Instead of escaping toward the entrance, Liu dove directly at Harold. His eyes glowed with determination while remembering Ren's lessons:
"Sonar isn't just for detection," his friend had told him. "Concentrated and at the right distance, it can disorient, stun..."
The cry that emerged from Liu was like nothing Harold had experienced. The sound waves, amplified and concentrated by the beast, hit his nervous system like a hammer.
Too effective against his beast's heightened perception.
He staggered, his antennae involuntarily retracting from the attack. His vision blurred while his brain tried to process the sensory overload.
Liu descended, his hand extended toward the wrapped figure.
So close that he was distracted for an instant.
The movement above Harold went unnoticed until it was too late.
It wasn't an antenna.
A line of organic material, placed defensively above Harold as protection, wrapped around Liu's wrist. The first spy had activated the line Harold was pulling at the precise moment.
Liu's hand got pulled.
And before he could react, Harold recovered from the stunning. His fist, empowered by his modified beast, connected with brutal precision. Liu went limp like a puppet with cut strings even before touching the ground.
Harold raised his hand for a second blow, this time lethal, but his companion stopped him.
"Leave him to me," the spy pointed toward the tunnel. "Your beast... its energy is too distinctive. If someone's tracking, they'll detect you first. Enter the tunnel now."
Harold barely had time to consider his companion's suggestion when his antennae caught a new presence. The vibrations his mole detected in the stairs were unmistakable, someone was approaching.
"Shit," he hissed, his centipede extending its antennae to evaluate the threat. "Hurry!"
His spy companion acted efficiently, wrapping Liu's unconscious body in the protective cover with precise movements.
The sensation intensified, whoever was coming was moving fast.
"Inside!" Harold urged while his companion carried Liu toward the hidden hole.
They slipped through the opening just as the footsteps reached the storage level. The entrance disappeared under a layer of material.
"Take her," Harold passed Luna's unconscious body to his companion. "I need my hands free."
Without waiting for a response, he positioned himself at the tunnel's front. His ears were still ringing and he saw things slightly distorted from the bat boy's annoying ability, but he gritted his teeth. The centipede extended its ethereal antennae through the rock, searching.
"There are two possible entrances in the upper part," he murmured while beginning to excavate. "The antennae can sense them, but we need to reach the closest one before..."
A vibration came from the direction they'd come from. Someone was investigating the storage room.
"Faster," his companion whispered, adjusting his grip on the two unconscious prisoners.
Harold didn't respond, focused on creating a perfect tunnel while the centipede constantly scanned the surrounding area.
The antennae caught one of the entrances more clearly, it was close, very close. The mana emanating from it had a pattern very similar to what he'd been trained to look for in the ruins.
"This way," Harold turned slightly right. "I can feel an entrance. If we can reach it before they track our mana..."
His companion followed in silence.
The tunnel extended behind them, serpentining through the rock like an invisible scar. Harold knew they would eventually find it, it was impossible to completely hide an excavation's trace, especially when the ruins' mana would end up escaping through the hole.
But they didn't need to hide it forever. Just long enough to obtain the prize and escape to the depths.
His centipede's antennae vibrated with anticipation, they were close, very close. The mana signal grew stronger with each meter they advanced.
"Almost..." he murmured while his claws tore away another section of rock. "Just a little more..."
In the Academy's biggest office…
Director Ignatius massaged his temples while reviewing the preliminary monthly reward reports.
The Academy, dedicated to training the heirs of the kingdom's best families, might seem expensive in its entrance fee, but was paradoxically one of the 5 most costly institutions to maintain.
The incentive system was brutal for the kingdom's coffers:
The Top 5, the so-called "Platinum" students, though none actually had a beast of that rank, received a daily support of 10,000 crystals.
- Top Platinum: 10,000 daily crystals, totaling 1,800,000 per semester.
Almost two million per semester for each one. But they justified it with their extraordinary results.
In all the Academy's history, mostly students from 7th or 8th year.
They were the top of the ranking, one that simulated cultivation ranks without actually depending on the students' beast cultivation rank.
Though in a way, one could say the rank showed how "cultivated" they were.
Right behind those 5 came the scarce Gold rank students:
- Gold 3: 3,000 daily crystals, totaling 540,000 per semester
- Gold 2: 2,000 daily, 360,000 per semester
- Gold 1: 1,000 daily, 180,000 per semester
'Very few reach so high,' he thought while turning pages.
And with reason. Getting there was equivalent to truly perfect performance.
Most outstanding students concentrated in Silver ranks:
- Silver 3: 300 daily crystals, 54,000 per semester
- Silver 2: 200 daily crystals, 36,000 per semester
- Silver 1: 100 daily crystals, 18,000 per semester
These students typically reported between 10,000 and 20,000 crystals monthly. Respectable numbers that justified the school's investment and were enough to cultivate decent beasts.
Bronze ranks received more modest support:
- Bronze 2: 20 daily crystals, 3,600 per semester
- Bronze 1: 10 daily crystals, 1,800 per semester
Their reports oscillated between 2,000 and 10,000 crystals monthly. Nothing spectacular, but showing potential. Usually early-year students still learning.
Enough for initial cultivations but not so much that they'd be content, still incentivized to improve their ranks.
And finally, Iron rank students.
One crystal daily, 180 per semester.
Such an insignificant amount it didn't even cover basic cultivation cost. Their reports were predictably low, with the occasional prodigy maybe reaching 10,000 crystals in gathering trip months.
It was a system designed to reward progress and punish stagnation.
The numbers in each list were always of similar length, monotonous, predictable, following patterns established for decades...
Ignatius sighed, his eyes returning to a specific report.
"Then why always you," he murmured, reviewing the numbers again.
It was impossible for those numbers not to stand out in the list with the fewest zeros...
An Iron rank student had been reporting amounts comparable to seventh and eighth-year Gold rank students.
Not for one month, not by luck, but consistently for over three months.
And now Wei, standing before his desk, was telling him they would have to add a 200,000-crystal rune's value to this month's "acquisitions" report.
"A Bronze rank 2 light rune?" Ignatius looked at Wei incredulously. "For an Iron student?"
"I lost the bet," Wei looked physically ill while explaining. "It's official, there's a new digger beetle evolution."