So Many Prodigies in the Big City

When Jia Xiu went back to the garden to find Bubu, he hadn't expected to see such a scene.

Against the glow of the sunset, Bubu lay on the ground, one hand still stubbornly holding up its half pair of scissors.

Quido stood opposite it with his arms folded.

"Grow stronger, Bubu. No matter how many years pass, I'll wait for you. Keep tempering your powerful will and surpass this sword."

Noticing Jia Xiu's arrival, Bubu said with difficulty.

"Boss, I made you worry, didn't I? I'm going to become the strongest knight. I won't lose again!"

The atmosphere was somewhat tragic and heroic, as though someone had burned themselves out.

At that moment, Jia Xiu felt as if he could hear background music.

He hurried to Bubu's side.

"Bubu! Are you okay?!"

"Oh, I'm fine." Bubu flipped over and sprang to its feet.

"Huh? If you're fine, then why were you lying on the ground?"

"If you get hit, you have to fall down yourself." Bubu answered as if it were only natural.

"..."

Jia Xiu's eyebrows twitched slightly. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out one sentence.

"Reasonable."

It was surprisingly immersed in the act.

Just then, a notification suddenly appeared.

[Contracted undead Bubu experienced a thoroughly satisfying battle, gained many insights, and improved. Strength +1]

[Attributes: Strength 4 / Agility 18 / Constitution 3 / Intelligence 4 / Perception 16 / Charm 28]

Bubu could grow?

This was an undead companion with a growth system!

Getting immersed was good. Being immersed was extremely good.

Jia Xiu hadn't expected such an unexpected bonus.

If Bubu could train up its strength, then perhaps one day it really could become a knight proficient in both martial and magical arts.

And increased strength had excellent practical value as well.

As everyone knew, carrying capacity was always a headache for adventurers.

Quido, who stood nearby, laughed at their exchange.

"Haha, interesting. Honestly, Bubu has quite a talent for swordsmanship. Find it a good teacher, and it has every hope of becoming an outstanding swordsmanship master."

"Really?"

Hearing praise from a senior knight, Bubu immediately perked up.

"Of course. Knights must be honest."

"Boss, I really do have talent in swordsmanship!"

Bubu happily bounced around, the big hat on its head swaying from side to side.

After bidding farewell to Princess Emilia, Jia Xiu took a griffin carriage back to the inn.

On the carriage, Jia Xiu suggested, "We need to find you a swordsmanship teacher and hone your skills through training."

"Wouldn't finding a teacher be expensive?"

Bubu was still worried about their lack of money.

"Don't worry. Your boss will definitely earn enough money for you to learn swordsmanship from a teacher."

If Bubu could keep training and growing stronger, then the money would be more than worth spending.

"But I'm so short, only as tall as people's knees. What if I can't learn it properly?"

"So what if you're short? Why would that mean you can't learn?"

"The hero knights in stories are all very tall."

"That's because you haven't heard enough stories. Let me tell you the story of Puss in Boots."

"Was Puss in Boots a great knight?"

"Uh, probably not, but he was very good with a sword..."

Two days later, Saint Dero released the written examination results.

Their grading efficiency could be called remarkably high. They finished marking and compiling statistics for nearly ten thousand papers in just over a week.

It was said that the wealthy Saint Delro Academy had created magical constructs specifically for grading papers—magical mechanical entities made by spellcasters that possessed faint intelligence and could carry out simple instructions.

They could be called "ancient electronic grading."

The academy was packed with people that day, so crowded that Jia Xiu was reminded of the subway during the morning rush hour.

As for why not the evening rush hour, it was because the evening rush hour had already passed by the time he got off work.

With his extensive experience squeezing through subway crowds, Jia Xiu moved through the throng like a dragon swimming through water.

After twisting and turning his way to the list, he searched for his name amid the dense sea of names.

In principle, the academy did not allow apprentices and instructors to contact one another privately in advance.

However, "in principle" was a rather delicate matter, and Jia Xiu had clearly already caught the attention of two instructors.

As a young lecturer, Margaret was somewhat more restrained. She had never explicitly said she wanted Jia Xiu as her student, though her hints were practically as clear as a direct statement.

Professor Piyede, on the other hand, was much more straightforward.

Yet no matter how closely the instructors adhered to this principle, they still followed it when the results were released.

The list contained no scores, only the names and identification numbers of apprentices who had passed the written examination. The scores were not made public externally, and until the final interview, they were not disclosed internally either, except to the grading team.

This was to prevent the top candidates from being fought over by multiple instructors too early, while also protecting the candidates' privacy.

Larven's news industry was only just beginning, in its most untamed era of growth. When it came to anything newsworthy, newspaper reporters would truly use any means necessary.

If they learned the written exam results, the highest scorers—especially the top scorer—would not enjoy a single peaceful day for quite some time.

Before the list, some people wept bitterly, while others were so excited they nearly fainted.

Although this was only the first stage of Larven's examination, and nearly half of the thousand people who passed would still be eliminated later, passing the written exam at least meant they could make a living off cram-school tutoring in the future.

Something like "one-on-one pre-exam intensive tutoring for high-scoring Larven written exam candidates."

As for whether they had actually scored highly, don't ask. They had passed, after all.

When you were out in the world, your identity was whatever you claimed it to be.

After finding his name and identification number, Jia Xiu showed little reaction. He had expected this already. As for that paper, perhaps not a perfect score, but he had certainly answered over ninety percent of the questions correctly.

He squeezed his way back out and found Bubu waiting for him outside.

"Come on, let's go back and celebrate. I'll make you some ice cream you can eat."

"Boss, why does your celebration mean making food for me?"

"It's all the same. What's yours is mine."

Jia Xiu went to a magic materials shop to buy ingredients. Ice-element crystals would serve as shaved ice, whipped Petrifying Cow milk would provide texture, and Hell Red Agate would pretend to be cherries for decoration.

However, while buying the ingredients, Jia Xiu discovered with some surprise that the materials here were not only available in a complete variety and large quantity, but were even slightly cheaper than in Creekwood Town.

He was beginning to grasp Larven's pricing rules. Only things involving housing and labor services were absurdly expensive; everything else was actually not too bad.

In the inn's lobby, Jia Xiu made Bubu the ultimate deluxe "ice cream" it had been looking forward to for so long.

"Wow—Boss! I want to keep following you forever!" Stars sparkled in Bubu's eyes.

"I'll do my best," Jia Xiu replied with a smile.

The main difficulty with Bubu following him forever was whether he himself could live that long.

As he watched Bubu eat its ice cream, Jia Xiu vaguely sensed someone staring at him.

Turning to look, he found a somewhat familiar little girl glaring fixedly at him.

Who was this again?

Jia Xiu thought about it for a moment. Oh, he remembered. The druid who had come into the lobby before the exam and said, "Low purity."

Just as Jia Xiu was about to go over and ask, "What are you looking at?"

The druid walked over on her own.

"You're Jia Xiu?"

"What is it?"

"We were in the same examination room. You handed in your paper two hours early, and you still passed."

"So?"

Jia Xiu had never met someone so inexplicable.

"Heh. Come with me."

"Why should I?"

"Hehehe, are you scared?"

Jia Xiu was a little irritated. Fine, he would go with her. Who was scared?

"Bubu, stop eating for now. Come with me."

He followed the druid to an empty corner of the inn.

Jia Xiu asked impatiently, "What exactly do you want...?"

Before he could finish asking—

Thud!

The druid dropped to one knee.

"Bro, there were too many people outside, so I'm kneeling here. Can you help me?"

"Huh?"