Chapter 664: Chapter 664 - Taming the Fifth Year: 1st Gathering Exam - 2

Everything had been decided with Ren at the head...

"Team 15," Zhao repeated, stopping in front of them. His eyes rested on Ren for a moment, a flash of amusement crossing his face before returning to neutral. "Team status and declared objective."

Ren stepped forward, assuming the leader role by democracy.

"Professor Zhao. Team complete, equipped and ready. Our objective is the southern sector of the gold ring. Elemental Vine zone and Wolverine habitat."

There was silence.

Then murmurs among the other teams. Whispers spreading like wildfire through dry grass.

"Gold ring?" someone whispered, the words carrying shock and disbelief. "Immediately?"

"Shouldn’t they start in silver and gradually work up?"

"Typical of a supposed ’genius’." The voice dripped with contempt, loud enough to be heard but quiet enough to have a feeling of deniability. "He’s probably going to get his team killed trying to maintain his ridiculous fake story and false popularity."

Zhao smiled, but his eyes remained sharp. "Ambitious. And your team agrees with this decision?"

Liu practically jumped, enthusiasm overriding any sense of restraint. "Absolutely! If Ren says we’re going to gold, we’re going to gold. He always knows what he’s doing."

Fan #1 nodded enthusiastically, her deer markings brightening with her excitement. "I completely trust his judgment."

Fan #2 was more measured but equally firm, her undine swirling around her in agreement. "I’ve reviewed the statistics from his previous expedition exam grades. The success rate of his enormous groups, with him always taking first place as their leader, always with the most numerous and costly items is 100% percent. I agree with the proposed route."

Kade(hater) crossed his arms, his bear markings dark against his skin. Expression stormy. "Sure. The ’miracle boy’ says ’let’s jump to the gold ring’ and everyone says ’yes sir’. Nobody questions whether maybe, just maybe, it’s idiotic to go directly to the most dangerous zones for three complete days when we don’t have his same 20+ huge group?"

His voice rose, frustration bleeding through.

"It’s obvious his usual enormous group with trained guards always gave him a ton of things, it’s just because Selphira’s faction wants to prepare him as Miss Liora’s husband and the family’s puppet so..."

"One and a half days," Ren corrected calmly, not rising to the bait. His voice remained level, factual. "We’re making two trips. And we’re not going there just because it’s dangerous or ’cool’. We’re going because it’s efficient."

"Two trips? Efficient?" Kade laughed without humor, the sound harsh and mocking. "Why not just admit it’s because you want to show off?"

"Kade," Zhao’s voice cut through with quiet but absolute authority. The kind that made everyone in earshot straighten involuntarily. "Enough... Decisions belong to the team leader you selected by majority. If you don’t trust your assigned leader, you can request withdrawal from the team now. You’ll accept the default failure and corresponding point penalty."

Kade clenched his jaw but said nothing more. His hands curled into fists at his sides, but he held his tongue.

Smart enough to recognize when he’d been outmanned.

"Good," Zhao nodded, satisfaction in the simple word. "Patinder, explain your reasoning. For the record."

Ren had anticipated this. Had prepared the explanation, organizing his thoughts into clear, logical details.

"Silver-rank materials are sufficiently valuable and abundant in the outer zones. But competition for them will be high among all teams, and I’ll probably be recognized in that zone, so other students will surely bother us more than the beasts do, like they do at my home."

He paused... The reality of his fame, his notoriety, being a tactical disadvantage in those crowded areas.

"Gold zones have less student traffic and significantly more valuable resources per unit of weight."

He continued, warming to the explanation.

"Wolverine materials are very popular in noble circles. Though their relative abundance means prices remain stable, thanks to the new optimized method released..." his own method, though he didn’t emphasize that, "...more people will be raising them to Gold Rank 1 soon. But I’m more interested in other beasts specifically. Gold-rank elemental vines are seeing dramatic demand increase, also due to the release of optimized cultivation methods for gold-rank plants that most of the general population has."

Ren also found fun that the nobles had their preferred beast living together with the ’poor people’s one’. And that soon they would start seeing the "poor people’s beast" in a new light...

The market dynamics were clear to him. Supply and demand would be shifting with the spread of better cultivation techniques.

"So the vines are the primary objective," Ren concluded. "Wolverines are secondary, but their shared habitat makes it efficient to collect both."

Two birds with one stone. Maximum efficiency for time invested to be able to make 2 trips.

Zhao studied him for a moment, eyes sharp and assessing. Then nodded slowly, approval evident in the gesture. "Solid reasoning... And team safety?"

"Wild wolverines at gold 1 are pure elementals. I have sufficient elemental control to counter them and manage encounters without much difficulty. The vines are more complicated but manageable with the correct techniques."

"What techniques?" Kade asked, his tone still skeptical but at least paying attention now. Crystal symbols glowed faintly in his eyes, money analysis mode engaged despite his hostility.

"That," Ren looked at him directly, meeting his gaze without flinching, "is the part where you trust your team leader to hear the secret. Or request withdrawal now..."

The challenge was clear. Put up or shut up.

Commit or leave.

Kade’s eyes narrowed. For a moment it seemed he’d argue, his mouth opened, words forming.

Then, surprisingly, he relaxed slightly. Not much. But enough.

"Fine. But if this goes wrong, I said it was a bad idea from the beginning."

The dumb illusion of ’covering his a**’. Protecting his reputation if things went south.

"Noted," Ren responded dryly.

Zhao observed the exchange with that professor expression that had seen too many team dynamics to be surprised by anything. Veterans of a hundred student conflicts. "Very well. Team 15, approved for declared objective. Remember the rules: nothing lethal against other teams, internal cooperation mandatory, progress reports every two hours."

He paused, looking specifically at Ren. Something shifted in his expression. Became more personal, less professional.

"And Patinder, a word before we depart."

The rest of the team moved away to check equipment, leaving Ren alone with Zhao.

The professor’s posture changed. Became less formal...

"Professor," Ren began, but Zhao raised a hand.

"I’m not here to warn you about being careful," he said with casual tone. Like sharing a secret between equals. "We both know you’re more than capable. In fact..." he smiled slightly, genuine pleasure in the expression, "I’m somewhat eager to see you in action up close in the gold ring. I’d hoped to be assigned as your evaluator."

Ren blinked, processing that. "Had... hoped?"

"Of course," Zhao shrugged, the gesture easy and natural. "When Selphira and Julius were redistributing assignments after the... incident with the ’corrupt tutors’, they made a specific request because they knew I wanted to go with you."

The smile widened slightly.

"And look at this. They granted my wish. It seems it’s compensation for ’the wrong done to you’ in the first trimester, so they can’t complain. So here I am, specifically assigned to your team for the next three days."

"A consequence of the previous tutors’ injustice?" Ren asked, repeating the conclusion. Testing it. Making sure he understood correctly.

"Yes... Let’s call it a ’fortunate’ consequence," Zhao placed a hand on his shoulder. The grip was firm, friendly. "They tried to sabotage you. They failed spectacularly. And now I get what I wanted from the beginning: to see the most interesting student of this generation work at gathering without artificial restrictions."

"I could go even further without Gold 1 ring restrictions..."

The words came out before Ren could stop them. A slip. A reveal of ambition he usually kept buried.

Zhao paused, his expression becoming more serious. The friendly mask sliding away to reveal genuine concern beneath.

"Ren... there’s something you need to promise before departing."

"About the vine forest?"

"About what you already know you MUST NOT seek," Zhao said, his voice dropping. Becoming quieter. More intense. "I know you want to know about Sirius Starweaver. And I know you’re smart enough to connect the dots..."

Ren tensed slightly.

♢♢♢♢

The memory arrived without invitation.

Unwelcome but impossible to ignore.

Three days before. Selphira’s office.

"Don’t go there."

Selphira’s words had been firm. She’d been sitting behind a massive desk, her eyes fixed on Ren with that intensity she used when something was truly important.

"Why?" Ren had asked, though part of him already knew from the mana surrounding Selphira that he wouldn’t like the answer.

"Because you won’t like what you’ll find."