Creak.
The door to Locke's house swung open.
His mother had returned with a big bag of food.
When Locke's mother noticed that Locke was still sitting at the dining table, she instantly revealed a toothy grin.
She quickly walked to the dining table and quickly took out the food that she had bought.
While taking the food out, she said to Locke, "I was in a hurry today, so I bought a few pieces of pre-cooked food from the market."
"I was afraid that you'd be hungry, so I bought a lot. It should be enough for you."
A moment later...
There was a huge plate of fiery red meat on the dining table, as well as a bowl of soup.
Locke's mother, introduced the food on the table to Locke.
"This big piece of meat is the meat of a Stage 1 Fire Fox. It's the perfect dish for novice Beastmasters."
"And this big bowl of soup is made out of Ice-cold Fish. It's very delicious."
"Come, son. Hurry up and eat it. If it's not enough, just tell your mother. Your mother will get more for you."
While chewing on the Fire Fox's meat, Locke said to his mother, "There's no need, mom."
"This is enough for me. I have to say though, the Fire Fox's meat is really delicious."
"Thank you, mom."
Seeing how happy Locke was, her face was full of smiles.
"Eat more, son. From now on, your mother will cook Daemon meat for you every day."
Locke nodded hastily as he chomped down on the Fire Fox's meat.
Before long, the plate that used to hold the Fire Fox meat and the bowl that contained the soup had been licked clean.
There was not a single scrap left, and yet, Locke still wanted more.
However, not wanting to look greedy, Locke hurriedly returned to his bedroom once he was done with his meal.
He sat on his bed and began to cultivate.
Three days passed very quickly.
Time flew quickly when he cultivated. Those three days had felt like only three hours to Locke.
The passage of time had gone completely unnoticed while Locke cultivated.
...
It was finally the day for the enrollment assessments.
Locke arrived at school very early. It was a very important day to him.
However, his motivations were completely different from everyone else's.
Others were hoping to enroll themselves in a top-tier university to change their destiny.
In contrast, Locke was only doing it for the 100 Function Points.
Locke stood on the field.
He peered forward to as far as his eyes could see.
All he saw was a sea of people.
All of them were young students who were participating in the assessments.
"What should I do? What should I do? I'm so nervous!"
"Me too. If I can't get into a Beastmaster Academy, I'm toast."
"Which Academy do you plan on entering?"
"I don't plan to get into the Federation's top three universities. As long as I can enter an ordinary Beastmaster academy, I'll be satisfied."
"Yeah, I'll be satisfied as long as there's an academy willing to recruit me."
The students gathered together in groups of twos and threes, and they were discussing nervously.
The assessment day was undoubtedly the most crucial day in their lives.
As long as they performed well in the assessments and crossed the hurdle to enter a Beastmaster university, their future would be bright.
In contrast...
If they were to fail the assessments, they would become an ordinary person, one who attended ordinary university, worked mundane jobs, and lived a mediocre life.
The difference between the ones who succeeded and those who failed was like a canyon.
As such, it was natural for the students to be that worried.
Had Locke not possessed the Beastmaster System, he too, would be among those nail-biting students.
There were around ten wooden sheds that had been set up around the field.
All sorts of workers were busy toiling away.
Each wooden shed was an academy's enrollment station.
If one wanted to enroll in an academy, they would need to line up at the corresponding academy's enrollment station.
"Locke."
A familiar voice rang out.
Locke turned his head and saw his classmate, Bill.
"So, you're attending the assessments, huh."
"I guess you'll be taking the assessment for the Federation's Advanced Beastmaster Academy then."
Bill looked at Locke with a complicated expression, and there was a undisguised envy in his eyes.
After all, no one could resist the temptation of the Federation's Advanced Beastmaster Academy.
That was the true gathering place for the talented.
If one went there, there was no chance that would remain ordinary.
Locke smiled and greeted Bill in return.
Then, he asked, "Which academy do you plan to apply to?"
Bill answered with a dejected expression, "I plan to apply to the Royal Academy, but their requirements are quite high. I'm not sure whether I'll make it."
Locke gave Bill a round of encouragement.
Following that, he left.
Locke went and joined the queue for the Federation's Advanced Beastmaster Academy.
However, he was quickly taken away by a staff member.
Due to Locke's possession of a divine Battle Beast, the academy had already scouted him in advance.
As such, his attendance in the assessments was only just a formality.
Locke looked at the queue. Compared to the other universities' queues, the number of people at the Federation's Advanced Beastmaster Academy was really low.
Every single person in the queue of them was a genius in his school.
However, they needed to take the assessment step by step to be admitted into the Advanced Beastmaster Academy.
"The assessment shall now begin."
A majestic voice sounded.
With that, people walked forward to a table one after another.
Situated on the rectangular table, was a crystal ball.
It was a mana core inspector.
Every Beastmaster would have a mana core in their body.
Therefore, the size of their mana core had often determined the future of a Beastmaster.
After all, only large mana cores could contain large amounts of mana.
The size of one's mana core could be split into five ranks.
A rank 1 Beastmaster was only slightly stronger than an ordinary people, and as such, it was very difficult for them to advance into the silver-tier.
As a result, most, if not all Beastmaster universities would reject them.
Rank 2 was the common rank.
As long as their battle beasts were relatively strong, they would still have a chance in entering average Beastmaster universities.
Only those above rank 2 would be considered outstanding talents.
One by one, the students walked forward and placed their palms on the crystal ball.
The moment their palms made contact with the surface of the crystal ball, the crystal ball would emit a dazzling light.
The color of bronze represented ordinary aptitude.
The color of silver represented rank 2 aptitude, and so on.
The assessment was conducted very quickly.
On average, it had taken less than a minute to complete an assessment.
However, the vast majority of the people were mostly bronze or silver-ranked.
This also meant that the vast majority of them would not be able to further their studies in Beastmaster universities.
Those who had obtained bad results revealed expressions of disappointment.
Suddenly.
An uproar broke out in the fifth wooden shed.
"A rose gold light!"
"Damn, it really is a rose gold light! It's so dazzling."
"That's amazing. Just who is that person?"
Countless people turned their gazes to the student standing in front of the table.
The examiner also revealed a smile to the student in front of him.
"Not bad, not bad. Finally, there's a rank 5 talent. You've managed to achieve our standard."
In just half a day, the assessments were nearly complete.