"What... do you mean by ’explore’ its body?" Mae asked, while the other instructors also looked at Theo with curiosity.

The story was getting interesting by the minute, and it felt like while they were frustrated, they were still curious about the unbelievable details.

"When my beast confirmed that the beast had blood coming out of it, I trusted it and jumped on the core beast’s body with the others. We walked on foot toward the other side of the beast, as we had already deduced that the beast did not see us as more than little insects to begin with," Theo stated, but before anyone could say anything, he spoke again.

"When we got to the other side, we saw three big claw marks on the beast’s body and were shocked as to what could harm this type of beast. At that moment, I got an idea." Theo looked at his waist and then unbuckled a vial before keeping it on the table.

The instructors looked at it and then at Theo with different emotions.

"This is the blood that was oozing out of the beast’s wound, instructors."

Even Merek was flabbergasted by the fact that Theo was able to procure something like that. Lysara looked at it with surprise, while the others were casual about it, but still one or two smiled looking at the reaction of the instructors.

Mae took the vial in her hand and looked at it up close before her gaze went to Theo again.

"Young Theo, if this is real, do you understand what you’ve had in your hand this whole time?" Mae asked with a chuckle that felt like she had seen something a little too unreal.

Theo didn’t know what to say. For him, it felt normal, but now that he looked at the situation again, it really wasn’t.

"No, I just did what I supposed was better for the mission."

All the instructors looked at each other with perplexed emotions.

Corven looked at Theo with that same expression of not knowing what to think of the boy in front of him. "We don’t usually go near the core beast when one is discovered. If you’d come to us with the information and the gate wouldn’t have closed, we would have left the creature alone as long as it didn’t obstruct our plans," he explained while everyone listened intently.

"But if this blood is really of a core beast, then it’s an invaluable asset, Young Theo. You will have to tell me who were the ones that helped you with this blood extraction. This is greater than any sample you could have ever brought from the gate," he spoke and looked at the whole group.

It was at that point that everyone looked at Theo with a gaze akin to surprise and horror.

His answer was going to change the lives of most of them here in the group, and not one had a doubt about it.

Merek bit his lips; he already knew what was going to happen.

"This blood extraction was not really blood extraction; it was a simple scouting one," Theo spoke and continued. "And before my beast could detect blood, Sir Garrick’s falcons were the ones taking us toward it." Theo gave that simple answer, making the instructors write it all down.

"As for who was involved, it was Sir Kaelor, my elder brother, Sir Garrick, Cassian, Clara, and Elias," he spoke these names.

All looked at him while the instructors wrote it all down.

Lysara and Merek looked at Theo with an unbelievable and bitter expression.

But Theo was not done. "And while Miss Lysara and Young Master Merrick didn’t leave with us toward the core beast, they were going to help if the mission were to go as planned, which it wasn’t, instructors," Theo spoke.

The three instructors looked at the healer and the young master with a knowing look before writing their names down too.

After that, there was a lot of questioning done, which Theo answered to the best of his ability.

He had nothing to hide.

And when everything seemed to be done, the three instructors commanded something else.

"I would like everyone but Young Theo to leave the hut until further instructions. Thank you," Instructor Mae spoke, making all of them nod and leave one after another.

Clara and Elias halted, but with Theo’s one nod, they went away too. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

When they all left, the three instructors stared at Theo with a look Theo didn’t really like.

"Young Theo, we have to be honest with you," Corven spoke in his usual stern but mature voice.

Theo listened intently and nodded.

"When we saw your age and the emperor’s command to let you be the leader of this mission, we were very skeptical," he spoke.

Theo felt like he could get where he was going with this conversation, and he looked at them with a calm expression.

"But once we saw you in the training, some of those doubts went away because of your performance. But we didn’t expect you to complete the mission this early, with so many samples and with a particular type of blood which will be considered to be the kingdom’s asset once we confirm if it really is from a core beast."

Theo, for the first time, saw Corven’s smirk, and it didn’t seem as bad as he had thought. The man had other expressions than just the cranky one.

"He is trying to say that we apologize for questioning your credibility and that we will write a detailed report of your performance!" Oric interjected in between, and Theo moved his eyebrows up.

Corven took a slight sigh and nodded, which confirmed it. Mae looked at Theo with the same smile she did when he came to the mission.

"You don’t need to apologize for anything, instructors," Theo stated, making them just look at him.

"I came here with the motive to prove my skills and abilities to you, and I am fortunate enough to get such compliments from you."

When he was done, Oric looked at him with half a chuckle, while Corven fully burst into laughter. Mae just looked at him with very appreciative eyes.

"You’re quite the sweet talker. Well, you will be needing it when you all go to the audience to receive your rewards."