A week passed since the completion of the challenge. Now, the class was heading into the fifth month of their second year in the academy.
The room itself had changed in the span of a week. Kaif Delpyon's seat was occupied by Camilla, who sat with the rigid and strict bearing of a perfectionist. Kaif's knife rested at her side, now transferred to her in accordance with rules. Atticus sat where Garrick Ossel had sat, carrying Garrick's staff with that of an unfamiliarity.
Nobody mentioned the change, for no matter how heartless it sounded, only the top of the crop belonged to the higher class. There was, however, a subtle tension in the atmosphere. After all, this was the first time that students were replaced since nobody lost in the first challenge window more than two months ago, and they now felt the consequences of losing challenges down to their skin.
Isaac, with the casual upfront that he always showcased in the public, recorded these changes in his memory. He occasionally felt Camilla and Atticus's eyes on him, but he didn't address them. He did keep in mind, however, the possibility that Camilla is directly involved in her family's traitor business, that Atticus is still involved with the stranger from House Valerius who instigated his disqualification back in the Mechanism Room.
Beside his seat was Cassiopeia, who had her notebook open, ready to write.
"Manafold Beasts," Maren Solke, by the front of the stand, spoke, giving a start to the lecture. "You may have heard the term. You likely never encountered one before. They are rare and dangerous, and dwell far from civilization."
She moved to the board behind her.
"Animals typically lack sufficient intellect. However, there are rare variants with the level of intelligence that rivals humans—and they, identified by World Tree's measurement system, undergo the Rite of Manifestation. Just as how we do, they awaken skills." She wrote as she spoke, the chalk moving efficiently. It was clear that she gave this lecture enough times that her hand knew the sequence before her mind finished forming it. "Those variants are known as Manafold Beasts.
She let that sit for a moment.
"The vast majority of them are hostile toward humans. They have terrorized towns and cities, disrupting everyday lives of our citizens. Naturally, they have bounties of their own." She looked across the room.
Magnus raised his hand. "Can they be tamed?"
"No." Maren's delivery was flat enough that Magnus lowered his hand before she finished the word. "The intelligence that enables the Rite does not produce docility. A Manafold Beast that has undergone its Rite has, by definition, developed the cognitive independence to resist subordination, and it is because of our attempt to domesticate them that they grew history over ages. The only exceptions that I am aware of is the use of skills that manipulate minds."
She returned to the board.
"Skill ranks among Manafold Beasts follow the same distribution as among humans. The majority awaken D-rank skills. C and B-rank are uncommon. A-rank is rare. S-rank—" She paused. "S-rank Manafold Beasts are documented in the historical record. Exactly once per confirmed case."
The room's attention sharpened.
"In every confirmed historical instance of an S-rank Manafold Beast, the skill awakened was the same." Maren wrote two words on the board. "S-rank: [Draconification]."
The silence that followed was the specific silence of a room processing something that didn't fit neatly into existing frameworks.
"[Draconification] is the only S-rank skill documented among Manafold Beasts," Maren continued. "Every confirmed case produced an animal whose physical form was fundamentally altered by the skill's manifestation—gigantification, development of wings and a tail, slitted eyes, centuries of lifespan—the very same definition of dragons that you may have come across in children's tales."
She set down the chalk.
"Therefore, dragons of folklore are Manafold Beasts with S-rank: [Draconification]. Nothing more, nothing less. They are extraordinarily rare, moreso than human S-rank skill practitioners. Today, it is documented that only one dragon remains, and you may have heard of it."
"The Azure Dragon of Mount Fafnir." It was Isaac who whispered to that, subconsciously.
"You seem quite familiar." Cassiopeia asked.
"I wasn't aware back then, but," Isaac recalled the memory of the hut in the snowy mountain, "it is my homeland."
Cassiopeia paused. "You weren't born in the kingdom?"
Isaac didn't need to respond to the question. Both of them already knew the answer.
" Manafold Beasts are the targets to your assignment," Maren then said, returning to her parchment, "as higher class students, you will be given the opportunity to hunt C or B-rank specimens and prove that you are the future of the kingdom."
She set the parchment down.
"The assignment is as follows. Sixteen students. Four groups of four—the members of each group have already been decided, and the process was completely random."
She produced a second sheet.
"Each group will be sent to a specific location outside the capital where Manafold Beast activity has been confirmed. Each group will have an assigned assessor who will observe and record performance without intervening. The assessor does not exist to guide or aid you. They exist to document what you do." She looked across the room with the flat attention of someone ensuring that last sentence had landed. "Your performance across this assignment will be evaluated and graded by your assigned assessors. Upon the conclusion of all four missions, results will be compiled and ranked. The three individuals with the lowest scores will be subject to challenge during the challenge window three months from now."
She paused.
"Of course. This means that the rest will be exempt from the challenge window entirely."
The room's ambient tension shifted noticeably. Several students who appeared bored from the lecture now straightened themselves, full of seriousness.
"Now, groups," Maren began the announcement.
"Group One. Isaac Nameless. Camilla Hedron. Randal Ursula. Vane Abias."
The moment Camilla's name was heard, Isaac felt fatigue rushing into him.
"Group Two. Silas Fulgur. Lyra Aetherion. Magnus Ember. Wren Ashveil."
"Group Three. Vesper Bardot. Cassiopeia Terra. Bryce Fenn. Paulos Gustad."
"Group Four. Atticus. Petra Voss. Soren Mallow. Talia Innis."
Maren rolled the parchment.
"Details regarding your target Manafold Beasts will be provided shortly. Departure is in three days. The assignment will conclude at the end of the month—whether you successfully completed the mission or not. Prepare accordingly." She gathered her materials with the efficiency of someone who had said everything that needed saying. "Dismissed."
Under the room's watch, Maren left the stand. Students were silent as she left the room.
Isaac looked out the window. Hunting Manafold Beasts… The memories of the nightly assaults against him resurfaced. He sighed, feeling that the assignment won't go smoothly.
"What's with this sigh?" Then, the huge frame shadowed Isaac, who was still seated. He looked up and found Randal, whose muscular arms were crossed. "Scared?" He was smirking, but in a playful manner rather than that of mockery.
"Randal." Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose as he pointed to the side. "Look at her." At the end of where he pointed, there was Camilla, who was glaring at him.
"What the fuck?" Randal appeared to be caught off guard. He was never a quick-witted person, and should Isaac not point it out, he wouldn't have noticed. "What did you do to her?"
"She's been like this ever since the class swap."
"So what did you do to her?"
"Many things." Camilla, who overheard their conversation, decided to interrupt, walking toward the two. "Such as treating the heiress of House Hedron with disrespect when he is Nameless of all things."
"Huh?" Randal blinked. "Since when were you the heiress? I didn't hear any—"
"I will soon be! I mean, I have A-rank skill. If not myself, who else will inherit the position?"
Randal stepped back with his face twitching as Camilla yelled at his face. "Woman." He groaned, "calm the fuck down—oh, is today your day of the month?"
"W-W-What?!"
Isaac facepalmed. From the background, the argument between two capable students of higher class didn't know to stop. For the sake of his sanity, he decided to ignore the them for now.
"Isaac."
The fourth member of the group, Vane, finally made his way to the table. He held his hand out, "I believe that this is my first time working with you."
"Vane." Isaac observed Vane's hand before shaking it lightly. He noticed that Vane's other hand was holding onto a document. "What may this be?"
"The conversation seemed to have taken your attention. Including me, one member of each group were called by professor Solke." Vane placed the document on the table, which earned not only Isaac's but two other members' attention as well. "This is the profile of Manafold Beast under our charge."
Isaac glanced at it.
Red Wolf. There was no name, but description of its features. Last seen location – Heliosphere. [The Prism] recorded the details as his eyes swept through the information. Confirmed skill – B-rank: [Raging Fire]. It was the exact same skill that Magnus wielded. Isaac's eyes widened slightly. "An element-based skill?"
"Yes." Vane solemnly nodded. "I believe that we got the harder end."
"Sounds fun." Randal added in as his eyes gleamed in a predatory manner as they gazed at the document.
"B-rank is B-rank nevertheless. Beast is beast nevertheless." Camilla raised her chin in confidence, "as professor Solke said, this is an assignment and nothing more."
"It still doesn't hurt to be careful. Since we have three days of time to prepare, why don't we brainstorm on formations and strategies that we can take to maximize our combat efficiency?" Vane suggested, looking at Camilla and Randal in particular with an underlying belief that Isaac would agree with him.
"What strategy?" However, Randal seemed to think otherwise. "Strategy is for the weak. It often fails. The best strategy is to trust in your instincts."
"Aren't you a savage." Camilla snorted. "Instincts? You might as well as be a Manafold Beast in human's skin."
"Shut up, woman."
Ignoring Randal, Camilla continued, "but I do agree. Strategy is pointless. Not because it is useless, but because—" She pointed at Isaac, "he is useless. The only strategy I will suggest here is to not get in my way."
"…Useless?" Vane seemed to think otherwise, as he glanced at Isaac, "him?"
"Yes."
"I disagree."
"Your disagreement means nothing to me." Camilla then turned to Isaac, who was silent for a while. "Say something, Nameless."
When Isaac received words, he was yawning lightly—involuntarily. Camilla's face turned stoic as she registered his action as the sign of disrespect. "You—"
"Sure." Isaac then said, completely unaffected by her insults. "Vane, let those two be on their own. If you wish, the two of us can discuss about potential strategies."
Vane sighed, "that seems to be the only option left to us."
"Isaac Nameless—"
"Then, there isn't much else to discuss." Isaac, ignoring Camilla who seemed to have rage to unleash, continued, "anything else that professor Solke mentioned, Vane?"
"Yes, one more thing." Vane peeked Camilla carefully before he addressed Isaac's question. "Tomorrow, there will be Mana Quality Assessment. Professor Solke seemed to have forgotten the detail."
"A standard procedure." Randal commented on that, "It's already been five months since our last assessment anyway."
Camilla, with no one addressing her anger, trembled in fury. Then, she banged her fist on the table, bringing the other three to attention. Without speaking, she turned and stomped off.
"Fuck, that was sudden." Randal stared at her in clear annoyance.
"Hysterical woman," Vane shook his head. "No man would be willing to take her, regardless of her looks." He then paused, before adding on, "except ones like Jax Wason."
"In fact, he did ask her out once before." Isaac stated without much thought.
"Yikes." Vane frowned lightly.
"Huh?" Randal's eyes widened. "And then? How did it go?"
"She yelled at me."
Vane and Randal looked at Isaac strangely.