Beast Taming: Start With A Dragon Legion

Chapter 4: The Common Dorm

Knox walked out of the meeting room and closed the door behind him.

The hallway stretched empty before him, torches flickering along the stone walls. He took a breath and started walking.

He made it barely ten steps before a voice called out.

"Young Master Knox."

Knox stopped and turned, surprised.

An Aston servant stood in the hallway, holding two wooden boxes stacked on top of each other. The man had clearly been waiting nearby, ready to intercept him the moment he left.

That was fast.

Knox's lips twisted into a bitter smile. Duke Magnus had planned this down to the minute.

"Your belongings," the servant said quietly. "Duke Magnus has ordered your removal from the noble dormitories. You have been reassigned to the common student housing in the east wing."

Knox looked at the boxes, then at the servant.

"Where?" Knox asked.

"Building Seven, Room 3-A," the servant said. He hesitated, then bowed his head slightly. "I apologize, Young Master."

Knox blinked, surprised.

The servant looked uncomfortable, almost pained, and Knox realized the man probably disagreed with what was happening but had no choice in the matter.

"Don't apologize," Knox said quietly. "You're just doing your job."

The servant's expression softened slightly, relief flickering across his face before he bowed again and handed over the boxes.

Knox took them. They were heavier than he expected, and his arms shook slightly under the weight. His body was still weak from the awakening.

The servant bowed one final time and walked away quickly, disappearing around the corner.

Knox stood alone in the hallway, holding the boxes.

He turned and started walking toward the east wing.

Students filled the main corridor, still celebrating with their families after the ceremony. Knox passed through the crowd, and the moment they saw him carrying the boxes, conversations stopped mid-sentence.

"Is that—?"

"Knox Aston?"

"Why is he carrying his own belongings?"

Knox kept walking. The whispers grew louder behind him.

"Wait, is he heading toward the common dorms?"

"No way."

"Look at those boxes! He's really been kicked out!"

Knox's jaw tightened, but he did not look back. The crowd parted around him, and then the whispers shifted.

"Did Duke Magnus actually disown him?"

"He must have! A noble carrying his own boxes toward common housing?"

Some voices held shock. Others held barely concealed glee.

"The Aston family must be so embarrassed."

"Finally, a noble brought down to our level. Let's see how he likes it."

Knox kept moving forward, his face expressionless.

He reached the east wing and found Building Seven.

The common dormitory was plain, built from grey stone with narrow windows and a single wooden door. Knox pushed the door open with his shoulder and climbed the stairs to the third floor.

Room 3-A.

Knox stopped in front of the door and shifted the boxes to one arm. He turned the handle and pushed the door open.

The room was small and cold, smelling faintly of dust and old wood.

Four beds lined the walls, two on each side, with barely enough space to walk between them. Four small wardrobes stood at the foot of each bed, and a single window at the far end let in weak evening light. The floorboards creaked under his weight.

The room was empty.

Knox stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind him. He walked to the bed nearest the window and dropped the boxes onto the floor.

THUD.

He sat down on the bed and looked around.

The other three beds were untouched, their blankets folded neatly. His roommates had not arrived yet. Most students were still with their families, celebrating their awakenings, preparing for tomorrow's suitability test.

Knox had no one.

No family waiting for him. No one to celebrate with. No place to return to.

He was completely alone.

Knox leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. The room was quiet, the kind of silence that pressed down on him like weight. Outside, he could hear distant laughter, voices calling to each other, the sound of people who still had homes.

He took a slow breath and closed his eyes.

Tomorrow was the suitability test.

Awakening a beast did not automatically make someone an academy student. The test would decide who was qualified to stay and who would be sent home. If Knox passed, he would become an official student of the Royal Academy.

But even if he passed, there was another problem.

Tuition.

Without Aston sponsorship, Knox had no money to pay for three years of academy training. The cost was enormous, designed to filter out anyone without family support or guild backing. After graduation, students were usually conscripted to fight for the country in beast zones, where they could earn reputation, wealth, and status.

But that was three years away.

Knox had nothing now.

He opened his eyes and looked at the boxes on the floor. Everything he owned was inside them. Clothes, a few books, nothing valuable.

He needed to understand the Dragon Vault.

It was the only advantage he had, the only thing that separated him from every other summoner in this world. If he could figure out how it worked, if he could unlock even a fraction of its power, he might have a chance.

Knox stood and walked to the small mirror hanging on the wall beside his bed.

He pulled off his shirt and turned, looking over his shoulder at his back.

The bond mark was there, burned into his skin just below his right shoulder blade. It was small and faint, barely visible in the dim light. The image showed a creature curled in on itself, almost formless.

Nothing like Noah's mark.

Noah's Frost Wyvern mark was large and detailed, covering half his shoulder in ice-blue lines that seemed to shimmer even when he was not summoning. Everyone who saw it knew he had bonded with an elite rank beast.

Knox's mark looked like a smudge.

He stared at it for a moment, then reached back and touched it with his fingers.

Warmth.

The bond pulsed under his touch, faint but present. He could feel the creature on the other end of it, a second heartbeat waiting quietly beside his own.

Knox focused on the mark and pulled.

The air beside him shimmered.

Light gathered in a small cloud of grey particles, swirling together until they solidified into shape. The creature appeared on the floor beside Knox's bed, sitting on all fours, its ember-orange eyes blinking as it looked around the room.

It tilted its head.

Then it sniffed the air, its nostrils flaring as it took in the scent of dust and old wood. Its eyes moved across the room slowly, studying the beds, the wardrobes, the cracked floorboards.

When its gaze landed on the thin mattress and worn blanket, the creature's expression shifted. Its eyes narrowed slightly and it made a low sound in its throat, almost offended.

Knox blinked.

"You don't like the bed?" he asked quietly.

The creature looked up at him, then walked over and sat down at his feet. It did not run around exploring. Instead, it curled up on the floor beside him, its tail wrapping around its body.

Knox stared down at it.

This creature was small, pathetic-looking, the joke of the entire awakening ceremony. But standing here alone in the empty room, Knox felt something shift inside him.

This was his.

Knox crouched down and reached out slowly. The creature did not move.

Knox placed his hand on its head, his fingers pressing against the rough grey scales.

"Let's see what you really are," Knox muttered as he closed his eyes.

The world exploded.

WHOOOOSH!

The room vanished.

Knox fell through darkness, his stomach lurching as the void swallowed him whole. Wind roared in his ears and his body twisted.

THUD!

He hit the ground.

Knox gasped and looked up. The obsidian fortress stretched out around him, the black throne looming at the center. But this time, the endless rows of crystal cages were hidden in shadow.

Only one cage appeared before him.

It slid out of the darkness and stopped directly in front of the throne, glowing faintly with inner light. The cage was positioned at eye level, and the shape inside it was clearer now.

A beast.

Massive, coiled, its body pressed against the crystal walls. Knox could not see its full form, only fragments. Scales, claws and a tail thick as a tree trunk.

Then an eye opened.

Red light burned in the darkness, the pupil a vertical slit that focused on Knox with terrifying intensity.

Knox's breath stopped.

The pressure slammed into him. His chest tightened and sweat ran down his face as the weight of that single stare crushed down on him.

Then a notification flared in his vision.

[SUMMONER STATUS UPDATED.]

[DISPLAYING CURRENT INFORMATION.]

Words appeared before Knox, glowing softly in the air.

SUMMONER STATUS

Name: Knox Morales

Level: 1

Mana: 50/50

Rank: Unclassified

Status: Unsponsored Academy Candidate

BONDED BEAST

Name: Unnamed

Species: Wingless Drake

Rank: ???

Attribute: Gravity

First Ability: Locked

Bond Status: Stable

DRAGON VAULT

Keeper Authority: Level 1

Vault Status: Sealed

Access: Restricted

Dragon Points: 0

First Unlock Requirement: 180 Points

Knox stared at the words.

Dragon Vault.

Dragons.

The word burned in his mind, and suddenly everything clicked into place.

The cages. The beasts inside them. The throne that had called him Keeper.

These were not just monsters.

They were dragons.

Knox's blood ran cold.

Dragons were the beasts that had led the Beast Cataclysm two hundred years ago. They had nearly wiped out humanity, burning entire cities to ash, slaughtering millions. The history books were filled with stories of their destruction, their cruelty and their unstoppable power.

And now Knox was bonded to a system that wanted him to free them.

If anyone finds out...

The thought sent terror spiking through him.

If the academy discovered what he carried, they would kill him. If the kingdom found out, they would execute him as a threat to humanity. If anyone learned that Knox Morales had the power to unseal the dragons that had nearly destroyed the world—

He would be hunted.

Knox's hands trembled and his vision blurred.

Get out. Get out now.

He yanked his focus away from the status screen and the red eye watching him.

CRASH!

The fortress shattered.

Knox gasped and his eyes snapped open.

He was on the floor of his dorm room, his hand jerking away from the creature's head. His whole body shook and cold sweat soaked through his shirt.

The creature sat beside him, watching him with those calm ember-orange eyes.

Knox's chest heaved.

He pushed himself up and leaned back against the bed, his heart pounding.

The creature tilted its head, studying him.

Knox looked at it, really looked at it, and saw the faint intelligence in those eyes. This was not just some mindless beast. It felt like it understood him.

Knox swallowed hard and forced himself to breathe slowly.

"Dragons," he whispered.

The creature made a soft sound in its throat, almost like acknowledgment.

Knox ran a hand through his hair and laughed bitterly. "Of course. Of course it couldn't just be something simple."

The creature walked over and pressed against his leg, its body warm and solid. When Knox's breathing quickened again, remembering the crowd's laughter, the creature made a low growl deep in its chest.

Knox blinked and looked down.

The creature was staring at the door, its eyes narrowed, like it was ready to fight whatever had upset Knox.

Knox's expression softened slightly.

"You need a name," Knox said quietly.

The creature blinked and looked up at him.

Knox thought for a moment, then said, "Ignis."

The creature's eyes brightened slightly, and its scales seemed to catch the light differently for just a second. It made that soft sound again, then the low rumble returned, vibrating through its body like a purr.

Knox reached out and scratched Ignis under the chin. The creature leaned into the touch, its eyes closing halfway.

Knox pulled his hand back and looked at the ceiling.

Tomorrow, the suitability test would begin. Tomorrow, he would start figuring out how to survive in this academy without money, without family, without anything except the small grey creature beside him and the terrifying secret hidden inside his soul.

Outside, Knox heard footsteps in the hallway. Voices. His roommates were probably arriving now.

Knox closed his eyes and focused on the bond. He could feel Ignis there, a warm thread tied to his soul, steady and constant.

Ignis shifted and climbed onto the bed. The creature curled up beside Knox, pressing close against his side.

Knox's breathing slowed.

He reached down and rested his hand on Ignis's back. The rough scales were warm under his palm.

"Just you and me," Knox murmured.

Ignis made a soft sound, then settled down completely, his body relaxing against Knox's leg.

Knox sat there in the quiet room, his hand on his only ally, and let the exhaustion finally pull him under.

He fell asleep sitting against the wall, Ignis curled protectively beside him.