Some students laughed, more out of habit than real malice. Others watched with barely concealed interest. The bet between Ren and Wei was known to all.
Luna, from her place by the window, stopped pretending to read her book. Her eyes followed every movement as Ren and Taro sat in the front row. Her shadow wolf manifested slightly, as if sensing something important.
"Is he really going to try it?" one of her cousins whispered to the other. "Taro's mana looks different, do you think...?"
"Shh, quiet," Luna interrupted, though her own eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Harold, the new student, observed everything with studied intensity. His eyes moved between Klein and Ren, evaluating, measuring, storing away every detail.
"Just wait until Wei throws him out," Kai commented to Cass, his green scales gleaming with amusement. "He must be really worried about losing his tuition to come, now that the end of the semester is coming closer."
"Or maybe he's very confident," Mayo murmured from her seat, her words carrying more weight than they seemed.
The six new students exchanged silent looks from their usual places. Something in their posture suggested this was more than mere academic curiosity.
"You should leave," Jin leaned forward, his tiger partially manifesting in rippling stripes. "Before Wei arrives and humiliates you in front of everyone. Again."
"Worried about me? Better worry about not falling into another hole in the mines." Ren responded without looking at him, his mushrooms pulsing softly.
"Or making it past the semifinals in the next tournament," added Taro.
Jin's face turned scarlet. Several students held their breath, remembering the battle where the wolf had torn apart his spiritual tiger's neck.
"You..." Jin half-rose, but Klein stopped him with a gesture.
Since the day both lost to Luna's team, they'd grown closer.
"Leave it," the Goldcrest heir smiled. "Soon he won't even have tuition to get any school benefits. Wei will see to that."
"Ready?" Ren asked Taro softly, ignoring the taunts.
Taro nodded, though his hands trembled slightly.
The door opened before anyone could respond. Wei entered with his usual air of superiority, but faltered for a moment upon seeing Ren.
The classroom collectively held its breath. The moment they'd been waiting months for had finally arrived.
"Good morning, professor," Ren responded with a calmness that only irritated Wei further.
"I thought today would be a good day to demonstrate my theory about the beetle's evolution."
The classroom fell into absolute silence.
Even those who normally couldn't focus in class were paying rapt attention.
Wei placed his hands on the desk, trying to maintain his composure. "Oh? And what makes you think today is different from any other day in over five hundred years of records?"
"Because today," Ren smiled while his mushrooms pulsed, "Taro completed his hundred days of cultivation."
Wei observed the other boy more carefully. Now he could see it, the beetle's markings seemed more defined, more... alive.
'But only 100 days? More nonsense. Exaggeration? Maybe, 130 days have passed since that day.'
"Ah, yes. Our little bet," Wei regained his confidence. "Let me remind you of the terms: if your friend evolves into anything other than a Great Digger, you win. If not..." he smiled maliciously, "you lose your tuition support... You'll sign it, by the way."
"And if I win," Ren maintained his tranquil smile, "I get any Bronze rank material I choose and a hundred points in your two classes without attending... Your entire teaching unit."
"Exactly," Wei spread his arms theatrically. "So go ahead! Show us your great discovery that contradicts half a millennium of documented research."
Students held their breath. Some even leaned forward in their seats, unwilling to miss a moment.
"I present to you," Ren stood while his mushrooms pulsed intensely, "the Living Tunnel... Go ahead, Taro..."
Taro nodded and, instead of manifesting the markings on his body, directly invoked his beast to leave no doubt.
The air in front of Wei's desk began to ripple.
The earth that emerged from Taro seemed to come alive, rising and taking shape. Where a one-meter digger beetle with its characteristic rigid shell should have appeared, something completely different emerged.
The two-meter-tall beast was enormous, occupying much of the classroom's front space. Its body looked as if a piece of the depths had gained its own life. Each segment gleamed with an earthy but vibrant tone.
"Impossible," Wei stepped back.
He frantically opened one of his books, searching for any similar record.
"No... this isn't... the records say..."
"The records are incomplete because the methods are based on luck," Ren pointed to Taro, who now seemed to glow from within. "As I told you months ago, professor, the digger beetle can evolve differently."
Though they were known creatures in the not-so-deep caves, no one had managed to obtain one as their beast.
The beetle's evolutionary line had always given tamers a single variation, the Great Digger.
Wei dropped his book.
"This is... must be..."
"A Living Tunnel?" Ren completed the phrase. "Considering they live in the caves near the academy, professor, you should know them."
Wei visibly paled. His eyes frantically scanned the beast, searching for any sign of deception.
"It's a trick!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Must be a physical transformation beast. Or an illusion... Yes! An illusory beast must be trying to deceive me!"
He stepped forward with trembling steps, extending a hand toward the creature. "Illusions have no substance, this must be..."
His fingers touched the Living Tunnel's surface. It was solid, warm, undeniably real. The texture was like crystallized earth but alive, pulsing beneath his touch.
"A physical transformation beast?" Ren arched an eyebrow.
"Like a camouflage raptor, invisible amphibian, or mimic insect? And whose supposed beast would this be, professor? You know every student present. Who would have such a beast? But let's not beat around the bush, you can use your mana vision..."
Wei scanned the room. True, he didn't know some of the noble students' beasts for sure, but his mana vision didn't lie… the bond between Taro and the creature was clear as day.
"This isn't... can't..."
Wei looked desperately at his books.
"Five hundred years of records... all the research..."
"Incomplete," Ren pointed out calmly. "As I just told you, and months ago, proper processing makes the difference."
"The methods are proven!" Wei slammed his desk. "It can't be true, it's a deception, it's earth control generating a statue, it's...!"
"Taro," Ren ignored Wei's outburst, "show them what we practiced."