The chaos around the school began to die down now that everyone had their birthday presents, and the teachers started to corral their students back into groups so they would go to class.
With the students all gone, the Inquisitor could finally relax for a moment, then he realized that the actual cause of all the chaos had not been handled, as he was still standing right there, holding the Void Badger in reserve for the next time that they got bored.
“We should return to the University. The government and military reps have their hands full, dealing with a bunch of hyper new Elites, and they won’t stay under control long without someone who can actually handle them present.” The Inquisitor sighed.
Karl chuckled. “Well, I suppose that we should do some actual work. But the students shouldn’t be that much trouble. There are only two Moor Cats among them, and the rest are all Lightning Cerro, who are going to naturally want to herd up and make friends with the new people.
It’s hard to explain, but the presence of a beast in your mind is highly influential, like a second track of inner monologue giving you different suggestions to the point that you need to remember what is you and what is your partner.
If you’re not careful, it can start to influence your personality.”
The Inquisitor gave Karl a blank look. Did he not realize how much his own personality was influenced by the beasts that he was bonded with?
Or was this him speaking from experience, as he had already let his beasts shape his mind, so now he was warning others to be careful.
[Don’t leave yet, there is a dragon coming.] Cara announced.
She knew that she had to behave, but this was a Red Dragon anyhow. She already knew what they tasted like.
“Headmistress.” The Inquisitor welcomed the dragon, who was in the form of a middle-aged woman with flaming red hair.
“I came to thank the Monarch. The kids are so happy today with their gifts. As you know, our budget is limited, and giving out durable items, especially magical ones, is far beyond our means.”
Karl bowed slightly. “It might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, but everyone should have a present to call their own. Something that they can bring with them to remind them of the good times.”
The Red Dragon nodded happily. “What do you carry?”
“I don’t have one. We could never afford anything that would last.”
The headmistress nodded, while Cara laughed. [You have an emotional support Cerro instead.]
“We have made a listing of what belongs to which student, in case something is reported stolen, or an incident of bullying escalates to theft. It is harshly punished, but often the victim is too afraid to report it.”
Karl nodded. “They still have to live with the bully, after all. The best you can do is try and have your teachers be proactive. Like the twins. It might pay to find out why and by who they were locked in the closet today. Nobody ever moved to my hometown that didn’t at least have family there, but I suspect that being new is hard.”
There was a commotion behind them, and Karl saw a group of small Cerro running his way, being chased by their partners.
“Oh, the little ones got to run out on open grass? It’s a good day to be a Cerro.” Karl laughed as one of the little beasts came up to bump against his leg.
It was knee-high, still a hatchling, and just as eager to explore everything as Thor had been when he was young.
The two young Moor Cats were out as well, sniffing around and headbutting the Cerro hatchlings. The bond had helped them understand everyone was on the same team, and while they were still working on it, they were getting along better than expected.
Only the one unfortunate case of mental weakness had been taken away, and the other bonds appeared to be increasingly stable already.
“What was next on your schedule?” The Inquisitor asked Karl, as the Beast Master played with the small beasts.
“We have a few more hours of training for the Acolytes, as they have no combat experience at all. They were all recruited before the attempt at the Divine Serum, after all.” Karl explained.
“Ah yes. With the five of them, plus all these successful attempts, there is a lot of training to be done.” Karl slowly realized that his success had volunteered him to train these beast related classes as well, adding a group of special forces cadets to his roster of Acolytes.
But that wasn’t all bad. They now had Beast Rangers and a Tiger Monk to add to their group of Common Rank Acolytes, and eleven people was enough that Karl might be able to convince someone to let him lead them on an adventure.
The area where he had first gone to collect resources was a good start, as it had moss that a Cerro would love, and he could swing by the cave to get them crystals for their mana development. Plus, there was a chance the instance would open for them.
Karl smiled at the Inquisitor. “What are the chances that I can take them on a field trip? Not far from the train tracks, and my team will supervise the eleven of them. There is a spot with resources that the Cerro love, and a chance at weak monsters, so they might be able to test their skills and let the Moor Cats hunt for their first time.”
“Likely not for the next few weeks. The research team wants solid data on how well your technique works to advance them in the early stages, and letting them go on a field trip introduces all sorts of variables that aren’t part of their methodology.” The bald Inquisitor explained.
“So what you’re saying is that we’re school teachers for a while, but with eleven students instead of five.” Karl sighed.
“But now we have beasts for you to prove your skills on. How much do you think that you can teach them?” Karl smiled. “More than might be considered reasonable by a sane person.”