Chapter 54: Quality Kibble Is Needed?

Karl considered the information that the Special Forces team had presented him with. If it was true that the quality of the diet limited a monster's growth, it made perfect sense that most Windspeed Hawks never made it past the Awakened Rank. Their favourite food was the Earth Mouse, a Common Grade monster. Eating that every day would give them a steady source of nutrition, but of a limited quality. If they were going to advance further, they would need higher quality food, but their usual hunting targets couldn't provide that. They were capable of hunting larger targets, but larger bodies would bring scavengers and other predators, which would interfere with their usual hunting grounds and force them to move. So, they would end up trapped in a vicious cycle where they could only rarely eat higher quality meals, and they would slowly grow to Awakened Rank as they got older. Hawk was certain that he would make it to the Commander Rank, just like these Special Forces men, but that was largely wishful thinking on his part, and unless Karl could provide the diet he needed, it wasn't realistic in the time they had at the Academy, much less in the short term to overtake Sergeant Rita like Hawk wanted to. But the Academy should be able to provide him with at least that much assistance. If the food in the cafeteria was Common Grade monster meat, then just increasing it one rank should bring about a new growth spurt for the Hawk. That would be the first thing that he requested, other than more of the mana infused blood with the strength stones in it. Hawk loved that stuff, like Karl had loved ketchup on chicken nuggets when he was little. Though, the bird's actual dietary requirements had slowed a lot since it hit maturity. Now, it was relying more heavily on the energy provided by Karl, and not eating multiple times its own body weight in a day. Hawk was still a little glutton, but when the total amount was under a kilo of meat a day, it was much more reasonable. At the rate that they were going, the Awakened Rank boar meat would last Hawk for months, and it seemed that the meat left in the space would not spoil. Or at least it didn't spoil as quickly as it would in a refrigerator. "Since we're here at the computers, we should send a letter home. I can send it to the mayor, and he will print it for my parents, since they don't have a phone or a computer." Karl suggested. "You know that almost everything about your life is currently confidential, right? They will censor any information that outsiders are not supposed to have, like the location or layout of the Academy, plus any details of your training." The team leader reminded him. "That's fine. Just a little update to let my parents know that all is well is enough. I know that some of the other students are more eager to get away from home, but I was just eager to get away from the mines." Karl laughed. The shortest of the team members reached over to pat him on the head. "That is understandable. I came from an island fishing village. There are no options there but the fishing boats or the cannery, you work on one or in the other. The day I left was the happiest day of my life, but I still send a little something to my parents now and then." The others nodded in agreement. "There are money transfer limits, but we can still send them enough to be doing well. My dad is an accountant in the capital, and he still loves his job, but he's one of the most boring people I know. My mom always tries to convince him to agree to going somewhere fancy for dinner when I visit, but he likes roast beef and potatoes so much he'd have them for every meal." One of the others laughed. Dana smiled as she wrote a short letter home, not directly referring to her rank or class, but letting her parents know that she was doing well, and that the Academy was treating her well, with a beautiful room. She omitted the part about it being so loud that she preferred to study on Karl's balcony, but her parents would take that the wrong way, no matter where she was. Karl kept his nice and simple, telling them that he had finally gotten a proper growth spurt to catch up to the height of his classmates, and that he was making friends and meeting plenty of new people. The soldiers thought that was hilarious, given the circumstances, but it was the sort of letter that could be sent home entirely unredacted. Most would want to include details of their training or their rooms, which would be scrubbed by the Academy staff before the message was sent. While they both knew that they wouldn't be getting a letter back any time soon, as the Academy wanted them to focus on their studies, not the life they had left behind, it was still comforting to know that their parents didn't have to worry about them. Karl looked over his letter with satisfaction, then hit send and clicked the button that confirmed the message would be viewed by Academy staff before being sent to an outside address, even if it was a government email address in his hometown. "Alright, that should take care of the important parts. Now I just need to talk to the Kitchen to work up a new diet plan for Hawk and I can start on the next phase of my studies." He informed the others, then sighed in relief. The team leader gave him a comforting pat on the back. "That is always the fun part. We were the third year of Serum injections, so when we were here, nobody knew anything about how to keep progressing. They hadn't even had any graduates yet the first year that we were here. But it's all about going with what feels right. For the mages, it's mostly focus and practice, for the hunters, druids and rangers, being at one with nature is a major part of their growth. I think for Karl here, it will be mostly about keeping Hawk growing. The official position is that the Serum is the future, but we've learned something interesting in the last few years. The Classes can be passed on. Some of them can be taught to older people who never got the injection but have potential, and others can be inherited by children. I don't think that it will be long before they start looking for ways to optimize the serum to give the best classes to those with the most potential."