Chapter 138: Rowena’s Temporary Takeover

Still, Shani was glad to wrap up her turn quickly, considering she was still feeling a bit under the weather.

After Luca finished his match, he walked over to Shani and accidentally brushed against her hand.

"You’re warm, Shan. Are you sick?" Luca’s surprised outcry wasn’t quiet, causing the other students to turn their heads in unison.

Shani nodded sheepishly.

Seeing this, Revan immediately gave her permission to return to her room and rest, an offer she certainly didn’t refuse.

After she departed, she became the hot topic among the group.

"I knew her accuracy was high from her rapid-fire test before. But now she’s shown that she also knows when to actually use it," one upperclassman commented.

"Whoa, but staying that focused while sick is just absurd, isn’t it?"

"For truly talented people, nothing is absurd," Jace chimed in, earning nods of agreement from the others.

...

Shani only stepped out of her room around dinner time, and even then, not to head to the cafetaria, as she had ordered porridge via delivery.

She left her room solely to give Jeryon his weekly gift.

"A coat for when you go out," Shani said, handing him the gift bag.

Recognizing the brand, Jeryon knew it was expensive. "You should keep it, Shan. This brand is unisex."

"I already have one in the same color," Shani replied smoothly.

Jeryon’s hand, which was about to push the gift bag back, paused before reaching out to accept it. "Thank you," he said.

Shani smiled and nodded. Now she knew the trick to getting Jeryon to accept her high-end gifts.

While she wouldn’t dare purchase anything over 10,000 Credits, 3,000 Credits for a coat was still a steep price, considering there were regions where the minimum wage was only 3,000.

[System Cashback Activated! Gift: Car Coat (3,000 Credits). Cashback: 15,000 Credits. Total Gift Value: 476,709 Credits.]

Shani was about to ask Jeryon to retrieve Nyx from his room when her smartwatch buzzed with an incoming call from Rowena.

"I’m temporarily filling in for Instructor Elias. I’m currently at Feline Tower, Shan," Rowena said.

Shani’s eyes widened in delight. "Are you at the Tiger Building, Instructor?" Shani asked, which Rowena confirmed.

Scrapping her plan to visit Jeryon’s room, Shani headed over to the Training Hall in the Tiger Building alongside Jeryon, making their way straight to Elias’s office.

Inside the office, the usual fierce glare from Elias was replaced by Rowena’s glowing smile.

The woman, whose age wasn’t far from Elias’s, yet still looked like a middle-aged beauty, pulled Shani into a warm embrace. Naturally, she immediately noticed how hot Shani’s skin felt.

Not wanting to alarm Rowena and Jeryon, Shani quickly explained that she had already taken medication and was planning to rest.

"In that case, you should go back and rest right now. We can catch up once you’re feeling better," Rowena said with maternal warmth.

"Actually, I wanted to ask about my second baby beast... It just hatched."

Shani’s revelation took both occupants in the room by surprise, though their underlying reactions varied.

"Even if your bonding partner isn’t a Grand Academy student, you can still bring the beast here to inspect its genes. Just bring it over tomorrow."

Shani paused briefly before replying, "Instructor, could I ask you to examine it personally?"

Rowena fell silent for a moment before nodding with an understanding gaze, asking no further questions.

’Instructor Rowena probably thinks my second baby beast carries an avian gene,’ Shani thought to herself. ’Oh well, as long as she inspects Tesha personally, that’s all that matters.’

...

By now, almost all first-year students at Grand Academy had begun resonance session for their second baby beasts.

Because of this, Monday’s resonance class featured no theoretical lectures. All students were permitted to proceed with their resonance sessions.

Those who didn’t need to perform resonance simply had to complete quiz worksheets, just as Shani used to do.

Shani skipped her morning class because Aster had brought Tesha to the academy early that morning to present the baby beast to Rowena.

Aster was granted entry to meet Rowena after receiving special clearance.

Standing before one of Nova City’s esteemed instructors, the usually cheerful Aster turned quiet and reserved. He was visibly nervous, feeling as though he were facing a strict mother-in-law.

And indeed, Rowena was sizing Aster up from head to toe, looking every bit like a demanding mother-in-law.

"Instructor, this is my baby beast, Tesha," Shani piped up, feeling like the two of them were completely ignoring the star of the show... Tesha!

"Ngee-woo~" Tesha buried its face in Shani’s chest, even trying to wriggle into the fold of her blazer. Shani found the adorable behavior ticklish and could barely hold back a chuckle.

Then, she placed Tesha onto Rowena’s desk so the instructor could perform a proper examination.

"It looks like a Common-grade Ironclaw Bear..." Rowena murmured.

Shani remained quiet, letting Rowena take a closer look. There was no way a Divine-grade beast gene wouldn’t have key differences from a Common-grade one, right?

Meanwhile, under Rowena’s intense scrutiny, Tesha let out a tiny, stifled whimper. It looked up at Shani with wide, glassy eyes as if pleading for help.

"That’s Grandma, Tesha," Shani cooed softly, trying to soothe it.

"Hummf." The fluffy head drooped in disappointment and resignation. Shani had to exert all her willpower not to scoop it up into a snug hug right then and there.

At that moment, Rowena gently lifted Tesha’s head to study its adorable face.

Tesha whimpered uncomfortably. It raised a tiny paw as if to punch Rowena’s face for getting too close, but held back at the last second, redirecting its soft strike against her arm instead.

"Oh?" Rowena noted the restraint. "What a smart little fluffy," she commented with a warm smile.

"I’m not sure if this is an anomaly or a trait of a specific beast gene, but there are tiny white flecks in Tesha’s eyes. They aren’t purely white, though, they glow like tiny stars."

’Starlight Arctodus!’ Shani screamed internally, though she maintained a composed poker face.

...