Oscar returned from the mission in high spirits. The mission was brief due to its easy nature, and their trio's strength was quite powerful. He went on it to have some gains while visiting his parents and Uncle Carlson.

But that wasn't the only reason Oscar went on the mission. He carried a large bag of materials harvested from Exalt Beasts they encountered during the mission. Ever since becoming a fabricator, Oscar needed to have materials for himself, or else he would never catch up to the others.

"With that large bag of yours, everyone's eyes are staring." Frederick turned around to see many other students staring at Oscar weirdly.

Emily shook her head and sighed. "Let them be. What can a bunch of ignorant idiots know?"

So she said, but it was a comical sight with Oscar lugging a large bag around his height on his back.

Oscar smiled, ignoring the stares and continuing toward the Outer Hall. "I'll be keeping these in our room, Fred. Sorry for the mess in advance."

"Forget about the mess. Are you sure these won't stink up the room?" Frederick had a scowl on his face.

The trio bickered and laughed until they reached the Commune, separating toward their dorms. Oscar unpacked everything and lay on his bed with a tired expression. "It doesn't matter how long or easy a mission is. It always feels tiring when you return."

Frederick was brushing his teeth and cleared his mouth before speaking, "The Inner Hall Promotion Exam is at the end of the month. Will you take it then?"

"That's only a week away." Oscar cracked his back to relieve the tension. "Why does everything have to be on a tight schedule?"

The Inner Hall Promotion Exams were available at the end of every month to the Outer Hall students.

There were two kinds of exams: one for the Elite Exalts and another for the Greater Apprentice Exalts. Since becoming an Elite Exalt itself was a great feat in the Outer Hall, the test was a formality to see if the student was competent enough. But Greater Apprentice Exalts had to endure a more strenuous process for their level to show if they truly were worthy.

This test was said to last for two weeks.

However, passing the test as a Greater Apprentice Exalt was praiseworthy. Many in the Outer Hall attempted it but failed, which did not deter them from trying again. Ultimately some would give up and try for the easier test as an Elite Exalt.

Oscar was not interested in being in the Outer Hall any longer. He had endured the torturous training of the Warden and possessed the powers of Reis and Prinstyct as a Greater Apprentice Exalt. His master also told me not to attend this year's Grand Gathering, so there was no longer a need to stay.

The only thing left was to give this test a try. He thought about his friends and Elder Saul. "If I leave, are you two going to be alright?"

"Don't look at me like some pitiful child." Frederick frowned and threw a pillow at Oscar. "Just hurry on to the Inner Hall. Emily and I will join you soon enough. In the meantime, you can scope out the place for us."

Frederick crossed his arms in frustration. He and Oscar were both Greater Apprentice Exalts, yet Oscar was now stronger than him. As his friend, how could he lag behind like this?

"Don't take too long." Oscar closed his eyes, thinking about what might come next week.

…….

Oscar counted down the days to the Inner Hall Promotion Exam. He had applied to take it and was confirmed for the next week.

He pounded away at refining in the Foundry and creating armaments with self-gathered materials. The Foundry library was quite extensive with its records of past armaments and the formation incorporated in them. While reading them, Oscar mimed using a hammer as if he were making the formation.

"Formations can differ based on the current mixture of the materials and the beast core used." Oscar pondered while reading a book on grade-one armament formations. "If I simply create one without a beast core, the formation isn't as bad to configure because of how pure I refine the ore. Am I just really bad at formations?"

"Oh, you were here?"

Oscar glanced away from the book to the person who called out for him. It was a teenager with black hair and blue eyes; he had a flat nose, round eyes, and a small face. "William, you aren't at the forge like usual. Something must be wrong."

In the past few days, Oscar had gotten friendly with this younger student, William Andora, who recently passed the test to become a one-star fabricator. They became close as fresh new fabricators despite the age difference. However, unlike Oscar, William was not a fighter and was purely focused on his profession.

"I was waiting for you to come, but of course, I found you here. But I also wanted to thank you for the raw materials and beast cores." William laughed; he was a head shorter than Oscar.

"If that is so, then you should focus on improving your fighting ability." Oscar sighed and closed his book.

William looked pale and laughed nervously. "I'm doing my best, but it's tough while being a fabricator."

Oscar nodded. It was the truth that being a fabricator was hard work that took away from improving as an Exalt. If it were not for his master's crazy schedule, Oscar would probably have fallen behind harder. Even now, he barely slept with how rough his training was.

Reis, Ein, and Armaments all bore down on Oscar to consume as much of his time as possible. He couldn't prefer one over the other because they were all necessary. The only thing was to use up all his time: sevens hours each and sleep for three hours.

"You came at the perfect timing. I wanted to ask you more about formations." Oscar walked with William out of the Foundry's library.

"What about them?" William was like a skippy junior that circled around his senior.

"You explained before that your hammer anima helps you to find the nodes that should be set more easily than regular means, but I can't understand the concept behind it," Oscar asked.

William scrunched his brow in deep thought and said, "I can't explain it. Think of it like my hammer anima being extremely sensitive when I use it. Everything sort of resonates? It's strange and hard to explain."

Seeing Oscar's confused look, William grew flustered and said, "I get some kind of feeling. I just think this spot might be good."

"Seems like having a hammer anima grants you some unique intuition that lets you get a better grasp of where to hit while you use it." Oscar filled in the blanks.

"Oh, that sounds a lot better." William laughed.

Their footsteps grew louder as they crossed the large empty hallways toward a changing room. Oscar thought as he changed into his fabricator uniform.

'Master said that anima that aids fabrication is merely accelerating the process, but anyone can reach the same height even if it takes way longer.' Oscar peered at William, who was having trouble putting on his helmet. 'William's hammer grants him the intuition that a normal person would certainly gain after countless tries.'

After a long forging session, Oscar and William unveiled their sweat soak faces in the changing room. Oscar gripped his hammer tightly before stowing it away in his bag.

"William."

"Yes, senior?"

"I won't be able to come for the next two weeks." Oscar put on his uniform and tidied himself.

"Why not?" William looked a bit sad.

"I'll be going for the Inner Hall Promotion Exam," Oscar stated.

William's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "The Promotion? Aren't you only a Greater Apprentice Exalt? Isn't it too dangerous?"

"I wanted to let you know. You should not neglect your actual Exalt training unless you want to be stuck as a grade-one fabricator." Oscar reminded William of the fact. Elite Exalts used grade-two armaments, so only Elite Exalts and above could create them. If William did not take his training to rise an Exalt seriously, he would be stuck as a fabricator. "It doesn't have to be about fighting, just keep absorbing Ein and find ways to get more elixirs."

"I understand." William clenched his hands and looked pumped. "Good luck on your exam, senior."

"Stop calling me senior. You're making me sound old." Oscar packed up his things and exited. "I'll be off."

His fabricator training was the last seven-hour session of the day, but the night was only beginning to settle in. This was because he had one other thing to do besides training and sleeping.

"Couldn't you at least take a shower before coming here?" Celestina frowned while keeping a book close to cover her nose. "The Foundry should install a shower room or washing station. I should file a complaint to the Pavilion's elders."

Oscar scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "Sorry, but I only have so little time to spare."

Celestina took out a spray of perfume and sprayed it all over Oscar, who coughed from the sweet aroma. "You need to think about resting more. Only three hours to sleep? And you're wasting one hour here with me. So that's only two."

"Well, I enjoy reading books and count that as rest time." Oscar retorted with a cheeky smile.

Celestina tilted her head and smiled, "Maybe If I knock you out here and let you sleep here all day, that could work."

"Please don't. I have the Inner Hall Promotion Exam tomorrow." Oscar acted all scared.

"The Inner Hall?" Celestina's radiant emerald eyes shone brightly, and she placed her book down. "You're finally making your way up? This calls for a celebration!"

"Don't put too much pressure on me to pass, but I feel like I have a good chance." Oscar nodded.

Celestina smiled and teased. "If you do come to the Inner Hall, I wonder if I should do a big show of how you're my close friend."

Oscar stared blankly at her and said, "Please don't…."

Gilbert's jealous face appeared in Oscar's mind. He didn't want the burden of nearly every person in the Inner Hall staring at him like that.

…….

The next morning finally came, but Oscar was already awake in a training room, absorbing Ein with the help of his ataerstone.

"It's about time." Oscar stood and cracked his neck.

His heart was brimming with anticipation for the coming exam.