novelraw Chapter 494: Episode 494
Chapter 494: Episode 494
At last, the day of the practical evaluation for Summoning Materials arrived. The venue was a place on the Kizen campus called the Botanical Conservatory.
"Is everyone ready?" shouted Professor Grelion, his upper body muscles exposed and a pair of sunglasses perched on his face.
The students replied with a resounding, "Yes!"
"I’m starting the timer now. Begin!"
With fire in their eyes, the students scattered. Kizen’s Botanical Conservatory was a massive structure of steel and vinyl that housed flora from all over the continent. With Grelion’s permission, the students could collect two species of plants and combine them to create their own chimeras. The core of the evaluation was how powerful a synergy their creation could exhibit.
"It’s incredibly hot in here," Toto said, wiping sweat from his forehead. Simon had already taken off his school jacket and tied it around his waist as he scanned the plants.
"Toto, have you decided what you’re going to graft?"
"Yeah! I expected this kind of evaluation, so I prepared a few lists!"
As Toto fluttered his notebook, Simon clapped his hands over his ears. "Toto, cover your ears."
"Huh?"
"Someone pulled a Mandragora."
A piercing shriek, the infamous cry of a Mandragora, echoed through the conservatory. Students who heard it hastily covered their ears. The student who had pulled the Mandragora quickly stuffed it into a black plastic bag and buried it under a heap of soil until, finally, it fell silent.
Toto lowered his hands and muttered, "...I bet whoever modifies a Mandragora to turn its scream into a song will get an A+."
"Oh, that’s a brilliant idea."
Toto quickly found the plants he was looking for and left the conservatory, while Simon ventured deeper inside.
[Extremely Dangerous.]
[Risk of being Eaten.]
He soon reached the area where pitcher plants and related plant-type monsters were kept. Farther in, there were said to be grotesque creatures that could devour monsters whole, but even with Grelion’s authority, they couldn’t go that far.
Time was short. Simon hurriedly surveyed the pitcher plants.
"Found it!"
A pitcher plant dripped poison from its maw. Its color and appearance were exactly as described in the encyclopedia. Simon pulled it up by the roots and carefully placed it in his collection bag. He gathered a few other plants as well, just in case.
’Alright, next.’
He headed to a section of the conservatory that cultivated plants from colder regions. Chilly air flowed from a magic circle on the ceiling, and the farther he went, the more snow he saw. There were even bizarre specimens that had taken root directly on ice.
His breath plumed in the air. Simon untied the jacket from his waist, put it on, and buttoned it up.
’Alright. Time to find what I’m looking for!’
---
An hour later, Simon had successfully secured all his materials and emerged from the conservatory. Outside, worktables had been set up for the chimera grafting. Students who had arrived earlier were already there, using all the knowledge they had learned in class to create their plant chimeras.
Simon looked around for an empty spot.
’Oh, there’s Lorraine.’
Her table was filled with the kind of small, cute plants that suited her personal taste. Seeing Simon pass by, she stammered that she was going to make a chimera that could be used as an ingredient for perfume. Simon hadn’t asked, but he quietly cheered her on.
Next to her, Hector was in a state of utter chaos. He had collected some kind of vine-like plant monster and was now locked in a life-or-death battle with it on his table. The vine monster was wrapping its tendrils around Hector, and he was ripping them apart with his monstrous strength.
Simon pretended not to see and quietly slipped away.
’Found an empty spot!’
Finally settled at a table, Simon carefully laid out the materials he had collected. He washed his hands, set up his tools, and tore off a piece of magic tape. Thanks to having memorized the plant encyclopedia, an idea had come to him the moment he heard Grelion’s assignment.
’For now, I’ll just try making two types.’
---
"The practical evaluation is over," Grelion announced, stopping the timer in his hand. "Everyone, hands on your heads. Any student who so much as touches their table will receive an F."
"Everyone! Please step back three paces from your tables."
The students stepped back, smacking their lips in disappointment. A few, still lingering with regret, tried to channel jet-black into their work, only to be stopped by the teaching assistants.
"Now, I will introduce the special artifact for this chimera evaluation." Behind him, four TAs were struggling to carry a large pot. "This is ‘Loina’s Pot,’ which I have brought with Lady Nephthys’s permission. As you all know, it’s difficult for a freshly grafted plant chimera to display its full capabilities. It’s a plant; it takes time. However, if you plant it in this pot, you can see a vision of what it will look like in six months."
The students murmured at the novel evaluation method.
"Without further ado, let’s begin. Front row, one by one, come forward."
The students in the front row lined up, carefully holding the pots containing their chimeras.
"Report."
The first student to step forward began, "Matt Comer! I’ve combined the Linset, which bears sweet and delicious fruit, with the plant-type monster, Huris."
"Why did you combine those two?"
"The Linset fruit is sweet and fragrant, but it only bears one fruit at a time. The Huris is a plant-type monster that grows numerous berries! I wanted to combine them to grow many of the expensive Linset fruits." The student confidently rattled off successful cases of similar botanical modifications.
"Variety improvement through a chimera, is it? The results will speak for themselves. Plant it in Loina’s Pot."
"Yes, sir!"
As the student placed his chimera into the pot, an identical illusion of the plant appeared beside it.
"...Ah."
However, the illusory plant was limp, blackened, and rotten.
"This is what happens when you combine incompatible plants. You’ve just killed perfectly healthy specimens. Your grade is an F."
Watching Grelion mercilessly hand out an F, the students exchanged frightened glances.
"Next!"
When Grelion had announced the evaluation last week, a debate had sparked among the students. It was obvious that a freshly made plant-type chimera couldn’t function properly right away. Some argued that the pots would be stored for months to observe the results, while others believed it was a battle of ideas, and they should aim for a high grade with a plausible, if unrealistic, combination.
As a result, the students who had chosen impact and novelty over stability all received Fs as the visions revealed their dead plants.
"It’s alive. C."
Simply surviving for six months earned a minimum grade of C. Grelion valued the chimera’s survival highly, as it was proof of a deeper understanding of the components.
Then, it was Hector’s turn.
"The Poeti Vine only detects prey by touch, which limits its aggression," he explained. "I’ve added a plant that can sense temperature to make it a more aggressive monster."
It was, perhaps, a little too aggressive. It shot out vines in all directions, and one unlucky tendril wrapped around Toto’s leg and began dragging him away. Hector, the presenter, seemed to have given up, standing motionless with his body wrapped in dragon scales as his own creation coiled around him.
"A chimera that could be useful in the field." When Hector placed it in Loina’s Pot, Grelion was satisfied to see the illusion of an even larger chimera six months later. "A+. Hector Moore."
"Thank you!"
Grelion was a field-oriented necromancer. As long as the survival condition was met, students who chose more unconventional and combat-oriented chimeras received high marks.
A short while later, it was finally Simon’s turn. Unlike the large and dramatic plant-type monsters chosen by others, his was a rather small and frail-looking pitcher plant.
Grelion nodded. "Report."
"Simon Polentia. I have combined a plant-type monster called Povea with a tuberous red lotus root." Simon calmly continued his explanation. "According to the encyclopedia, the Povea grows on the ‘Isle of Bees,’ where it evolved to prey on the insect-type monsters there, the Killer Bees. Killer Bees are a major wasp monster, used as a main force by the sixth-ranked student, Merdiana. They possess a variety of potent venoms, but the Povea swallows them whole, combines the venom with a substance from its own body, and converts it into a harmless compound that it then releases through its roots."
"So the goal is an antidote," Grelion surmised, stroking his chin. "But I’ve never seen a venomologist use Povea as an ingredient for one."
"Correct, because it discards the detoxified substance into the ground. That’s why I replaced its roots with a tuberous plant, so it would store the detoxifying compound in its stem instead of releasing it. By cutting and eating the stem, one can expect an antidote effect."
"We’ll see." Grelion immediately planted Simon’s Povea in Loina’s Pot. A moment later, the illusion showed the Povea had grown properly, its tuberous stem robust. Although the illusion couldn’t confirm if the tuber actually had an antidote effect, it had grown as Simon intended, and more importantly, it had survived.
"Well done. Your grade is an A. Simon Polentia."
"Thank you!" Simon was greatly satisfied. He had been worried he wouldn’t be able to prove the antidote effect. Grelion called the next student, and Simon returned to his seat.
"Good work," said Fitzgerald, who, along with Hector, was the only other student to receive an A+. As a chimera specialist since his first year, this subject was his greatest strength.
"Thanks, Fitzgerald."
"If I may offer a personal opinion," Fitzgerald said, pointing to the large pitcher plant on Simon’s table. "If you had used something with more impact like that instead of the Povea, you might have aimed for an A+."
"It was my choice, so I have no regrets." Simon smiled. "When I was grafting them, the feel of the Povea was much better."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It attached cleanly, without the slightest resistance."
The students who had finished their evaluations were free. Some gathered near Loina’s Pot to look at other students’ chimeras, while others sat and chatted. Some even used the spare time to make other chimeras for fun.
Simon was cleaning up his messy table when a voice startled him.
"The Summoning Department’s classes look fun."
Simon spun around. A gray-haired student with bandages was walking toward him.
"Kajan!"
Kajan smiled tiredly and scratched the scar on his eye. "The Martial Arts Department spent the whole day running all over Roc Island wearing cursed bracelets. They said our practical evaluation was a desert crossing."
"...Ahaha. Professor Hong Feng does prioritize stamina above all else."
Kajan glanced around, then gestured to the side. Simon nodded and quietly followed him.
They sat on a bench behind a deserted building. Kajan took out the request form.
> ’Registered Request:’ Corpse Separation
> ’Request Rank:’ F
> ’Request Reward:’ 5 Gold
> ’Request Location:’ Dresden Kingdom, Tarados Territory
> ’Details:’ Provide labor for monster corpse separation.
> ’Special Note:’ 1168798164
"The problem was the special note. As I suspected, it was a code," Kajan began. "In Tarados, they used to speak a language called Lukian, which has now been pushed out by the continental language. It seems to be the native tongue of the Tarados people." He took out a Lukian word chart. "I combined these numbers with the first syllable of the corresponding numbers on the Lukian word chart."
"Let me try." Simon looked back and forth between the request form and the chart. "Two numbers for one word, right?"
"That’s right."
"Sal... lyeo... ju... se... yo...’ What does that mean...?" In that instant, a shiver ran down Simon’s entire body. He looked up at Kajan, his eyes wide.
"Help me."
"Exactly." Kajan nodded, his expression grave. "I think something insane is happening in Tarados."