Dawn of the Ancient Fossils
The day of the ancient fossils had dawned. Today was the official enrollment day at Chung Hak Gwan.
"All new enrollees, please gather in the auditorium."
I met up with Katt at the entrance to our dorms and headed to the auditorium. A large crowd had already assembled there—everyone who was enrolling in Chung Hak Gwan this term.
Around two hundred, give or take.
From what I could see, about a hundred in the Juvenile Stage and another hundred in the Growth Stage. A total of two hundred new enrollees for this cohort.
Most of them are from upper-tier species.
Emperor Scorpion, Witch Spider, King Wasp, Death Stalker, Camel Spider, Cherry Red Centipede, Black Giant Centipede, King Dragonfly, Giraphatop Stag Beetle, Hornet, Titanus Typhoon, Manticore Tiger Beetle, Cocasus Hercules Beetle.
Every single one was a top predator. And that wasn't all. My gaze shifted to the center of the crowd, where two figures stood with arms crossed and arrogant expressions.
One's from the Hercules Beetle clan... and the other must be from the Amar King Centipede clan.
The four dominant species ruling the continent. Two enrollees from those clans were right here.
"Official enrollees, line up over here. Dispatch enrollees, over there."
At the instructor's command, the new students formed lines. The split between official and dispatch enrollees was about 9:1. That meant ninety official enrollees each from Juvenile and Growth Stages, and just ten dispatch enrollees total.
"Catch you later."
Katt headed over to where the Growth Stage dispatch enrollees were gathering.
Hold on. But I'm in Growth Stage now too?
I'd applied for dispatch as a Juvenile, so I was still standing with the Juvenile group.
"Uh... aren't you in Growth Stage?"
Someone next to me spoke up. I turned my head slightly and saw a round, chubby face.
Tiger Butterfly clan.
The ornate wing pattern under his ear stood out. It contrasted sharply with his plump, cute features—a trait Tiger Butterflies showed in their larval stages.
From Growth Stage onward, they shed the baby fat, slimming down into Complete Body form.
Anyway, I shrugged at his question.
"Molted on the way here."
"Ah..."
He nodded without another word, looking pretty dim-witted.
How'd a guy this clueless even pass the Chung Hak Gwan entrance?
I gave him a curious glance before stroking my chin and staring toward where Katt stood.
Should I apply to skip ahead to Growth Stage?
Growth Stage would probably be better for actual development—better support tailored to your level. But...
Among the Growth Stage group, two stood out especially. The Hercules and Amar King Centipede guys. Moving up would mean tangling with them, big time or small.
Better to play it safe for now...
I'll hold off on the skip request. Avoiding the four dominant clans as much as possible is smartest.
Especially...
The Amar King Centipedes. They effectively ruled the mantis species. The recent mess with Kiria made them stick in my mind even more.
Chung Hak Gwan might just leave me in Juvenile anyway. I'll watch and see.
For now, observe the situation.
"Squad assignments and training start tomorrow. Since it's your first day, we'll give you a tour of the facilities. Follow me in your lines!"
The instructor's booming voice rang out. It instantly grabbed everyone's attention, cutting through the chatter.
His voice wasn't just loud—it carried a mystical pull that drew eyes naturally.
Cicada...
I checked the marking under his ear. Sure enough, Cicada clan. A Singing Cicada, at that. Nothing beat their vocal control for handling crowds.
That's why you see Cicadas popping up in organizations everywhere.
We followed the Singing Cicada instructor through Chung Hak Gwan's facilities: the main hall where we'd live, annexes, convenience buildings, functional structures. As the top training institution, everything was state-of-the-art—buildings and equipment alike.
"This is the training hall."
Even I let out a soft gasp touring it.
"Whoa, what kind of facilities are these?"
"As expected of Chung Hak Gwan..."
"Heh heh heh. Knowing I'll train here every day has my muscles screaming in joy already."
Sama Battleground had decent setups, but they paled in comparison. Norton's Fivefold Truth Barrier Array? Child's play next to the ultra-high-end gear crammed in here.
And they've even got an ether training room...
My senses picked up a massive ether concentration. Looking over, I spotted an ether training room built around priceless ether crystals.
Just holing up here for a year without elixirs could get you to Maturity Stage easy.
Of course, only I could think that—having clear memories of pushing to the brink of Ultimate Body.
This place had everything to accelerate that path.
"This is one of Chung Hak Gwan's crown jewels. Use it freely, train hard, grow strong, and help uphold our reputation!"
"Yes, Instructor!"
"Of course!"
Everyone shouted with fired-up voices. After seeing these facilities, their excitement was natural.
Not a bad value for the tuition.
One gold for enrollment, one per quarter—it'd seemed steep. But now? Totally worth it just for the training hall.
"Next up, another highlight: our research institute. Shall we take a look?"
The instructor led us to Chung Hak Gwan's research facilities next.
"Impressive grounds, right? As some of you know, our focus is unraveling the secrets of ancient species, extant Primal species, and regular species with Primal powers."
The ancient Primals that once ruled Abian Continent—shortened to ancient species. The current Primals dominating the continent, and insect-empowered regular species. Chung Hak Gwan specialized in these three fields.
Too bad the last two never yielded much, even in the future.
Ancient species secrets stayed shrouded the more they dug. How humans gained insect powers—regular species' mechanisms, why only certain ones—nothing clarified.
The one success: detailed insights into extant Primal ecosystems.
Even some secrets on Awakening bodies that wield ether.
Looking back, the Primal research boom probably stemmed from the four Great Lords' influence. They prioritized dominating current Primals.
"Now, let's tour some accessible labs. But no touching. Eyes only."
Under the Singing Cicada's lead, we peeked inside several labs.
"Grrrrr—!"
"Whoa! That's a Tarantula Primal!"
"Mantis—!"
"A Mantis Primal too!"
"Look over there—Giant Dragonfly Primal!"
One facility held live-captured Primals: flies, mosquitoes, crickets, locusts, cockroaches, stag beetles. Weaker ones aside, even predators like Tarantula, Witch Spider, Praying Mantis, Giant Dragonfly were caged.
How'd they even catch those?
I stared curiously at the docile Tarantula Primal curled up.
"Instructor! Did you catch those wild?"
Someone voiced my exact question. Everyone's eyes lit up.
"Ah! These friends are all..."
"All? Caught them?"
"...raised from freshly hatched larvae to adulthood."
"Ahh..."
I nodded. That explained their docility. Capturing wild predators was tough enough; raising feral ones? Near impossible.
They must've done Cicada hypnosis on them from larval stage.
Might even tie into the future Cicada Wave—research data from here.
But what if one evolves to Awakening?
Awakening bodies. Just as we regulars transcend Complete to Ultimate, Primals could Awaken too. They'd wield ether freely—why Awakened Primals were called natural disasters.
No way this facility could hold one.
Still, no rumors of that ever happening here. Awakenings were rare enough.
But I wondered what countermeasures they had.
"Now, the part you're most curious about: our ancient species research facility and repository."
Here it comes.
My heart swelled as the ancient species complex neared. Last night, I'd sensed toward it—now the pulse grew fiercer. Something inside beckoned me.
"Whoa!"
"All fossils?"
"Correct."
Inside the repository, fossils of forms utterly unlike modern Primals lined the displays.
"Meganeura!"
A King Dragonfly pointed to a massive central fossil, exclaiming in shock.
"Insane... the size!"
"Is this the real scale of Meganeura?"
Meganeura. Ancestor to all extant dragonfly Primals—one of the Paleozoic's mightiest.
Its hallmark: absurdly huge body. This restored fossil was so tall we had to crane our necks fully to see the top.
Eight to ten times bigger than that Red-chested Mantis Primal last time.
The mantis had been building-sized. Ten times that? Awe-inspiring just to imagine.
No wonder it ranked among the strongest Primals.
"Titanopteryx next to it!"
My eyes followed. They sparkled.
That's the one...
A familiar form. Of course.
The guy Kun was guarding.
The one I'd encountered recently. Its body was intriguing: locust-like face, mantis front limbs, overall predatory earwig vibe. But the standout? Its wings.
"This Titanopteryx earned the epithet 'Giant's Wing.' Another apex Paleozoic predator without peers."
Wings so vast they nearly matched half the Meganeura's body. Fitting for 'Giant's Wing.'
Its structure screams why it was called strongest.
How mighty were the Megaera Mantises that terrified things like this? The thought crossed my mind.
We toured more fossils, then moved past the reconstructions to a section with partial fossils deeper in.
And there...
That's it.
I'd found what set my heart racing.