Kanan and the others in the practical beast taming group were led to the training grounds by the green-haired woman, while a gentle-looking man in glasses escorted the breeding department applicants.
The green-haired woman walked to the center of the grounds, facing the group.
"My name is Rachel Borealis. You will all refer to me as "Teacher," or "Professor Borealis," do you understand?"
At the crowd's affirmation, she continued. "Alright you all. Line up side to side. When I call your name you are going to step forward and summon your beast. Understood?"
The students nodded in acknowledgement, and testing began.
It was a relatively slow process. The students were called up one by one, and they would show off their beasts, have them undergo an energy reading, and demonstrate their abilities.
Some of the beasts shown were familiar to Kanan. Sun crows and sparkpups and other common combat-oriented beasts. However, a few stood out among the rest.
One purple-haired girl who introduced herself as Vanessa was a 2nd-circle like Kanan, and showed off a grinning ghost-type beast. Dressed in rags, it covered its mouth with its hands and let out an eerie laugh as it teleported from place to place in the demonstration.
Another boy with dark green hair summoned an impressively large serpent beast. It coiled and sprang with frightening speed, tearing through the training grounds with agility unbelievable for a beast of its size.
The boy that Kanan had asked about the exam contents went up as well, and Kanan was surprised to see that he was actually the tamer of a Duskwood Squirrel. The Duskwood Squirrel's plant-based abilities were more suited to the breeding department, so Kanan found the choice unusual.
No scores were given. The only indication of success or failure was a simple nod or frown from the proctor, who impartially recorded the details of each student on a clipboard. However, some of the students who knew that they had performed poorly were already looking dejected.
There was also an interesting section at the end of each test: special talents. Most students, like the purple girl and green boy from before, didn't bother with this. The boy with the Duskwood Squirrel, however, showed off a rare healing ability in addition to the plant skills he was confident in. Other students demonstrated a variety of interesting talents, including a beast who could use two skills at once and even a tamer demonstrating their own physical prowess.
Finally, it was Kanan's turn.
"Kanan, come up."
He walked up to the teacher.
"Last name?"
"None."
He replied calmly, and Rachel briefly raised an eye at his response. Those with no family names were generally orphans, and while it wasn't unheard of for a talented orphan to join the Academy it was a rare occurrence.
"What circle are you?"
"2nd."
Another surprising response for the proctor. Students at the 2nd Circle couldn't be described as rare, but only a handful of applicants per semester would start at that level. If there were no major issues with the applicant's abilities or personality, it was essentially an instant pass.
"Summon your spirit beasts."
At the command, Kanan brought out Poppy and Twilight. The former bounced around, waving to the crowd, while the latter looked around warily.
Rachel took the mobile energy scanner that had been used to scan the other students' beasts and did the same with Kanan's. Poppy went first, and a neat "100" popped up on the screen.
"100 points, impressive. It's at the limit of the energy it can absorb at this level. This is a Bubble Spider though, is it not? As I recall, they can't evolve. Do you plan on switching to a different beast?"
Kanan shook his head. "No, I intend to have it evolve, ma'am."
Rachel smirked, clearly pleased with his confident response.
"Well, let's see if your results are as big as your talk."
She scanned Twilight next.
"46 points. A little low, but more than acceptable for a second beast."
Twilight looked a little aggrieved at the evaluation. It crossed its arms and raised its chin, giving a "Hmph!"
"Now, we're going to have you demonstrate one skill per beast. Choose the skill that you're most confident in."
Hearing her words, Poppy immediately untied the string around her leg and started making shapes, showing off her dexterous movements. She twisted it into stars, and shapes resembling a swan and a hare, demonstrating to the crowd.
Rachel looked down at the performing spider. "Is that your skill…?"
Kanan facepalmed, quickly snatching the string away from Poppy. "A spirit beast skill, Poppy. They want to see a spirit beast skill."
Poppy tilted her head. She was a spirit beast, wasn't she? So wasn't whatever skill she chose to do a spirit beast skill?
Understanding her thoughts, Kanan sighed. "You really haven't been paying any attention when I studied, huh? Just use Weave"
He gestured to the edges of the training grounds, signalling that he wanted her to connect them.
Giving a salute, Poppy began to zip around, instantly casting a giant net over the area. She danced around on top of it, threading it into an intricate design.
Rachel nodded at the sight. It was an impressive display of the Weave skill, approaching the limit of what was possible given Poppy's current energy levels.
Twilight went next, and without needing to be told he raised his staff, casting the area into darkness. A few startled exclamations rang out from the students standing closest, as they were drawn into the skill and rendered unable to see.
Although Twilight had significantly less time to train with Kanan, it relied heavily on this skill before meeting him, and it had grown to an impressive level. With that said, with his limited energy level the range of the skill was still somewhat narrow. Still, it was more than enough to be worthy of displaying in this sort of examination.
Rachel nodded again. Darkness, good. She wasn't familiar with this particular beast but it must be a dark-type beast given this level of control over the skill. No extra points were given for specific types, but its rarity was worth noting.
"Alright, finally, special skills?"
Kanan had been uncertain of how to answer this question, to be honest. To say he had no special skills would be wrong… but it's not like he had any particular qualifications.
"Yes, I'm well-versed in breeding and research-related knowledge. Particularly regarding beasts and materials found in the Melody Forest region. I don't have an official breeder's license, but I should be able to pass the beginner's exam, at least."
With a sigh of exasperation Rachel brought her hand to her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"And why, might I ask, are you in the examination for the practical division if your main skills are breeding and research?"
Kanan rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, personal goals, I suppose."
"And do you have anyone who can vouch for these skills? A reference?"
"Ah. Well, there's Aurelia from the breeding department."
"Miss Celeste? Very well, anyone else?"
"Professor Quartz, from the Quartz laboratory, if that counts. Um, and maybe Marie, Aurelia's teacher? That's second hand though."
"Jonathan Quartz and Marie Cassia? That's… quite the circle of connections. I'll confirm it separately."
For the first time, Rachel looked legitimately surprised. Professor Quartz was one of the biggest names in spirit beast research within the city, and Marie Cassia was a senior professor at this very school. To have connections with both of those figures more than explained how Kanan was able to attend the re-test today.
"Alright, go back now."
With that, Rachel dismissed him, and Kanan headed back to wait with the rest of the students.
Taking his place back among the students, a voice came from his side.
"That was quite the showing."
The green-haired boy with the snake beast stood next to him, talking in his direction. His tone was playful, his voice dripping with amusement. Pale yellow eyes swept over Kanan, as if sizing him up.
"Your spider is a riot. I never expected a spirit beast to show off Cat's Cradle as its signature skill."
The spider in question had since been unsummoned, for the sake of keeping the training grounds peaceful. It would be far too chaotic if every student had kept their beasts out after being tested.
Despite that, Kanan felt a slight pang of displeasure through his connection with the spider, a sign of Poppy's little tantrum within his spirit beast space. She knew she was being made fun of.
If you don't want to be made fun of then don't start playing string games mid-examination, Kanan thought to himself.
He gave a small laugh at the boy's jab.
"Yeah, Poppy can be a little unique sometimes. Still, it's never boring with her around."
"I bet! My Vineon is always so serious. He takes after my sister more than me," he said, gesturing to Rachel. "A big grump."
Hearing him, or perhaps sensing something, Rachel took her eyes off the examinee and sent over a glare that left the two boys cowering. The intention in her eyes was clear: Be quiet.