NOVEL NEXT Chapter 185: Calculations
Instructor Chavez stood at the front of the courtyard beneath the banners of the Rukh Tower.
At this point, her arms were crossed, and she looked sternly at her students…
'Mhmm… Impressive. They must've experienced a lot of things inside the forest. In just three days, it felt like they grew a lot more mature.' She thought to herself as she scanned the assembled students and their slaves—five pairs in total—all freshly returned from their three-day expedition into Whistler Forest.
"Good," she said with a slight nod. "You all made it back alive and in one piece. I don't see any heavy injuries. That's the first step."
With that said, the students stood straighter, some adjusting their satchels or containers as if to make their contributions appear more impressive.
The slaves, standing silently behind their respective masters, held the bulk of the spoils.
"Now," Chavez continued, raising her voice just enough to command full attention, "Let me remind you of the rules and the value of each mission item. This test was about survival, decision-making, and resource-gathering under pressure. Your academic points for this practical exam will be calculated based on the number of the mission items you retrieved."
She then listed the values of the items once more:
Glowplume Fern – 10 Academic Points each
Whistlehorn Toad – 20 Points each
Honeycap Mushroom – 50 Points each
Mana-Rolling Beetle – 100 Points each
"Each of you had three days. Let's begin tallying your points," she said, turning toward the first group.
It was Gian and Jax
Gian, a broad-shouldered student with swept-back hair and a confident smile.. He then stepped forward. Beside him, his slave Jax, a lean young man, knelt and presented a reinforced wooden crate to Instructor Chavez and started organizing their collected items.
"We did fairly well," Gian said proudly. "Focused on quantity over rarity."
Chavez then confirmed that Jax already laid out all the mission items they collected and started inspecting the contents carefully.
"Hmm. Let's see…"
She pulled out bundles of carefully preserved Glowplume Ferns. Of course, she also had to make sure that they were properly harvested. After all, if the item was badly damaged, she wouldn't give the points at all.
They needed to be useful before being counted.
Still, after seeing their soft golden leaves shimmering with faint mana, she knew that they really did well harvesting the items.
"Sixty Glowplume Ferns. That's 600 points."
Next, she examined a compartment that held a few amphibians in preservation crystals.
"Seven Whistlehorn Toads. That's 140 points."
She tapped the side of the crate thoughtfully.
"No Honeycaps. No Mana-Rolling Beetles. That gives you… 740 points in total. So you only targeted these two…"
Gian folded his arms and gave a self-satisfied nod to the others. "Ahem… We changed our minds after realizing the danger inside the forest. We didn't chase rare creatures and mushrooms. It's too risky. But our return on effort? We gained decent points"
Instructor Chavez nodded curtly. "Efficient. But not bold..."
After the items were taken away, Marcus and his slave Fin were next.
Marcus wore the robe of an apprentice mage...
His slave, Fin, moved forward, clutching a glass case sealed with a talisman to ensure that the efficacy of the herbs wouldn't be affected. Soon, he also laid out all the items.
"We had a solid route mapped out…" Marcus began while lifting his chin slightly. "We didn't waste time chasing things we couldn't catch. Quality over quantity."
Chavez raised an eyebrow and scanned the items they had collected.
Inside were:
20 Glowplume Ferns ( 200 points )
11 Whistlehorn Toads ( 220 points )
7 Honeycap Mushrooms ( 350 points )
1 Mana-Rolling Beetle ( 100 points )
"Hmm. It's not a bad mix…" Chavez murmured.
She did the mental calculation in a blink. "That totals 870 points."
Marcus gave a smug grin and nudged Fin slightly with his elbow. "It's a pity that three Mana-Rolling Beetles escaped from us because of those Bramblebacks."
Fin said nothing but bowed politely.
Chavez closed the case and locked eyes with Marcus. "A well-balanced haul. You played it safe but took a few calculated risks. Good…"
Next was Lena and Elias.
Lena seemed to have gone slimmer, but she was still quiet. Of course, her equally reserved slave, Elias, didn't speak as well and presented the items.
The two looked unassuming compared to the others, but they seemed to be very confident.
Lena did not speak until directly addressed.
"How's the three-day adventure?" Chavez asked.
"It's a good experience." Lena said humbly.
Elias then stepped forward and opened a double-layered satchel.
The inside was organized with rows of glowing mushrooms, beetles encased in crystal, and various herb bundles.
Chavez's eyes widened slightly as she examined the contents.
"Thirty Glowplume Ferns…" ( 300 points )
"Five Whistlehorn Toads…" ( 100 points )
"Seven Honeycap Mushrooms…" ( 350 points )
"And… three Mana-Rolling Beetles." She raised one brow. ( 300 points )
Chavez's expression grew more intrigued.
"That's 1,050 points, but a few mushrooms show mild mana degradation. I'll round that down by 40 points. So… 1,010 total."
At this time, the two other students were shocked. Lena actually exceeded the 1,000-point mark!
Chavez turned toward Lena and gave a rare smile.
"You're the first team to surpass the 1,000-point threshold... That entitles you to a special reward—details of which will be revealed later."
Lena only nodded in acknowledgment. Still, her eyes showed a quiet pride.
Elias, behind her, also felt proud of their achievement and smiled.
Then, it was time for Harvey and Theresa…
Harvey swaggered up with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
His brown hair and the scrapes on his sleeves suggested a rough three days, but he seemed proud of himself.
Behind him, Theresa moved silently as she carried a reinforced steel case with both hands.
Chavez looked at Harvey and nodded… "You seem confident."
"We should be…" Harvey said smugly while wiping his nose with a knuckle.
"We took some hits, got chased by a One-Horned Elk, and nearly got caught by a quicksand… But we walked away with a haul that exceeded everyone else's collection."
The others didn't respond to the taunt and simply watched.
On the other hand, Instructor Chavez stepped forward and scanned the items that they had collected.
Soon, she confirmed the items they brought.
28 Glowplume Ferns ( 280 points )
12 Whistlehorn Toads ( 240 points )
1 Honeycap Mushrooms ( 50 points )
6 Mana-Rolling Beetles…
Everyone gasped. Even Marcus blinked in disbelief.
Six of them?
Harvey grinned wider. "Told you we went deep. There was a blue stone cave north of the stream. Almost lost my leg to a Root-Lurker, but it was worth it."
At this time, however, Chavez examined each beetle carefully.
Three were active—glowing faintly with natural mana, legs twitching, shells were glossy and well-fed.
But the other three… lay motionless. Their cores dim. Their legs were curled inwards.
"Three are deceased…" Chavez noted coldly.
"What?" Harvey leaned in, eyes wide. "That's not possible—we packed them in separate preservation boxes."
Theresa spoke for the first time as she seemed to have realized what had happened.
"We ran into a mana-draining fog. I tried to shield them, but…"
Instructor Chavez turned to her, nodding respectfully at the effort, then back to Harvey.
"They're still usable in alchemy—but dead Mana-Rolling Beetles lose purity and core stability. Each dead beetle will be penalized: –50 points apiece."
Harvey winced as he checked his points.
Glowplume Ferns: 280 pts
Whistlehorn Toads: 240 pts
Honeycap Mushrooms: 50 pts
Mana-Rolling Beetles ( 3 alive ): 300 pts
Mana-Rolling Beetles ( 3 dead ): 300 pts – 150 pts penalty
Total: 1,020 points.
"Almost!" Harvey heaved a sigh of relief after confirming that he was able to get the 1,000-point mark for the special reward.
It was indeed worth it to stay inside the forest instead of going to the relay station to spend the night.
At this point, the first two teams felt deflated.
Marcus's jaw clenched, and Gian's smirk was gone.
Harvey all but bounced in place. "Haha! I'm amazing, right?!"
As he said this, Gian snorted.
"Hmph… You're lucky that Theresa specializes in gathering missions." Gian said as he actually knew Theresa's specialty.
Harvey choked as he also knew that he had done nothing on this mission. Still, it was his ability that he had a decent slave.
On the other hand, Theresa didn't smile. She simply sighed in relief.
Instructor Chavez didn't mind their banter and spoke. "Despite the beetle losses, you had a bold strategy. Well-earned."
Finally, they were on the last team. All heads turned.
Only Julia and her silent slave Van remained.
Instructor Chavez gestured. "Julia… Present your results."
Julia walked unhurried... She wore no smugness, no excitement. Only calm.
Van followed closely behind her, and soon, he took out all their collected items from the mystical satchel…
Soon, they realized that Van had taken out quite a lot of items!
The students exchanged confused glances…
"They brought so many?!"
"Did they just raid the whole forest?!"
"Impossible. That can't all be mission items…"
Chavez blinked slowly as she also scanned everything to confirm that the items Van brought out were all the items listed in the mission…
"You brought a lot… Let's see if they're worth the weight."