Chapter 796: Style Over Substance
Adam teased an uncomfortable Desmond on their way back.
The teenager kept asking why Adam had given him the talisman of the Oozebloom Abomination.
He had eventually answered with a deep scowl. "I’ll lose a thousand style points if I ever summon that ugly thing. At least, you’ll have a powerful companion after mastering Haldris’ technique, so you should keep it."
Amusingly, his honest answer confused Desmond even more, but he didn’t dwell on the subject. Style before all. It wouldn’t change.
Now, he stood before the clearing where the other students waited. Before he stepped in, however, Haldris materialised from thin air, gazing at his mana coat and pants.
"Four uniforms in a day and a half," he said wearily, retrieving a folded one from his pouch and handing it to Adam. "Destroy this one, and I’ll begin to believe you’re hating the design."
"The design is innocent—a few teachers and magical beasts are a little less." Lips curled into an innocent smile, Adam took the uniform, and Haldris waved him off.
"Dress behind a tree or bush and join us. From now on, you’ll lose fifty points for each uniform you ruin." He turned his single golden eye at Desmond, nodded, then faded as if he had never stood there.
As he put on his new uniform behind the nearest tree, Desmond asked, "How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Answer as if the college rector, the strongest mage, is your neighbour." Desmond rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that?" Adam stepped out of the tree’s shade, dark robe, and white shirt wafting a fresh scent of lavender. "Should I bow until my nose touches the ground next time?" His pitch rose into a grotesque parody of a noble trying to do too much in front of his betters. "Or perhaps you’d prefer this? Oh, most esteemed teacher Haldris, my pitiful mistakes stain your noble presence. I can hardly bear to lift my eyes to your radiant face. Please, deliver your righteous punishment!"
"Shut up!" Desmond snarled in disgust. "Not even my grandfather used to speak like that. It sounds so... so wrong."
"Was the goal." Adam stepped into the clearing, shrugging. "Anyway, you’re one to talk with your ’yahoos’."
Desmond’s face grew somber, but Quintella’s shout saved him from answering.
"Big brother!" She leapt from the log she had been seated on, her small legs drumming on the ground as she dashed at him. Sarah and her new friends called her back, but she pulled her tongue out at them and jumped into his arms.
"You must have caught something incredible." Adam smiled as he spun, then placed her in front of him.
"Mhm. You won’t believe it." With a delighted nod, she pulled a fluffy black-and-white ball from her robe’s inner pocket.
Eyes narrowed, Adam tried to understand what she had presented when she spoke, her voice a tonal mismatch born from her extreme enthusiasm and pride. "A baby panda!"
His breath caught at the ridiculous sight. "Where did you even find a panda?"
"In the bamboo grove east!" She rubbed the baby against her cheek, making it raise its face with a growl that resembled a whimper. Then it licked her cheek before curling into a ball again, falling fast asleep.
"Did you even understand the assignment, pipsqueak?" Desmond clicked his tongue. "Don’t tell me your talisman is still empty."
Quintella turned aside, placing the panda back into her pocket. "I have nothing to tell you, sleep wrecker. In fact, I’m leaving." She waved at Adam, her smile returning. "See you later, big brother. We need to find it an auspicious name."
"Auspi... What? How does she know that word?" Desmond frowned, and Adam face-palmed beside him.
Why not a cat? Cats were great. He had gifted one to Nova, with whom she became best buddies in a few hours. But a panda? They were cute bears, the dumbest of their species! How else could he call a carnivorous beast that had suddenly decided, without warning, to eat bamboo that provided it no energy?
He could rant for hours about how their brains atrophied as a result, or other less savory traits pandas developed, but he just snorted. It had been years since he had overcome his trauma related to bears, and right now, he was considering if adopting a baby bear wouldn’t have been better than a panda...
With a heavy sigh, he turned to Haldris. The ageless rector leaned against a thick tree, stroking his white beard as if waiting.
"We weren’t last?" As he muttered, footsteps echoed at the edge of the clearing, and, like most students, he snapped his gaze in that direction.
Trevor’s coral hairpin caught the sunlight as he strolled like he owned the forest. Nadia followed him, tucking a lock of blue hair behind her ear in a prideful show that spoke of her confidence in winning the two hundred points.
Most students gave up when they saw the duo, but not Jonathan. He gave them an acknowledging nod. "I won’t lose."
"We won’t either." Trevor patted his shoulder with a smirk. He turned toward Haldris. "Sorry for being late, Teacher. The beast was a troublesome foe, but that’s what made it worth hunting."
Nadia nodded. "Perhaps Jonathan’s group came close, but no other can hope to challenge us."
"I’ve seen it all." Haldris’s lips curved into a mysterious smile as he waved his hand at them.
Everyone thought the duo had already won when silence settled. Jonathan lowered his face, Desmond grimaced with a click of his tongue, and Adam shrugged.
However, Haldris merely said, "Step forward," before he gestured at Jonathan, Brad, Adam, and Desmond. "You too. Show me your talismans."
Trevor gestured forward with a sneer. "Honor to the losers."
"Don’t regret it later," Jonathan snapped back, then walked toward Haldris. "We’ve hunted an arcanist-tiered beast—the terror that nests in the tallest tree, the monster whose every flap echoes like a blast: the Stormclap Mournwing!"
The other students gasped when he raised the talisman depicting a long-beaked avian creature. Each feather of its jet-black plumage glistened like a razor-sharp dagger, while an inferno of hate blazed in its red eyes.
The students’ shared shock shattered when one clapped, screaming. "Amazing!"
Others echoed in a ruckus that made Trevor smirk. He took big strides, planted himself in front of the crowd, shadowing Jonathan, then clapped mockingly. "Impressive! But is a bird enough to impress you?"
Nadia walked beside him, winking at the gobsmacked crowd. Better than the Stormclap Mournwing?
"What’s an arcanist compared to an archmage? What’s a bird compared to a mountain of muscle that bends the land at its whim?"
She raised her talisman, holding the right side, Trevor the left as they spoke in synch. "Behold the master of the forest: the Dreadmaw Juggernaut."
While another silence engulfed the crowd, Jonathan’s lips twisted into a grimace, and he clenched his ink-stained hands. He had lost against these two—like last year and the year before. And just like those times, he would lose with dignity.
He broke the silence himself, clapping. Yet, his smile held no warmth. "That’s a rare beast, and those who defeated one are rarer. Congratulations."
Trevor shook his head and raised Jonathan’s hand with his and Nadia’s. "Applaud him too. Even if he came slightly below us, his feat is worth praise, and his fairness deserves respect."
The students nodded, cheering both groups. Once the ruckus calmed, Desmond stepped forward. Before he could even reach the other two groups, Trevor turned toward Haldris. "There is no need to waste precious time since we know the winner. Should we head back to receive your enlightened guidance?"
Desmond stumbled, and Adam pointed at Trevor, chuckling. "There, someone who speaks more subserviently than your grandfather. Show him his juggernaut is just a dwarf stepping on a giant’s toe."
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AN: Another one. (Still another longer because why not?)