“What is wrong with me? I swear I’m a good partner.” One of the two men who were left out of the selection pleaded with the little Lightning Cerro in front of him.
The beast stole the offered snack from him and ran away victorious.
Karl discretely sniffed to see if there was something he was missing. It was buried under soap and alcohol-based sanitizer, but there was something rancid, like the worst possible combination of body odour and rotting fruit. He couldn’t pin down what it was, but there was something wrong with him.
When Karl focused on Soul Sight, it was immediately evident. The normal light blue glow was tattered and corrupted, profoundly wrong.
The other one was similar, but not in the same way. Their soul was just wrong, and gave Karl a feeling of evil, like someone who takes pleasure in bullying others. It wasn’t something that he could point at and say “This is what is wrong” but it was definitely there, and the herd could sense it as well.
But the cadets had already used their one token, and there would be no second chances. At least not with Quest item assistance.
Whether those two could convince a beast to bond with them in the future was unknown. But now that they knew the trick, the researchers should be able to find at least a few more successful Rangers among their ranks.
The Inquisitor turned to Karl for answers, but he didn’t want to say it out loud. “I will explain privately later. I think that this Quest should be nearly complete.”
The word quest told the Inquisitor all he needed to know about why this should be a private conversation. He had thought that the tokens Karl had taken out were related to a skill that he had. But if they were from the System, that changed things immensely.
Karl looked over the young Elites. The rest of them appeared to be having better luck with their bonded partners, and only the one was in serious trouble.
“That’s not bad. Sixty percent success rate.” Karl noted as the clerics worked to save the man in an induced coma.
“Sixty percent among trainees who weren’t able to gain a class with the serum, but showed signs of compatibility with magic.” The Inquisitor added.
“Did you try the system linked item trick already?” Karl replied.
The Inquisitor nodded. “We did, with no luck on this batch. The real question is how many might have succeeded without the tokens.”
Karl considered it. “I would say three. Three of them struck me as compatible with the technique from the start. The two successes among the Moor Cats, and one with the Cerro herd.”
“Do you think that these last two might be able to activate a system interface with an appropriate skill book?” The Inquisitor suggested.
“Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t think that everyone was ever able to access the system, and we’ve already sorted these by their ability to use mana. Among the general population, the chances will be much lower.”
It was beginning to sink in that while they were trained as Special Forces soldiers, the two who were not deemed suitable by a Cerro and didn’t try with a Moor Cat would have to be transferred from this unit.
But the leadership was not concerned with losing a few research volunteers. If they had six healthy test subjects in the unit to attempt to train up with their magical beasts, that meant that they could begin working on methods to increase growth speed now for when they found a way to make the projects applicable on a larger scale.
Karl was playing with the baby Cerro group while the students and scientists began to work, recording data and getting responses from the successful cadets.
Then one of the hatchlings bumped Karl’s hand, nuzzling at his ring, then looking at a student researcher with her hair dyed the same gold as Cerro eyes.
“Oh? You want to give a gift to your sweetheart?” Karl asked the little beast.
The Cerro nodded happily, so Karl took an Awakened Rank ring from the spare trash in his storage and hung it over the little beast’s nose horn.
The student laughed and petted his head as he came strutting over, then reluctantly put on the ring at his repeated insistence.
Then the Cerro vanished.
“Hey! What are you doing now? I thought you only had quest items for ten.” The Inquisitor demanded.
“I did. I actually just gave the Cerro a ring of minor agility as an engagement ring for his beloved handler. The rest was unexpected, but I think that she awakened a class as well.”
The Inquisitor sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Are we going to have to let everyone in the nation try on a system imbued item to find out if they are actually System compatible?” He muttered.
“That’s probably the easiest way. It looks like a lot more people are compatible than we had thought by using the serum alone. You can’t blame anyone for it, though. It’s not like we had system linked items available even a year ago.” Karl agreed.
Now, more of the baby Cerro wanted rings, as a method of recruiting new herd members.
“Just wait. When it is time, the right herd members will come to you. You don’t have to hurry to find them when your pack is already strong.” [Did a hatchling just get engaged? How is that fair? I have been rejected by so many, and he gets his first choice.] Thor complained.
[He went after a Common Rank student with no scales at all. Don’t worry about it, buddy. You’ll find your perfect woman one day.] Karl assured him.
[No scales? Did he propose to a human woman? What a strange kid.]
Thor definitely did not see the appeal.
Karl noticed Cara leaving the area, and tracked her movements as she left the building entirely, heading for another section of the university.
[Try not to get yourself in trouble.] Karl warned her.
[I have a plan. Trust me.]
That did not reassure Karl at all. Cara and plan in the same sentence generally meant that there was going to be trouble of some sort.
So, Karl was not shocked when under a minute later, a runner was coming to get the Inquisitor for a “situation”.
Cara had found the orphans’ school at the side of the University compound, and she had started handing out sweet grasses from her space along with magical items for the kids to try on.
[Oh, they sent people to help.] Cara informed Karl happily.
[I think they’re actually coming to restrain you. What did you do?]
[Lotus told me that the kids don’t get birthday presents at the orphanage, so I’m giving them all presents. You should see how happy they are. Oh, and that one got a warrior class. We’re on a roll here.]
[Cara…]
[Don’t worry, I’m almost done, there’s only like fifty kids here.]
The Inquisitor turned to Karl with an angry glare. “Care to explain?”
Obviously, he had already seen Cara, so the report would have told him immediately what was happening with the ball of chaos at the school.
“The nature priests told her that orphans don’t get birthday presents. So, she made an executive decision to go distribute them.”
“And you didn’t stop her?”
Telling this man he thought it would be funny probably wasn’t the correct answer. But Karl was saved from saying anything when the Inquisitor continued.
“Never mind, I can tell that you have no intention of stopping her as long as nobody is getting injured. I will ask the recovery team to bring her back to you.” He complained.
Just trying to capture Cara was likely to cause more chaos than it stopped. In fact, there was a decent chance that the kids at the orphans’ school would think it was some sort of comedy gag routine.
“That’s likely not necessary. It’s not like they can capture a Winged Void Badger, and she will come back when she is done.”
“They are specialists.” The Inquisitor insisted.
“She can Nullify skills, and she’s got a Monarch Rank bubble of [Disintegrate]. Plus, she can fly. Are you sure you don’t want me to call her back instead?” Karl suggested.
The Inquisitor considered it. “No, let them try. It will be a good experience for them.”