Chapter 105: The three half-cores

'Isn't this just Child abuse with extra steps? Well, I guess she hates everyone, not just us…' Evin smirked as he read the mission description and registered his name on the paper. Arza followed suit and there were now 5 lit dots on the mission paper. Suddenly, two copies of the mission paper appeared and fell into Evin and Arza's hands.

[Await for minimum number of students is reached] the paper said.

"10 more children and we get to have our asses handed to us," Evin joked and looked towards the mission that rewarded the most points.

[Hunt an ox-type peak tier-3 Mana Beast under the supervision of Instructor Zakhlo. Participants must be at least half-core and have experience fighting and hunting. Rewards: 1000 contribution points each. Number of participants: 5]

The mission post said and there were three lit dots under the mission paper.

Tier-3 mana beast meant that its mana output was equal to a half-core. "Peak" meant that the beast could chunk out close to 100 kg of mana if it wanted to. Technically, it was stronger than even Rith, but since it couldn't access the World and create complex spells like humans, it was possible for greenhorn half-cores like Evin and Arza to have a chance against it.

'Perfect,' Evin thought as he registered for the mission. Arza did so as well, and the five dots all lighted up in unison.

Evin still had two weeks before classes started and this was a great way to test out his half-core in battle. Though, he did think that there wouldn't be much difference, since the size increase was minimal.

He was also interested in the three other half-cores in the Tribe Grounds.

Realizing that the two they were taunting were half-cores, the children who wanted to mess with Evin and Arza decided that maybe it wasn't worth it for the time being. They should at least make their decisions after they see what the two were capable of in the mission.

A copy of the mission appeared on Evin's hands and differently from Losha's mission, which only said to wait for further children to register, this one told Evin to meet with Instructor Zakhlo.

Evin went to the lobbyist and asked where he could find the Instructor and they were directed towards a room in the staff's living quarters.

His destination decided, Evin went to pick up Rith, who was buried in children.

"Please put me in your shadows," the Cosmic pleaded.

Rith had a soft spot for children, so she could only let the little children do as they wished. Evin opened up his shadow, and the Cosmic promptly slipped inside, disappearing from the eyes of the kids.

Contrary to the tantrum that Evin expected, the children looked at Evin with awe and adoration.

They were told that Cosmics were super strong entities, and someone who could put them inside their own shadow must be someone strong and powerful.

It was now Evin's turn to be buried in the children's questions.

…

Twenty minutes later, the Evin and Arza were standing in front of a two-story mini-mansion, finally freed from the kids.

The mansion exuded a kind of unapproachable aura to it. Tall iron fences protected the building inside which was built with a classical design and painted in a regal purplish color, with white marble decorations.

'The whole building gives off that high-class feeling to it…' Evin judged.

Evin tried opening the iron fence's doors, but found that it was locked with some mechanism. But there were lights and some movement inside the mansion, so Evin guessed that the instructor must be inside. Evin knocked somewhat lightly on the fence, hoping that the man inside would be able hear him… but it didn't seem to be working that well.

Just as he was debating on whether he should just shout at the man, a boy's voice came from behind him.

"There should be some sort of button on the fence," it said.

Evin turned around and saw a prince-like blonde boy walking towards the mansion. He had curly hair and a sharp-looking… a kind of experienced gaze. The clothes he wore were obviously created by a needle worker who had someone important in mind. Extravagant, golden threads giving depth and style to a royal blue shirt and trouser combo.

Taking his mind off the boy for a bit, Evin looked around the fence and found a little black button in one of the solid parts of the fence. He pushed the button, and a sound seemed to come off inside the house.

'Can't believe I'm getting out-teched in the medieval ages…' Evin thought self-depreciatingly.

"Thanks for the tip," Evin said to the boy. A closer look suggested that the boy was of similar age to the Evin.

"Are you two new students?" the boy asked, scrutinizing the two boys with idle interest.

"Yep, just came today. Saw a mission that were only for half-cores and got interested. Name's Evin, by the way," Evin replied.

"I'm Arza," the red-haired boy introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Bardom Sekan," the boy introduced himself.

"So, I'm assuming you're here for the mission as well," Evin asked.

"Yep. The mission for half-cores... Pretty sure Instructor Zakhlo put it up there knowing that there were only three half-core children in the Tribe grounds. He'll probably be mad at you two," the boy said with a smile.

"Is that so? Are the instructors forced to create missions for the children here?" Evin asked.

"Something like that. The level of difficulty is decided randomly for each instructor every month. When an instructor gets the half-core level difficulty, they could literally create any kind of mission they want, provided that they're able to clear the mission themselves and the mission takers are suitably compensated"

"Usually we get some nice and rewarding solo or duo missions since the difficulty and the amount of points can't be too high, but sometimes the instructor who creates the mission decides to do something impossible to undertake and just take a break for the month," Bardom finished explaining and the door of the mansion seemed to open up.

A tall man with a thin build opened the door, clearly agitated with the sudden visitors. The man's hair was a mess, and he was still in his casual clothes, it seemed. A smell of sweat and bodily fluids came from the man, forcing Evin to wrinkle his nose.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Zakhlo asked.

Evin showed the mission paper around and after a brief glance, the man glanced through its contents and snorted with dissatisfaction.

"So, new half-cores in the Tribe, huh? Sure you're up to the task at hand?" Zakhlo asked with a sneer.

'What an annoying man… I understand that I disturbed your private time, and I would also be mad if it happened to me, but please don't take it out on a child,' Evin thought and pulled out a horn of an ox from his storage ring. Residual mana oozed from the horn, indicating that it was the horn of a mana beast.

"Horns of an peak tier 2 ox-type mana beast. I hunted it when I was a beginner mage," Evin explained. Tier 2 obviously referred to quarter-core level. Evin hunted the beast under Ssatsko's supervision, but Evin had done all the trapping and fighting himself.

Evin remembered taking the beast's eyes out with his magic and then hacking at it with Karan.

"Whatever. Call me when the other half-cores to come and we'll decide on what to do," Zakhlo said offhandedly.

A few minutes passed, and the two other children had come from the girl's dorm. Surprisingly, the two seemed to be identical twins. Both of them had black hair done in a short bob cut and wore similar clothes. The only difference lay in the color of the clothing. One had a black theme, and the other had a white theme.

"These are Rantz Lerille and Koya Lerille, the two other half-cores in the Tribe," Bardom introduced. The girl in whites was Rantz and the girl in blacks was Khoya.

Evin and Arza introduced themselves as well.

"Western half-cores?" Koya asked in Northern.

"Yup," Bardom replied.

"How strong are they?" the girl asked again.

"Guess we'll find out soon, eh?" Bardom shrugged.

[What are they saying?] Evin asked Rith, who was sitting in his shadow.

[They're asking about your strength,] the Cosmic replied.

Evin, satisfied that he wasn't being badmouthed, went to the doorbell and pressed it again. As they waited for the instructor, they got to know each other a bit better, since they were about to participate in a group mission.

Bardom was a World of Life and Earth mage, but was mostly proficient in close combat according to himself.

Rantz, the white clothed twin was a Luminous and Life mage, who specialized in healing and supporting. Koya, on the other hand, specialized in the World of Water and the Dark World. Although apparently, she never uses the Dark World, since it's quite useless aside from some niche things for the time being.

Soon after, Zakhlo came out again, but in a bit more presentable clothing and state this time.

"You've all gathered. Seems we have two more half-cores in the academy, so let's give them a warm welcome," Zakhlo said in a monotonal way.