Chapter 39: The Locked Box, An "Elegant" Lionel

Under the effect of Calm Mind Art, all the beasts quieted down.

They also knew that their performance in the next few hours was especially important to their tamers, even though most of them did not know what an "exam" was.

At that moment, the screen beside the platform lowered.

Mr. Caldwell casually tapped it a few times, and then the photos, names, and beast photos of the forty students in their class were projected onto it. Clearly, this was to make it easier for the students to answer.

This was a Tamer Art—Shadow Image Art. Its original use was to cover some obvious features on beasts.

Later, it was gradually applied to fields like medicine and teaching.

Adrian did not need to look at this information.

In those noisy three minutes earlier, he had actually already seen every beast in the class.

Moreover, he had been "grading" the test he made for himself last night in his head. The question he had set for himself last night was: based on your understanding of tamer talents, pick the three most suitable types of beasts as first companions for each.

This line of thinking came from Mr. Caldwell recommending three types of beasts to him that day.

So, excluding himself and Julian, he had made thirty-eight matchings yesterday, choosing three beasts for each classmate.

Setting aside his original knowledge base, he had also gained a deeper understanding of more than a dozen beasts he had not been very familiar with before.

And today, except for one classmate whose beast did not match his judgment, the other thirty-seven all matched.

Even without seeing the panels of these beasts, he could still get near-perfect scores on the first two questions.

Of course, who could refuse a perfect score?

With the panel information, his pen certainly moved with more force.

However, among the beasts that appeared in the class, he had not seen a single one with a hidden evolution path. That was within his expectations.

Also, not all beasts had multiple evolution paths.

But it was more than enough for this exam.

Before writing, Adrian analyzed what the four teachers were actually assessing.

Mr. Caldwell was testing knowledge. Whoever answered best would get the highest score.

Adrian could definitely take this part.

Mr. Sun focused on beasts. Lionel had already reached Exceptional-Mid quality, and his level had risen to Common 5. Among these forty beasts, he was ranked near the top.

Add his enduring and brave personality, and this level of pressure was absolutely nothing. Adrian believed in him.

Mr. Zhao's assessment was also easy to understand. Whoever handled multiple pressures most easily and allocated spiritual power best would come out on top.

Only Mr. Zhu's assessment was a little uncertain to Adrian.

He looked at the box on the desk. There was a lock on it, and the key was placed on top of the box.

If it was just a simple test of resource allocation, why bother?

He fell into thought, and an idea formed in his mind.

About an hour into the exam.

The effect of Calm Mind Art was already not as good as at the start.

Noises began to appear in the exam room.

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Many students had already opened their resource boxes and started using the items inside.

Adrian observed that every time a box was opened, Mr. Zhu would look up and write something on his paper.

Lionel was sitting upright, a little bored. He felt this exam was quite dull.

Except for the slight pressure he felt whenever that muscular man looked at him, he found this place a little too easy.

He did not quite understand why the other beasts were so panicked.

Sure enough, beasts who had not experienced the world just did not have enough stress resistance.

At this thought, Lionel suddenly felt that his half year of wandering seemed to have given him a small advantage. And these advantages seemed like they could help his tamer get a better score?

He had been eating and drinking for free for several days. It seemed he could finally help a little?

Thinking of that, he felt full of motivation. He sat even more upright. Boredom could be endured. Helping his tamer get first place was the real business!

His eyes also sparkled.

Serene Spirit Cat, right?

Although this cat did not much like the prim and proper, elegant act of those Serene Spirit Cats, today this cat would be the most elegant Serene Spirit Cat in the world!

Imitating was not hard!

At that moment, Mr. Sun's gaze swept over to Lionel again. He found that this Serene Spirit Cat's eyes had suddenly lit up with a starry flame.

Why did it suddenly burn with passion?

Other beasts were cowering and adapting to the environment. Why was this Serene Spirit Cat in an even better state after an hour?

He nodded unconsciously.

He was not the only one nodding.

Mr. Caldwell, beside him, also nodded.

He was very satisfied with the beast Adrian had chosen. Serene Spirit Cat was, after all, the one among the three types he recommended that he thought best suited Adrian's talent.

However, when he had gone to the cultivation center to observe that day, he did not seem to see this one?

He had a deep impression of that Exceptional-Upper one. It was more slender and had a much colder aura.

But Adrian's was also excellent in quality and constitution, especially that ring of fur on its face. It looked cute and domineering, adding a lot of recognizable character to this Serene Spirit Cat.

Mr. Caldwell was satisfied not only with Adrian's choice, but also with his current progress on the test.

In less than an hour, he had already filled the first two questions densely.

For this kind of major question, unless one had all the memory points in their head, they would not be able to write it out so quickly and accurately.

Adrian was now checking his paper.

He was not checking for missing content. He was observing whether he had written any "beyond the syllabus" content in the evolution paths.

After all, the evolution paths he saw on the panel included some paths that existed in this world but had never been made public.

If even the teachers did not know them, would that not be equivalent to "writing nonsense" or "getting it wrong"?

After checking twice, Adrian nodded in relief.

Then he looked at the third question.

To be honest, he did not have as much confidence in this third question.

According to exam logic, the earlier questions tested basic theoretical knowledge, and this major question was an application question.

Based on defense, support, and attack, form the most suitable three-person squads.

He actually had a few ideas in his head.

But he thought he did not fully understand whether his classmates' beasts were truly the best. This kind of answer required practice to truly know, so for now he could only lean toward the most "reasonable" direction.

However, there were still more than two hours left in the exam.

With so much time, being idle was being idle. He might as well write a few more squad assignments he thought were strong.

Then rank them according to his own understanding.

Time passed minute by minute.

At the two-hour mark, the effect of Calm Mind Art was almost negligible.

But after all, they were outstanding students of the Ember Class. During the two hours, although they still had to answer questions, they could also communicate with their beasts during that time.

Two hours was enough to give them psychological preparation.

Plus, many students had already used the items in their resource boxes.

The classroom was not as noisy as when the forty beasts were first summoned together.

At two hours and forty minutes, Adrian saw Julian, seated in front of him, open his resource box and use a spirit-restoring potion inside.

Adrian's current state was actually very good.

Because he did not need to split his attention to communicate with Lionel and soothe his state and emotions.

On the contrary, Lionel's performance in public today was completely beyond his expectations.

Even now, he was still sitting elegantly, as if nothing could disturb his state.

During these two hours, Lionel's Status showed only one thing: First place! I want first place! I want my tamer to get first place!

It also made Adrian feel his determination, which was very comforting.

He had actually already finished the test paper.

On the third question, he had given ten sets of plans.

With ten minutes left before the exam ended.

He also observed that the student sitting at desk 1, Liam, who had awakened the rank 55 talent Void Wind Seeker, had also opened his box.

Now, it seemed only he had not yet opened this resource box.

During the exam, through observation, he roughly knew what was in these resource boxes.

At first, he had thought that resource allocation might mean using them only when urgently needed, and the later one delayed using them, the better the score would be.

Especially since Mr. Zhu carefully recorded the time each student opened their box.

But he felt the assessment content would not be that simple.

If that were the case, for someone like him who did not need these auxiliary resources at all, would it not be better not to open it?

After thinking, he picked up the key.

It was slightly heavy. He inserted it into the keyhole and opened the resource box.

Then he saw something that he found very interesting.

It was also something he came into contact with every day at his family's beast feed shop.