by William Hill
Jason didn't know what to say right now and the whole situation was awkward.
Clearing his throat, he asked "Where are your parents? I have to show them that I've accomplished my task"
He tried to change the subject with this and technically it was the only reason he came to the mansion.
Somehow they changed subjects since the beginning without considering even the reason for them to talk about the main subject.
Malia regained her senses before Greg and sat up with a straight back before saying seriously
"They´re outside catching a certain magical beast but I'm not sure when they´ll be back.
My mom gave me the responsibility to look after your task.
I should only report your rank including soulbond and so on to them."
Before Jason could say anything else, Malia looked into his eyes, without being scared anymore when she asked seriously.
"Can you show me the five five star corpses or the awakened beast corpse, please? My mom told me to record everything to review it for herself."
Chapter 37: Do you L-Lov..?
Taking out the three greater horned wolf carcasses, the vulture carcass, and the mutated black horned bison carcass, Malia began her inspection carefully.
Her mother told Malia that she had to be strict and careful because she wasn't sure if Jason wouldn't cheat.
Purchasing a five-star wild beast carcass wasn't difficult and the first thing Mali noticed upon starting the inspection was that four out of five carcasses were killed with a single strike.
Only the vulture had a few more cuts and a larger wound at its wing.
After seeing that, she thought for a moment before she decided to scan Jason's mana core rank which left her baffled for a second as she regaining her senses.
Looking at Jason she asked with a serious face but slightly hesitant.
"You are only at the 4th Novice rank and you want me to believe that you defeated five five-star wild beasts?? According to the wounds, most wild beasts were killed with a single dagger thrust...I believe you don't have any evidence that you killed them, right?"
Greg´s eyes widened and he pulled himself from the bottom, he was still lying on.
Standing up within a moment, he looked at Jason carefully
"WOAH you're already at the 4th Novice rank… That's pretty fast" Greg said while smiling at him.
Malia looked at Greg as if he was the dumbest person she had ever seen and she about to throw a fist at him when Greg continued…
"Didn't you break into the 2nd Novice rank on the exam day? You're pretty fast...haha"
She was way too confused to understand anything.
How could an almost 14-year-old youth, only be at the 2nd Novice rank on the exam day?
That meant Jason´s mana control and sensitivity should be awful as he should only be able to sense mana for a short time.
However, considering the fact that he improved his level by two in such a short time told her that Jason was stuck at the first or second Novice rank due to a different reason.
Jason noticed her perplexed gaze and her eyes turned almost into question marks as he answered her unspoken question.
" I can sense mana since a long time ago but I couldn't improve my mana core rank due to personal reasons. Only approximately a week before the exams started I was able to improve my mana core which results in my weak rank."
Clearing his throat, Jason added "And you asked If I have some evidence...unfortunately not. The only thing I have is a small injury on my back from the vulture.. While I fought head-on with the vulture, the other four beasts were all ambushed by me with a grade-1 Jade Iron dagger."
Finishing his explanation he took out his dagger that was still a little bit stained with blood from his morning hunt.
Malia was deep in thoughts pondering what to do as she decided to let her thoughts out loud without holding back
"To be honest I´m not sure if you're really able to defeat a five-star wild beast, but the more confusing for me is the question, why exactly my parents try to help you to enter the affiliated school of the Vanguard school in Cyro city.
They own you a favor but that could have been solved with Credits or through other ways… My mother said something about your eyes and I understand her slightly as I feel something weird about them but considering your rank and your soulbond´s strength, it would be almost impossible for you to survive in any of the affiliated Vanguard schools.
Furthermore, our reputation will be stained once other nobles find out that we let someone as weak as you into one of Astrix most prosperous schools."
Malia said, feeling somehow unsettled.
She didn´t think Jason was lying but assassinating a five-star wild beast shouldn´t be that easy for Jason and killing it with a single dagger thrust even less.
Except his combat prowess was much higher than his rank...
Considering what Jason´s background told her, he was extremely poor, without anyone that could teach him about martial arts and Malia didn´t know what to do.
"I´ll report everything to my mother and let her decide the matter, ok?"
She ended her speech and tried to show her cold face but Jason and Greg noticed her being uncertain.
Greg had always been uncomfortable with anyone except his own family since elementary school as many parents told their children to befriend him because of their parents' business and wealth.
In the beginning, everything was fine until one day when a boy clashed with Greg that the whole show was blown off.
The boy who clashed with Greg told him that everyone was after his parent's wealth and not a single friend of his was real.
The young Greg didn't believe it at first, but looking at the other children's innocent faces that didn´t even try to deny it was devastating to the young Greg.
Some of them even acknowledged this cruel fact without hesitation which changed his mind.
Getting to know, that he was only befriended because of their own parents told them to, shocked him, causing his mental health to suffer.
Greg faced with the cruel facts, couldn´t help but feel left alone since then.
It took him a long time to even talk to his family as he blamed them for being rich.
But what could his parents do about it?
They moved into a different city where Greg entered middle school but he didn't make a single friend.
He became a loner that ignored everyone's approach, seeing them as frauds before even getting to know them.
After some time Greg noticed a blind youth sitting next to him in class, silently listening to the lectures, focusing solely on school.
He didn´t mind envious classmates bullying him or treating him like trash because of his perfect grades.
Somehow, Greg grew comfortable around Jason with time passing and he took care of the bullies while asking Jason for advice about certain subjects once in a while.
Jason answered them diligently but he didn't care about Greg´s existence more than necessary.
This made Greg somewhat happy and he began to secretly see the blind youth as a friend while Jason himself wasn't aware of that.
Jason thought that it was a coincidence that his classmates stopped bullying him as Greg sat next to him in school.
He answered Greg's question because of gratitude towards him, but that was it.
Malia thought about Greg´s situation, which was the reason for her wavering eyes as she was happy that her brother finally found a friend.
Even if she wasn't happy when Jason told Greg to pick a different soulbond, in the end it was fortunately that Greg listened to Jason, which was all that mattered.
Their parents were also concerned about Greg and she hoped that they were as expectant about Jason as she was.
It was the second time that Greg noticed something different about his sister and both times were about Jason so he drew his own conclusion.
"WOAH sis!! Why are your eyes wavering..
.do you want Jason to follow us to school?? DO YOU L-LLo-v....."
Before he could end his sentence a small ball of water blew Greg away a few meters.
"You are embarrassing! It's not like that, Idiot"
⊙.⊙ Jason thought they were playing again so he didn't mind their words.
But upon noticing the strength of the small water ball, he was astonished and extremely terrified.
This unstable-looking waterball had the strength to blow away a 3rd Adept rank with a physical first soulbond that was probably already at the low evolved stage, without much difficulty.
"Malia, if your mother doesn´t believe me about my capabilities, can you ask her if I can hunt another five-star wild beast while recording it?"
Jason smiled gently, trying to cover his insecurity.
Greg's sister looked feeble and beautiful but behind this facade was a ferocious monster and Jason was a little bit timid about her wrathful outbursts.
Malia seemed to be at least at the Expert rank if not higher but he couldn't really read her mana core rank as he had never seen something comparable.
She seemed to have a higher mana core than the teachers he had seen so far but her parents and the old man were still a lot stronger.
Jason still asked Malia for the small favor if her mother didn't believe him.
He wished to enter a high school in an A-Grade city as the mana density there should be multiple times higher, while instructors could help Jason with his martial arts.
Many resources would be provided against school merit-points that wouldn´t be sold to commoners without any achievements or a vast amount of credits.
Other than that, many other benefits could be gained through schools.
Greg´s family was his only way, but there wasn't anything he could do once his mother rejected him.
Even so, Jason was already grateful for the opportunity he received as well as the permission to the Heaven´s Hell technique they gave him.
If he was honest, Jason didn't think he deserved this chance as he only told Greg to pick a different beast as the first soulbond out of his gut-feeling.
He could see the radiating color of the bull but why should he care about someone he wasn't even close with?
Or were they close?
Jason wasn´t sure about that… social interactions were still new to him and he didn´t know when exactly one could call someone else acquaintance, friend, or even close friend.
Jason stored the carcasses away after Malia finished her inspection.
After that, she wrote a detailed report to her mother.
Thinking that he should go home, Jason wanted to stand up, when Greg stopped him.
Greg wanted to talk to him a little bit more about Cyro city, the vanguard school, and so on, so he stopped in his tracks.
Hours passed and Jason left the Fler´s mansion after the three of them finished their talk.
Getting to know more about the affiliated schools of the Vanguard school, Jason was at first excited and then he grew more and more serious until he once understood something.
He was pitifully weak…
Chapter 38: Determination
Greg told Jason many information about the Vanguard associated schools.
The Vanguard school itself was a huge school, accepting the best students all over the Astrix.
It was seen as one of the three best schools on the Island and everyone wanted to enter it but only the best out of the best could enter it.
One would need to have a high mana core rank, exceptional theoretical knowledge and high rating in one's soul awakening.
Malia was also a student in the Vanguard school and she was at home due to the summer vacations and Greg´s soul-awakening.
While Greg´s mana core rank and theoretical knowledge exam were not up to the requirement, his four-star soul-awakening gave him some extra points causing his lack in theoretical knowledge and mana core rank to get neglected.
Four-star soul awakenings were extremely rare and each year there would only be around 10 four-star soul awakenings on Astrix, which would already be considered a fortunate year.
The Vanguard school accepted more than 10.000 Students each year and it was only normal for Greg to be accepted.
Nevertheless it surprised Jason that Greg´s mana core rank did not meet the requirement which means that he could only enter the school because of his high star-soul awakening.
To enter one of the affiliated schools one had to reach the 3rd Adept rank, have extreme high exam results, at least a two 1/2 star soul-awakening, or a two-star soul-awakening with at least one extraordinary good characteristic in one's soul-awakening-either soul energy or a unique soul
Jason wasn't even close to one of these requirements except his soul awakening as his soul was the most unique soul ever awoken in his opinion.
Even so, he didn't want to expose that which means Jason met not a single requirement.
He wasn't even close to them as his exam result were extremely bad because of his non-existent combat prowess at that time and his mana core rank is still shit compared to the requirement.
Jason was a little bit frustrated and even if he was allowed to attend one of the affiliated schools because of the nobility rights Greg's family obtained, he would be the weakest with a large gap between him and the second-worst student.
He was grateful that the Fler family allowed him to study there but he felt too weak and pitiful at the moment and Jason left the shuttle he subconsciously entered after he went out of the mansion.
Jason wasn't scared about being bullied, rather it was more likely that he would be thrown out after the first year because of his grades, which hurt his almost non-existent pride.
If one couldn't accomplish the given assignments or get enough merit points by the end of the year one would be kicked out of the school which was Jason's biggest problem.
These assignments ranged from killing late awakened beasts as one of the easier assignments to gathering herbs in three- or four-star wild zones that have evolved and unblemished ranked beasts.
Jason couldn't even think about killing the weakest awakened beasts as they were a few times stronger than the strongest five star wild beast.
Assassinating an awakened beast would also be difficult as its instincts and reaction speed were much stronger compared to wild beasts.
Inside his apartment, Jason practiced the Heaven's Hell technique before he came to a decision.
He had to close the gap between him and the other students as fast as possible and Jason had two ways to accomplish this.
Either he had to increase his mana core rank with the support of mana stones which would hasten up his advancement speed by a few times and stabilize the core afterwards with certain medical solutions.
Another path could be to increase Artemis rank in order to improve their combat prowess as Jason would receive 30% from Artemis strength amplified.
Jason had another way to improve his strength but the chances of success were to minuscule.
He could form contracts with a few one-star wild beasts with at least some potential and force their evolution, but this could hurt his soul world core if a soulbond rejected him or breaks out of the contract once the particular beasts soul energy became higher than the contractors.
It would be better for him to increase his soul energy slowly for the time being, while relying on Artemis who he trusted.
Once he had some space left for another soulbond, he would search for one with high potential.
The problem for the first two solutions however was what Jason didn't have something particular!
Credits!
With enough credits, Jason could purchase all necessary resources including beast cores for Artemis but unfortunately, he had only 20.000 credits left.
He was already very happy about his current situation because Greg told him that he didn't have to pay a single credit for accommodation or tuition fees as he would live with them.
; And their house was supposed to be close to both schools while the nobility rights they used included the tuition fees for Greg.
As such Jason didn´t have to pay anything to get educated and to furthermore stay alive.
Nobles could normally only use their nobility rights for their own child's but this was changed since many nobles complained about it.
One could use the nobility rule one time for every child they bear, not a single time more.
The Fler family haven't used any of their nobility rights for schoolings as their children were blessed with a high talent.
Jason wasn't sure why this nobility rule was so like that, but he didn't mind it as he received benefits from it.
One shouldn't complain while receiving benefits!
There was a way for Jason to earn many credits but this would mean he had to expose his secret which he didn't want to do.
At least not too many people should know about it!
Making up his mind, he purchased a few things through his quantum bracelet emptying his whole fortune.
Left behind was only a big `12` in his bank account and he forced to smile.
The parcel would arrive the next morning.
Jason washed and changed his clothes before feeding Artemis a few Beast cores.
Lying inside the bed Jason was still thinking about some possibilities before the darkness swallowed him.
---
Artemis woke up Jason as soon as she digested the beast cores which was earlier than early and Jason noticed that he had to give her a lot more cores so he could at least sleep a few hours a day.
It was only 2 am but Artemis was awake and Jason didn't want to sleep anymore, so he practiced the Heaven's Hell technique.
Jason noticed that the more often he used this technique the faster he became with it
What astonished him the most was that the speed his soul energy replenished as it changed to a minuscule, almost not noticeable degree.
At least that was what Jason felt but he wasn't really sure about that.
However, Jason noticed that the moment his soul energy increased or rather the moment his soul world core generated more soul energy his soul world also changed slightly.
