Oliver was currently sitting at the edge of the forest while quietly gazing at the lush greenery before him with his back resting against a large tree.

The shade from the branches above protected him from the burning rays of the sun. Meanwhile, Husk was lying beside him peacefully with his eyes closed.

At the moment, Oliver was busy scrolling through the system interface before him.

A few weeks had already passed since the battle inside the Barking Tree dungeon and his encounter with the students from the Academy of Coligny.

During those weeks, Oliver had also been seriously considering applying to an academy. However, he was still conflicted about which academy he should choose.

After doing some research, Oliver finally discovered the advantages and disadvantages of each academy he had shortlisted. For example, the Academy of Coligny was currently ranked 155th within the kingdom out of hundreds of academies.

He also learned that every academy possessed its own unique teaching modules and philosophies for guiding students.

As for Coligny, the academy only mainly focused on strengthening the relationship between tamers and their monsters to maximize bonding and overall combat power.

However, after researching around his five top choice academies thoroughly, Oliver felt that none of them truly suited what he wanted.

He also wanted to learn more about dungeons, the history of the world, and many other things that ordinary people rarely had access to.

The academies that covered all the major aspects of taming were usually the top-ranked academies within the kingdom. However, their selection processes were extremely strict, heavily political, and often required enormous fees.

"Ahhh! What am I supposed to do?" Oliver groaned before lying flat on the grass with his head resting on his arms.

"What’s been bothering you, kid? You’ve looked really distracted these past few days." Husk asked while opening one eye.

Oliver rolled his body to the opposite side before sighing deeply.

"I don’t know, Husk. Do you think I really need to enroll in an academy to become stronger? Or do you think I should just forget about it and continue learning by myself?"

"Each choice has its own advantages and weaknesses. I can’t really give you a definitive answer for something like that. You should choose whatever you believe is best for you right now." Husk replied calmly.

"Yeah... I already knew you’d say something like that," Oliver sighed helplessly.

"Well, let’s just wait a few more days. Maybe by then I’ll finally make my decision. By the way, where the hell is Flora?! We’ve already been waiting for her for almost two hours." Oliver complained while sitting up and glancing toward the Bloomvine Bracelet on his wrist.

Ever since the hunters learned that Flora had officially registered as a hunter, many parties had actively begun requesting her to join their expeditions. Honestly, Oliver did not really mind it. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

By participating in quests and dungeon raids, Flora could increase her Guild Points and eventually raise her hunter rank from Iron to Steel, just like him.

It also seemed her reputation was growing rapidly to the point where she might soon surpass Oliver himself. That was definitely something he needed to address before he completely lost his self-proclaimed idol status.

Usually, once Flora finished her work, she would immediately teleport near him due to the effect of the Bloomvine Archetype.

However, today was taking unusually long.

"Did something happen?" Oliver began worrying slightly.

Just as he was about to stand up, suddenly, Flora teleported directly on top of him and pinned him to the ground. Their faces were so close that they were nearly about to kiss. Oliver immediately pushed her aside before quickly standing up in panic.

"Can’t you teleport normally for once?! And why are you so late?!" Oliver shouted while his face was red.

"Tch! We were just a little bit away from our lips meeting. Sorry, Olive my love. There was actually a mutated boss inside the dungeon earlier, so it took a little longer than expected." Flora said with an innocent smile.

"Are you sure about that? You weren’t doing anything suspicious, right?" Oliver asked while raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Of course not. I would only do something like that after giving my virginity to you first." Flora replied shamelessly before trying to hug Oliver again.

"Ahhh! What are you doing?!" Oliver shouted while desperately trying to push her away.

"Please! Make me pregnant with your child!"

"No! Don’t say something like that!" Oliver shouted in panic before immediately running away.

"Hahaha! Wait for me, Olive!" Flora laughed mischievously before chasing after him playfully.

Meanwhile, Husk merely watched the scene while shaking his head helplessly.

"What a noisy pair..."

Later that night, Oliver was lying on his bed while casually playing chess with Nyx. Naturally, Oliver always won easily because Nyx still thought and acted very much like a child.

Against Husk and Flora, however, Oliver was completely crushed due to their overwhelming intelligence. As for Queen, she constantly tried eating the chess pieces instead, claiming their shapes made her hungry.

Suddenly, the sound of a carriage stopping outside his house heard through the night. Oliver immediately looked out the window and saw Baron Eustach’s carriage standing before the house.

Then, he saw the baron himself hurriedly stepping out and rushing toward the entrance.

"Arnulf! Arnulf! Are you here?! Quick, open the door!" Baron Eustach shouted urgently.

Arnulf quickly opened the door and saw Baron Eustach standing there breathing heavily.

"What happened, Baron?! Why did you come here so late at night?" Arnulf asked in confusion. Meanwhile, Irmine also appeared from behind him and looked worriedly toward Eustach.

"T-There’s something I need to tell both of you...It’s good news. Here!" Eustach said excitedly before handing a beautifully designed scroll decorated with golden patterns to Arnulf. He then immediately stepped into the house.

Arnulf glanced toward Irmine before slowly opening the scroll. The moment both of them read its contents, their eyes widened in shock.

The scroll was an official invitation to the selection process of the Royal Academy of Cyden.

Irmine immediately covered her mouth with both hands, not out of happiness but from shock and worry.

"Honey! Please don’t tell Oliver about this!" Irmine hurriedly grabbed the scroll and tried to return it to Eustach.

"Please, Baron... leave for now!" Irmine said anxiously.

Eustach looked completely confused by their reaction.

"What’s that, mom?" Suddenly, Oliver’s voice echoed from the stairs.

Irmine and Arnulf were both startled after seeing him standing there.