"Kael Veyron! Next!"The Master of Ceremonies' voice boomed across the amphitheater, sharp and impatient.The crystal on the central dais didn't just glow—it hummed. The vibration crawled up through the stone benches of the amphitheater, rattling Kael's boots. A thick, indigo light flooded the dais, swirling like oil on water. The air grew heavy. Suffocating.Every student at Veyron Academy knew that weight.Rank C."Rank C!" someone shouted. "The broke kid actually pulled a Rank C!""Look at that aura." Another student leaned over the railing. "Not bad for someone who eats the academy's leftover gruel. Guess he won't be sweeping floors after all."The light snapped inward. The pressure collapsed.Where the indigo pulse had been, a small pale-blue snake lay coiled on the ancient relic. No thicker than a man's thumb. Barely two feet long. Its scales held no fire. Its fangs dripped no venom.It blinked up at Kael with soft, milky-white eyes—then pressed its tiny snout against his knuckl

Astra's scales were losing their luster.Turning chalky. Dead grey.Blood—dark and thick—pooled beneath her crushed lower spine. The lion's flame-infused claw had shattered her small frame.Her breath came in tiny, ragged hitches against the blood-stained blanket on Kael's wooden table.[CRITICAL ALERT: CONTRACT BEAST IN EXTREME DISTRESS] Injuries: Shattered Core-Vein, Internal Hemorrhaging, Severe Aura Necrosis Survival Probability: 30% (Declining rapidly) Standard Medical Herbs: IneffectiveKael's hands shook.He pressed his thumbs against the base of her head."No. No, no, no... stay with me, Astra."Tears burned hot in his eyes, blurring the crimson stains covering his hands. He slammed his fist onto the wooden table."System! Is there a way or not?!"[Emergency Protocol Detected: Soul-Graft Bond] Effect: Transfer 50% of beast's internal physical trauma directly to the Tamer. Unlocks shared attributes. Survival Probability Post-Transfer: 80% Warning: The Tamer will experienc

"Oh, you're still here?"Kael paused at the top of the grand marble steps of the Veyr Manor. His hands casually shoved into his pockets.Down at the bottom of the landing, Voss Thorne was still on his knees. His face red. His body trembling from hours of holding the same rigid posture.His parents stood nearby—pale and furious—but completely unable to move under the sharp gaze of the Veyr family guards flanking the iron gates.Voss gritted his teeth. His jaw muscles worked as he pushed his palms against the gravel to push himself up."You're out. I'm standing.""I said you could kneel until I came back down, and then you're forgiven." Kael stepped down the stairs with slow, deliberate strides. "I didn't say I was letting you stand. You injured my beast in front of the entire academy, and now you want to beg in private where no one can see your disgrace?"Voss flinched. His eyes burning with embarrassment and rage."My family paid four hundred gold coins for your bloody herbs! The comp

Astra's cold tongue flicked against Kael's wrist. A steady rhythm against his racing pulse as he stood alone at the forest threshold.Around him, hundreds of academy students clustered into tightly knit four-man squads. Their laughter and overlapping chatter filling the staging grounds.Nobody looked Kael in the eye—except Draven."Hey, loser."Draven sneered, stepping up with his arms crossed over his chest. His iron-clawed bear pacing at his heels."I hope your little worm makes it out alive today. Without us protecting you, I wonder how you'll even find a single core."Kael turned his head slightly. Leaned close to Draven's ear."Protect me...?"Kael whispered. His voice dropping to a razor-thin rasp."Or do you want me to tell everyone here who actually killed those Rank B serpents the last time we stepped through that gate?"Draven's face turned instantly red. Blood rushing to his ears as he stumbled back half a step.He shot a nervous glance at the nearby students before glaring

"You asked if I knew your name," Lord Alaric Veyr said, his voice echoing off the vaulted stone ceiling of the Veyr family archive.Heavy wooden bookshelves stretched forty feet into the darkness above, lined with ancient leather-bound tomes and glowing crystal scrolls. Aurelia walked alongside them, her gray eyes scanning the dust-mote-filled air as Alaric pulled a thick, brass-bound ledger from the deepest recess of the central vault.He slammed the book onto the mahogany reading table, turning to a parchment page yellowed with age."The founder of beast taming—the very first human to contract a monster—bore the name Veyron," Alaric said, his finger tracing a crest featuring a coiled dragon above an open palm. "His descendants carried the Primordial Beast Tamer bloodline. It gave every true member of that house the absolute authority to force any beast, regardless of tier, into submission."Kael stared at the crest, his heart thumping against his ribs. "Primordial Beast Tamer..." he