Beast Taming: Start With A Dragon Legion

Chapter 7: The First Test

"Next candidate," Crane called. "Serena Hale."

A girl with dark hair tied back in a simple braid stepped onto the platform. She wore simple robes with a small family crest embroidered on the shoulder, and her expression was calm as she faced the testing array.

Green aura rose around her body, steady and controlled.

Her beast manifested in a swirl of light. An ethereal white fox with three tails appeared beside her, its translucent fur refracting light like crystal. The fox was smaller in its low-form than it had been during the awakening, but its pale blue eyes were sharp and alert.

The examiners watched as Serena guided the Light Spirit Fox through basic commands. Sit. Stand. Circle. The beast obeyed without hesitation, and when the output test came, it bent light across the testing plate, creating a brief shimmer of false images that overlapped perfectly.

"Class A," one examiner announced.

Serena nodded and stepped down from the platform, her fox dissolving back into light.

Knox watched from the back of the courtyard as more candidates were called. Most passed with average results while a few struggled with bond stability and barely scraped through. One candidate's beast refused to obey commands entirely, and the examiners removed him from consideration.

"Next candidate," Crane said. "Marcus Varen."

The arrogant candidate who had mocked Knox earlier straightened and walked onto the platform with a confident smirk. He shot a glance at Knox before turning to face the examiners.

Green aura rose around him, stronger than most and also controlled.

His Stonejaw Wolf manifested in a powerful low-form. Its fur was dark grey with rocky plating around its jaw and shoulders, and its eyes glowed faintly yellow. The beast growled low as Marcus gestured sharply.

The wolf obeyed his commands smoothly. Sit. Attack position. Prowl. Each movement was clean and controlled, showing the kind of bond control that came from natural talent or expensive pre-academy training.

For the output test, Marcus pointed at the testing stone, and the wolf lunged forward and bit down hard. The stone cracked cleanly in half. The crowd murmured in approval.

"Class B," the examiner announced.

Marcus smirked and looked directly at Knox as he stepped down from the platform. His message was clear, and he had regained his face.

Knox did not react but he clenched his fists.

More candidates were tested, their results varying but most falling into acceptable ranges. Then Crane's voice cut through the courtyard.

"Noah Aston."

The crowd immediately quieted.

Noah stepped onto the platform with calm confidence, not rushing or hesitating, just walking forward like he had done this a hundred times before.

Green aura rose around him in a steady glow while he stood looking smug.

Knox almost rolled his eyes. It was like those stupid webnovels he had read on earth, where the arrogant young master got some special awakening and everyone fawned over him.

Noah's Frost Wyvern manifested.

The beast appeared in its juvenile low-form, smaller than it had been during the awakening, but still elegant and polished. Its scales were pale blue and white, its wings folded neatly against its back, and its eyes glowed with cold intelligence.

The crowd whispered in awe.

Noah guided the Wyvern through commands with barely a gesture, and the beast moved with perfect precision. Its bond stability was flawless with no mana leakage or hesitation.

Then came the output test.

Noah placed his hand on the Wyvern's side and channeled mana. The beast inhaled deeply, then exhaled a thin stream of frost onto the testing plate.

The frost spread in a perfect circle, stopping exactly at the marked edge without spilling over.

The crowd applauded.

Even Crane gave a brief nod of approval before marking her notepad.

"Class A," the examiner announced.

Noah stepped down from the platform without expression, but the temporary ranking board lit up behind Crane, and his name appeared near the top.

Knox watched from the back, Ignis still perched on his shoulder.

That's your brother? Ignis asked through the bond.

"Yes," Knox said quietly.

He's strong.

Knox did not reply to that.

More candidates were tested, and the rankings shifted slightly, but Noah remained near the top. Marcus sat comfortably in the middle while others hovered at various positions on the board.

Crane looked down at her notepad.

"Knox Aston."

Knox stepped forward. "Knox Morales," he said clearly. "The academy needs to update its records."

The courtyard erupted in laughter.

"He really rejected the Aston name!"

"From disowned to self-exiled!"

Marcus grinned coldly and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "The failure thinks a new name will help. How amusing."

Crane's expression did not change. She simply made a mark on her notepad without looking up. "Knox Morales, then. Step forward."

The laughter continued as Knox walked onto the platform. Ignis remained perched on his shoulder, his claws gripping lightly, his ember-orange eyes scanning the crowd.

Crane looked at Knox with cold indifference. "Your beast is already manifested. Activate your Level 1 aura and maintain bond stability."

Knox nodded.

He closed his eyes and reached for the mana inside him. It responded slowly, sluggish and weak, but he pulled it forward and channeled it through the bond.

Green aura rose around him.

It was faint, barely visible compared to Noah's strong glow or even the average candidate's steady light. The aura flickered slightly before spreading to Ignis.

The crowd laughed.

"Is that it?"

Knox opened his eyes and kept his breathing steady. The aura was weak, and his mana struggled to hold it, but the bond itself remained stable.

Elara Crane watched Knox Morales's pathetic display and felt nothing but professional detachment.

His aura was weak, his mana output was low, and everything about him screamed failure.

But then she looked at the beast on his shoulder.

The grey drake sat perfectly still despite the weak mana flow. Its form showed no signs of instability, no trembling, no signs of strain from being maintained by such poor quality mana on the platform.

For a supposed common rank beast bonded to an unsponsored Level 1 summoner with barely functional mana flow, that level of stability was unusual.

Crane's pen paused over her notepad.

She did not praise him or change her expression, but she made a small mark beside his name before writing her note.

Abnormal bond stability. Weak manifestation but no structural strain. Cause unclear.

"Next stage," Crane said coldly. "Output test."

An examiner placed a white enchanted sand tray on the platform in front of Ignis. The tray was designed to react to different attributes—fire would blacken it, ice would stiffen it, wind would scatter it, earth would harden it.

The crowd watched expectantly.

"Channel mana into your beast and produce a Level 1 output," Crane instructed.

Knox placed his hand on Ignis's side and focused. He could feel the creature's uncertainty through the bond, the sleeping weight inside him that neither of them knew how to wake.

I don't know how, Ignis said quietly.

Just try, Knox thought back. Focus on that heavy feeling.

Ignis's body tensed, and Knox channeled mana carefully, feeding it through the bond.

Nothing happened.

The sand did not burn, did not glow, did not scatter or harden.

The crowd started laughing.

"He can't even produce basic output!"

"What kind of useless beast is that?"

Marcus's voice cut through the noise, sharp and mocking. "I told you. A dull lizard with no power. This is exactly what we expected."

Knox's jaw tightened, but he kept his hand on Ignis. He channeled more mana, pushing harder.

Then, for one brief second, the center of the sand tray sank inward.

It was shallow, barely noticeable, but the sand dipped in a perfect circle, as if pressed down by invisible weight.

Most of the crowd missed it because they were laughing.

The examiner standing closest frowned and leaned forward, staring at the sand tray.

Crane's eyes narrowed.

Then the effect vanished, and the sand settled back to normal.

"Output unclear," the examiner said, writing on his notepad. "Possible equipment malfunction."

The crowd laughed harder.

"He can't even fail properly!"

"Did his beast just do nothing?"

Another examiner stepped forward. "Repeat the test."

Knox nodded and tried again. He channeled mana through the bond, and Ignis focused as hard as he could.

Nothing happened.

The sand remained completely still.

Marcus spoke loudly, his voice dripping with contempt. "He can't even reproduce his own failure. Absolutely pathetic."

The crowd roared with laughter.

Knox pulled his hand back and stepped away from the sand tray. His expression remained calm, but inside, frustration burned.

The examiner marked his notepad. "Output test result: weak and unclassified. Attribute unknown."

Crane said nothing. She simply wrote another note and gestured for Knox to step down.

Knox walked off the platform and returned to his spot at the back of the courtyard. Ignis remained on his shoulder, his body tense with frustration.

I'm sorry, Ignis said quietly through the bond.

"Not your fault," Knox muttered.

The temporary ranking board lit up behind Crane.

Noah Aston sat near the top. Marcus Varen sat comfortably above average.

Knox Morales appeared near the bottom, just barely above the rejection line.

The crowd whispered and pointed.

"They're being generous. He should have been cut already."

"That beast can't even produce basic output. How is he supposed to fight in the beast zones?"

Knox leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. The humiliation was complete, and the crowd had seen exactly what they expected to see: a failure with a useless beast.

But Crane had seen something else.

She stared at her notepad, at the small note she had written beside Knox's name.

Sand displacement. No contact. No wind. No earth vibration.

Pressure? Weight manipulation?

She dismissed the thought. It was impossible. Attributes like that belonged to King rank beasts or higher. A common grey drake could not possibly possess that kind of power.

But the sand had moved.

Crane closed her notepad and looked across the courtyard.

"The final stage will begin shortly," she announced. "This stage will test basic command response and whether you can guide your beast under pressure without losing control. Prepare yourselves."