2026-10-05 02:14:41Astra'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: Ineffective
Kael'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 experience immediate, agonizing physiological feedback.
"Do it," Kael rasped.
Not hesitating for a single second.
"Bind us!"
A searing white line snapped between Kael's chest and Astra's broken body.
Instantly, Kael's spine buckled.
A soundless scream tore from his throat as the sensation of bone splintering and flesh tearing ripped through his back and abdomen. Blood burst from his mouth, splatter-painting the floorboards as he fell to his knees.
The agonizing heat of raw aura necrosis burned through his veins like molten lead.
On the table, Astra's desperate gasps smoothed out.
Her grey scales regained a faint, watery blue sheen.
Kael wiped the blood from his chin with the back of his hand. Gasping for air as he dragged himself up using the edge of the table.
[Bond Successful]
Survival Chance: 80%
Requirement for Full Recovery & Evolution:
1x Purified Frost-Vein Root
1x Rank C Fresh Water-Attribute Core
3x Shadow-Vein Herbs
100g Ancient Serpent Scale Dust
He didn't waste a second.
Wrapping Astra in a clean cloth and tucking her against his chest, Kael staggered out of his room into the cold evening rain.
Ten minutes later, he pushed open the heavy copper doors of the Veyr Pavilion—the premier resource hub on the academy grounds. The scent of dried herbs and dense elemental energy filled the warm air.
"Kael?"
Aurelia Veyr stood near the main counter, wearing her silver-and-blue academy cloak. She paused, her gray eyes narrowing as she took in his blood-soaked tunic, pale face, and the small bundle tucked close to his ribs.
"I need ingredients," Kael said, his voice raw. "Purified Frost-Vein Root. One fresh Rank C Water Core. Three Shadow-Vein Herbs. One hundred grams of Ancient Serpent Scale Dust."
Aurelia looked at the bundle. Stepped closer.
She gently pulled back a fold of the cloth, revealing Astra. Her eyes widened slightly in genuine disbelief.
"She took a direct strike from Voss's Crimson Lion," Aurelia whispered. "Even a support beast has a frail physical structure. A strike like that should have crushed her core instantly."
She looked up at Kael.
"How is she still breathing?"
"She's stronger than people think," Kael said flatly, pulling the cloth back over Astra. "Do you have the materials?"
Aurelia stared at him for a long moment. Then turned to the store clerk behind the counter.
"Bring the highest grade we have in the vault. Now.”
Minutes later, four velvet-lined boxes were placed on the counter.
Kael's vision flickered as the system immediately analyzed the items.
[MATERIAL ANALYSIS]
Rank C Water-Attribute Core: 98% Purity (Flawless)
Shadow-Vein Herbs: 95% Purity (Peak Harvest)
Frost-Vein Root: 99% Purity (Ancient Strain)
Purity Multiplier Active: Evolution Success Rate +20%
"The total is four hundred gold coins," the clerk announced softly.
Kael's throat tightened.
He didn't even have four silver coins to his name. Draven had reneged on their bet, and he had returned from the forest with empty pockets.
"Put it on the Veyr family tab," Aurelia commanded without looking away from Kael.
"I don't take charity," Kael said immediately, his jaw clenching. "I will find a way to pay you back."
"It isn't charity." Aurelia's tone was calm. Unyielding. "Voss Thorne used his beast to strike a student's contract beast outside an official duel. That is a direct violation of academy law and public order."
She slid the wooden boxes across the polished counter toward him.
"My family handles the enforcement of those regulations. The Thorne family will receive the bill for these materials by tomorrow morning—with interest. Consider it advance compensation."
She held his gaze.
"Take them. Before she gets any worse."
Kael looked down at the boxes. Then at Aurelia.
He nodded once—a gesture of silent gratitude—gathered the materials, and turned on his heel.
Back in his cramped apartment, Kael laid the ingredients around Astra.
[Support Classification Alert: Target cannot absorb raw beast cores directly.]
[Initiating Refinement Protocol...]
"Crush the Shadow-Vein Herbs," Kael muttered, following the system's mental instructions.
He ground the black leaves into a fine paste. Spread it over Astra's healing spine.
Next, he snapped the Frost-Vein Root, letting its icy sap drip directly into her small mouth.
The moment the sap hit her tongue, Astra's eyes snapped open.
A wave of soothing cold rushed through Kael's own body via the Soul-Graft Bond. The dull, agonizing ache in his spine faded into a cooling numbness. His fractured ribs knitted back together in real-time as Astra absorbed the medicine.
"Now... the core," Kael whispered.
Following the system's guidance, Kael pressed the 98% pure water core against Astra's forehead. Dusted it with the scale powder.
[EVOLUTION CONDITIONS MET]
[BEGINNING BREAKTHROUGH: RANK C SUPPORT SERPENT → RANK B ABYSSAL COMBAT-SUPPORT HYBRID]
Astra's body hovered two feet off the table.
A crimson aura erupted from her tiny frame—tearing straight through the ceiling of Kael's room and shooting up into the night sky.
The air pressure in the room exploded outward. Shattering every glass window in the building.
The rain over the city instantly stopped.
The clouds pulled back in a massive, swirling vortex centered directly over Kael's apartment. A primordial, ancient pressure—heavy enough to make the stone foundation of the city groan—rippled across Astergald.
In the high tower of the Veyr Estate, Lord Alaric Veyr pushed open his balcony doors. His eyes wide as he felt the terrifying aura shaking the air.
"What bloodline is that...?"
Alaric murmured, his hand instinctively grasping the hilt of his blade.
"That isn't a dragon... it's older."
Across the city, inside the dark sanctum of the Valen Manor, Lord Valen stood up from his desk. The purple flames on his shoulders flickered wildly in response to the sudden atmospheric shift.
"Find the origin of that aura!" Valen roared to his guards. "A beast like that cannot be allowed to exist outside our control!"
Inside the small, ruined apartment, Kael stood in the eye of the storm.
His dark hair whipped around his face as Astra's form began to expand within the crimson light. Her soft white eyes flashed with the cold, unyielding authority of an ancient titan.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 9: "Your Father Died to Save the World You're Begging to Join"
"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
Chapter 8: "The Bloodline Doesn't Ask for Permission"
"Silence!"Aurelia's voice cut through the roaring crowd like a silver blade as she stepped down from the podium."Slandering a fellow student with unproven dark magic charges carries immediate expulsion. Are you prepared to take that risk?""It's not slander!" Voss yelled back. His fists shaking violently. "He controlled our contract beasts without a bond! What else could that be except dark sorcery?!"The crowd erupted again. Waves of fists pumping in the air."Expel him!""Burn the dark tamer!"Behind the grand dais, Mr. Claw stood frozen. His hand tightening around his iron staff.Controlling another tamer's beast without a contract...The phrase echoed in his mind. Stirring an ancient, terrifying memory buried deep in the academy's locked archives."My father is already on his way," Aurelia said coldly, taking her stand beside Kael. "Until the Headmaster arrives, no one touches him."Minutes later, two heavy, high-grade carriages pulled up to the edge of the arena plaza.Lord Val
Chapter 7: "You'll Need More Than Magic to Save You"
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
Chapter 6: "Die Alone, Lizard Tamer"
"This is yours now."Lord Valen slid a heavy, mahogany box across the obsidian desk. His gloved fingers rested on the iron latch."It isn't free. I assume my daughter made our terms explicitly clear?"Voss Thorne dropped onto both knees. His forehead pressing so hard against the cold marble floor that his shoulders trembled."Yes! Yes, my Lord! She told me everything! I am ready to do whatever you command! If you tell me to walk west, I will never look east!""Good."Lord Valen flipped open the latch—revealing an egg the size of an iron shield. Its shell covered in jagged, slate-grey ridges."Prick your finger. Let three drops of blood hit the shell."With shaking hands, Voss pulled a silver dagger from his belt. Sliced his thumb.Blood dripped onto the rough stone shell.The room exploded in a shockwave of white and black aura.The pressure slammed down like an anvil—cracking the marble beneath Voss's knees and rattling the glass display cases lining the walls.Nyra shielded her face
Chapter 5: "Your Lion Can Take One Hit Too, Right?"
"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
Chapter 4: "Kneel Until I Come Back Out"
The oak door splintered inward under the heavy butt of an iron-tipped staff.Four men clad in purple-and-silver coats strode into the ruined apartment. The cold morning air rushed in through the glassless windows.At the head of the group stood Nyra Valen.Her violet-black hair was pinned back with silver needles. Her cold eyes scanned the shattered furniture and scorched floorboards with absolute disgust.Beside her, a purplish aura flickered lazily off the shoulders of her Rank B Purple-Flame Tiger."Kael Veyron."The lead guard's voice echoed off the exposed stone."Lord Valen commands your presence at the estate. Immediately."It wasn't an invitation. It was an order backed by four drawn blades.Kael didn't look up from where he sat on the edge of his cot.He slowly wrapped a strip of clean linen around his wrist—covering the pale, faintly glowing scales resting against his pulse."You should be dropping to your knees in gratitude that my father even knows your name, lizard-tamer.
You may also like
The Overpowered Grass Magician
Shame_less00748.1K viewsThe Master of Fate
Young Master Jay25.0K viewsBecome the Strongest God
Jajajuba40.4K viewsThe Cheat Seed (Vol 1)
Sinadin36.7K viewsThe Winter Wanderer
Varel110 viewsThe Sword Mage Without A Path
The Young Author 359 viewsSea World: Descending with no Cheats
Drakonuys33 viewsThe Prodigy paradox
Bimbo tv 5 views