Chapter 45: Headed For The Academy
Although Body Tempering’s upgrade had only increased its rank by one, Locke had clearly felt its improvements.
The sense of confidence and strength brought about by his improvement in his physical attributes was simply wonderful!
Trista informed the other instructors to lead the students onto their respective buses to the academy.
Meanwhile, she and Jacques would personally oversee Locke and Alice’s trip there.
“I’m sorry, instructors, but, I would like to go home first and inform my parents so that they can be at ease.”
“Of course, we’ll wait for you here! Also, there’s no need to bring anything. The academy will prepare them for you! And I can guarantee that they’re top-notch!”
Trista instructed kindly.
Apart bidding farewell to his parents, Locke had another motive as well.
Earlier, when Body Tempering was successfully “tempered”, Locke had not provided the evolution materials at all. As such, he wanted to return to his room and check whether those materials were still present.
‘What if it’s a System bug?’ Locke chuckled mentally.
When he returned home, his parents were stunned by Locke’s good news!
‘Is he joking?’
‘Has the Federation’s Advanced Beastmaster Academy really accepted him?’
‘And he has even been rewarded the first seat?!’
Upon taking out his letter of admission, his mother was so happy that she almost fainted.
Fortunately, Big Beardy was quick on his feet.
“That’s great! Atta’ boy…”
His parents’ eyes were filled with tears, and they could not find the correct words to praise him.
Thus, they hugged him tightly and wept with joy instead.
After explaining the situation to his parents, he went back to his room to pack up.
To his disappointment, the evolution materials needed for Body Tempering had disappeared.
The system was meticulous.
After packing up his stuff, he then left his parents a sum of money.
He hoped that during his absence, the two people who had raised him lovingly would be able to live a good life.
Back in the arena…
Aside from Jacques and Trista, several of Alice’s servants were present as well.
They had prepared luggage of all shapes and sizes for the young miss.
Luxury clothes, designer bags, lethally fragrant perfume, everything a young girl needed.
They had even brought along a mattress and a parasol!
If one did not know better, they might have a.s.sumed that Alice was moving houses!
Despite this, the lady still complained with an aggrieved expression, “How dreadful! I have plenty of stuff, so why won’t you allow my servants to travel with me? How am I supposed to transport so many items without my servants? Also! Must I travel together with that despicable Locke?”
Jacques had a poor temper. As a result, he did not take Alice’s princess-like att.i.tude all too kindly.
Just as he was about to give her a piece of his mind, however, Trista stopped him and whispered, “Forget it… Her family is not to be trifled with…”
Heeding his colleague’s words, he held himself back.
In contrast, he was rather fond of the lightly packed Locke.
“What’s the matter, Locke? Are you ready?”
Lil’ White who was perched on Locke’s shoulder nodded in unison with him.
“No problem! I’m not as spoiled as a certain someone!”
Seeing that Alice was almost done, Trista called out, “Black Tortoise[1]!”
Boom… Boom… Boom… Boom…
Locke and the others could feel tremors coming from the ground!
Moreover, the tremors were getting more and more intense!
Boom!
An explosion rocked the scene, the sky was blotted out by a ma.s.sive tortoise-snake chimera that drilled out from the ground.
It looked very domineering!
“Good boy! That was impressive!” Locke nodded and commended the “tortoise’s” entrance.
Jacques walked forward and patted the tortoise’s sh.e.l.l, saying, “You’ve grown yet again, Black Tortoise! You should be at Stage 4 now, right?”
“It should be somewhere around there. After all, it’s been a while since I last trained it!” Trista said with a casual expression.
“The Federation’s Advanced Beastmaster Academy is indeed full of powerful individuals…”Locke looked at this Stage 4 Battle Beast and muttered. Then, he asked curiously, “Instructor, may I ask a question? Is this an earth-type Battle Beast?”
Trista crossed her hands and laughed out loud, “Hahaha! You’re not the first person to be fooled by its appearance!”
Following that, she snapped her fingers again.
A cabin door slowly opened on the black tortoise’s abdomen, and there was even a flight of stairs extending out!
“It’s a mechanical-type!”
“d.a.m.n! There’s such a type of Battle Beast?” Locke’s curiosity towards this world was piqued once more!
“You might not know this, but Trista is the captain of our academy’s transportation team!”Jacques added.
Looking at how huge the Black Tortoise was…
Forget the four of them, It had enough s.p.a.ce to fit two hundred people!
Seeing that Alice had already packed up those dozen of boxes of hers, Jacques spat impatiently, “It’s time to go!”
…
The Black Tortoise traveled faster than what its appearance would suggest.
It had shortened the journey that would usually take a whole day by car by half.
“Take a nap, guys! We’ll reach the Holy City in about three hours!” Trista said in a tired voice.
After stretching her body, she then fell asleep in her seat.
Jacques did the same as well.
Meanwhile, Alice was touching up her makeup before her mirror. She was looking forward to her debut later.
After all, who would do her bidding, if not the men she charmed?
Locke rested his head on his backpack and fell asleep amid the rumble of the Black Tortoise’s footsteps?
…
“Students! We’ve arrived!” Three hours later, they arrived at the Federation’s Advanced Beastmaster Academy situated within the Holy City.
Upon arrival, the Black Tortoise laid down on the academy’s field.
The moment they stepped out of the beast, they were immediately greeted with a clear blue sky and a vast, open field.
Locke could not help but admire how huge the academy was.
Countless towers and buildings filled with rich history stood before of Locke.
“As expected of the best academy in the Federation…” Locke muttered.
After giving Locke a quick glare, she then waved at the few people who were waiting for her, “Brother! I’m Here!”
In the distance, a handsome young man with golden hair had been waiting for a long time.
He was Alice’s fourth brother, Adrian!
“Just as I had expected, you really did bring over a bunch of stuff…” Adrian turned around and glanced at the people behind him, “Guys, help my sister move her things to the dormitory!”
“Okay! Young Master Adrian…”
“It’s our honor to serve the White Family…”
“Miss, please call for me if you need any help in the future…”
“We’ve already cleaned up your dormitory yesterday…”
Looking at the slave-like behavior of these people, Locke almost vomited.
“So disgusting…”
Unlike Locke, Alice was pleased with their actions. After all, it had greatly satisfied her vanity!
[1] This may or may not be relevant, but the Black Tortoise is one of the Four Auspicious Beasts in Chinese mythology and they are said to be the guardians of the four cardinal directions.