8: Ideal Soulbeast Arrangement

The quiz consisted of questions from all seven subjects in their curriculum. Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Physical Enhancement, and Spiritual Stability.

The last two subjects were recent additions to the curriculum compared to the rest, having been added only a decade ago after the Prime Circle Senators of the Central Parliament had decided that a comprehensive education on these two aspects could increase the possibility of success in reaching the Evolution Standard after the students attended their final National exam.

This was, of course, targeted at the ordinary students. Those who came from affluent families, or had political ties to Senators of a parliament– Federal or Central, or those affiliated with one of the twelve Churches didn't need to look up to the Government for resources that would allow them to mutate and reach the first Transcendent tier of Evolution.

The contents discussed in these subjects were much more vague compared to the rest of the subjects, as the discoveries and theories on these aspects were either accidental or based on a ton of guesswork, being updated drastically every couple years.

All in all, there was little to learn and too many cautionary rules. But the students loved these two subjects due to the involvement of supernatural aspects. After all, who didn't dream of reaching the Evolution Standard within the next 3 months and becoming a Transcendent?

All they needed was resources— food and gene-stimulants made from mutant creatures, and a Virus Saturation method.

As Mir hurried to answer the questions in the quiz paper, he felt both relieved and guilty.

He felt relieved because he had studied four of these subjects partially just last night. None of the ordinary students would be studious enough to go through that much work randomly.

He felt terrible because it was tantamount to cheating. Murray must have known that the Church was about to make a visit to the National College. He had been pretty direct and specific while describing how to use the diary, and Mir had taken the bait because he was too apprehensive of a sacred artifact to 'be creative' and experiment wantonly. He had written the same thing Murray told him to as an example.

And now, he had easily managed to answer half the questions in the quiz.

The questions he couldn't answer were mostly mathematical, which required one to practice extensively rather than memorizing formulae.

Added to that, he was terrible in math anyway. Every time he faced a question that appeared unfamiliar or unique, he lost all of his confidence in being able to solve it.

"Calculate the body-mass of an evolved (mutation grade- 3) Primitive Lava Elephant (male) if it has a length of 29 meters, width of 9 meters, and height of 11 meters. You may use the Evolved Beast Datasheet for volume-to-body-mass comparison."

This was question number 49. After reading the question, he could only shake his head despondently.

"Damn, this guy is a real fatty. What would he look like in real life? And a grade- 3 mutation before Evolving could mean a huge array of physical changes. Who says the elephant has to fit the infographics in the Evolved Beast Datasheet?

"Oh wait, maybe the dimensional data seems unrealistic because of the mutation?"

But what kind of mutation is that? Why did the question not say that? How was he supposed to solve the math if he couldn't even picture the elephant?

Most of his fellow students didn't seem to have this problem. They could solve a math without stopping to think about it even if it was about a flying donkey hitting an aerial shield at mach-7 speed.

Could an evolved donkey-

"5 minutes remaining before I start collecting the answer sheets!" Professor Zula shouted.

A collective gasp of curses breezed through the students as they sped up their writing.

Mir abandoned the 49th question and chose to tackle the last one.

"If you could become a Transcender with a Soulslot reserve of 10 units, what would your choice of Soulbeasts be?"

Mir grinned. This was by far the most common question College students ever faced throughout their 5 semesters of higher-secondary education. There was no such thing as a correct answer to it, and the evaluation from the examiner depended on how optimal or creative the student's choices were.

Mir was about to pen down his list of choices without thinking about it, as he had the answer memorized...but he stopped.

This was an exam paper set by the Church. So far, there hadn't been any questions related to the Church, the religion it preached, or about the myths surrounding their god, Sunbreaker.

He couldn't help but feel like this question was the real test. He turned the question paper over and examined a certain detail.

All the questions had their numerical value provided at the right side of the page in tiny prints...all except one– question number 50.

A student hurrying to write the answer wouldn't probably notice it, or even if they did, they'd think it was a printing mistake, a frequent phenomenon in class tests.

Heh.

Mir thought about it for a minute and wrote down his list of choices confidently. But this was not the ideal list he had formulated for himself over the last 2 years.

1. The Mazinian Chameleon

Soulslot Consumption: 5 units

2. The Cursebite Cobra

Soulslot Consumption: 3 units

3. The Pureheart Pigeon

Soulslot Consumption: 2 units

The Church of Sunbreaker was known for many things, but in the world of Transcenders, they had a special reputation.

The registered Deacons of the Church were all Primitive-rank Transcenders, forming the main fighting force of the Church. These Deacons generally used a specific type of combat method while facing off the alien beasts and infected monsters on the surface of the planet.

Sunbreaker's Church's fighting method was all about aggressiveness, relying on incessant fatal injuries to take the opponents down. The Mazinian Chameleon was a universal choice in combat, and the Cursebite Cobra was an extra lethal creature to add to the attacks.

The last beast of choice on the list, the Pureheart Pigeon was a unique creature that only the Church was known to rear, both as a Soulbeast and a pet. How they did it was unknown, because the pigeons were absolutely feral around other Transcenders normally. Those reared by the Church, however, were used to heal injuries even as grave as damage to the heart, kidneys, and lungs. These reared pigeons also tended to be very gentle and affectionate to ordinary folks as well. Over time, Pureheart Pigeons had become a signature creature for them.

His short list was pretty much identical to the arsenal of any ordinary Deacon of the Church.

"Time's up! Stop writing!"