The wind that crossed the Academy Plateau carried with it the scent of iron and something older-something that did not belong to the present age.
Ling Yan stood at the edge of the cliff, his boots half-buried in the brittle grass, watching the horizon fracture into layers of distant continents. The world did not stretch as a single landmass; it rose and fell like broken steps toward the sky, suspended in vastness, each layer veiled in mist and rumor. Somewhere beyond those drifting veils lay the Ancient Domains, the Forbidden Wastes, and places no map dared to name.
"First time seeing the upper layers?" a voice asked behind him.
Ling Yan didn't turn immediately. He kept his eyes fixed on the floating silhouettes. "No," he said after a pause. "Just the first time it feels... real."
A soft chuckle. "You'll get used to it. Or you won't. Most people don't."
He turned then. The speaker was a tall boy with sun-darkened skin and a relaxed stance, as if the wind itself bent around him. A leather strap crossed his chest, holding a small crystal device that pulsed faintly with light-the standard Spirit Gauge issued to incoming students.
"You're new too," Ling Yan said.
"Obviously," the boy replied, grinning. "Name's Huo Ran."
"Ling Yan."
They exchanged a brief nod, the kind strangers share before deciding whether to become something more.
Below them, the Academy grounds spread wide like a city built from ambition. Towers of glass and stone rose beside ancient-looking arenas etched with glowing runes. Between them, students moved in clusters-some laughing, some tense, some already summoning faint silhouettes of creatures that flickered like heat haze.
Beastmasters.
Ling Yan's fingers twitched unconsciously.
"Orientation starts soon," Huo Ran said, glancing toward the central plaza. "You coming?"
"In a minute."
Huo Ran shrugged. "Don't get lost. This place doesn't forgive people who wander."
He left with easy strides, disappearing into the flow of students. Ling Yan remained where he was.
The wind shifted.
For a brief moment, something pressed against his senses-not sound, not sight, but a presence. It coiled somewhere deep within his chest, like a sleeping thing turning in its dreams.
His breath hitched.
Not again.
He clenched his fist, forcing the sensation down. It faded, but not completely. It never did.
"...Ancient beast core," he murmured under his breath.
No one had confirmed it. No one could. But ever since he was young, there had been something inside him-something that reacted to certain places, certain energies. His emotions would spike, his thoughts blur, and for a heartbeat, he would feel... vast.
Dangerously vast.
The Academy bell rang.
A deep, resonant tone that seemed to echo not just through the air, but through the ground itself.
Ling Yan exhaled slowly and turned away from the cliff.
-
The central plaza was already packed.
Hundreds of students stood in loose formations, their Spirit Gauges glowing in different intensities-some faint like dying embers, others sharp and steady like drawn blades.
At the front, a raised platform held a single figure.
An instructor.
He wore a long coat lined with metallic threads that shimmered faintly, as if reacting to unseen currents. His gaze swept across the crowd, calm yet piercing.
"When the bell rings a second time," he said, his voice carrying effortlessly across the plaza, "your lives as ordinary citizens end."
A ripple of silence followed.
"You stand at the threshold of becoming Beastmasters. Some of you believe this is about power." His eyes narrowed slightly. "It is not."
A student near Ling Yan shifted nervously.
"Power is a byproduct," the instructor continued. "What you are about to enter is a system of contracts. Bonds. Risks."
He raised a hand.
Behind him, the air distorted.
A creature emerged-not summoned in a flash, but unfolding, as if stepping through layers of reality. It resembled a wolf, but its body was composed of shifting silver light, its eyes like fragments of a broken moon.
A murmur spread through the crowd.
"Spirit resonance," the instructor said. "This is what you seek. Not control. Not domination."
The wolf-like beast turned its head slowly, scanning the students. When its gaze passed over Ling Yan, his chest tightened.
There it is again.
That feeling.
Like something inside him was answering.
"You will each attempt your first contract today," the instructor said. "A simple one. A minor beast. If you fail-"
The creature's form flickered, and for a split second, its presence surged.
Several students flinched.
"-you will try again. And again. Until you understand what it means to stand before another life and ask it to trust you."
The bell rang a second time.
This time, the ground beneath their feet responded.
Runes ignited across the plaza, forming intricate patterns that spread outward like a living circuit. The air thickened with energy-raw, untamed.
"Step forward when your name is called," the instructor said.
One by one, students were summoned.
Some succeeded quickly. A faint glow, a soft resonance, and a small creature would appear beside them-fox-like, bird-like, elemental wisps shaped by instinct and affinity.
Others failed.
Their Spirit Gauges flickered erratically, the summoning circles collapsing into scattered light.
Ling Yan watched, his senses sharpening.
He wasn't just looking.
He was feeling.
Each attempt carried a different rhythm-like pulses in the air. Some steady, some chaotic. Some... hollow.
"Ling Yan."
His name.
He stepped forward.
The moment his foot crossed into the central circle, the runes reacted.
Not with a gentle glow-but with a sudden, intense flare.
The instructor's gaze sharpened.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Ling Yan ignored him.
He closed his eyes.
Focus.
The technique was simple in theory-extend your spirit, align with the surrounding energy, and call out.
But as he reached inward, something else stirred.
Not outward.
Inward.
The presence.
It surged, stronger than before.
Images flashed-fractured, incomplete. A vast expanse. A roar that shook the sky. Chains. Light breaking.
His breath faltered.
No-focus.
He forced his attention outward, grasping at the ambient energy. It resisted at first, then shifted, as if uncertain.
"Don't force it," the instructor said quietly. "Listen."
Ling Yan exhaled.
Listen.
He let go of the tension.
For a moment, there was nothing.
Then-
A thread.
Faint. Fragile.
He followed it.
The air before him shimmered, coalescing into a small form. A creature no larger than his forearm emerged, its body resembling a fox made of pale blue light. Its eyes were wide, cautious.
A beginner-level spirit beast.
Relief flickered through him.
He extended his hand slowly.
"I'm not here to control you," he said softly. "Just... walk with me."
The fox-like creature tilted its head.
For a second, it seemed to consider.
Then-
The presence inside him surged again.
Violent this time.
The fox shrieked.
Its form destabilized, light fracturing like shattered glass.
Ling Yan's eyes snapped open.
"No-wait-!"
Too late.
The connection snapped.
The creature vanished.
The runes dimmed abruptly.
Silence fell.
A failed contract.
But that wasn't what drew the attention.
It was the reaction.
The instructor stepped forward, his expression no longer neutral.
"What did you do?" he asked.
Ling Yan's chest rose and fell rapidly. "I... I didn't-"
"You didn't lose control," the instructor interrupted. "Something interfered."
Murmurs spread through the students.
"Is he cursed?"
"No... that felt different..."
"Like... something pushed it away."
Ling Yan clenched his fists.
"I can try again," he said.
The instructor studied him for a long moment.
Then he nodded.
"Again."
The runes reignited.
Ling Yan steadied himself.
This time, he braced for it.
The inward surge.
It came faster.
Stronger.
Like a door being forced open.
He gritted his teeth.
No.
Not now.
He pushed back-not with force, but with will. A refusal.
The presence resisted.
For a heartbeat, it felt like standing against something vast and ancient, something that did not recognize his authority.
Then-
It stilled.
Not gone.
Just... watching.
Ling Yan seized the moment.
He reached outward again.
The thread returned.
Another creature formed-similar, but not the same. This one's light was steadier, its gaze sharper.
He didn't rush.
He didn't speak immediately.
He waited.
The creature stepped closer.
A breath.
Another.
Then, gently, he said, "We don't have to trust each other yet. Just... don't run."
A pause.
The creature lowered its head slightly.
The connection formed.
This time, it held.
A faint glow wrapped around Ling Yan's hand, then spread, linking him and the creature in a thin line of light.
Contract.
The plaza erupted in quiet reactions.
"He did it..."
"After that?"
"Something's off about him..."
Ling Yan exhaled slowly, the tension leaving his body in waves.
The creature-his creature-sat beside him, its tail flickering like a small flame.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Because deep inside, the presence stirred again.
Not violently.
But with... interest.
As if it had noticed something worth remembering.
-
Later, as the sun dipped and shadows stretched across the Academy grounds, Ling Yan stood alone in the dormitory courtyard.
His contracted beast rested nearby, watching him with calm, observant eyes.
"You felt it too, didn't you?" he murmured.
The creature tilted its head.
No answer.
Of course not.
He looked up at the sky.
The upper layers were barely visible now, swallowed by darkness.
Somewhere out there, beyond the reach of ordinary Beastmasters, lay the Ancient Domains.
And whatever was inside him-
-it belonged to that world.
A faint sound broke the silence.
Footsteps.
Light. Measured.
Ling Yan turned.
A figure stood at the edge of the courtyard, half-hidden in shadow.
A boy, roughly his age.
Dark clothing. Eyes that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it.
"Your contract," the boy said, his voice calm, almost detached. "It wasn't normal."
Ling Yan narrowed his eyes. "You were watching."
"I was observing."
A slight pause.
"Name," Ling Yan said.
The boy stepped forward just enough for his face to be seen.
"Ying Ren."
The air between them felt... strange.
Not hostile.
But not neutral either.
Ying Ren's gaze lingered on Ling Yan's chest, as if seeing through flesh and bone.
"Be careful," he said.
"With what?"
Ying Ren's expression didn't change.
"With the thing inside you."
Ling Yan's breath stilled.
Before he could respond, Ying Ren turned and walked away, his figure dissolving into the darkness between buildings.
Silence returned.
But it was no longer the same.
Ling Yan looked down at his hand-the one that had formed the contract.
For a brief moment, he thought he saw something beneath the skin.
A flicker.
Not light.
Something deeper.
Something ancient.
And far away, beyond the visible sky, something answered.