"My old friend, calm down!"
Though the onlookers thought he was just ignorant or excited, the truth lay elsewhere. Mel was locked in a silent struggle with the tree inside his refined cavern.
"I understand your frustration. You can't absorb the energy from the plants on the other bank, and these flowers made you hungry. Calm down for a second; save your hunger for after we get into the academy!"
Thrashing its branches, the tree spoke through the rustling of its crimson-emerald leaves. It gave off an aura showing it meant to push the issue.
"Don't hold back, go ahead! Let them all find out our secret. Have you thought about what would happen to us then?"
For ten seconds, he focused his willpower on stopping the tree inside him from eating the life energy of the surrounding plants. Finally, the tree stopped thrashing, and Mel took a breath of relief. The young man reading the rules kept talking.
"Each bud shall be worth one point. Should you succeed in making all ten buds bloom, you shall earn the full ten points, along with the right to keep the plant!"
After the announcement, an uproar erupted from every corner. The crowd was buzzing with excitement and ambition. If they managed to make the Ten-Budded Phantom Orchid bloom fully, their botanical gardens would gain a rare artifact.
Mel rejoiced at the prize, but his motivation was different from the rest.
"Look, my old friend; see how smoothly things go when you stay calm. There is a Ten-Budded Phantom Orchid on the other bank, but you don't have one on yours. If we can pull this off, you'll get a neighbor!"
"I can't move the plants from Grandpa's garden across the stream, but from today on, I'll plant everything I win on your soil. There won't be any unfairness; trust my words!"
Taking advantage of the uproar, Mel talked with the tree inside him, but a familiar voice echoed through the hall again.
"Silence! I'll eliminate all of you!"
This time, Cantankerous Hanry gave a harsh warning to the Botanical Division candidates.
"You have one hour; you may begin!"
When the crowd went quiet, the youngest of the masters in the seats of honor signaled the start of the trial. From that second, everyone closed their eyes and focused. Or rather, everyone except one person, as Mel was looking around in confusion.
"So this is how normal people connect with plants; they need these elaborate rituals. How fascinating. Even though it's useless to me, it wouldn't hurt to learn; I'll need to copy their ways in the future!"
Following his thoughts, he watched every candidate one by one; for five minutes, he focused on this observation without making a single move.
"What is this foolish kid doing?"
Cantankerous Hanry began to grumble at Mel's behavior, a reaction that amused the young master sitting across from him.
"Master Hanry, isn't this boy the only person you registered yourself? If a grandmaster of your caliber kept his eye on him, this child must have some peerless talent."
He was provoking Hanry, but the middle-aged master stayed quiet in the face of this taunt. The master with the sweeping beard first glanced at the young man to his left, then turned to Cantankerous Hanry.
"Do you still hold a grudge against me for sending you to the registration desk?"
The old master's voice was gentle; hearing it, Mel immediately looked in that direction, but Cantankerous Hanry kept his eyes glued on the boy.
Meeting a pair of eyes blazing like glowing embers, Mel quickly looked away. It seemed all of Hanry's fury was directed at him. Meanwhile, the old man spoke again.
"No matter. Let these trials end, and we shall discuss this again!"
"What will it be this time? Are you going to strap a basket to my arm and banish me to the botanical peaks?"
Finishing his words with a few curt chuckles, Hanry made it obvious that the relationship between him and the Division Head was cold as ice.
"Division Head, a candidate has managed to make the first bud bloom!"
The youngest of the three pointed to a spot with excitement. The bud closest to the soil on the Ten-Budded Phantom Orchid in front of the girl dressed in flashy clothes was blooming into pristine white.
"As expected from the little prodigy of the Gloove lineage, she is the first to break the boundary of the initial bud!"
A bright smile blossomed on the young master's face.
"Master Louise, I was just wondering how long it would take before you announced the name of your own lineage. It seems you couldn't wait!"
Having needed a crowbar to pry a word from his lips moments ago, Cantankerous Hanry rolled his eyes at the young man's boasting.
"What can I do, Master Hanry? Since my Gloove lineage is the top Botanical Science Clan in the Green Shadow Academy, the first victories always belong to us. Our candidate for this year, Maria, continues to uphold the legacy of our bloodline."
His clothes could barely contain his swelling pride; the young master boasted using words that were actually true.
"Look, another candidate made the first bud bloom! What a coincidence; he also comes from one of the noble lineages!"
As the words of the young and handsome master echoed through the hall, the buds on the desks on the left side began to bloom. Even though they were a minute behind Maria, they all secured their first points. But on the desks directly across from them, there was only silence.
When Mel looked at the people sitting across from him, he saw elegant clothes, fancy hats, and an aura of unbearable arrogance. The ones in his own row looked just like him; they wore simple clothes and kept to themselves.
They were placed on Cantankerous Hanry's side, while the nobles took the side of young Master Louise. Mel had sat down blindly where the guy he came in with had settled, but now he realized the others had followed a strict hierarchy.
Those from noble families moved to the left, while the commoner candidates gathered on the right, lining up in front of the Masters that matched their social standing.
"Master Hanry, you rose from the common folk to reach this rank, but sadly, the exception does not break the rule!"
Even after ten minutes, the lack of blooming buds on the right side proved the young master's venomous words. Even though Cantankerous Hanry turned red with fury, he couldn't find a single word to talk back.
If it were any other master, he might have taken his anger out on the youths on his side, but the middle-aged master held back; he swallowed his rival's insults and sat in silence.
"Heh, look at these paupers. They're just here to fill the quota."
"A bunch of losers like them show up every year, only to get kicked out and sent back where they came from!"
"We need them; otherwise, whose backs are we going to step on to rise up?"
On the noble side, the youths were bragging about their wins. Even though they had rivalries among themselves, the other side was weaker than all of them; no matter what trash they talked, nobody would ever talk back.
"Silence!"
Hearing the command they usually got from Cantankerous Hanry come from Louise on their own side, the noble kids were confused at first, but they quickly figured out the hidden message in the master's tone.
Forced to give the order just to keep up appearances, the young master was basically saying, 'Keep going, but don't cross the line.'
Mel looked at his own row again. The boy sitting at the next desk was drenched in sweat; blood seeping from his nails, split from gripping the chair so hard, dripped onto the wooden floorboards drop by drop.
Seeing this, Mel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ten seconds later, when he opened his eyes again, a deafening uproar erupted inside the hall.