Chapter 70: Foundations of Evolution

Chapter 70: Chapter 70: Foundations of Evolution

The lecture hall on the third floor of Research Building 1 was surprisingly intimate, bathed in the tranquil, amber glow of suspended runic lanterns.

Eric sat near the center of the tiered mahogany desks, resting his chin in his palm as his dark eyes swept across the room. Despite an incoming freshman class numbering well over a thousand scholars across the various departments, barely seventeen students occupied the seats.

The sparse turnout was entirely predictable. *Beast Evolution Research* was not merely notoriously difficult; it was an academic meat grinder where a fractional miscalculation in elemental catalyst ratios could cause a contracted beast’s mana core to violently collapse.

The heavy oak door swung open with a crisp, decisive click.

Stepping into the room was a woman with sharp hazel eyes, wearing an immaculate ivory research coat tailored cleanly over dark trousers. Her auburn hair was tied back into an efficient high ponytail, and she moved with effortless, predatory grace. She appeared to be in her late twenties, astonishingly young to hold the title of faculty professor in an elite institution like the Central Research Institution.

She set a leather-bound folio onto the mahogany lectern, turned to the slate board, and surveyed the seventeen students with a cool, assessing gaze.

"Good evening, students," she began, her tone crisp and completely devoid of theatrical fluff. "I am Professor Sonia Wane. I will serve as your primary instructor for Beast Evolution Research for the next two academic years. Yes, you heard that correctly, only two years."

A soft rustle of murmuring swept through the seventeen desks before Professor Wane raised a slender, gloved hand, silencing the room instantly.

"Before we delve into our first syllabus module, you must understand the operational structure of this institution," she stated, leaning slightly against the lectern.

"For all primary majors, formal theoretical lecture instruction is condensed strictly into your initial two academic years. By year three, classroom instruction terminates, and you are expected to enter laboratories to conduct independent research dissertations. The institution will subsidize your experimental material budgets based strictly on your semester examinations, lab evaluations, and peer-reviewed publications."

She tapped the timber lectern lightly to emphasize her next point.

"Your three minor electives, conversely, follow a five-year structured instructional cycle to build well-rounded auxiliary competencies. Once your fifth year concludes, the remaining two years of your seven-year tenure are dedicated to field deployment. You will be cleared to accept external exploration tasks, high-risk hunting expeditions, and mercenary commissions across the kingdom to amass institutional merit points to formally buy out your graduation credentials."

Eric listened with undivided focus, his fingers subtly tapping against the armrest.

"Which brings me to the lifeblood of Central Research: the Merit System," Professor Wane continued, her gaze sweeping across the quiet room.

"During your foundational two years, merit is awarded through academic top-tier standing, physical testing benchmarks, and research breakthroughs. From years three to five, your merit stream relies entirely on registered patents, evolutionary verifications, and alchemical formulas. These points are your sole institutional currency. You will trade them for higher-tier cultivation chambers, rare bloodline manuals, ancient elemental catalysts, and sovereign artifacts. Without merit, you will starve intellectually."

Eric discreetly activated his student portal on his smartband.

Under his personal profile, an unspent balance glowed in vibrant gold script:

[INSTITUTIONAL MERIT WALLET]

Current Balance: 1,000 Points

Origin: First-Place Standing — National Theory Trial

A thousand merit points right out of the gate. For an incoming freshman, it was a massive initial cushion.

"You may review the full disciplinary and merit codex in your orientation handbooks," Professor Wane said, turning smoothly to write on the slate board with chalk. "Now, let us begin. Today’s introductory topic: *Evolution Catalysts — The Threshold Dynamics Between Primary and Auxiliary Reagents.*"

She set the chalk down and turned back toward the tiered desks.

"Can anyone define what fundamentally qualifies as an evolutionary catalyst?"

A scholarly girl sitting in the front row, wearing round spectacles and an alchemist’s apron, promptly raised her hand.

"Yes. Speak."

"An evolutionary catalyst is any external medium capable of inducing forced genetic adaptability and elemental resonance within a beast’s core," the girl answered confidently. "This encompasses refined alchemical elixirs, raw elemental minerals, rare monster organs, specialized high-mana diets, or extreme environmental domains."

"Precisely accurate," Professor Wane nodded, sketching a dual-circle matrix on the board. "A beast’s biological ceiling is dictated by bloodline inertia. A catalyst serves as the hammer that cracks that inertia, forcing dormant genetic sequences to reconstruct. However, the distinction between a primary catalyst and an auxiliary catalyst is where most amateur tamers kill their companions..."

The lecture proceeded with rapid, relentless density.

Eric hung on every single sentence, jotting down notes on his digital slate with practiced focus.

While the *Infinity Beast System* and the *Myriad Beast Encyclopedia* granted him omniscient access to absolute evolutionary pathways, exact ingredient lists, and hidden genetic lineages, Eric lacked the fundamental scientific methodology behind *why* those ingredients reacted together.

The system provided the answers, but CRI was teaching him the language of the universe. To truly harness his system without raising lethal suspicion from apex scholars like Principal Vale, he required this rigorous academic baseline.

Before they knew it, the bronze bell above Research Building 1 tolled through the corridor.

"That concludes our preliminary session," Professor Wane said, closing her folio. "Evolution Research classes are once per week. Your full weekly schedule for minor electives will update on your student portals tonight. Dismissed."

Packing his slate, Eric joined the other sixteen students filing out into the hall.

By the time he stepped out of Research Building 1, night had settled over the capital.

Far from dark, the campus of Central Research was bathed in a breathtaking, ethereal glow. Luminous mana lanterns cast warm amber pools along the winding cobblestone lanes, while the crystalline spires reflected the pale silver radiance of the twin moons hanging in the cloudless sky. A cool, crisp mountain breeze rustled through the ancient ironwoods, carrying the distant, soothing calls of nocturnal avian beasts.

Eric took a deep, refreshing breath of the rich capital air, rolling his shoulders as he walked toward the scooter docks.

"Man... the weather tonight is incredible," he murmured with a faint smile.

He let out a long, quiet exhale, checking the mental checklist that had been steadily mounting in his thoughts.

*Three massive bottlenecks ahead of me,* Eric calculated, his gaze sharpening under the moonlight.

First, he desperately needed a high-grade cultivation manual. He was still circulating liquid mana through the crude, basic breathing methods taught to border-town commoners. To keep pace with monsters like Alena Blackthorn, he needed a proper technique to accelerate his core refinement.

Second, he needed to find a second contracted beast. His beast space had expanded upon entering Soldier rank, leaving an empty contract slot waiting to be filled.

And finally, the most critical project of all: evolving Coal. His Bonepecker Crow had already hit the physical limits of its initial form. It was time to harvest the catalysts and initiate Coal’s first true bloodline ascension.

"Manual, second beast, and Coal’s evolution," Eric whispered, watching the stars glitter above the gothic towers.

A confident, eager smirk pulled at his lips.

"Sigh... One step at a time."