"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."
Newfound confidence was visible in his every movement.
The Living Tunnel began to move, its segments interweaving in patterns. Before the class's astonished eyes, it began manipulating the earth, creating what at first glance appeared to be a disordered mound.
"Is that all?" Wei tried to recover some of his confidence, though his voice trembled. "A pile of dirt? See, that's what I mean, any beetle can…!"
His words died in his throat as the Living Tunnel began secreting a crystalline liquid that covered the mound. The substance gleamed with a characteristic yellow tone, the same found in deep tunnels 300 meters down in the caves.
"Living crystal," Ren explained while the substance hardened yet remained somehow alive, pulsing with inner light. "The distinctive mark of a true Living Tunnel. They don't just dig tunnels, they make them habitable and safe from Deep Assassins."
Wei fell to his knees before his desk, his manticore manifestation flickering erratically across his skin.
His hands trembled as he touched the newly formed crystal. It was identical to what was found in the depths, the substance no common beetle could create. The texture was unmistakable to anyone who had spent time in the deeper mines.
"No..." he whispered, but there was no conviction left in his voice, only despair. "The records..."
"Are wrong," Ren concluded softly. "Or at least, incomplete. As I told you from the beginning."
The classroom remained in absolute silence as Wei contemplated the living crystal, all his arrogance vanishing like morning mist. Five hundred years of certainty had just crumbled before his eyes.
And with them, everything he thought he knew about beast evolution.
The silence in the room was deafening as Wei remained kneeling, his fingers still touching the living crystal as if expecting it to disappear at any moment.
Luna was the first to react. A small smile formed on her lips while her shadow wolf manifested briefly, as if nodding in approval.
Liora and Larissa exchanged surprised and satisfied glances, their own beasts stirring beneath their skin.
Jin and Klein looked as if they'd been struck with a mace. Their beasts manifested erratically across their bodies, responding to their confusion and contained rage.
"So," Ren broke the silence, his mushrooms pulsing with steady light, "about our bet, professor..."
Wei rose slowly, his movements mechanical. For a moment, it seemed he would protest, search for another explanation, any excuse to deny what he'd just witnessed.
"I want the Bronze rank 2 light rune," Ren continued calmly. "The most expensive bronze rank one."
Wei choked. "That costs two hundred thousand crystals! That's more than two months of my salary!"
"A bet is a bet," Ren smiled, though there was steel beneath his pleasant tone. "Unless you'd prefer to discuss the 1 million tuition forfeiture document you were going to make me sign..."
Taro barely contained his laughter.
Wei clenched his fists. "This is ridiculous! One thing is demonstrating a different evolution by luck, but demanding a rune of that price that you can't even use is…!"
A creak at the door made him freeze. Lin was leaning against the frame, arms crossed and a dangerous smile playing on her lips. Her crane's feathers ruffled menacingly.
"Any problems fulfilling your bets, professor?" she asked with false sweetness.
Wei paled. The memory of his last encounter with Lin flashed through his mind like lightning. His body visibly shrank, his manticore manifestation fading entirely.
"There's also the matter of my grades," Ren added, clearly enjoying the moment. "A hundred points in both subjects, if I remember correctly."
The six new students observed everything with carefully neutral expressions, though their eyes sparkled with something that might have been amusement or satisfaction.
"The academy gossips are going to love this," Larissa commented. "The student with the 'weakest beast' proving that Wei's 'five hundred years of records' were wrong."
Wei moved to his desk like an automaton, pulling out the grade registry. With trembling hands, he wrote a perfect 100 next to Ren's name in both subjects.
"The rune..." Wei began, his voice barely above a whisper.
"You can bring it tomorrow," Lin interjected from the door. "I'm sure you won't want to... delay payment more than a day. I don't think we'll need to make you sign anything, right?"
Wei watched all this with humiliation and impotent rage.
Lin stepped away from the door. "Ah, and Wei," she added with a dangerous smile, "next time you make a bet... make sure you can pay up on the spot."
"Well," Ren glanced at the classroom clock, barely ten minutes of class had passed. "Since I'm officially approved and won't even have to take the final exam for this class which, frankly, DOESN'T serve me any purpose..."
He rose calmly, gathering his things. His mushrooms pulsed with a rhythm like joyful little hops.
"I'll retire to train with my master," he continued while heading for the door. "Something that DOES serve me a purpose."
"Good luck, Taro," he bid farewell to his friend with a casual gesture. "Though I doubt you'll have much to learn here..."
Lin stepped forward, her presence filling the doorway.
"By the way, professor," her voice was soft but laden with threat. "I hope it won't occur to you to take reprisals against Taro or Ren. I'll be very attentive to how you conduct your classes from now on."
Wei sank into his chair as Lin and Ren departed, their footsteps echoing down the hallway.
The living crystal continued to glow at the front of the classroom, a tangible reminder of everything that had just happened. Its pulsing light seemed to mock five centuries of academic certainty.
Wei raised his gaze, trying to start his class through sheer inertia, but the words refused to come. All eyes were fixed on him, some with pity, others with barely contained amusement.
He lowered his head, defeated.
"T-today's class is... is over, you may leave," he whispered in a trembling voice.
No one moved for a moment, as if they couldn't believe what they'd just heard.
The sound of the door closing behind Ren and Lin seemed to break the spell.
Wei remained at his desk, alone, contemplating how five hundred years of certainty had crumbled in less than ten minutes. The living crystal's steady glow illuminated his slumped figure, a testament to how thoroughly his academic world had been shattered.