This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

One moment Kain was in the middle of a battle, the next he was lying in an infirmary room with his last blurry memory being of falling stars.

'Sigh…Looks like I will be second place for 3 more months. But mark my words, after the next re-ranking I will definitely be number 1.'

After all, it was understandable to lose against a strong contract higher in level. Not to mention that she may have more yellow-grade contracts. She had a head start due to awakening an affinity early. However, Kain had total confidence that once he caught up, he wouldn't be at all inferior to her.

After a brief check-up by a professor to make sure there were no lingering side-effects from being frozen like that, Kain made his way back to the dorms. The battles today were intense, so the closing speeches by the professors will be held tomorrow to give the students a chance to rest and recuperate.

Additionally, tomorrow is when they'd be given their first access to the Enchanted Spring. Up to one day of rest to restore their condition after a series of stimulating battles, has been shown over the years to slightly increase the chances of getting a gift.

Which is precisely why this opportunity is provided after the first re-ranking of each year, which usually has the most intense battles as the students returning from the summer break had spent much of their time improving their abilities drastically. If there are any drastic changes in rank, it is unlikely to occur after the first re-ranking of the year.

The next morning Kain and the other first-years, as well as the upperclassmen who'd completed their own re-rankings in other arenas, were brought through a dense patch of trees to a clearing with rows of seats arranged in circles that got progressively higher up to see a over the heads of those in front.

The step-like seats were composed of a pale white stone, and covered in Ivy with moss-covered benches that increased the students' comfort.

The sun streaming through the leaves of the tall trees was focused on the low stage at the center of the clearing.

It was as though this gathering area had been composed by nature itself and was incredibly calming to the entering students.

All of the students were dressed in a fully black uniform that stood out against the white steps. The uniform of unknown material had been given to everyone after the re-ranking yesterday, and they'd been instructed to wear it today.

The Dean of the Beast-taming Department made his way to the stage while they all applauded. This was actually the first time Kain was getting to see any of the college's Deans, much less the even higher-up Chancellor.

After applauding, the gathered crowd settled into a respectful silence, eager to hear his words.

"Greetings students and faculty. I am Dean Evermore of the Beast-Taming Department." He began, his voice steady and commanding. "Today marks not only the conclusion of this year's first re-ranking but also the culmination of each of your hard work and determination."

"I will keep this brief, as I am sure each of you are eager to enter the Enchanted Spring— a sacred place that has nurtured countless talents before you. This Spring offers a unique opportunity for those without a gift to awaken their true potential, while also granting those of you with gifts the chance to strengthen and refine your abilities.

"The order in which you will enter the spring reflects your hard-earned placements, beginning with the top 5 of each year. May the top 5 determined yesterday for each year please make their way to the stage. "

Kain went to the stage along with the 19 other students who were crowned as being within the top 5 of their year. Looking around, Kain could see that similar to the first years, there were no new additions to the top 5 in the upper years either. Kain was glad, since he'd gotten to bond with many of them during the beast-tide and didn't want anyone to them to have to leave.

"Congratulations once again to each of you. You may enter the spring, and I wish you the best of luck!"

With a sweeping gestured he directed them to leave the stage and go down a path carved out of the dense trees to the left of the stage.

Kain followed the upperclassmen off of the stage. Surprisingly though, only three of the second-years, Jin and two girls Kain wasn't as familiar with, and Oliver among the third-years, continued forward. All of the fourth years, and many of the third and second years returned to their seats. Kain went next to the still-walking senior he was the most familiar with to ask about it—Oliver.

However, before Kain could even open his mouth to ask, Oliver likely already anticipated his question and spoke up pre-emptively.

"The spring is only effective for awakening a gift, and strengthening it one time. After your gift has experienced being strengthened once, it won't continue to work."

"So not only do they all have a gift, they've also all successfully strengthened it? I thought the success rate wasn't so high for either?" Kain asked in confusion. Was obtaining benefits form the spring guaranteed?

Oliver shook his head, "The success rate isn't so high. Once those outside of the top 5 enter, more and more students will still not have received both opportunities from the spring. The reason why the success rate seems so high among us is because many of them already had gifts upon entering the school, and so they managed to strengthen it during the first or second time entering the pool.

"Additionally, those with a higher ranking will receive more of the pool's benefits. The potency of the spring for those ranked 6 to 20, may than 75% of what you'd have access to, and as you keep going down the rankings, the less effective the spring will continually go down."

Kain nodded in understanding, and continued following the leading upperclassmen to make sure that he was going in the right direction until they reached what appeared to be the opening of a cave.

As they got closer to the mouth of the cave, Kain could feel a density of spiritual power that pressed on his body and made it feel as though the gravity in the area had doubled. However, despite the immensely uncomfortable feeling, Kain still didn't have his anticipation dampened.