Research

Back in his room Simon sat down on his chair and began to write his report, which the headmaster requested.

*scribble* *scribble*

After 3 hours of intense writing, he finally finished his 4-page long report about the woodland dungeon and what he discovered there. Putting down the feather he leaned back into his comfy chair and let out a sigh.

"Haa~ time for a well-deserved break."

*Knock* *knock* *knock*

...

"Nope didn´t hear that."

*Knock* *knock* *knock*

...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE SIMON! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!"

Groaning he sluggishly stood up and walked to the door before opening it. In front of him stood a tall man in a white rope and googly protection glasses, protecting his bright blue eyes. His hair is grey wavy and by the look at it he didn´t have a shower for a few days, and by the bags under his eyes, he didn´t sleep eighter. It could be said that he is handsome or above average if he took better care of his appearance and got a good rest.

Seeing the person in front of him he blankly stared at him, and spoke in a monotone tone, "Ah, it is just you Uncle Mavis. Why are you knocking on my door like a mad man?"

"GRRrr, it is because of your ridiculous find that you brought back."

"He? You mean the dead Nagirus?"

"Yes, and judging from your reaction you don´t know what grave changes the dungeons really are going through. I have been awake for 2 days now to study the dead giant dark ice mantis from a few weeks ago and you bringing the Nagirus back will be the death of me." *Sigh* "Just come to the research room and I will show you how ridiculous the thing you brought back is."

The middle-aged man who was ranting and complaining is the head researcher of the Ferum institute. Since small, Simon liked to research and experiment, and Mavis who saw his thirst for knowledge took him under his wings. Over the years they bonded, and Simon now calls him Uncle Mavis, even if they aren´t real uncle and nephew.

He usually is a calm and well-mannered person, but when it comes to his research and experiments, he would become eccentric and more often than not forget to sleep and eat. So understanding the importance of his uncle's finding he nodded and grabbed his leather pouch that he always carries with him.

...

While silently walking through the giant school hallways, many people looked at them with admiration. Uncle Mavis broke the silence between them, as he was curious about the rumors he heard. "So, you were summoned by the king haven´t you."

Flinching a little he turned his head towards his uncle and but on a forced smile, "Oh my how did you know dear uncle?"

"Ha, brat you are 100 years too young to ask me that. I will take your answer as a yes. Have you done something to the princes, or why is the king just randomly summoning you during this crisis?"

"N- No, how did you come to the conclusion that I have done something to the second princes of Vextia?"

Smirking at his response he turned towards his nephew and looked at him with his tired eyes "Hoho, when did I talk about the second princess hmmm? I could have meant the first or the third..."

"I- no- It."

Just managing to let out incoherent stammering he gave up and sighed in defeat.

*sigh*

Looking at the smug face of his uncle he silently swears to pay him back some time for all those teasings he received. "The king sent me a letter a few days back and told me that I should prepare for another dive on behalf of the second princess. And just yesterday after reporting to father I was told that the princes also want to do a dive and I should come to the royal palace in a week. She probably just wanted to see me because we were both busy all the time and couldn´t visit me."

Not managing to hold back his laughter Mavis laughed at his nephew and clapped on his back.

"Pff- Hahaha~ So she gave you extra work just so she could see you? Hahahaha~ oh how nice it is to be young."

Laughing out loud was a rare case for Mavis, so Simon seeing his uncle laugh so joyfully couldn´t help but smile. Even his pale face gained a little bit of color back. Despite all his teasing, he could trust Uncle Mavis more than his own father.

After some more small talk and talking about research they finally reached a big metal door.

Mavis took out a black keycard and held it to the device next to the metal door, producing a beep sound while the door opens.

*Beep*

Immediately after walking in a strong smell of chemicals and nostalgia waved over him. Simon saw the familiar research facility room and with many vials, flask, utensils, and other stuff you need to research. The room was gigantic and with the help of space magic, it was possible to fit it inside the Ferum Institute´s ground. There were already many researchers inside talking and scribbling about their finding while examining various different monster corpses.

Spotting a familiar young man no older than 17 approaching him, he smiled and raised his hand.

Doing a low bow he greeted them. "Professor Mavis, you should really get some rest. Oh, and you Mr. Ferum good to see you in one piece back again."

Seeing his fellow researcher he walked next to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don´t be so stiff Jud, and good to see you too."

Ignoring the two Mavis just walked past them. "Pah, I don´t need a break, come on Simon research is waiting for no one."

Simon could just bow lightly and apologize for his uncle's behavior, before following him into Mavis's private research room. The other researchers just chuckled or smiled wryly at them, as they are already used to their little skit.

Entering his uncle's private laboratory he couldn´t help but be amazed. It wasn´t his first time entering it, but the sight of all those documents, flasks, potions, graphs, and notes amazed him.

It wasn´t a very big room compared to the main research lap, but it was big enough to comfortably walk around. It even had a side room with a bed for breaks. Sometimes his uncle would spend days researching new potions or tinkering on new gadgets.

While standing in the doorway and looking around, the amount of paper increased and in the middle of the room was a metal table with a dead Nagirus laying on it.

"This Simon is why your find is so unique!"

Having suddenly a paper shoved at his face he stepped back and took it, before glaring at his uncle who already is walking back to study the corps.

Letting out a tired sigh for the thousand time. he briefly read through the papers.

'Hmm, the poison isn´t that potent for the dose in the blood, but... no no no did I just miss read this part?'

Rubbing his eyes again he thoroughly read the part again, but with every line he read his eyes widen more and more, nearly popping out.

...

"WAIT A MINUTE! UNCLE! Are you sure you didn´t make a mistake with your research?! How is it possible that a tier 1 monster has this already!!!!"

Hearing Simon screams in his lab a tic mark appeared as he grabbed the nearest clipboard and threw it at him. "STOP SCREAMING!" Waving his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath he continued, "Hmpf, you know I don´t make mistakes with my analysis, and yes, it is clearly an anomaly. This information just got out a few minutes ago, you are the first one to see those documents."

"We have to inform the headmaster and the king about that. If this species manages to evolve to a tier 5 monster it could be devastating. At this point, even a tier 3 would be able to kill a B rank adventurer in one bite."

"Calm down, it isn´t that bad. Possessing this kind of poison has its weakness, and after the mana sinks again every adventurer in the Vextia empire, heck, every adventurer on Kastansia will try and capture it only if they find out its potential, that´s why we have to keep this information a secret. And don´t forget it is currently in the woodland dungeon, the second-worst possible dungeon for a cold-blooded monster after the glacial dungeon. It would probably take years for it to reach level 40 and be dangerous for us. So don´t worry and help me with the gene picture."

"Oh, you are right. Sorry for overreacting."

It took them 3 hours to make the gene picture of the monster that killed the Nagirus.

"Phew~ finally finished. Now let's see what we have here~" Flashing a maniacal smile Mavis put his hand on a cubical black crystal.

Simon who was exhausted stood beside him and waited in anticipation.

Pouring large amounts of mana into it a blue transparent screen appeared.

[Status]

Name: ???

Species: Hatchling grey snake (???)

Level: 0

[Stats:]

Strength: 7

Agility: 12

Intelligence: 20

Mentality: 17

Hp: 13/50

MP: 0

[Skills: Venom Fang lv1, Launch Attack lv 1, Slither lv 1]

[Evolution: none]

...

"WHAT THE FUCK!?"

"HEEEH???"