The city of Oakhaven was nothing like the muddy Viking settlements of Skane's past. It was a sprawling vertical marvel of white stone and blue-tiled roofs, built around a massive, glowing tree that pulsed with raw mana.
To Kael, it looked like a gilded cage.
Silas led him through the iron gates of the Aurelius Combat Academy. "Listen, kid," Silas muttered, shielding his eyes from the midday sun. "Most of the brats here are sons of merchants or minor lords. They've been eating mana-enriched meat since they were in the crib. You? You're a 'Wild-Spark.' You've got the instinct, but you lack the polish. Don't pick fights yet."
Kael didn't respond. He was too busy watching a group of teenagers in the courtyard. They were practicing with wooden swords, but every few seconds, a gust of wind or a spark of fire would erupt from their blades.
Magic, Skane's soul growled. Cheater's steel.
"Today is the Bonding Ceremony," Silas continued, leading him toward a massive glass dome at the center of the campus—the Bestiary Vault. "Every student enters the mist. You don't choose the beast; the beast chooses you. It senses your soul's frequency. Some get wolves, some get hawks. If you're lucky, maybe a minor Drake."
Inside the Vault, the air was thick with a shimmering silver fog. Kael stood in line with thirty other children. Most were trembling. Some were crying.
Kael stood like a statue.
"Next! Kael of the Mist-Woods!" a robed Instructor shouted.
Kael stepped into the fog. The moment the mist touched his skin, his vision changed. He wasn't in a room anymore. He was standing on a vast, frozen battlefield. The smell of salt and old blood filled his nose.
The Viking soul within him roared, projected into the mist. It was a terrifying image: a giant with a braided mohawk, draped in the skins of his enemies, holding two massive spectral axes.
The "normal" spirit beasts—the majestic lions, the fiery eagles—shied away. They sensed the carnage. They sensed a soul that didn't want a partner; it wanted a weapon.
Suddenly, a small ripple appeared in the grey mist.
Something was approaching. It wasn't large. It didn't growl. It was a small, slime-like creature, shifting between shapes. One moment it looked like a housecat, the next a tangled ball of shadow. It had no fixed form, only two glowing, curious eyes.
Kael looked down at the pathetic-looking blob. "You?" he muttered. "You look like a wet rag."
The blob didn't flinch. It morphed into a tiny, perfect replica of Kael's own boot, then back into a shadow. It was a Mimic-Shifter—a species so rare it wasn't even in the beginner textbooks because they usually died in the wild. They had no natural armor, no claws, no fire. They were considered "The Empty Vessel."
But Kael saw something the instructors wouldn't. This beast didn't have a shape because it was waiting for one strong enough to fill it.
"Everyone else wants a beast that gives them power," Kael whispered, reaching down. "I already have power. I need a beast that can handle me."
The moment Kael's hand touched the cool, shifting surface of the creature, a shockwave of black and gold light exploded through the Vault.
Outside the mist, the Instructor gasped. The crystal ball used to measure bonding strength cracked down the middle.
Kael walked out of the fog. Perched on his shoulder was the small, grey blob.
The other students began to snicker.
"A blob?" a tall boy with a silk cape laughed. "Look at the farm boy! He bonded with a puddle! My brother got a Thunder-Lynx, and this peasant got a piece of chewed gum!"
The snickering spread. Even Silas looked disappointed, rubbing his face with his hand. "A Shifter? Damn it, kid... those are the weakest of the weak. They can't even hold a form for more than a minute."
Kael didn't look at Silas. He didn't look at the laughing boy.
He looked at the blob on his shoulder. It was currently mimicking the texture of his skin, becoming invisible against his neck.
It doesn't have a limit, Kael realized, his Viking instincts hummed with a dark joy. If I feed it the memories of the monsters I've killed... if I show it what a real predator looks like... it won't just be a beast.
"Laugh all you want," Kael said softly, his handsome face cracking into a terrifying, jagged smile that looked far too old for a child.
"I've always preferred hunting things that think they're better than me."