CHAPTER 10

"Welcome to Arts and Crafts, yee maggits!" greeted the lumberjack looking figure at the center of the amphitheater. He was tall, tanky, and dirty. But despite the rough exterior, the old man looked hella mighty. "I am Augustus Klaus, and I'll be yer instructer fer the next 120 dees."

"Furst things furst, let me congratulate yee maggits fer survivin the Obelisk round. That artifact fired a shit ton of menos lucis to boot yee off of the Ladder but yee maggits survived that. So, right... well played, maggits!"

With his thick eastern accent, it was hard to deny that Klaus was a Gran Scotian. Known for their brawn, hot chocolate and icy tundras.

"Now, beck ta business. Lets get kreckin right ewei. We gut no time ta waste since we only hev 120 dees left."

"Yee maggit at the vurri beck. The one weed the green goggles. Tell mi wut ei wrote on the borrd. Tell me wut yee see?"

Gunn was about two arms length next to the guy that Instructor Klaus pointed out and all of them, the WIT's that were at the edge of the amphitheatre steps, were about 15 meters away from the board. Realistically, it would be impossible for anyone to read what Instructor Klaus wrote. First of all, the old mans hand writing was terrible. Plus, the words he wrote were almost ant like small that there was no way for anyone to figure out what the word really was.

"Workshop" answered the green googles guy confidently like it was the easiest thing to do in the world.

The entire amphitheatre, all 109 of them went 'Huhhhhhhhh?!!' in amazement.

"Aye. Yer kerekt!" complimented Klaus. "Pretty impressive fer ei maggit, I see."

Gunn was scratching his head to what he just witnessed. That feat was just humanly impossible to do. I mean, how in the world could anyone see that? Under such a difficult set up, how could anyone figure out the word so easily unless there was a cheat? That was just some top tier eagle vision 'A' grade and shit.

"Now, tell the other maggits heer how yee did it." instructed Klaus.

Somehow, it looked like goggles guy was not sure either if he would be able to provide a believable answer. He hesitated for a bit but he found his courage a few seconds later. "I am not exactly sure either, to be honest. I was quiet surprised myself. But somehow, even without me thinking, I just instinctively channeled some of my lucis reserves directly to my eyes. And that was it. That made me read the word from this distance."

"Aye. Good intuition. Well done."

"Now, how was it that yee were able ta do this sort of thing now and not beforr? Yee lot are curious? " the entire crowd suddenly fell silent. They were all anxious to hear the truth. " I'll tell yee maggits the reel reason why. So listen closely, yee?!"

For more than two straight hours, Klaus had drilled them with textbook knowledge and information regarding the Seeding and the Ladder. Everyone learned about the existence of the Seed, why it was implanted, and how it dramatically changes the entire genetic make up of an individual over time.

Instructor Klaus easily sited several side effects that the trainees already benefitted from especially during the prelimenary rounds of the Ladder race. One good example was how the trainees were able to see the fairies during the Misty Forest leg. That was of course the Seeds doing. Protection against the menos lucis blast? That too was the Seeds doing. Enhanced hearing, enhanced eyesight, strength, speed, agility, dexterity and more. All those were boosted significantly because of Eiyas Blessing flowing through the Seed.

But of course, not all transformations were equal; and each growth rate varies from individual to individual. Some growth rate could be abrupt while other growths could be slow and gradual. Heck, some may not even be able to grow at all after reaching some point. And that was when Klaus reeled his class back to what was written on the board before the great information dump started.

"Workshop." Klaus re-wrote the words in big bold letters this time. He then underlined the entire word using a bright red chalk. "This is wut yee nid ta open in the next 7 dees or less. Otherwise, yer Seed dies and yee arr out!"