The old man completely ignored the students' expressions.
"Follow me."
The disciples began walking behind him through the clan's inner corridors.
Eventually, they arrived before a massive metal door.
Runes slowly glowed across its surface.
Two Rank 2 guards stood watch at the entrance.
When the door opened—
Everyone held their breath.
The interior looked like a living treasure vault.
Hundreds of jade containers were carefully arranged on circular shelves.
Inside rested all kinds of Gu.
Insects.
Worms.
Beetles.
Strange creatures.
All emitting faint colorful glows.
It was literally like choosing a starter Pokémon.
The disciples became even more nervous.
The instructor then spoke.
"Class A disciples will choose first."
Naturally, superior talent received superior treatment.
Lee Hyun simply crossed his arms calmly.
He had already studied almost every available Gu.
While everyone else was thinking about immediate power...
He was thinking about:
cost maintenance evolution profit usefulness.
Some powerful Gu were useless if they consumed too many resources.
Some were only useful in specific situations.
Others weren't particularly strong but were easy to feed and maintain.
Of course, there were no useless Gu, only useless Gu Masters.
'Or at least that's what I've heard dozens of times since arriving at this clan.'
Apparently, it was a common saying in this world.
So the question wasn't exactly which Gu was the strongest.
It was which Gu was the best for me right now.
The first disciples stepped forward.
Every time a Gu was removed—
Ttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig—
A metallic sound echoed throughout the hall.
Registration system.
Security once again.
Lee Hyun observed silently.
[Camel Strength Gu]
One of the disciples chose a Strength Path Gu.
The camel variant was the most common type found in the Western Desert.
Strength Path wasn't as "magical" as most Gu in this world, but it wasn't a bad choice.
Sometimes simple was best.
Another sound echoed.
Ttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig—
Another Gu was taken.
Lee Hyun remained calm.
Even if his first choice had already been taken, he still had a second and third option.
He had already anticipated that possibility.
Then finally—
"Lee Hyun."
His turn had arrived.
The hall fell silent as he slowly walked between the shelves.
Once again, surveillance Gu watched carefully for any attempted theft.
His gaze moved across the containers.
"Not this one."
It was Silver Eye Gu, a weaker version of the Gu the clan constantly used as surveillance cameras.
It was made from silver, and its evolution path required gold—materials that, oddly enough, weren't particularly valuable in this world outside of refinement purposes.
But right now, he needed something useful for combat.
"Consumes too much essence."
"This one is bad."
It was Grass Puppet Gu.
At Rank 1, it was little more than a training dummy.
"Evolution is expensive."
"This one is useless without support."
Weed had already considered his options.
He had decided on a grass-type Gu.
Grass-type Gu literally only needed water and sunlight.
They were practically free to maintain.
That meant saving a significant amount of primeval stones.
With enough savings, he could eventually obtain a second Rank 1 Gu, putting him far ahead of the others.
His preferred choice was Red Blade Grass Gu.
A Blade Path Gu with excellent offensive power and low essence consumption.
As the name suggested, it created a crimson blade capable of slicing through targets.
It could easily cut a large boulder in half.
However, it had two disadvantages.
1 - Short range. The blade was only as long as itself.
2 - The user needed actual swordsmanship skills. The blade could only cut in a perfectly straight line.
In short, it was a saber.
A very high-quality saber.
One capable of cutting through a person like paper.
Weed had years of experience with bladed weapons.
He was confident he could use it properly.
Ironically, the Gu was refined from Red Dagger Grass, a material that grew around the oasis outskirts.
Farmers spent days harvesting the stuff while wearing thick gloves and still ended up cutting their hands.
Including Weed himself during his childhood.
"...Ironic."
Then he passed by a strange container.
Inside was a small golden-brown Gu.
It looked almost...
Like a tiny wooden sculpture.
Its appearance was dry and dull, with very little shine.
Lee Hyun felt a strange sense of familiarity.
Then he remembered the information listed beside it.
Unknown Gu.
The catalog only stated:
Function unknown.
Food source unknown.
[Discovered in the Ruby Desert by a clan member. Extremely stubborn and resistant to refinement.]
'Basically no information at all,' Weed thought.
Some people might find that interesting.
But a Rank 1 Gu whose function wasn't even known was nothing more than a high-risk investment with little guaranteed return.
Weed immediately lost interest.
"Definitely not."
He continued walking.
Finally, he found his first choice.
His eyes brightened slightly.
A headless red praying mantis-like insect with a body resembling blades of grass.
"This one works."
But the moment he reached out—
A golden light exploded behind him.
WHOOOM—
The entire hall was illuminated for a brief instant.
The disciples jumped in surprise.
The Unknown Gu had broken through its container on its own.
Flying directly toward Lee Hyun.
"Wha—"
Before he could react—
The little Gu threw itself into his hands.
Ttiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig...
The metallic alarm echoed throughout the hall.
The security system had registered a Gu being removed.
Silence.
Complete silence.
Lee Hyun froze.
His brain took several seconds to process what had just happened.
"..."
"...What?"
He immediately checked his aperture.
And there it was.
The small golden-brown Gu rested peacefully inside.
A Gu that looked like a crude sculpture made by a child.
It had the texture of wood, yet somehow appeared to be made of gold.
As if it had lived there for years.
Lee Hyun slowly raised his head.
Completely confused.
"What the...?"
Countless questions passed through his mind.
Yet all the knowledge he had acquired about this world proved completely useless.
By the time he regained his senses, the containers had already sealed themselves once more.
The security formations were active.
Even if he wanted to return the Gu, there was no way to open the containers without authorization.
Left with no other choice, Weed exited the hall.
He immediately stared at the instructor for several seconds.
"..."
"Can I return this?"
Did the clan happen to have a return policy?