บท 40: Chapter 40: Making A New Friend?

Thankfully, the return trip home, while exhausting, was uneventful.

He was able to sell all of the materials except the 3 shells for the blacksmith and obtained a whopping 183,000 CD, half of which was from the Bronze-quality, red-grade Berserk Coyote pack leader he had hunted the first day. All of the other materials were not even worth as much as the white-grade cougar fur he had sold the first time he went into the wilderness.

Seeing that it was bright enough out for the Blacksmith's shop to still be open, he headed over there.

However, upon entering he did not see the large man who gave him the task. Instead, there was an almost as large teenager cashing out a customer.

Once the other customer left, he turned to Kain, "How may I help you?" He said with a practiced sales smile.

"Umm…I had received a task from a large man with a beard previously. I'm here to turn it in" Kain said, embarrassed that he had forgotten to get the man's name previously or even look for it on the contract they had signed.

Suddenly the young worker's face turned solemn. "So YOU were the one that teacher gave away my spear to"

Kain shifted nervously as the large teenager marched to within a foot of him while staring him down.

'Don't tell me that HE is the apprentice'

Kain flinched when he saw the other's hand reach toward him… and stroke the spear.

"How is it? Any flaws in the design? Did the sigil work as intended? Once filled with liquid how much does the weight change?" He shot rapid-fire questions at Kain with his eyes yearning for feedback

"T-that…the spear is really good…" He replied dumbfoundedly. "Can I please turn in my mission now?"

"Ah yes! Sorry! I will go and get teacher now."

Moments later, the large man that he was familiar with came from a back room.

"I'm glad you didn't dawdle with the mission," he said while holding out his hand for the ring.

Kain parted with it reluctantly.

The man nodded in appreciation when he looked at the quality of the shells.

"Thankfully whatever poison you use did not have any corroding effects on the shell. I'm satisfied with your surface so you can keep the spear"

Leaving Kain with those words he marched back into the back room.

The teenager rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about Teacher. He usually doesn't have much patience for conversation when he has work on his mind"

Kain was suddenly curious, "Do you know what he plans to make?"

The teen blushed, "He actually plans to make a full body armor for me… I am taking the beast-tamer admissions test for Starfire College next month"

"Oh! Good luck!" Kain said surprised. There were very few students with an affinity highly rated enough to take the test. Not to mention he also is an extremely talented blacksmith.

"Are you planning to give up blacksmithing? Or will you be entering a double-major also?"

"I would like to do both if I can. I am confident in entering the Blacksmithing department, but I only have a B-rated affinity and could use a little extra luck for the beast-tamer test… wait! Also?!"

"Yeah. I plan to also enter as a double-major. Beast-taming and Evolutionary Planning."

The other teen looked like he had seen a monster. Someone was trying to enter BOTH of the most competitive and rigorous departments in the college?

'Maybe he's planning to enter a low-tier college?' he thought while calming down.

"Are you also planning to try out for Starfire College?"

"No I can't," replied Kain.

The teen sighed in relief. 'Yeah, it'd be a little too abnormal to enter both departments at a top 5 college. That'd mean you'd need at least a B-rated affinity'

"I'm planning to take the exam for Dark Moon College, and with the 3 days it takes to travel each way to and from the eastern region by train, I would have missed the Starfire exam by then"

Most qualified students could only choose 1 or 2 exams to take due to the close timing of all the dates and the several days it could take to travel between them by the interregional train.

Although students with extremely strong elders would easily be able to meet all exam dates if flying on a blue-grade or stronger spiritual beast.

If Kain did not pass the Dark Moon College exam, he would have to pick between Supernova College and the First Central Academy to have another shot at entering a top 5 college.

The other teenager began to doubt life at Kain's words "Dark Moon College…One of the top 5 colleges…That's very impressive… good luck"

"Thanks! You too! It's equally impressive that you are planning to enter 2 departments at Starfire as well"

'They aren't the same, you monster!' He shouted internally.

"What's your name?" He asked, figuring it couldn't hurt to get to know someone that ambitious.

"Kain. You?"

"Pheneos"

"Well, good luck Pheneos, and thanks for the spear. Hopefully the next time we meet is as students of Dark Moon and Starfire" He said before waving goodbye and exiting the store.