The laughter from the ceremony still rang in Rex's ears as he stood alone on the stage. His earthworm floated in the air for a few more seconds, wiggling like it was confused about existing, then dropped to the marble floor with a wet splat.The hall had gone quiet except for scattered snickers and whispers."All that drama for a worm?""I thought he was going to summon a dragon for a second there.""Guess the cursed bloodline strikes again."Rex could feel Darius's stare burning into him from the side of the stage. The man's jaw was tight, his eyes hard with barely controlled anger. Rex had just shattered a three-hundred-year-old artifact, one of the most valuable relics in the city, only to summon something that looked like fishing bait.He snapped his hands and then, a few mages appeared, their beast floating right above them as they magically gathered the orb and floated away."Guess you found your way into the academy!" Darius noted with a frown handling Rex a room key and a card

Rex could feel the blazing heat of danger right behind him and his instincts forced him to turn.His eyes locked straight into the hypnotic stare of the snake beast.He tried to move, to step away, but his whole body felt glued to the ground. For a few seconds, his life flashed before his eyes. He remembered everything, all the beatings, the insults his parents had received and the laughter that echoed through the ceremony halls.For the first time in his life, he had felt hope escape into his soul, but only for a moment. It seemed like this was how everything was going to end.Then something snapped.The snake's body yanked off the way like it had been yanked by an invisible force and just like that, Rex could move again.He stumbled back, his heart pounding against his ribs cage. He clutched his chest, breathing hard, and finally, Rex looked at what had saved him.There it was—Lung in his full form, standing between him and the snake, scales gleaming like rubies. It shimmered with

"You! What have you done!"Rex had almost forgotten that he was with someone in the hall.Annoid jerked up from the ground with a growl, his eyes maddened with rage."I'm going to make sure that you're dead!" He attacked Rex who slid out of the way and shoved a fist into his stomach, sending him flying through the hall.Rex was shocked at the impact of the fist that connected, his body feeling every bit lighter. Blood poured from Annoid's mouth and he instantly fainted."We need to leave right now!" said Rex.Annoid was still nobility and he had not grown enough to start throwing everyone's dead weight around or he would be dead any moment. "And you need to change back to your initial form, people are afraid of what they do not know and we would not want anyone experimenting on you. For Annoid, we will find an explanation later!"Lung grumbled before returning back to his original form.Soon, Rex was in the waiting room where they would stay for a few weeks and learn about the arcane

Emma's eyes instantly lits up with a spiral of expectations and hope.She looked at Rex's earth worm with spite and then her eyes strutted towards the majestic looks of the Royal eagle."You're sure you can help?" Emma's eyes glimmered as she waited for a response. "We can discuss the details over dinner." He handed an invitation card over and she attempted to go with him but Rex quickly stopped her, a frown glazing over his face."Should I have to remind you that we have our first training session today?"Those words caused Emma to scoff and roll her eyes at the same time."That's the point that you are not getting Mr. Trash, I would give anything just to be the farthest away from you that I possibly can! Besides, who wouldn't want to have fun with someone like Harold instead of wasting time with a cursed bloodline failure!"Harold's face lit up with triumph. He slid close to Rex and whispered into his hearing with venom dripping from every word."Don't worry about the training, Rex

Rex's eyes almost burned out of their sockets."If you're trying to embarrass me, it's working!" he gruntedMore jeers rolled of the lips of the spectators and this time, even more intense. Rex was forced to take another peek at his nonchalant looking beast.Lung's mockery soon melted into a scoff, slowly trotting towards his direction with renewed laziness and pride."I don't know if you're just slow but you should realize already that I'm not a regular beast. Even the most simple things for other beasts requires extensive rituals for me! At least after the third trial you should have gotten that! I didn't expect you to be also dumb amongst other things!"Those words stung Rex to his bones. Beasts were supposed to be totally subject to their tamers, mindless things usually embodying the owner's personality.But this rogue was something else.Rex's eyes arched in utter frustration as the beast listed out the hand signals Rex needed to pull."First, draw a circle in the air with your