Chapter 44: Even the King Knows!
The next day was the weekend, so the students had no classes. However, several instructors had already gathered on the second floor of Panther Building.
Besides serving as the Admission Office, the second floor was also where baby beast progress was officially examined.
Jeryon and Shani waited outside the examination room together with Damon, Mercer, and Iris.
The examination itself was simple. It only required one machine. Nyx just had to enter a transparent tube, and the device would do the rest automatically.
The previous night, as soon as Damon received Shani’s message, he immediately contacted Mercer and Iris, asking them to keep Jeryon and Shani’s baby beast gene confidential.
Mercer found the request a little difficult because the Headmaster had ordered him to report their progress.
In the end, since reporting to the Headmaster was unavoidable, Mercer decided to submit the results exactly as they were.
Damon thought that was better than letting the Headmaster investigate on his own and uncover even more than they expected.
"You two must be incredibly compatible to complete resonance this quickly," Mercer praised sincerely.
Jeryon simply nodded with a faint smile, maintaining the aloof composure expected of a prince. Meanwhile, Shani thanked him politely.
"Instructor Cinder, have you ever seen a pair hatch an egg this quickly?" Damon asked Iris.
He asked her specifically because Iris had graduated from Nova City. After becoming one of Feline Tower’s top students, she had earned the opportunity to study in that floating city.
"I’ve heard stories about it..." Iris said thoughtfully. "But during my time there, I never actually saw it happen. They were always just stories."
"Back then, I thought they were nothing more than legends. I never imagined one of my own students would make that legend come true."
She couldn’t hold back her smile. After all, what teacher wouldn’t be proud of their student’s achievement? Even Damon, who was usually more reserved, wore a faint smile.
Not long afterward, Nyx’s examination results were ready. Shani picked Nyx up and gently placed him back inside his cage.
Outside, the instructors and Jeryon stood before a holographic display showing Nyx’s picture and information.
"Elite-Grade Night Panther. B-Rank!" Mercer gasped. The result was even more extraordinary than they had expected.
A baby beast’s rank was usually somewhere between its parents’ ranks. Sometimes it was even one rank lower.
That was why high-ranking beastmen preferred partners with equally high ranks.
Considering the enormous gap between Jeryon’s rank and Shani’s, they had expected their baby beast to be only D-Rank or perhaps C-Rank.
Mercer, Iris, and Damon all congratulated the pair.
...
Meanwhile, the King, Jeryon’s father, was far from satisfied.
He had already heard that although Jeryon couldn’t become anyone else’s partner, he had successfully resonated with an F-Rank student.
He hadn’t expected much because of Shani’s extremely low rank, but he had still waited for the results.
After receiving Mercer’s report, the Headmaster immediately informed the King, hoping he would stop being so harsh toward Jeryon and finally accept Shani.
"Night Panther?" the King said with obvious disappointment.
"Have you seen the current state of the Night Panther beastmen? They’re becoming little more than common beastmen. They’re far too weak."
He continued with another harsh criticism.
"What can a mere B-Rank baby beast accomplish? With a low-ranked baby beast like that, Jeryon won’t even become the top student of Feline Tower, let alone earn a place in Nova City."
If Jeryon had belonged to one of the prestigious families, perhaps he would still have been considered their pride.
But as a member of the royal family, his achievements weren’t even worthy of being called achievements.
The Headmaster understood his older brother’s frustration.
If only Jeryon’s first baby beast had inherited the Solar Lion gene, the royal family’s own beast gene, the King might have softened a little.
Or if Jeryon had been capable of resonating with someone other than Shani, he would still have had hope.
But because Shani was his only partner, it would take a very long time before he could obtain a second baby beast.
And when that day finally came, the baby’s rank would probably still only be around B or C. Even if it inherited the Solar Lion gene, he would already have fallen behind the other students.
The King ended the call with the Headmaster and rubbed his temples.
A knock came from the door. A butler stepped into the spacious study. "Your Majesty, Prince Renard wishes to—"
Before the butler could finish speaking, a small boy appeared from behind him and ran straight toward the King.
"Your Majesty, Father! I finished my extra lessons this morning. Can we go out together?" the golden-haired boy asked, looking up at the King with pleading eyes.
For a brief moment, the King saw a glimpse of young Jeryon in the little prince’s face. He quickly dismissed the thought.
Gently patting Renard’s head, he smiled. "Very well. Let’s go out together with the Queen."
The King quietly let out a relieved sigh. Jeryon had been his greatest headache for the past three years.
Fortunately, Renard, who had celebrated his fifth birthday just a few months ago, had awakened as an A-Rank.
Combined with his Solar Lion beast gene, the King no longer needed to worry about finding a way to salvage Jeryon’s future.
He already had Renard as his replacement.
...
Before returning to the dormitory, Shani stopped by the seventh floor to check on her bloodworms.
The wild creature meat she had placed inside as their food hadn’t been completely eaten yet, nor had it started rotting.
Normally, it took a full day before the meat spoiled.
Seeing the bloodworms wriggling around without any problems, Shani left the classroom.
On the way back, she remembered the assignment from Concoction Class.
There were only thirty minutes left before Noella submitted their group’s work.
"System, are there any books about beast feed recipes that use bloodworms as ingredients?" Shani asked after returning to her room.
The System recommended an e-book titled Worm and Warm as Your Beast Feed for 1,000 Credits.
Shani immediately bought it.
Despite the funny title, the contents were surprisingly formal.
Before long, she found one recipe that her group hadn’t included.
Since time was running out, she offered to add the recipe and turn in their assignment. Fortunately, Noella agreed.
What none of them expected was for Iris to summon Shani’s group back to the classroom in the middle of the weekend.
"There’s one recipe that doesn’t exist in any book or record," Iris said. "But when I tested it myself... it worked."
...