“If I were you,” Liu lowered his voice, “I’d focus on recovering part of what our tuition cost. The fees are high, but with enough work in the gathering zones you could get them to double your resources and recover at least a fifth part in the next 8 years.”
“Double? How does that work?” Ren asked.
“Tomorrow they’ll come to check our belongings.”
Ren visibly tensed.
“Relax,” Liu smiled at his reaction. “It’s not what you think. They’ll just register the value of the stuff you brought with you.”
“Why?”
“For what you just asked about. The Academy doubles the value of everything you get on your own in designated zones,” Liu explained. “It’s through a government subsidy system.”
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair glowed with renewed interest.
“Everything I get?”
“Everything you obtain with your own hands, yes. Things from your parents or inherited wealth don’t count. Only what you gather or process here yourself. It’s like a performance scholarship, the better collector you are, the more support you receive. The King has always incentivized people who go out to gather stuff.”
“So if I find valuable materials…”
“The Academy matches their value,” Liu confirmed. “That’s why they record what you bring at the start, to know what you obtained afterward on your own.”
Liu lay back on his bed, his bat fluttering restlessly.
“But like I said, don’t get your hopes up with that creature,” he murmured.
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed softly, as if responding to his growing determination.
“What if you’re wrong?” he asked. “What if there’s more to spores than everyone believes?”
Liu looked at him for a long moment.
“Then,” he said finally, “you’ll have to find a way to prove it. But I warn you, the Academy doesn’t waste resources on empty hopes and promises.”
‘They aren’t empty promises,’ thought Ren. ‘I just need a chance to prove it.’
And as that thought took shape, the mushrooms in his hair pulsed again, reminding him of the secret that lay beneath their feet.
Perhaps there was a way to achieve both things: obtain the materials he needed and secure his place in the Academy.
♢♢♢♢
“Did you hear that?” Min flopped onto his bed, his water snake materializing like a blue ribbon around his neck. “They double what we find and… A hundred crystals daily at Silver! With that I could…”
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Taro muttered. “First you have to get there.”
“Oh, come on,” Min smiled, turning toward Taro who was quietly organizing his things. “Don’t tell me you haven’t dreamed about it? Imagine what you could do with your beetle in the mines!”
Taro just mumbled something inaudible and continued meticulously arranging his tools.
“Min has a point,” Ren intervened, noticing how Taro’s shoulders tensed whenever someone mentioned his beast. “Even beasts that everyone thinks are weak could…”
“Exactly!” Min sat up suddenly, his snake undulating with enthusiasm. “My water snake is Iron-rank, but I can study a ton and break the mold like the director said. The point is we all have a chance, right?”
He got up and walked to Taro, putting an arm around his shoulders.
“Even Mr. Silent here! His digger beetle will be the sensation when it evolves, right Taro?”
Taro blushed slightly, but a small smile appeared on his lips.
“If it evolves,” he murmured, but there was a touch of hope in his voice.
“Of course it will!” Min turned to Ren. “And your spore… well, at least it glows pretty.”
“Min,” Liu sighed from his bed, “stop bothering everyone and finish unpacking. Tomorrow’s the belongings check and your area looks like a disaster zone.”
“It’s an organized disaster!” Min protested, but started tidying anyway, his snake helping move things with its tail.
Taro returned to his silent organizing, but Ren noticed his movements were more relaxed now. Min’s enthusiasm seemed to have that effect on people.
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair glowed softly as he watched his roommates. Maybe the Gray Wing was perfect for him after all.
♢♢♢♢
That night, while his roommates slept, Ren reviewed his options in the darkness, the mushrooms in his hair providing a faint glow, dimmed to avoid disturbing his companions.
Getting materials on his own would be difficult.
Even knowing exactly what he needed, if they were as expensive as Liu said, obtaining them without Academy support could take years.
“And meanwhile,” he murmured to himself, “my parents will continue with the ritual day after day… Get their runes first and then…”
No, he needed to be more efficient.
The Academy had a merit system, and though everyone expected him to fail, that could play to his advantage. Nobody expected anything from a spore, so any progress, however small, would draw attention.
If he could demonstrate even a fraction of his spore’s potential, if he could win even moderate Academy support with the systems Liu mentioned…
“Limited resources are better than no resources,” he whispered, remembering how his father always said that in the kitchen, even leftovers could become a feast if you knew how to use them.
He would have to do both: meet the Academy’s expectations to gain some support, while searching on his own for the rest of what he needed and doubling it.
It would be slower than having full access to resources, but faster than trying to do everything alone.
The mushrooms pulsed softly, and Ren felt again that strange resonance with something under the dormitory.
“One step at a time,” he reminded himself. “First, prove this student is worth at least the support.”
Tomorrow will be the first classes. His first chance to show that the “Rotting Boy” might not be as useless as everyone thought.
He closed his eyes, but his mind kept working, plotting plans, calculating possibilities. Eight years was a long time… if you knew exactly what to do with each day.