Novel Bin Chapter 34 - Breaking Out of the Shell
The noise around him didn’t enter his ears at all. There were some vague calls of ‘Classmate Rong’ in the middle but Rong Mingshi didn’t notice them at all. It wasn’t until the noise stopped and burning gazes fell on him that Rong Mingshi’s ears moved. He raised his head with surprise and found that the eyes of the entire class were on him.
Rong Mingshi silently turned off the interface of the peacock and sat upright like everyone else.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The students looked at the serious leopard in silence. The top four students in the class were arguing about how to allocate a medium-grade energy stone while the little leopard seemed completely unconcerned.
The student, who repeatedly questioned Rong Mingshi during the previous test, got the opportunity to sit in the third seat of the first row because Rong Mingshi didn’t choose the first row. At this time, he was saying, “You also saw it. Classmate Rong doesn’t care. Since it is my turn to choose, I will naturally choose the best. Classmate Rong chose the current seat, which is a priority that he gave up.”
“...”
The little leopard stared blankly at his indignant classmates.
The person sitting in the front row of the first row, who received second place in the assessment after Rong Mingshi surpassed him by more than a dozen points, said, “Kaman, we can’t carve a medium-grade energy stone now. This piece is probably only suitable for Classmate Rong.”
Medium-grade energy stone...
Rong Mingshi looked at the energy stone display interface in front of the classroom. Sure enough, there was a 3D image of a rotating medium-grade energy stone. Yellow was the main colour with a bit of green. According to a general carver’s choice, it should be considered a good medium-grade energy stone.
In general, only low-grade energy stones were provided to the apprentice and trainee classes. This was determined according to the student’s perception control and carving skills. It was only when they were promoted to the beginner class that they could be provided with a limited number of medium-grade energy stones. Of course, this was selected by the students themselves after they were ranked according to score.
This time, a good medium-grade energy stone suddenly appeared in the trainee carver’s Class 3. Many people thought this was the teacher’s extra preparation. Previously, Professor Phillier stated that he wanted to have a deeper understanding of Student Rong’s carving.
The carving practice class was different from the examination and the entire process was open. The purpose was to let the students learn from each other and compete with each other. In other words, the professor and every student could see other people’s carving process.
The clever students naturally guessed the professor’s intentions. They couldn’t wait to watch Classmate Rong carving. Thus, the first two students sitting in the first row directly skipped the medium-grade energy stone and chose from the other low-grade energy stones. They didn’t expect Classmate Kaman to choose this one.
After listening to the second place student, Kaman smirked. “How do you know that I can’t carve a medium-grade energy stone? In any case, I have chosen the stone and it is completely in line with the rules of the classroom. It doesn’t violate any regulations. Since Classmate Rong doesn’t care about the seating, he naturally doesn’t care about the type of energy stone he uses.”
Rong Mingshi looked at the stone and paid attention to it. He didn’t feel anything from the piece. This caused the little leopard to bow his head and continue to study the peacock. The interface that just opened was...
Ah, the peacock’s butt... haha. The little leopard hurriedly covered his mouth with his thick paws. He couldn’t laugh since it would be disrespecting the beastman’s beast form!
The peacock on the screen was beautiful and stunning but it was only somewhat bright behind. Fortunately, there was the fan-shaped tail or he would seem bald... when carving, maybe he could add something to the back.
Classmate Rong completely didn’t care. He stared at the beautiful peacock without being self-conscious, completely blocking the class. A medium-grade energy stone with a good quality was worth almost tens of thousands of star coins...
However, they couldn’t say anything more and could only continue choosing stones by seat.
Once it was Rong Mingshi’s turn, he looked up and originally wanted to choose casually. After all, he would carve the white stone that Aojia gave him in class.
It was just that when he looked up, Rong Mingshi saw a black stone that was also round. The lower part was similar to an egg shape, causing the leopard’s clear eyes to brighten. Breaking out of the shell... the little leopard unconsciously smiled and he picked this piece.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The students watching Rong Mingshi choose the stone were dumbfounded. This energy stone was too bad. The lower part was covered with white cracks and the part that could be worked with was black, red and gold. The colour could hardly be called mixed anymore. All the students who deliberately left good stones behind for Classmate Rong to pick wanted to cough up blood.
What could they observe if Classmate Rong chose a rotten stone like this?
Once all the students made their selections, Professor Phillier with dark circles under his eyes pushed open the door and saw the students and their corresponding stones on the display board in front of the classroom.
Professor Phillier turned his head to gaze at the three students in the first row. He hadn’t slept all night and forgot that the first ranked student in his class, Student Rong chose a seat in the back row... However, the choice of stones was up to the students. He could only use his authority to insert a medium-grade stone. As for what the students chose, he had no right to intervene.
Thus, the class began while Professor Phillier and half the class were feeling congested. The energy stone selected by each student were sent to their desks by an auxiliary robot.
The one who couldn’t wait to get started was Kaman, who chose the medium-grade energy stone. The moment he held the knife and tried to sculpt the stone with his perception, he was pushed out by a strong first. His body slammed into the tables and chairs and turned over. The falling knife hit his arm and instantly poked a hole in it. Kaman screamed with pain and grabbed his arm.
Professor Phillier immediately activated the auxiliary robot and sent Kaman to the infirmary. Professor Phillier explained, “Student Kaman’s perception wasn’t strong enough and his control wasn’t precise enough. This will happen if the current energy stone is too powerful for you. You need to work within your capabilities.”
The little leopard’s tail moved as he blinked. This was almost the same scene as when he tried to carve the transparent high-grade energy stone. It seemed he would still have to continue practicing his control.
Professor Phillier continued, “Do any students want this medium-grade energy stone?”
Almost instantly, everyone’s eyes focused on Rong Mingshi. However, the little leopard held the black and white energy stones and lowered his head, showing no intention of opening his mouth. Professor Phillier’s mouth twitched and he spoke directly. “I will go straight to the first ranked Student Rong. Do you have any opinions?”
The named Student Rong looked up.
“Student Rong, you are the only one in this class who can carve this medium-grade energy stone.”
Rong Mingshi put the two stones down and replied, “I’m sorry, I have other plans.”
Professor Phillier glanced at the two low-grade energy stones in front of the leopard. “Student Rong, this medium-grade energy stone is much better than the two you have.”
“I like these ones.” The little leopard was unmoved.
Professor Phillier had to grit his teeth and say, “Okay everybody, continue.”
Rong Mingshi was absorbed in dealing with the two black and white stones. The black and white stones under his leopard paws were quite harmonious. Everyone’s eyes were on the leopard’s interface in the front of the classroom and no one was carving. They saw the little leopard reveal sophisticated leopard paw carving tools and everyone secretly took a breath, staring carefully.
Rong Mingshi gathered his spirit and slashed with the black knives, first sketching out the general composition. Then he made the slightly finer shapers. He chose the same structure as the leopard shell that Aojia drew and a little black dragon emerged from it.
Rong Mingshi was very familiar with carving the little black dragon and his knives were skillful. The little black dragon was more round and cute than before. The little black dragon head was covered with a small piece of broken eggshell and some fragments were attached to the dragon wings.
The golden eyes were bigger than the little black dragons in the past. They were a bit confused and a bit fierce as round claws stretched out, pulling at the eggshell and trying to crush the eggshell.
Rong Mingshi used the hollowing out method. Some of the black dragon’s body might be blocked by the eggshell but when Rong Mingshi moved the small carving knife, the little black dragon’s body inside the eggshell was carved a bit.
Looking down from above, a person could see the black dragon’s round belly and dragon tail rolled under the rear claws. The stone itself had a rounded shape so Rong Mingshi used this shape to carve the outer part of the eggshell. The green-white eggshell had fine lines and the little leopard carefully carved out a sandy texture, with two cracks in the form of lightning spreading downward.
Once the entire little black dragon was finished, the little leopard carved his small signature on the edge of the broken eggshell.
***
During the entire carving process, no beastmen spoke and they watched in an almost stunned manner. In general, carvers made round pieces and there were few hollow carvings. This fine carving subverted their previous understanding of energy stone carving.
Every person, including Professor Phillier, unconsciously looked down at their own hands. Was this precise and subtle carving really something that could be done by hand? In addition, Student Rong used paws... it was shaking with his paws!
In the entire process, they also didn’t see Student Rong deliberately use his perception power. It was flowing without much of a pause. This either meant this perception was very strong or his control was excellent.
Most importantly, Student Rong’s use of the various colours of the energy stone made each colour very eye-catching. Every piece that most carvers would cut out as miscellaneous became finishing touches under Student Rong.
This was literally the paws of a god...
***
Rong Mingshi placed the little black dragon breaking out of the eggshell next to the white stone. The pudgy black dragon was trying to break out of the shell while the round white stone hadn’t been carved yet. The carved little black dragon was clearly trying to break out of the shell to see the new world, but there was a feeling that it was anxiously knocking on the unmoving white egg next to it...
The little leopard covered his furry face with a thick paw while his other paw stretched out to put the white, round egg... stone! Stone in front of him. It felt so weird! He had to quickly hatch himself from the eggshell (crossed out) to save himself!
Still, carving himself was a very strange thing. The furry paws rolled the round stone around and he couldn’t start.
The little leopard glanced to the side and it looked more and more like an eager black dragon was trying to rush out of the eggshell, causing him to open the picture that Aojia sent him. Aojia’s sketch was very simple. It was a line draft with no details.
Rong Mingshi held the stone with a serious expression while trying to integrate himself into Aojia’s perspective. He imagined Aojia’s eyes when he was holding the egg. The embarrassed leopard’s face was slightly hot...
Rong Mingshi hurriedly raised his paws and started to deal with this stone egg. He used the carving knife to sketch out the general form according to Aojia’s composition.
The little snow leopard under his knives was sleeker and move curved than the little black dragon. The fur had small black edges, there were the black circle patterns full of dissatisfaction, the rough tail that fell inside the eggshell and the soft and thick claws.
The more detailed the carving became, the more Rong Mingshi could handle it. The sense of violation from carving himself gradually disappeared. Most importantly, Rong Mingshi finally admitted that he wasn’t a mighty and fierce beast. He was currently a soft and furry cute beast! A lot cuter than the little black dragon.
For example, the snow leopard’s paws were thicker than a cat’s paws. The feeling when holding it was very full and soft, while the fur was fluffy and soft. There was also the beautiful snow white colour and the black circular patterns that spread all over the body. The furry tail was actually very soft and smooth. He would unconsciously play with it when searching on the Star Network in bed. Of course, there were the leopard’s clear blue eyes that were like the night sky.
Soon, the little snow leopard formed under Rong Mingshi’s knife. Rong Mingshi felt the leopard was really drilling out of the eggshell but the eggshell swayed and the little leopard felt uneasy and afraid of falling out. Thus, he stretched out his paws and cautiously moved out.
Finally, the little leopard breaking out of the shell was complete. The little leopard gazed at his cute likeness and placed it next to the little black dragon. Then he stretched out his thick paws and pushed them together. The two eggs swayed, causing the two beasts attempting to climb out of the eggshell to touch.
At this point, the watching audience couldn’t help gulping. They suddenly felt that Student Rong was too cute! They wanted him to be their beast. What should they do? Then they thought again about Student Rong’s carving skills...