from Ajit.
He opened the file and discovered that it contained all of Vinay's information. Rishi read it and understood Vinay's background; He was a member of the Gupta family's central family; his uncle was the family patriarch.
Despite being the family's eldest son, Vinay's father married a girl from an average family, which was not well received by the family, who wanted him to marry the daughter of the patriarch of another prominent family, preventing him from becoming patriarch.
Vinay is a phenomenal talent, but the patriarch's son is far ahead of him due to family support. Despite being the grandson of the previous patriarch, the clan members regard him as an outsider, and his father's and his followers' expectations have become a burden on him.
He had been doing very well in the previous six months and was still in the race to become the next patriarch, but the family had depleted the resources entrusted to him. The next bad thing that happened to him was that his contract beast mutated due to an accident while evolving, making it extremely difficult for Vinay to evolve his contract beast again.
He had sought assistance from many low-level magic beast cultivators. Still, no one was able to solve the problem, and the service provided by high-level magic beast cultivators was prohibitively expensive, leaving Vinay torn between investing his limited resources in his individual growth rather than using them to evolve his contract beast.
Vinay is doing well currently, but he is filled with guilt that he is being selfish and limiting the growth of his contract beast, and as a result, he is unhappy in life. He also did not join any guilds because they would require him to release his first contract beast and obtain another one, which Vinay is unwilling to do.
"Why does this story sound familiar?" Rishi asked after reading everything. "Oh, yes, I am also in a similar situation; the only difference is that if I were in his situation, it would not have been as difficult for me."
I can persuade him, but first, I must pass the exam and become an official Magic Beast cultivator. The exam will be held tomorrow, and the results will be available in two days. After that, I'll meet him.
Before attending his online class, Rishi completed his daily training. After learning from her for several months, he became acquainted with the tutor.
She joined the video call at the exact time set in previous sessions and began teaching him. Today was the last class, so she bombarded Rishi with questions, and Rishi shared his doubts.
Today's class had long passed the two-hour mark, but the tutor continued; Rishab did not interrupt her either.
"All the best for your exam," she said as she finished and was about to leave.
Rishi was shocked because of this; This was the first time she had said anything to him in a few months. "Thank you so much for your assistance, senior," he replied. " I'll throw you a party after I pass the exam."
"There is no need for it; just concentrate on your exam first, and don't be arrogant even if you pass. Your journey as a Magic Beast Cultivator has only just begun; the road ahead is even more difficult; I'll meet you after you become a one-star magic beast cultivator," said the tutor.
"What is your rank, Senior?" Rishi asked, his face puzzled.
"I am a two-star magic beast cultivator who will soon become a three-star magic beast cultivator," said the tutor, who caught Rishi off guard for the first time.
"Then why are you teaching when you can earn far more by evolving the Contract Beasts of wealthy beast tamers?" Rishi asked, raising his brows; his mouth was also opened in shock.
"It's because I'm doing research; I don't have much time left to meet with and plan evolution paths for many people. I enjoy teaching others as a hobby, and it is made even more enjoyable when I meet talented students like you," said the tutor.
When the senior said, "I am getting late now, and you should also prepare for the exam; bye," Rishi wanted to say something.
.
.
After waking up, he prepared for the exam before heading to the venue. When Rishi arrived at the venue, he saw many students waiting in line to enter the class, and senior students were checking all students at the entrance.
Every student was asked to leave everything they were carrying behind; Rishi already knew this because he was only carrying his ID.
Everyone was asked to take their seats as soon as they entered the classroom. After taking his seat, Rishi noticed a login portal on the screen in front of him that could only be accessed using the student ID.
Rishi entered his ID and password and attempted to log in, but he received an access denied message, followed by a message that said, "One minute left." Rishi waited another minute before attempting again, and this time he was successful.
The question paper was divided into a multiple-choice section with 30% weightage and a short answer section with 70% weightage. The screen displayed a timer with 120 minutes remaining. Rishi decided to start with the MCQ questions.
The first question was, "What is the purpose of the brown berry plant's roots?" Below it, four options were present; Rishi chose the third option before moving on to the next question.
Rishi checked the timer after finishing the first section and saw that only fifteen minutes had passed; he didn't waste any time and began attempting the second part.
It was much more complex than the first part, with many tricky questions, but Rishi answered them all easily. After finishing his exam, Rishi took five minutes to answer the last question, and he still had half an hour left.
If there had been someone else, he might have tried to recheck all his answers, but Rishi disliked rechecking; it was tedious for him and sometimes confused him even more. Rishi rose from his seat and exited; all of the students looked at him, surprised; some mocked him, believing Rishi had not performed well.
The teacher was astounded as well, but he said nothing. Rishi approached him and inquired, "Sir, where will the practical exam be held?"
"It will take place in room 3152," the teacher replied.
Rishi exited the classroom and went to room 3152. All rooms, beginning with three, were used as labs in the academy; this was done to make it easier for students to find the rooms.
Rishi entered the room and noticed one senior waiting to check the ID. Rishi was allowed to enter the lab after showing him his ID; he noticed numerous safety and caution signs as he entered. Before entering the lab, Rishi was given a lab coat, gloves, a mask, and special goggles.
The smell of various chemicals, Magic Beasts, and ingredients wafted through the lab. He saw many large chambers filled with magic beasts.
"Are you here for your practical exam?" a senior asked Rishi.
Rishi nodded in response, and she returned her gaze to him before saying, "Follow me."
She led Rishi to a desk with various materials, and the senior said, "Wait a minute; the professor will arrive."
Rishi patiently waited three minutes. He looked around at various magical beasts. A rodent-like creature was undergoing some transformation in a chamber. Rishi thought it was evolving into a 'Quill Rat' based on the small spikes protruding from its body. On the other side of the chamber, he noticed a feathered creature with a long sharp beak being ejected a red-colored serum little by little, transforming its brown feathers to bright red.
Rishi heard tiny footsteps while looking around. He turned to see a middle-aged woman approaching him with a file in her hand. "Aren't you quite early?" she asked as she sat in the chair. "Have you finished your exam?"
"Yes, ma'am, I finished it half an hour early," Rishi responded; the professor was astounded. She looked at Rishi in a strange way raising her brows.
"How many questions did you leave?" she asked.
"I answered all of them," Rishi replied, which surprised the professor even more.
"Did you know it was a negative marks exam? You will get negative marks if you answer questions incorrectly," said the professor.
"I know that; that's why I took my time while answering them," Rishi replied.
The professor paused for a second and returned his gaze to Rishi, as if analyzing him, before asking, "How many marks do you expect to score?"
"I'm not sure about that, Mam. There was one question I am unsure about; if I answered it correctly, then I will score full marks," replied Rishi.
The professor became enraged by this response; she assumed Rishi was bragging, so she asked, "Which question are you unsure about?"
"The final one was not on the syllabus, and there were many answers; I wrote what I believed to be true," explained Rishi.
The professor decided to take his practical and send him on his way as soon as possible. "Do you know the magic beast in that chamber?" she inquired.
Rishi looked around the chamber and noticed a creature with long canines, a scaled body, and large wings made from extended skin. It had the shape, size, and appearance of a 'cave bat,' but it also had some unique characteristics, such as scales, a long tail, and reptilian eyes that confused him.
The professor smiled when she noticed Rishi's confused expression, but she didn't realize that Rishi was not confused about the creature's original species but about its evolution.
"It is a cave bat evolving into some other creature," he replied after a brief thought.
"Oh, you know it," she exclaimed, her face surprised. 'He even knows it's evolving,' she reasoned.
"Can you guess what its next evolution could be?" the professor asked curiously.
"It has an elongated tail with scales; its skin color is also a mix of green and black," Rishi replied. "I believe it is evolving into a lizard specie; some species share these characteristics, but they are quite rare; only one specie is easily found. I think it will evolve into a 'scaled bat.'
This answer impressed the professor; she began to rate Rishi higher than before, believing his previous answers' credibility slightly more.