"Sleepy-sleepy, wake up! Come on, rise, little rat!"
Elio gasped, his eyes snapping open.
Above him stood a man whose face was a map of scars, his breath reeking of alcohol and rot. He was poking Elio with a thick wooden rod, the kind used for herding stubborn livestock.
"What've we got here?" The thug's eyes moved from Elio's soot-stained and dirty face to the object clutched against his chest. "That's a rock, boy? Or did you steal something worth a few coins?"
Then he squinted his eyes. "Is that what I think it is?! An egg?!"
Elio's fingers tightened around the grey egg. The memory of his mother's face in the fire flashed in his head, and a sudden, familiar darkness began to bloom in the center of his chest.
He felt the edges of his vision begin to fray into darkness. The air in the alleyway began to thicken, turning heavy.
"Give it here," the thug growled, reaching down.
As the man's hand closed in, Elio's hazel eyes started to bleed into black. He began emanating wisps of dark matter, his body trembling as if something was trying to force itself out.
The thug paused, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face as he felt the air contrasting its previous state.
"Is there a problem here?"
A voice surprisingly echoed behind.
Almost immediately, the darkness in Elio's eyes and the black matter escaping recoiled, retreating into the depths they came from as a shadow fell across the alley's entrance.
Standing there was a kingdom guard, his armor etched with the gold emblem of Serenum. He wasn't particularly tall, but the mana radiating off him was steady and noteworthy.
Silver Rank, the least.
The thug wasn't a fool. He could perceive the guard's mana. Compared to his own pathetic Iron Rank Wood Worm, he knew he was no match for the guard.
Behind the guard, in the road of the small town, kids bickerings and chatters could be heard, along with the constant slams of a wooden carriage's door.
"Just... just helping the lad up, sir," the thug stammered, his bravado vanishing instantly. "Found him sleeping in the dirt. Thought he might miss the carriage."
The guard didn't even look at the man. His eyes were fixed on Elio, or rather, the egg.
"The carriage for the ceremony is at the end of the street. If you have an egg, you go."
Elio scrambled to his feet, his legs feeling like they were made of lead. He didn't look back at the thug. He didn't even look at the guard. He just ran toward the sound of the beasts fastened to the carriage and the constant chatter of the town's main road.
He knew what his parents wanted. They had labored for this… For the future in his hands.
And now that they were… gone, he could only think of how to fulfill their dreams of raising a successful tamer, of giving a life better than common farmers like they had, of raising the sweet, valiant Elio they always wanted.
Every time he looked at the egg, it seemed like he could see the faces of his parents smiling on him, wishing him the best and silently supporting.
And knowing that they had sacrificed all for this, Elio was determined to become great.
He knew his parents accepted their 'fate' when that fire claimed them. He knew they were ready to die for the mistakes that caused the darkness in his life, as they always said.
But that didn't change the way he felt. It didn't erase the heavy guilt. He was only trying to make them happy wherever they were now.
He found the carriage.
It was a massive, lumbering thing made of dark oak, already half-filled with children.
Most of them looked like Elio; ragged tunics, a couple of them with grey eggs, eyes wide with a mixture of terror and desperate hope.
It made sense. They were still in the slums.
As Elio climbed in, the atmosphere shifted.
A few kids from his own village shrank back against the wooden slats.
"That's the Ravina boy," one whispered, her voice trembling. "Did you see the smoke on the outskirts? My dad said the whole house just… burnt. With black fire."
"They say his parents didn't make it out," another added, looking at Elio with a mixture of pity and fear.
"I heard he's cursed. Most of us don't play with him," another nudged the boy beside him, whispering loudly. "Remember how you almost died because of that black smoke?"
"Do you think his curse affected his house and parents?"
Elio didn't answer all of these. He slumped into a corner, his back against the wall of the carriage.
'I killed them.' The thought was a physical weight.
Tears almost escaped his eyes, but he managed to suck it in.
"Elio, water? Wash your face. Dirt there." A brown haired boy offered, stretching the small bottle forward.
Elio looked at the hand and face for a moment, before accepting. The face was familiar.
The boy was the son of the poor couples living beside his crummy building. Or what was his building.
He was Kai. Kai Tringard.
Soon, the carriage began its journey. As the carriage moved, the scenery changed. The low-mana slums and thatched roofs gave way to broader streets and stone buildings.
Serenum was never a small kingdom. Of the seven kingdoms, Serenum proved to be the largest of all, not just in land mass, but in almost every other aspect.
Better tamers, highest resources, biggest land mass, home to multiple powerful beasts and herbs, and so much more.
The large population of the kingdom was distributed in many towns and villages. Those who got a better beast lived the luxurious life of big tamers, and those who were misfortuned…
Well, they were forced to settle in the slums or small towns when they couldn't cope with the tax of big cities and were constantly oppressed by nobles and big merchants.
∆∆∆∆
The carriage had long left the slums, now venturing in the lands of milk and honey—the big cities.
At the next stop, the "better" kids joined.
These were the sons and daughters of merchants and minor nobles, kids who had grown up with three meals a day and stories of legendary tamers. They wore silks that shimmered with infused mana, and they carried their eggs in padded cases.
A boy with slicked-back blonde hair and sharp blue eyes stepped in, eyes immediately landing on the poor section of the carriage. He held an egg that was a brilliant, pulsing blue.
"Look at this lot," the boy scoffed, sitting as far from Elio as possible. "They're actually bringing river stones to the great hall. Why do they even bother? Serenum is for tamers, not for beggars. And why do we have to ride with them?"
His friends laughed, their eyes raking over Elio's tattered, scorched clothes.
Elio didn't even blink. Compared to the obsidian fire and the loss of his parents, the insults of a noble brat felt like nothing. He just stared at the floor, his mind trapped in the house that no longer existed.
The carriage continued with constant jabs from the nobles. It had taken many stops, loaded big nobles and heirs and heiresses to powerhouses of Serenum before eventually stopping at the capital city, where the ceremonial hall was situated.
∆∆∆∆
The Serenum Ceremonial Hall was a cathedral of power. Pillars of white marble stretched toward a ceiling painted with the constellations of the kingdom's great beasts. Grand picture frames of the kingdom's greatest tamers proudly hung on the walls.
At the far end sat a pedestal for the eggs, a massive slab of magical stone where beasts are 'summoned' from their eggs.
The ceremony master, a man whose presence felt like a physical pressure against the chest, stood by the pedestal.
"The traditional Contract Ceremony of ages begins now!" He declared to the enmassed. "Every year, powerful tamers are born, legendary beasts are contracted, Serenum grows big. Now, it's your turn!"
The kids happily smiled, the not so privileged ones jumping and bubbling with excitement while nobles maintained a facaded composure.
"One by one," he commanded. "Step forward. Reveal what the heavens have granted you. Bond with your eternal companions, your very own future."
They gladly obliged.
The young ones were in a long queue, each carrying their eggs, waiting to be called and awaken their beasts.
The blonde noble boy, Julian, went early. When he placed his blue egg on the stone, the hall was filled with a crackling screech.
A Storm Eagle emerged, its feathers made of electric blue sparks, its cry echoing off the walls.
The nobles in the stands cheered, commoners marveled with big eyes.
"A powerful beast. Silver Rank potential. Step forward and bond with your beast."
Julian wore a contented smug, stretching his hand forward for the beast to connect.
The Storm Eagle placed its sharp talons on the boy's small hands and began glowing. It shimmered until the light became hurtful.
When the light faded, the beast whooshed dramatically into the boy's chest, settling in his consciousness.
His skin pulsed with blue light afterwards, small, blue wings pulsating with electrical energy appearing on his back, his fingernails elongating and curving into razor talons.
That was his beast's manifestation.
It continued that way.
"Light Tiger! Gold Rank Potential!"
"Troll Dog! Bronze Rank Potential, but can attain Beginner Silver Rank if properly cultivated."
"Wood Worm! Bronze Rank Potential!"
Those who got good beasts left proudly and happily, and those who were misfortuned…
They left dejectedly, knowing they were stuck with their bad luck forever.
"Kai Tringard!" The ceremony master called, his Sonic Wyvern helping to project a strong vocal range, sounds that bounced off the wall and made his voice easily heard.
Kai stepped forward with his grey egg, his gaze fixated on the ground as he heard murmurs behind him.
"What a shame. Useless egg."
"What beast do you think he'll get from that poor thing?"
"Definitely something that can't surpass Beginner Bronze Rank. Pathetic!"
Kai moved regardless and placed his mediocre egg on the pedestal with trembling hands.
The grey egg cracked with a howl that resonated through the shell.
Out came a Gale Wolf, a small, white furred beast with sharp snout and light body.
"Impressive, knowing the egg it originated from… Gale Wolf. Silver Rank Potential with proper cultivation."
Kai's face immediately lit up. He stretched his hand boldly to bond with the beast and relished its brilliant manifestation.
When he left the stage, he even imitated the poise of nobles who had contracted powerful beasts.
"Suddenly pompous, eh?"
"Lucky bastard!"
"Pfft! He only got a nice beast. Attaining such rank is impossible for the plebeian!"
The ceremony continued despite the chatters.
And soon, our boy of interest was eventually called.
"Elio Ravina," the master called.
————~~~~~————~~~~~———
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