2026-03-25 03:48:42The four surviving students stood frozen, their eyes locked on Elena, who calmly rested the massive warhammer against the ground as if nothing unusual had happened.
Alaric’s gaze shifted toward them.
Up close, he recognized one of them immediately.
The girl standing at the front—long dark hair, sharp features, and a composed aura even under pressure—was someone well known throughout the city.
Kira White.
A prodigy.
And one of the most admired beauties among the younger generation.
Behind her, a massive beast stood protectively.
It had the head of a lion, the wings of a dragon, and the tail of a serpent.
A Chimera.
A Legendary Beast.
Kira took a slow breath, regaining her composure.
Then she stepped forward and looked at Alaric.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “You saved us.”
Alaric gave a small nod.
“You’re welcome.”
One of the boys behind her, still shaken, asked nervously, “Who… who are you?”
Alaric answered calmly.
“Alaric.”
The moment his name left his mouth—
The group froze.
“…Alaric?” one girl repeated.
Another boy’s eyes widened.
“Wait… that Alaric?”
Kira’s expression shifted slightly.
“You’re… Alaric Vincent?”
Silence fell again.
Then one of the boys frowned deeply.
“The one who got kicked out of the Vincent family?”
Another whispered harshly,
“The useless one with the trash-tier beast?”
Their gazes slowly shifted toward Elena.
Confusion and disbelief filled their faces.
“That… thing?” one of them muttered. “That’s his beast?”
Another scoffed under his breath.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A girl crossed her arms.
“We almost died, and we got saved by… that?”
Her voice carried clear disdain.
“Is this some kind of joke?”
Alaric remained expressionless.
Kira, however, frowned slightly.
“Enough,” she said calmly.
Her sharp gaze silenced her teammates.
“Regardless of who he is,” she continued, “he just saved our lives.”
The others fell quiet, though their expressions still carried doubt.
One boy muttered quietly,
“…Still doesn’t make sense.”
Alaric ignored them.
Instead, his eyes shifted toward the body lying on the ground.
The dead teammate.
His expression darkened slightly.
“This shouldn’t have happened,” Alaric said.
Kira nodded.
“Agreed.”
She looked toward the area where the fog creature had been destroyed.
“That thing… wasn’t normal.”
Another teammate clenched his fists.
“It didn’t even have a body.”
“It just… swallowed him,” someone added shakily.
The group fell silent again.
After a moment, Kira took out a small glowing stone from her pocket.
“A communication stone,” she said. “We need to report this.”
She activated it.
The stone flickered briefly.
Then—
Nothing.
Kira frowned.
“…That’s strange.”
She tried again.
“Can anyone hear me? This is Kira White. We have a casualty inside the Secret Realm—”
Silence.
No response.
One of her teammates pulled out his own stone.
“Mine too,” he said.
He activated it.
Still nothing.
Another student tried.
“No signal…”
Panic began creeping into their voices.
“What’s going on?”
“Why isn’t it working?”
Kira’s expression grew serious.
“This shouldn’t happen.”
Meanwhile—
Outside the Secret Realm, chaos had already begun.
Inside the examiner hall, the massive screen flickered.
One of the observers suddenly stood up.
“Wait!”
All eyes turned toward him.
His voice trembled.
“A candidate… just lost all life signs.”
The room went silent.
“What?” someone whispered.
The Imperial examiner frowned sharply.
“That’s impossible. The realm is designed to prevent fatalities.”
The observer shook his head.
“But the signal is gone. Completely gone.”
The chief examiner stood up immediately.
“Establish communication with all participants,” he ordered.
Another examiner activated the communication array.
“Connecting now…”
The array glowed brightly.
Then—
Flickered.
And died.
The examiner’s face turned pale.
“…We can’t reach them.”
The room erupted into chaos.
“What do you mean you can’t reach them?!”
“That’s a controlled exam realm!”
The Imperial examiner slammed his hand on the table.
“This is unacceptable!”
The Holy Mountain examiner narrowed his eyes.
“The communication network is being blocked.”
The chief examiner’s expression darkened.
“Prepare a rescue team immediately.”
Several high-ranking Beast Tamers stood up at once.
“Yes, sir!”
But just as they moved—
Another examiner shouted,
“Wait!”
Everyone turned.
His voice was filled with disbelief.
“The realm…”
He swallowed hard.
“…won’t open.”
Silence fell like a hammer.
“What did you say?” the chief examiner asked.
“The exit portal…” the examiner stammered. “It’s locked. It won’t reopen until the full 24-hour trial ends.”
A wave of cold dread swept through the room.
“That’s… impossible,” someone whispered.
The Holy Mountain examiner spoke quietly,
“Unless something is interfering with the realm’s core.”
The Imperial examiner’s face turned grim.
“You’re saying…”
The chief examiner finished the sentence.
“An unknown force.”
The room fell into heavy silence.
Back inside the Secret Realm—
Fear had begun spreading among the candidates.
Kira’s group stood in tense silence.
“No communication…”
“And someone already died…”
One of the girls started shaking.
“We’re trapped in here, aren’t we?”
Another student clenched his teeth.
“This isn’t an exam anymore. It’s a nightmare.”
Kira remained calm, but even she couldn’t hide the tension in her eyes.
Alaric stepped forward.
“Listen.”
All eyes turned toward him.
One boy scoffed immediately.
“Oh great. The loser wants to talk.”
Another sneered.
“What are you going to do? Save us with your trash pet again?”
Alaric ignored them.
His voice remained steady.
“The exam lasts 24 hours.”
The group fell quiet.
Alaric continued calmly,
“We’ve already been inside for about 20 hours.”
Kira’s eyes flickered slightly.
“…Four hours left.”
Alaric nodded.
“Yes.”
He looked around at the group.
“The portal will reopen when the time is up.”
One of the boys frowned.
“And if it doesn’t?”
Alaric met his gaze.
“It will.”
His tone carried quiet certainty.
“Whatever is happening,” he continued, “it hasn’t changed the rules of the realm yet.”
The group exchanged uneasy glances.
A girl whispered,
“So… we just survive?”
Alaric nodded.
“That’s all we need to do.”
Another boy scoffed.
“Easy for you to say.”
He pointed at Elena.
“You’ve got that freak of a beast carrying you.”
His voice turned mocking.
“Some of us aren’t hiding behind… whatever that thing is.”
Elena’s expression didn’t change.
Her eyes remained cold and indifferent.
Alaric glanced at him.
“If you’d rather face that fog alone, go ahead.”
The boy immediately fell silent.
Kira stepped forward.
“He’s right,” she said firmly.
Her voice carried authority.
“Panicking won’t help.”
She looked at her team.
“We stay together. We survive.”
Her gaze shifted briefly toward Alaric.
“…And for now, we cooperate.”
The others hesitated.
But no one objected.
Because deep down—
They all knew the truth.
Without Alaric…
They might already be dead.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 29: Intent to Kill
"Don't be too surprised, you don’t have time for that in a combat,” Josh said, putting aside his karambit knife as he stretched his hand towards her. “Go again, but with different information this time around. I might believe in balance, but that isn’t what I practice at all. Like I said earlier, sometimes all these decisions depend on the nature of the beast you are in contract with,” he said to all of them, going into another trance. Kira went back to her earlier stance, but this time she didn’t repeat the same mistake of charging in straight on, she was cautious. She closed the gap between herself and Josh so easily. She lunged in for an attack, but Josh easily moved away, dodging the attack with so much ease, but it was a feint, the part that he had moved into was a part of Kira's plan. Seeing that she had successfully manipulated her enemy into moving into the trap she had set for him, she wasted no time in changing her grip on the dagger and then swiping it to slash him. Bu
Chapter 28: Blink and You Miss.
Josh stood outside the classroom where the first years had gone into. He seemed to be staring and speaking to someone who was there but not visible to the naked eyes. He whipped his head to stare at the door for a few seconds before it opened, a little surprised as he saw all three first-years stepping out of the classroom with only one beast with them. Elena. The remaining two had kept their beast compressed. “That was extremely fast. You prodigies just make things look so easy, I wouldn’t blame those that hate you all, because you are the perfect embodiment and reminder of what or who they could have been, who they should be, and who society appreciates and recognizes.” The trio, or rather, the four of them turned to face him. Alaric scoffed at that statement, keeping his reply to himself. “Prodigy, huh?” Tristan asked with a chuckle. “If there are any prodigies, it is these two beside me, although I figured it out that day, but not as fast as these two.” “How did you know a
Chapter 27: Silvery Connection.
“I am pretty sure that all of you can feel it. That subtle mental connection between you and your beast, now, you will gently tug on that connection, and through that connection, you will pass your intent to your beast through that connection.” Professor Finn said, walking away from the podium and heading closer to the students. “Now. That is your own part of the compression, which is like half of it. The remaining half has to do with your beast. They have been engineered, and it is also stated in your contract that their goal is to protect you. Compressing them means that they will have no means of protecting you while they are in that state,” he explained, but he wasn’t done. “You have to find a way of communicating with your beast and making them trust you enough to actually give in to your intent and then let themselves be compressed. You should also know that some of these beasts will take time to be convinced. There is also the part of forcing them to do your will, but that wi
Chapter 26: Compression.
Alaric took one quick glance at the window that didn't lead to the sunlight. Nothing, just dim moss that lights up the room dimly. According to Andressa, there are a lot of rooms meant for them on the upper floors, but this is what they get for being first years.The second years have luminescent moss lighting up their room through the windows, and then the third years have prism-scattered sunlight coming in through the window. For the final years, they are the ones who get to actually get to enjoy direct sunlight, along with the headmaster, professors, and librarians. Those are one way to advance to higher rooms, but that isn't the only way.She said if the students become top performers, arguably on the same level as students in a particular year, then there are chances of them advancing to higher rooms. He adjusted the cloak he was putting on, it stopped at the back of his knee. Stepping out of the room, he moved to join the rest of the first years waiting outside, which were
Chapter 25: The Archives.
Alaric lay on his bed in the dormitory that he had been introduced to as his room. It had a bed that was placed close to the wall, and there was a window built into the mountain. The room didn’t have much in it, just a table and a chair in the corner, obviously for reading. To another corner, there was a wardrobe, the front doors were glass, made to be mirrors. Today was their first day, so nothing much had happened. Andressa had told them to just settle in after showing them a partial tour. That tour included the single training ground that they owned. Thirty years ago, the size of the training ground was beyond standard, given the equipment they had, but right now it is outdated. The tour had also included the archives. Alaric noticed something earlier during the day when they had arrived. He seemed to be the only one with barely sufficient knowledge concerning the academies and generally everything relating to beasts and history like that. With that thought in mind, he pushe
Chapter 24: Prodigies.
The moment Alaric stepped through the gates, he was met by a sight he didn't expect and that nearly drew out a surprised expression from him, but he kept his expression neutral.He had been expecting ruins, a half-damaged academy, but instead, it looked… perfectly fine. “It looks antique,” Kira noted, surprised in her tone. “Yeah,” Tristan muttered under his breath in response. Andrew walked past them, leaving them all to themselves. Josh was a couple of steps ahead of them and it seemed like since he had achieved his goal of being them in, he had no reason to stay among the first-years any more. Looking around, at the huge compound that stretched out, Alaric noticed a couple students busy with one thing or the other. There weren't many; you can probably count them on one hand. “Who the fuck are they? You seemed to know about them,” Andrew demanded the moment he caught up to Josh. The latter spared him a glance. “They are the best students of this year's examination.” Andrew q
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