CHAPTER 130: NO MORE GAMES

No More Games

He took a breath before he started explaining.

"I was told that after the incident, our admission into Beast Tamer Colleges has once more been postponed, meaning there is some time before we get admitted." He shot a glance at Mrs Jane who nodded, so he continued.

"So I was thinking, perhaps I could evolve the beasts of everyone in this room as well as the beasts of people you guys trust, and basically dedicate themselves to protecting the Citadel while I’m away. I have a feeling that the perpetrators will lie low after everything that happened, considering their ploy failed twice. But we still can’t rule out a possible attack in the future. Moreover, we know that they can adapt their strategies. The first attempt via the Harbinger was a direct assault, while the Abyssal Scrounger was subtle and dangerous. We don’t know what avenue they could attack from next." He shook his head.

"I’m quite dedicated to this place, and I can’t exactly sit comfortably while knowing a potentially devastating attack could happen while I’m away, so if I can prevent that, or make it so that you guys can defend it lest something happens." Osho offered, and everyone was silent for a moment. However, he saw Ellie narrow her eyes.

"If I may." She said calmly, not at all perturbed by the room full of high-profile individuals.

When everyone faced her, she spoke. "Osho, no offense, but you have a far more ambitious plan, don’t you?" She asked directly, and everyone looked back at Osho, who had an innocent look on his face.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" He asked innocently.

Ellie: ( `_ゝ´)

"Okay okay." He sighed, but there was no real bite to it.

"Please be transparent. You can’t just drop something so startling and not be completely clear with your intentions." Lady Haggai spoke, her voice oddly soft, which made Osho blink as he realized she was staring at him VERY intently.

He shuddered.

"Well, everything I said is true. However, I have another desire." He rubbed his face.

"Two, actually. First of all, the E.E.S. teams," He sighed. "After what happened to them during the Beast Tide, I was told that they got retainers, but I still have worries about that. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t doubt their effectiveness, but we saw how they were in the face of the Skyblight Harbinger." His words made Major Thompson frown a little.

"Do you intend to evolve their beasts?" He caught on almost immediately, and Osho nodded.

"Reputation aside, I want the special team meant to handle high-danger threats to actually be capable of handling them. Because—to be frank—the one time I saw them in action, they got washed. So if the people who did all this can produce entities like the Scrounger and Harbinger more often, it’d be smart to ensure that they are up to the task." He explained, and the Major and the Citadel Lord looked thoughtful.

"... As much as I hate to admit it. You have a point. Their contributions to the Harbinger fight were negligible, and they were completely helpless with the Scrounger, in which they didn’t even get to do anything." Major Thompson admitted reluctantly.

"If they can be evolved to be capable of handling threats like this, it’d be a boon for us, and we can also assign them tougher missions. After all, we can’t keep relying on other Citadels to help with things like this, as we’ve all noticed." The Citadel added.

"U-Uh, if I may." Sam suddenly spoke up, her usually confident demeanor appearing quite meek in the face of so many experts. Regardless, they gave her their attention.

"I always wondered... why couldn’t we get proper help from other Citadels?" She asked tentatively, unsure of the question was appropriate.

Osho leaned in a little. It was something he was curious about as well. He always thought it was due to the other Citadels just being stingy, but something told him it wasn’t so simple.

"Hm, well, it’s a simple question, just that the answer isn’t exactly common," The Citadel Lord replied, seemingly unperturbed by the question. "Citadels are designed to be self-sufficient. Meaning they can thrive on their own without constantly needing assistance from other Citadels. Which is also why they are placed in resource-rich areas. For instance, our proximity to the Black Rock Chain. A lot of screening goes into their placement. Hence, they tend to have everything they need to brave the spot they are in, depending on the level of Citadel they are. However, in the same vein, they tend to be in an area where the beasts and local wildlife are of similar levels. This is to say, Citadels are placed in areas their tiers can handle. So the beast tides a Zenith class Citadel would face scales far above what a Bastion class Citadel like ours would encounter. This also means that each Citadel almost always has its hands full with one matter or another. We didn’t receive any reinforcements due to everyone being busy with their own matters." He shook his head.

"To summarize, the same way Citadels are meant to be self-sufficient is the same way they can’t spare resources for others unless they have a surplus." When he finished, Osho and his friends nodded, finding that it made sense.

"Alright. With that settled. Osho, is there anything else you want to say?" Principal Timothy asked. He’d been taken by surprise earlier, but he still had his calm and gentle tone when he spoke.

Osho nodded.

"Besides the E.E.S. teams, it was also looking at the younger generation," He exhaled. "If possible, I want to do what I did with Gale’s egg to as many unmatched beast eggs waiting to be hatched in the different schools." Everyone’s brows shot up.

"... That’s quite ambitious," Stephen said while rubbing his chin, however, the glint in his eyes spoke of his interest.

"Wait, wait. Slow down." Kurt waved his hands and looked at Osho with narrowed eyes.

"How does this ability of yours even work? Surely you can’t just spam it to the level of making every beast egg meant for the juniors hatch into higher-levelled beasts, can you?" He asked, and everyone once more looked at Osho.

"You didn’t let me finish," He gave Kurt a pointed look before continuing. "First of all, I’d like to keep the full details of the ability to myself. Just know that it’s safe. As for spamming, well, you’re right, I can’t." Je shrugged. "I need to follow a process as each beast is different. Otherwise, I’d just create a massive bath of the same solution I used to evolve Gale and dump hundreds of eggs in at once." For some reason, the people looked a bit relieved at that.

However, Osho smiled.

"However, I can do something similar." Everyone went silent, and Osho continued.

"I won’t go too much into detail, but after Gake and I broke through to the Apprentice rank, my ability evolved, kinda, which is the real reason why I was in a coma." He say Ellie and Mrs Jane flinch, but he continued.

"You guys noticed how I kept requesting to see different centers holding lots of beast eggs, right?" He asked, and there were some nods as, indeed, before this meeting, Osho had been going around to check out hatcheries of different schools and the military.

"Well, I confirmed something. Not all eggs are the same, obviously. Same as how all hatched beasts are different. However, I’m able to see each Affinity different beasts have via my ability, and I noticed something. The methods to evolve eggs of similar affinities were similar. Not identical, but close enough that I realized: I don’t have to evolve each egg individually anymore."

Lady Haggai straightened in her seat, brows furrowed.

"So you’re saying you can evolve multiple eggs at once?" She asked.

"Yes," Osho nodded. "But under pretty specific conditions. The affinities have to match. And the eggs can’t have too many unique properties, be it other affinities or other reasons I can’t quite give a name to. Otherwise, there could be a failure, or worse, it could backfire."

"And you can tell the difference?" Timothy asked.

"Indeed. I can see it far clearer now. I know which ones I can safely group and which I need to treat individually." He explained, and there was silence for a moment.

"However—and I cannot stress this enough—I haven’t tested mass evolution. Yet." He raised his hand. "All of this is based on observation and deduction. Individual evolutions are a certain thing for me. But this batch-method... it’ll take trial and error." He took another breath.

"I’m not suggesting this because it sounds cool or makes me feel special. I’m doing this because this Citadel is unprepared. You all saw what happened, and even if I’m still here when another attack happens, there’s no guarantee that Gale can handle it like the last to. We were LUCKY. Uncomfortably so. If we keep raising beasts the same way we’ve always done, we won’t survive the next wave." When he finished, the Citadel Lord leaned forward and stared at Osho, his expression severe.

"I hear you, so let me ask. What do you want from us?" Osho held the man’s stare and replied calmly.

"Your full support. Assistance, everything I need to ensure this works. There’s still over two months before we can be admitted into a Beast Tamer College. I want to use this time wisely. I need resources, items capable of carrying out what I want. Beast eggs to evolve, and so on." The room was silent for a moment.

"Show us." There was a pause, and the room looked to Lady Haggai.

"Show us you can do what you say you can do. Evolve one of our beasts. If you can do that, you have our unconditional support." She glanced at the Citadel Lord at the last part. They held each other’s gazes for a moment, then the man sighed and nodded

"Indeed. If you can prove your ability, we will support you wholeheartedly." Hearing this, Osho felt his heart leap with joy, but he just smiled outwardly and asked.

"In that case." He looked them over. "Who wants to go first?"