The Serpent They called useless

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."

Nyra stepped over a chunk of shattered stone. She smirked, tapping her riding whip against her leather boot.

"Though why he wastes his time on someone whose pet is likely already dead in a ditch is beyond me. Voss's lion hit it hard enough to break iron."

Kael stood up. Pulled his tunic straight.

"It's a massive honor, truly." His voice was flat. Dripping with quiet sarcasm. "Give your father my deepest thanks, but I'm busy."

The lead guard's face turned purple with rage.

He slammed the iron end of his staff onto the stone floor with a deafening CRACK.

"How dare a support-type trash defy the master of the house!"

"Maybe because he said he's busy."

A clear, mocking voice cut through the doorway.

Aurelia Veyr leaned against the broken doorframe. Her arms crossed over her silver cloak. Gray eyes sparkling with cool amusement.

"Don't push your luck, Nyra. Are the Valens so desperate for influence that you're cornering a boy in his own home just because he has no noble family to back him?"

Nyra's eyes snapped to Aurelia. Her jaw clenched.

"Luck? What luck could a beggar like him possibly have? I don't care what my father sees in a lizard-tamer. That weak creature probably turned to ash last night."

"Lizard...?"

Kael muttered softly.

He unrolled the linen from his arm.

Astra slithered down his palm. Rested her head on his fingers.

Her scales weren't grey or frail anymore—they shimmered with an intense, abyssal blue. Her spine noticeably thicker. Her length almost double what it had been twenty-four hours ago.

She flicked her tongue. Her milky-white eyes now glowing with a sharp, terrifying luminescence.

Nyra's Purple-Flame Tiger dropped low. Hissed in sudden, instinctual caution.

Nyra froze. Her breath caught in her throat.

"What... how is this possible? It's increased in size? Am I seeing things?!"

"Well, well."

Aurelia interrupted smoothly. Stepped past the guards. Grabbed Kael firmly by the elbow.

"We'll be taking our leave now. My father sent me to fetch him, and unlike you, we actually have an appointment."

Nyra watched them walk out.

Her knuckles turned white around her whip. Unable to utter a single command as her own Rank B beast trembled slightly at her side.

As they walked down the stone cobblestones toward the upper district, Aurelia kept her gaze fixed straight ahead.

"My father wants to see you at the Veyr Manor. He was watching the sky last night."

"I figured," Kael said. "What happened with the Thorne family?"

Aurelia let out a sharp, cold breath.

"My father didn't just send them the bill for the materials. He invoked the Academy charter regarding unprovoked assault on a student's contract beast. Voss was given a choice: face immediate expulsion and the revocation of his tamer license—or deliver a full public apology on his knees until you personally grant him permission to stand."

When they reached the towering wrought-iron gates of the Veyr Manor, a small crowd had already gathered.

Voss Thorne stood near the archway. His face flushed red with humiliation. Surrounded by his anxious parents.

The moment Voss saw Kael approaching with Aurelia, his father shoved him hard in the back.

Voss stumbled forward. His teeth grinding together so hard his jaw shook. Then slammed both knees down onto the hard gravel.

"I... I apologize for attacking your beast."

Voss spat out the words, staring fixedly at the dirt. His hands balled into tight fists.

"It will not happen again."

Voss's father stepped forward. Attempted a tight, forced smile.

"The apology has been made, Kael. We have paid the compensation to the Veyr family. Can my son stand now?"

Kael didn't even slow his pace as he walked past Voss.

"He can kneel right there until I finish my meeting and come back out."

He said it coldly. Without glancing down.

"Then he's forgiven."

Voss's eyes burned with absolute hatred. But his father placed a heavy hand on his shoulder—forcing him to stay pinned to the ground.

Kael pushed open the grand oak doors of the manor.

Inside the grand study, Lord Alaric Veyr sat behind a heavy mahogany desk.

His sharp gray eyes locked onto Kael the moment he stepped into the room.

"I called you here for two reasons, boy." Alaric's voice was deep. Echoing. "First, a Rank C support beast surviving a direct, full-power strike from a combat-type without its core shattering is mathematically impossible."

He leaned forward.

"Second... the crimson aura that tore through the city sky last night was traced directly back to your roof. I have felt an aura like that only once in my life—deep inside the Wild Beast Realm."

His hands pressed flat against the desk.

"Tell me the truth."

Kael met the older man's gaze without flinching.

"Astra isn't a standard support beast. The breakthrough last night wasn't just a recovery—it was an evolution. She has absorbed the core and reached Rank B. She is a hybrid now—capable of both full combat output and absolute environmental support."

Silence stretched across the study.

Alaric stared at Kael. The air around him shifted as his internal power flickered in sheer astonishment.

"A hybrid evolution... from a support base? A creature that can fight and buff simultaneously?"

He leaned back. A sudden, heavy smile spread across his weathered face.

"Incredible. From this day forward, the Veyr family will personally sponsor every evolution material your serpent requires."

Meanwhile, across the district, Nyra slammed the heavy doors of the Valen Manor.

Her face pale with fury as she burst into her father's private quarters.

"He embarrassed us, Father!" Nyra yelled. Her voice shaking with rage. "He refused your guards, mocked our family name, and then walked off side-by-side with Aurelia Veyr! And his serpent—it didn't die! It grew! It was radiating an aura that made my tiger cringe!"

Lord Valen stood near the wide glass window. Overlooking the city.

His expression remained cold. Calculating.

Dark.

"A support beast that evolves into a threat..."

Valen murmured softly. Turned his head slightly.

"Find an opportunity during the upcoming academy trials, Nyra. Te

st the absolute limits of that serpent."

His eyes narrowed.

"If it truly poses a threat to our family's standing... make sure it doesn't leave the forest alive."