When we reached the class, it was almost packed full. This class was situated in the school hall. It was big and the only room in the school that could occupy the lot of us. This was not a usual scene. Usually, people only come and go as they pleased. Attendance was not compulsory, so, nobody came unless they don't have anything urgent. People living in poor conditions may have to go hunting or work which may take days. So, sometimes they miss class, and nobody could say no to that. But today is the last day of school for all of us and they have to get a soul beast all of them came. We will also get a merging portion today for the merging process. Everybody was seated next to their friends and they were all talking. We also took seats in the middle.
Very soon after we got seated Mr Silva the headmaster of the school came. He had a book in his hand. He places it on the podium in the school hall and looks at the crowd in front of him. The noisy hall becomes silent.
"I know you guys are happy, confused or scared, planning for the future, deciding what to do or where to go. You will also be looking for information about how to get into universities and when they start their admissions. I will provide you with as much information as I can. First, all those students who don't have a beast soul can meet with Miss Simone after the meeting in room no. 7. There you will find teachers who will assist you. And aatma users I have to say sorry to you. The school could only get 3 beasts at the infant stage and 1 beast egg. We know that there are 27 of you but it has been not easy to get infant beasts or beast eggs from the government. And frankly speaking, we didn't expect the number to be this high. I will tell you which beasts we have. The beasts are wind squirrel, monocled monkey of the water element, water lily and egg of Hunchback bull which we think will be earth element. So, you guys discuss it among yourselves and decide who gets it."
I didn't want any of the beasts mentioned so I was not concerned with it. Some aatma users were looking around to ask or maybe look at who is going to be their competition. But Mr Silva once again disturbed the commotion by slapping hard on his book twice. The hall became silent after that.
"I believe all of you have an idea of the procedure of merging from the teachings from the school. The merging portion will be given to you guys soon."
Before he completed the sentence 4 teachers carrying 2 boxes entered the hall. They started distributing portions. Each person got 2 portions. Mr Silva continued his speech as the distribution started.
"If unfortunately, your initial merging procedure fails for any reason I would suggest you get a check-up from the hospital or alchemist guild before doing the procedure again. If both portions are somehow finished you could buy these from the adventurer association. Before drinking the portion be sure to add an elemental item to the portion. You could buy it from an alchemist's store. It would be best for you beginners to buy powdered elemental essence. All of you can afford it. It's commonly available. You guys know where to buy it from"
He paused after that. The shop he was talking about was his wife's. It may look like a forced promotion but his wife's shop was actually an old shop. Her ancestors were the ones that started the shop hundreds of years ago. When it came to alchemy ingredients, they are the most trusted and preferred shop in the village. Especially if you are a kid who cannot differentiate the quality of ingredients minutely.
"Moving on, if you have a soul bead with you but don't know which beast it is, you can get it identified in the school today. Go to room no. 8 where you could find 3 or 4 teachers with people from the alchemy association. If you have doubts about beasts or beast taming or soul pact it would be best if you visit our beast tamer guild for it. They also have the sale of beasts for contracting. You could find the beasts you like from there. So, that's the start of what you get about soul beasts, if anyone has any doubts you can ask now"
Two or three hands went up. He answered each and every one of the questions in a brief and direct manner. If it required a lot of details, he pointed to the person from whom they could get the answer. After some time, there were no more hands.
"I believe there are no more doubts. If there are more you could ask at the adventurer association or the guilds. Just ensure that you ask the staff not the members. Okay, moving on, next in our itinerary is to talk about universities. To my left is the screen where you guys could find the timings of exams held by each university. The procedures and exam patterns of each university are different. The empire has ensured that no university conducts exams on the same days. You could always go to more than one university without any fear. As you can see there are at least 2 days between each exam. The exams will be held only after Autumn Equinox. You can prepare for the exams. The classes will start in the month of Capricorn"
We have 12 months Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius and Capricorn. Classes usually start in the month of Capricorn because of the cold. During the next 3 months, its colder climates hunting as well as farming will be a lot less. People could adjust and prepare for the spring equinox better.
'Autumn equinox will be in Virgo month so 3 months for people who want to study to get into a university.' I thought
Mr Silva continued "All of the test your capabilities and talent. They also factor in the capacity and force affinity you got. Most universities require at least a 4 in your capacity test to be eligible for application and attend their entrance exam. But some universities have a higher cut-off. For example, at Taxila university, you require a minimum of 7 in the capacity test while in Nalandha you require to score at least 8 at the same time the University of Thekku, situated in the south of our village only requires a score of 6 for alchemy-oriented courses." He paused for a second
"Similarly, The Kaanch University requires a score of 8 but in Naga university, it is 7 and at Sukin University in the Northeast it is 6 for martial oriented courses. So, the cut-off and competition and requirements of each university are different as well as narrow. But sometimes these universities admit you even if you are below the capacity if you could pass their special test. But if you enter through a special test the fees that have to be paid will be higher than the lowest-ranked student on the normal test. The normal test will help you get a scholarship from the empire but a special test will not allow that. The fees of the universities will be minimum of 70 gold per annum. So, I advise you to plan carefully and smartly. You need not have to go to a university to learn many skills. You could learn directly from a master under apprenticeship. So, keep your mind open to choices"
I need not have to worry about money. If I want to get into any university I will get a scholarship, most probably.
"For aatma users, to those among you guys who want to specialise in beast related it is a bit difficult because there are only 4 universities that provide your specialities like Beast taming, Soul martialling, or beast specialisation etc. The universities are Naga University in the Kindha Kingdom, Miduva University in the southwest of us in the Pannya Kingdom, Gauva university in the Jabla Kingdom Northwest of us and Pesthir University located north of Kaanch University. All of them are a great option and each of them has a unique beast specialisation so keep that in mind while applying. Our neighbouring empire to the south Helabima also has a beast specializing university. And our neighbour to the north also has some beast specialisation but I don't recommend apply there as they are very tough to deal with. We don't have a good relationship with northern borders. So, keep that in mind." He paused to get a glass of water.
"Further, I want to say to all of you that you get yourselves registered with adventurer's association or any guild. So, you can properly get yourselves resources for development as well as get knowledge updated from there. Also, guidance from different members at lower levels at the start. Try to explore more, learn more and most importantly contribute to the country more."
Travelling between universities will be hard within a short time if you don't have a lot of money. It's about 1 gold for travelling via teleportation within the empire on average. So, unless you are really in a pinch only the rich use teleportation.
Mr Silva left the podium to carry on his other works. Students also started leaving one by one as the headmaster left. We also stood up to leave. Just before that, a group of 4 approached us. One of them addressed me
"Hey Veda, are you interested in the soul beasts?"
I looked at him and shook my head "Those are not my preferences. Most of them are not even on my list of possible beasts. I prefer dual elementals as my primo. So, if you are worried, I would snatch one of them. You don't have to."
"Thanks, we were worried you'd ask for one. If you had asked the school would've given you priority. We were thinking of giving it to those among us who have scored a lower capacity rating. What do you think?"
"That's great. I applaud that decision. People with higher capacity will have more beasts to select from later. Also, I think they could get it faster via beast tamer guild. I suggest you guys also take the poor guys into consideration first along with their capacity get priority over rich and low capacity."
"We'll keep that in mind. Most of us have backed out and some of us have already contacted people to get our soul beasts. So, most of us don't even lose anything. You could contact him if you have any soul beast requests" he pointed to a guy in their group. He was looking like a nouveau roturier or newly rich. "His parents have a beast farm in a nearby village". He waved at me and I wave back.
"Sure, will do. I got something to do. So, see you guys later"
I bid farewell to them and moved towards the room they said soul beads were evaluated. There was a small queue. But it was moving at great speed, soon it was my turn. I was accompanied by Oli, Muni & Jani.
There was a man with spectacles and a huge grin. He looked at me and said "Please state your name and put your soul bead on the table for verification"
"Veda Ambu," I said as I put the soul bead on the table. He held the soul bead with a pair of tongs and held it towards an apparatus with a magnifying glass on top of it and a needle in the middle. The needle touched the soul bead and made a hissing sound. The guys turned the soul bead while looking under the magnifying glass. He then poured a drop of a liquid on the bead. It hissed lightly and turned brown for a moment before flowing down. He wiped the bead and placed it back on the table.
"It's an armoured ape with earth elemental affinity," he said "Do you wish to keep it or exchange it. There are two or three people who had requested this kind of beast in the association. So, if you want, we can find you a buyer. You could get up to 80 silvers."
I breathed along with 3 others' '80 Silvers, that's a lot of money.' But I shook my head and said "Thank you, but I have already promised someone to give it."
He said okay and waved us to move.