After eight days of study and training, the second phase of the assessment finally arrived. The students waiting in the underground training ground looked nervous and excited.

Although it was the second phase of the assessments, it was the first chance for the students to obtain their graduation certificates.

The instructors and teachers also gathered in the underground training grounds early that morning. They wanted to witness the students’ performances with their very eyes.

At seven in the morning, Old Mur started to speak, “Congratulations, rookies. The second phase of assessments has arrived!”

Old Mur wore his usual camouflage uniform, but not his sunglasses, revealing a bone-deep scar on his right eye socket. It was as if he wanted to show the students what he had experienced.

“The end of this phase signals that you’re one step closer to graduating. I wish you well in your test and that you will lay a solid foundation in obtaining your graduation certificate.”

After Old Mur’s brief speech, the first test of the second phase—Magical Beast training—began.

Students could garner 20 points in this test as the instructors divided it into two segments. The first segment was a prescribed test. The supervisors would randomly select twenty Magical Beasts and grade the students based on completion time and how many beasts they handled.

The second segment was the free assessment. Students could choose different Magical Beasts to fight for four hours. The supervisors would score the students based on the beasts’ difficulty and the number of varied beasts.

Of course, every student was familiar with fighting beasts. However, getting a total of 20 points was not an easy task. The test would require the students to accumulate significant variations of beasts and fighting experiences. It also required the students to possess sufficient strength and skills. All in all, the students had to consider the beasts’ difficulties and completion time.

…

The students were delighted when the first segment of the assessments ended because the supervisors chose Magical Beasts that were not too ferocious. The most challenging was a level 13 Brutal Brown Bear—equivalent to a level 24 Explosive Wolf. Almost 70% of students had completed the first part of the assessments.

Alan had just finished his assessment and saw Moss waiting for him outside. He quickly went forward, put his arm around Moss’s shoulder, and asked smilingly, “I did all right on that test, but wasn’t it a little too easy for you?”

“The first segment of the assessments was relatively easy for most of us. You can tell by looking at everyone’s expressions. Still, the next segment will be…” Moss was not sure about the second segment, now that he thought about it.

Alan’s smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with doubtfulness when he noticed Moss’s pause.

“Let’s go and familiarize ourselves with the venue first. You’d better teach me a few more tricks, Moss.” Alan pulled Moss and quickly walked toward the beast-taming area.

The second segment consisted of beast-taming, and it would boost the students’ scores. At that point, taming a beast would garner the students 10 points, while domestication would garner 12.

The final score would consist of completion time, beast’s ferocity, and intimacy between beast and tamer.

The training grounds on the first floor were different than usual. Ninety square platforms appeared and the center of the training grounds, each leading to a different Magical Beast cage.

More platforms would appear whenever the supervisors called the students’ serial numbers. Then the students would select the Magical Beast they intended to tame on the panel and start their test.

Two large screens hung above the center of the training grounds. One would display the most trending platform, while the other displayed ninety different scenes from the ninety platforms.

In addition, the supervisors could use their dedicated screens in front of them to view the testing area. They could also rewind the footage and replay them.

It was 12:50 pm, and there were still ten minutes before the tests started, so a supervisor read the rules on the invigilator’s behalf.

“Each student has three chances in the beast-taming segment, but you cannot take longer than thirty minutes. The highest score you obtain during those three tries will be your final score. However, if you fail all three attempts, we will give you one final chance, no longer than thirty minutes.

“We will allow you to choose the number of Magical Beasts you want, but you cannot exceed ten! If there are less than ten Magical Beasts of a specific species, they will appear according to their remaining members. Every five students will share a platform…”

The invigilator paid close attention to the time. There was only one minute left before 1:00 pm when the invigilator signaled the supervisor to stop explaining the rules.

The drumbeats ended one minute later as Red Spider announced the start of the long-awaited beast-taming assessments.

Moss and Mill were assigned to platform 019, closer to the judges. The other three students in their group consisted of a grand mage, a holy alchemist, and an assassin.

Mill was the first to take the test on platform 19. Mill nervously chose ocelots as Moss encouraged her from the sidelines. She pressed number ten on the panel and entered the exam hall.

Ten ocelots of varying sizes appeared before Mill. She instantly put her nervousness aside as she looked at the ocelots’ fierce expressions. Then she quickly combed through the vital information she gathered during her few days of training in the underground training grounds in her head.

Mill bent down, focused on the smallest ocelot with the best temperament, and slowly tried to use her spiritual power to sense its emotions. When she sensed no rejection from the ocelot, she increased her spiritual power and gradually approached it.

After about two minutes, something magical happened. The little ocelot, lying on the ground, walked toward Mill’s palm that she placed on the ground. It stood on Mill’s palm and rubbed its small head against Mill’s fair and smooth arm a few times before lying on Mill’s palm with its four paws toward the sky. The little ocelot enjoyed Mill’s company very much.

Ding-dong!’

When the notification sounded, the invigilator announced, “B-661, you passed your first beast-taming test in 15 minutes and 23 seconds. Please go to the intimacy chamber to test your intimacy with your Magical Beast.”

Moss could not help but feel excited for Mill when the screen outside platform 019 showed Mill’s intimacy with her ocelot reaching level 75.

“Yes! I succeeded on the first try!” Mill exclaimed. Then she tried for a Flame Deer on her second attempt.

Although Mill’s second attempt started rather smoothly, the Flame Deer struggled halfway through and tried to attack Mill.

However, on Mill’s third attempt, she successfully tamed a Flame Lizard. Her intimacy level was also over 70 with that Magical Beast. In the end, Mill garnered 15 points after combining the five examiners’ scores.

Moss felt motivated after witnessing Mill’s outstanding performance. It was finally his turn when the holy alchemist and grand mage finished their assessments.

“Hey, B-666 is about to take his turn!”

“A-110 is also stepping into the exam hall!”

“A-066 is in exam room 55!”

“There are so many interesting things happening. I don’t even know which screen to look at!”

“Only amateurs can’t decide. I’ll look at all three of them!”

…

“Mr. Hank, do you think these three will challenge more difficult Magical Beasts and surprise us?” A teacher wearing sunglasses next to Hank asked.

“I would think so. After all, the trio has three attempts, so they will still be all right even if they fail the first two times. However, these students will have difficulties taming beasts from the first and second floors. Still, the training camp has only tamed weaker and relatively mild beasts at the moment,” Hank replied affirmatively.

During the heated discussions among the students and teachers, Moss chose two juvenile Whirlwind Black Panthers, while Duke chose two ordinary Red Flame White Tigers.

Thus, the two entered their respective exam halls almost simultaneously.