The words, every single one of them, were like a dark thunder on Kale's head on a rainy night. His heart felt it had shattered into a million pieces, for he could sense the hostility of the world around him, all the hatred directed at him, and more than that. His dream, HIS DREAM, to become something powerful, something supernatural.
The things that he desired so deeply for two whole lives, were they now truly impossible? But how could that be?
He roared in his mind, like a broken doll,
'It can't be….'
'IT CAN'T BEEEE...'
'NO, NO NO, NOT THIS, ANYTHING BUT THIS…..'
'A tamer who cannot tame could never climb higher as a life form.'
Kale Ardentis was doomed.
A loud, mocking laugh reached his ears at this exact moment, rubbing salt into the fresh wound. The bastard son of the viscount, in glee, stated, "I knew it; there was something suspicious about this wretch from the start."
The boy came closer, looking him in the eye, "You deserve it, you arrogant piece of shit…."
The rest of those who were in the cathedral also had a mocking look on their faces, enjoying the misery of the one who showed the most talent amongst them right before awakening. Thus, they laughed.
Only the twins of his village were on his side. But Kale didn't care about any of that; his pain of ambition being shattered hurt him more than any mocking words ever could, eventually, due to the heavy psychological and physical turmoil.
Kale Ardentis lost consciousness, the old priest scowled, as if he was looking at a dirty thing, he ordered, "Kick this disgusting thing out of the holy grounds of the church. I never want to see this thing's face ever again."
Two church trainees picked up his unconscious body, carrying him like a worthless sack. The twins tried to stop them, but they were sidelined. The priest warned the twins in a cautious tone, "Stay away from him. Otherwise, his vileness will affect you two as well. Both of you have very good talents, even if you come from the same village. Do not become tainted by the darkness just for temporary companionship."
Bang!!!
Kale's unconscious body was thrown outside the church's gate, as if it were trash. The twins hurriedly came out to him, tears and fury mixed in their eyes. Kale was physically much larger than the twins, and they could barely carry him in that state, especially since he was so badly injured.
Josh said in despair, "What do we do? He's bleeding too much; he might die. No one is willing to help us."
Jared hurriedly pulled out a pale, silver-colored coin from his pocket and handed it to his brother. "Go bring some healing medicine with this."
Josh opened his mouth to say something, but in the end did not. That coin was something the two brothers had saved by accumulating copper coins for almost three years, but his brother was right: Kale needed to be saved, no matter what.
As if the very heavens were mocking the efforts of the two brothers. The sky darkened, thunder crackling with divine fury of the world, and a heavy downpour of rain descended, thus making the bleeding of Kale even worse. Jared desperately tried to cover Kale's unconscious body from the rain. But he was unable to do so completely.
Things became even worse thereafter, just as the priest had stated: small animals crawled towards Kale, not with gentleness, but with a glowing hatred in their eyes. Their pupils, glowing bronze.
Jared, holding a wooden club, kept swatting away the animals, but amid the rain, various other harmful insects were also converging on Kale's body. He could barely keep them at bay. Jared gritted his teeth, unwilling to give up. Unwilling to leave his friend behind.
Even though he hated Kale at the bottom of his heart for the longest time for outshining the two brothers in every possible way, when the moment of truth came, he could not leave Kale behind; he didn't care if Kale blasphemed against the Dragons.
He didn't care if the church had damned Kale or the world saw him as evil; all that mattered was that Jared would make sure his friend lived, no matter what.
Yet, unknown to the boy, firm on protecting his brutally injured friend, a black colored monstrous slithering snake with an abominable head, was sliding silently towards Kale's body from behind, from an angle which Jared could not see.
The snake eventually coiled around Kale's neck. By the time Jared noticed, it was already too late. Opening its monstrous, small jaw, it flashed its sharp, poisonous teeth. The snake-like creature bit exactly onto the black-colored soul sigil, leaving the marks of its fangs in the patterns forever.
A chaotic, but dark, viscous substance entered Kale's skull. His face color instantly changed, taking on shades of gray. Jared roared, "Nooooooooo,…"
Grabbing the tail of the venomous snake, he pulled it away from Kale, then smashed its head onto the ground, turning its brain into mush in rage.
By that time, Josh also came back running like a madman, with a cheap healing medicine in hand, that's the only thing he could get his hands on for a mere 1 silver coin.
He asked in a hurry, "What? What the hell happened?"
Jared did not respond but hurriedly put the medicine in Kale's mouth and roared at his face, "Get up, GET THE FUCK UP, DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE IN SUCH A PATHETIC MANNER."
"YOU'RE THE HOPE OF OUR VILLAGE. BEFORE LEAVING, YOUR MOTHER TOLD US TO KEEP YOU SAFE. YOU BASTARD. HOW CAN I FACE HER IF YOU DIE SO PATHETICALLY LIKE THIS? "
Josh also shouted, shaking Kale's body like a madman grasping at his last straws, "THE ELDERS, HOW WILL WE FACE THEM? IF YOU DIE LIKE THIS….? HOW?? Please get up, wake up….please…."
They were only 12-year-old kids; they did not know what to do. In fact, with the unknown snake-like creature biting right on Kale's head and his continuously pale, gray complexion, it was obvious that he was on his last legs. Still, the twins were unwilling to accept it; tears fell from their eyes, mixing with the heavy rain.
Even the skies above growled, almost reveling in the state of the boy cursed by the world dragon. But to the dismay of the heavens. The eyes of the cursed boy snapped wide open, as if to spite the very heavens themselves.
At the same time, strange characters, texts flashed in Kale's retina, followed by a mechanical, emotionless voice…
[Scanning biological structure...]
[Genetic compatibility confirmed.]
[System Booting…..]
Beginning system binding…
Binding progress: 12%... 48%... 89%...
[Binding successful.]
[Host recognized]
[Tamer Kale Ardentis has successfully bonded with the Beast Mutation System]