It was no small amount; there were several hundred of them. On the weathered and faded wooden floorboards, some were still spinning, unable to stop.
"Can, there's a fortune here!"
The middle-aged woman was bewildered. This demeanor—befitting someone who ate oat gruel for dinner—was currently the shared feeling of the whole family.
"Didn't I tell you? Today, we can go back to our old house. Ten gold for monthly rent isn't a burden anymore!"
The man was overjoyed; he was laughing. The woman was equally overjoyed, but she was crying. Seeing two vastly different expressions of the exact same emotion, Sivo jumped in.
"Dad, how did you even meet Mel?"
The bedridden boy had told the story of the previous night, but he still had no idea how his father brought the young boy into their home.
Without hesitating, Can told the story; from the first day Mel showed up with no beast cores, to him walking into the forest.
"Did he really hunt this many beast cores in just two days? What kind of monster is hiding inside that nice kid?"
As someone who had seen the forest at the edge of the settlement firsthand, Sivo seemed reluctant to believe the story, but the proof was right in front of him.
"Crazy, isn't it? Well, what you're about to see is going to shatter your mind!"
Finishing his words, the guard cupped his hands together and held them out to his son; a sudden glow erupted from his palms.
It was a violet-black crystal, as big as a child's head. It gave off a dark and ferocious aura.
"This... this is a boss-tier wild beast core!"
Sivo nearly jumped out of bed, starting to mutter to himself.
"He asked all those questions just for this. He wasn't making fun of me... he had all this the moment he walked in!"
Realizing the truth, the guard's son was left breathless. Maybe Mel had asked to spend just one night here only for his sake. Otherwise, with all this wealth, he could have stayed in the best rooms in the settlement for months.
Unable to hold it back any longer, the middle-aged woman burst into sobs. Before moving to her side to comfort her, the guard slid the ring onto his son's finger.
"Everything inside is yours; you can look at the rest yourself!"
Pushing his weak energy, Sivo began to scan the void inside the ring. It wasn't massive; just a bit bigger than the room they were in. The boy didn't seem to care; he knew perfectly well the astronomical value of rings that had even smaller voids.
"He really killed it himself... he killed a boss-tier colossal serpent!"
When he spotted the carcass resting in a corner, he roared with the last bit of strength he had. The guard, having already seen this earlier, just smiled. A year ago, their world had burned to ashes, but today, life was starting over.
While the guard and his family were waking up to a miracle, the architect of their salvation was waiting at the site of the Botanical Division's entrance exams. He had been waiting in front of the building he reached at first light for exactly three hours, and not a single person had shown up besides him.
"You again?"
As Mel drifted to sleep in front of the doors, a voice pierced his ears like a shot arrow.
"Yes, sir; I guess I'm a bit early!"
"Didn't I tell you the exams would start at the tenth hour?"
"No, sir, you didn't! You just shoved the token in my hand and went back to sleep!"
The new arrival was Cantankerous Hanry, and upon realizing his mistake, he quickly tried to cover it up.
"Nonsense! You just didn't hear it!"
The old man pushed the doors open and stepped inside, leaving Mel staring blankly at his back. Then, the doors that had just closed swung open just as fast.
"Why are you just standing there? Come inside!"
Cantankerous Hanry yelled, his eyes bulging wide.
Mel went in right away and started looking around. The inside layout of the long, single-story building was way different from what he had seen before. The registration desks were gone; in their place were single chairs paired with small desks.
"Pick a seat and sit down. There's an hour left; the others will start showing up soon."
It happened exactly as he said; ten minutes after Cantankerous Hanry finished talking, the building started to fill up with groups of three and five.
Along with the candidates, the registrars from the previous day arrived one by one. Finally, at five minutes to the tenth hour, a very old man dressed in emerald robes, with a beard hanging down to his waist, appeared at the door. Young and old alike jumped to their feet; only Mel stayed seated, looking around in confusion.
"My friend, it would be smart to stand up!"
When the boy next to him nudged him with his hand, Mel had to jump to his feet, but his slow reaction didn't escape the crowd's notice.
"Isn't that the peasant from the other day?"
"He doesn't even know who just walked in, and he still thinks he's going to pass the trials!"
Spotting a weakness in their rival, the youths started whispering among themselves.
"Silence!"
When the whispers turned into a noise, Cantankerous Hanry roared, and the room went completely quiet.
"Division Head, if you please!"
Three armchairs were set up at the far end of the building; the man who had walked in with steady steps took the middle seat. Cantankerous Hanry took the armchair right to his right, while a younger man sat to his left. All eyes were locked on the three of them, while the other registrars stood waiting. After a short silence, the youngest of the three began to speak.
"This year's Botanical Division Entrance Exam is going to have three phases!"
His voice was loud, carrying authority. Even the people sitting all the way in the back of the building could hear him perfectly clearly.
"Each phase is going to be worth ten points; anyone who fails to get a total score of twenty points will be eliminated!"
The young man's announcement sparked an uproar; the Botanical Division was demanding a huge success rate of almost seventy percent across the board.
"Silence!"
After Cantankerous Hanry's voice shut down the noise again, the young man kept talking.
"The first trial will measure the connection you can make with plants. Surely, everyone here knows that communing with plants is the basic requirement for the Botanical Division!"
While everyone nodded their heads trying to look smart, some took the chance to show off.
"I learned how to feed and grow plants using my own energy when I was just a year old!"
"Our family has practiced Botanical Cultivation for generations; this phase is going to be a breeze for me!"
Besides the ones bragging about their families, there were also scholars obsessed with ancient texts.
"Did you know? They say some grandmasters can actually command the energy of plants!"
"Those are just myths; have you ever seen a grandmaster do that?"
Mel heard everything; he paid close attention especially to the talk between the two guys with thick glasses. As someone who constantly swapped energy with plants, he was shocked to hear a thing he did as naturally as breathing treated like a myth.
"I have to remember Grandpa's advice. I can do things these people think are impossible. I can never show my true power to anyone!"
Mel couldn't even whisper his thoughts; afraid someone might hear, he just echoed them in his own mind.
"Attendants, bring out the Ten-Budded Phantom Orchids!"
It took less than ten minutes to put the planters in front of the hundred candidates. Everyone stared at the flowers, which had stems as long as an adult's arm and exactly ten buds.
"I'm sure you've all heard the name of this plant and know what it does. Still, I'm going to explain it again!"
Mel let out a deep breath; all the color had drained from his face.
"Look at the peasant; he turned pale from fear!"
"He obviously didn't know what the plant was, and he was probably scared the instructor wouldn't explain it!"
Hearing the whispers of the people around him, Mel closed his eyes; it was obvious from his sweaty face that he was going through hell.