Planet Tryathis is a world where humans and beasts coexist and are bound together by a special contract. No one could remember how it all came to be but for thousands of years in the history of Tryathis, beast tamers had always been the norm for every single human on the planet.
Anyone was capable of being a beast tamer and awakening a special ability once they reached the age of 15, some took longer but the case was only a delay of two to three years before they awakened their beast essence which was the special energy that allowed one to become a tamer; after which they would sign contracts with beasts to grow stronger together, the more powerful the tamer gets, the more beasts they can make contracts with.
But the fact that anyone could become a tamer and sign contracts with beasts did not mean that everyone would be able to walk the path of a beast tamer to the end as only a special few were capable of climbing the power system and becoming legendary beast tamers who would spread their names through the world.
Many were only able to sign contracts with one beast, and that was it for them; they would forever live their lives as normal people and not bother themselves with the activities of serious beast tamers.
While for the few who were able to walk the path of beast tamers, they faced dangers in the wild every day. Battling savage beasts and searching for rare treasures to increase the strength of their beasts, as well as forming contracts with more powerful beasts on their journey.
Many only wanted to become strong enough to possess territories, make huge wealth, and gain influence in the upper echelon of humanity.
While others wanted more!
Going deeper into the study of beasts and their nature, exploring untouched regions of Tryathis that were said to house the world's strongest and most terrifying beasts, aiming to climb to the highest level of strength of the beast tamer system, and letting their names spread through the entire planet by participating in the "Beast tamers competition".
It was a competition that went from the local scale all the way to the global level, involving the twenty continents on planet Tyrathis and millions of talented beast tamers battling to show who owned the strongest beasts!
This was the dream that Lucian always had, his desire to stand on that high stage and have the whole world know his name. To have younger beast tamers idolize him and chant his name with pride, repay his mother for all her care, and make her the proudest woman and mother on the planet.
Lucian clenched his teeth with a hard expression as he walked through the rundown road that led to his place, several images and thoughts running through his mind.
Many old building structures could be seen all around the area. He walked through half-collapsed houses with cracked walls and peeled-off paint filled the area. Collapsed roads and people in low-quality clothes were the trend in this place.
This was the outskirts of Golden City and was where Lucian lived with his mother; the two of them lived alone and were the only family that both of them had. Lucian had no siblings and his father died a long time ago, leaving him with his struggling mother.
He walked for a few more minutes and took some turns before an old building that had a side of its roof missing entered his view, his fists clenched tightly as he looked at the building and remembered the faces of a few people.
Mr. Alucard had completely ignored Marcos, who was being held down and had scolded Lucian before sending him away. This wasn't a matter of ability or potential, he was simply trying to please Joshua because the latter was from a wealthy family and could afford resources to help him grow quickly. Plus, Joshua had awakened the speed boost ability three years ago; this allowed him to increase his speed several times and even reach the speed of a beast.
For this, his family had gifted him a two-tailed black Jaguar with a high-grade bloodline as his first contracted beast. This type of beast would definitely complement Joshua's ability since its speed was top tier amongst other beasts that specialized in speed; Joshua's future could be said to be set already; it was only natural that the academy would want to get in the good grace of such a promising young beast tamer.
As for Lucian…he had nothing. Not only had he wasted 3 years in the academy, but he awakened a useless ability after finally awakening his beast essence; the academy would most likely not pay attention to someone like him.
'If only…' Lucian's shoulders trembled as he thought to himself while staring in front of the door of his house.
He could hear sounds coming from inside, which meant that his mother was at home; this made him spend a few minutes outside to calm himself and balance his expression.
His mother was already doing everything she could to take care of him, he didn't want to bother her with his personal issues.
'Doesn't matter; I can still find something else to do to help Mother aside from chasing the path of a beast tamer.' Lucian took a deep breath.
That was right; aside from the main jobs of a beast tamer, like hunting outside the city walls or joining competitions, he could still do jobs like cleaning, delivery, and other kinds of jobs. He could even leave the academy and enter a normal school; getting well-paying office work after graduation wasn't impossible.
Click!
Lucian pushed the door open and stepped into the house, a warm smile on his face; not a trace of his previous sadness could be spotted.
"Mom, I'm home!" Lucian voiced out while taking off his worn-out shoes.
Sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard as a beautiful woman with long golden hair, just like Lucian, appeared from the door that connected the living room and the kitchen.
The woman's eyes fell on Lucian and her expression immediately brightened.
"Son," she called out and walked toward him, she hugged him after reaching him.
"You came back so early, I haven't finished making dinner yet." His mother said.
Lucian looked at his mother with a warm smile, he felt sincere joy seeing her happy expression but knew that she was hiding a lot behind that smile.
"It's nothing serious. Something happened at the academy, and we had to leave earlier than usual." Lucian shook his head and said with a smile.
Shortly after his words fell, a small brown cat walked out from the kitchen and walked toward them.
It reached the two and began circling around Lucian's legs while making purring sounds.
"Chocho!" Lucian smiled and picked it up before hugging it.
This Brown cat was called Chocho and it was his mother's contracted beast…her only contracted beast since she was only at the Handler rank and could only form one contract; it was a starless beast.
His mother had contracted Chocho long before he was born, so the cat got used to behaving like it was his mother as well; Lucian had no issues with this and enjoyed the feeling of having two moms.
"Why are you back so early tho? I thought you would still be at work by now, is there a problem?" Lucian carried Chocho and asked his mother.
She helped an elderly woman run a flower shop, and she usually stayed there until just an hour before his academy closed; this gave her enough time to return home and prepare dinner for herself and Lucian.
His mother smiled and ruffled his hair.
"Don't worry about it; I know that you were awakening today, so I left early to prepare a feast for you!" His mother said with excitement.
Something fell within Lucian when he heard this but he forced his expression from changing and maintained the smile.
"Why don't I help you then?" He asked and moved in the direction of the kitchen with Chocho in his grasp, he stopped when he felt a sudden pull on his uniform blazer.
"Hold it right there, young man. It's your celebration, so how could I let you help out with the cooking? Go get ready in your room, I'll call you once it's ready. Come Chocho, let's go finish cooking." His mother said before walking toward the kitchen.
"Meow,"
Chocho let out a sound and jumped off Lucian's grasp, lightly landing on his mother's shoulder.
Lucian smiled at the two before going to his room to change.
A few minutes later, his voice was heard across the house.
"Mom, why's the water not working?!" His voice seemed to be coming from the bathroom.
"Silly me, looks like I forgot to pay the water bill. Please manage the one in the bucket behind the door, I'll settle the bill in the morning." His mother said from the kitchen.
" Okay, Mom!"
Later in the evening, Lucian and his mother could be seen eating at an old wooden dining table. Chocho sat next to Lucian's plate and monitored him, making sure he ate everything on his plate.
Laughter filled the house as the family of 2…3, family of 3 enjoyed their dinner.