"Sleepy-sleepy, wake up! Come on, rise, little rat!"
Elio gasped, his eyes snapping open.
Above him stood a man whose face was a map of scars, his breath reeking of alcohol and rot. He was poking Elio with a thick wooden rod, the kind used for herding stubborn livestock.
"What have we got here?" The thug's eyes moved from Elio's soot-stained and dirty face to the object clutched against his chest. "That's a rock, boy? Or did you steal something worth a few coins?"
Then he squinted his eyes. "Is that what I think it is?! An egg?!"
Elio's fingers tightened around the grey egg. The memory of his mother's face in the fire flashed in his head, and a sudden, familiar darkness began to stir in the center of his chest.
He felt the edges of his vision begin to fray into darkness.
The air in the alleyway began to thicken, turning heavy, shadows eerily moving and elongating.
"Give it here," the thug growled, reaching down.
As the man's hand closed in, Elio's hazel eyes started to bleed into black. He began emanating wisps of dark matter, his body trembling as if something was trying to force itself out.
The thug paused, a flicker of genuine confusion crossing his face as he felt the air contrasting its previous state.
"Is there a problem here?"
A voice surprisingly echoed behind.
Almost immediately, the darkness in Elio's eyes and the black matter escaping recoiled, retreating into the depths they came from as a shadow fell across the alley's entrance.
Standing there was a kingdom guard, his armor etched with the gold emblem of Serenum. He wasn't particularly tall, but the mana radiating off him was steady and noteworthy.
Silver Rank, the least.
The thug wasn't a fool. He could perceive the guard's mana. Compared to his own pathetic Iron Rank Wood Worm, he knew he was no match for the guard.
"Just... just helping the lad up, sir," the thug stammered, his bravado vanishing instantly. "Found him sleeping in the dirt. Thought he might miss the carriage."
The guard didn't even look at the man. His eyes were fixed on Elio, or rather, the egg.
"The carriage for the ceremony is at the end of the street. If you have an egg, you go."
Behind the guard, in the road of the small town, kids bickerings and chatters could be heard, along with the constant slams of a wooden carriage's door.
Elio scrambled to his feet, his legs feeling like they were made of lead. He didn't look back at the thug. He didn't even look at the guard. He just ran toward the sound of the beasts fastened to the carriage and the constant chatter of the town's main road.
He knew what his parents wanted. They had labored for this; for the future in his hands.
And now that they were… gone, he could only think of how to fulfill their dreams of raising a successful tamer, of giving a life better than common farmers like they had, of raising the sweet, valiant Elio they always wanted.
Every time he looked at the egg, it seemed like he could see the faces of his parents smiling on him, wishing him the best and silently supporting.
And knowing that they had sacrificed all for this, including their lives, Elio was determined to be successful.
Although the heavy guilt was still present, he wouldn't let their sacrifice be in vain.
∆∆∆∆
He found the carriage.
It was a massive, lumbering thing made of dark oak, already half-filled with children.
Most of them looked like Elio; ragged tunics, a significant portion with grey eggs, eyes wide with a mixture of terror and desperate hope.
It made sense. They were still in the slums.
As Elio climbed in, the atmosphere shifted.
A few kids from his own village shrank back against the wooden slats.
"That's the Ravina boy," one whispered, her voice trembling. "Did you see the smoke on the outskirts? My dad said the whole house just... vanished. With black fire."
"They say his parents didn't make it out," another added, looking at Elio with a mixture of pity and fear.
"I heard he's cursed. No one likes to play with him."
Elio didn't answer all of these. He slumped into a corner, his back against the wall of the carriage.
'I killed them.' The thought was a physical weight.
Tears almost escaped his eyes, but he managed to suck it in.
"Elio, water? Wash your face. Dirt there." A brown haired boy offered, stretching a small, dented bottle forward.
Elio looked at the hand and face for a moment, before accepting.
The face was familiar.
The boy was the son of the poor couple living beside his crummy building, or what was his building.
He was Kai. Kai Tringard.
Soon, the carriage began its journey. As the carriage moved, the scenery changed. The low-mana slums and thatched roofs gave way to broader streets and stone buildings.
The carriage had long left the slums, now venturing in the lands of milk and honey—the big cities.
At the next stop, the "better" kids joined.
These were the sons and daughters of merchants and minor nobles, kids who had grown up with three meals a day and stories of legendary tamers. They wore silks that shimmered with infused mana, and they carried their eggs in padded cases.
One by one, they joined the ride, most immediately discriminating, avoiding the "poor section" of the carriage and complaining that they had to ride with stinky filths.
The carriage continued with constant jabs from the nobles. It had taken many stops, loaded big nobles, heirs, and heiresses to powerhouses of Serenum before eventually stopping at the capital city, where the ceremonial hall was situated.
∆∆∆∆
The Serenum Ceremonial Hall was a cathedral of power. Pillars of white marble stretched toward a ceiling painted with the constellations of the kingdom's great beasts. Grand picture frames of the kingdom's greatest tamers proudly hung on the walls.
At the far end sat a pedestal for the eggs, a massive slab of magical stone where beasts were summoned from their eggs.
The ceremony master, a man whose presence felt like a physical pressure against the chest, stood by the pedestal.
"The traditional Contract Ceremony of ages begins now!" He declared to the enmassed. "Every year, powerful tamers are born, legendary beasts are contracted, and Serenum grows big. Now, it's your turn!"
The kids happily smiled, the not so privileged ones jumping and bubbling with excitement while nobles maintained a facaded composure.
"One by one," he commanded. "Step forward. Reveal what the heavens have granted you. Bond with your eternal companions, your very own future."
They gladly obliged.
The young ones were in a long queue, each carrying their eggs, waiting to be called and awaken their beasts.
A blonde noble boy, Julian, went early. He was one of the minor nobles who couldn't stop complaining and hurling insults at Elio and his 'likes.'
When he placed his blue egg on the stone, the hall was filled with a crackling screech.
The beast burst out of the shells with a concentrated pulse of blue electricity, the light momentarily enveloping the podium space.
A Storm Eagle emerged, its feathers made of electric blue sparks, its cry echoing off the walls.
The nobles in the stands cheered, commoners marveled with big eyes, wishing the same luck for themselves.
They didn't need anyone to tell them, it was obvious that Julian was already set for life.
"A powerful beast. Silver Rank potential. Step forward and bond with your beast." The master commented and instructed.
Julian wore a contented smug, stretching his hand forward for the beast to connect.
The Storm Eagle placed its sharp talons on the boy's small hands and began glowing. It shimmered until the light became hurtful.
When the light faded, the beast whooshed dramatically into the boy's chest, settling in his consciousness.
His skin pulsed with blue light afterwards, small, blue wings pulsating with electrical energy appearing on his back, his fingernails elongating and curving into razor talons.
That was his beast's manifestation from fusion.
He left the stage with a pompous stride, proudly showing all his brilliant fusion.
It continued that way.
"Spirit Tiger! Gold Rank potential!"
"Troll Dog! Bronze Rank potential, but can attain Beginner Silver Rank if properly cultivated."
"Wood Worm! Bronze Rank potential!"
Those who got good beasts left proudly and happily, and those who were misfortuned…
They left dejectedly, knowing they were stuck with their bad luck forever.
"Elio Ravina!" The ceremony master called, his Sonic Wyvern helping to project a strong vocal range, sounds that bounced off the wall and made his voice easily heard.
The whispers started before Elio even reached the steps. He looked like a stray dog that had wandered into a palace.
"What a shame. Useless egg!"
"He looks more like a pauper than a tamer."
"What do you think he'll get from that egg?"
"Definitely nothing great. He's destined to be a slave. I'll gladly have him scrub my floors in the near future."
Elio ignored the commentaries and walked to the pedestal, his movements mechanical. He reached out and placed the dull, grey egg onto the stone slab.
The hall went silent.
Usually, when an egg was placed on the stone, it began to glow or vibrate with the latent mana of the beast inside. Elio's egg did nothing. It just sat there, looking like a discarded piece of gravel.
"Is it dead?" someone yelled from the back. A wave of stifled laughter followed.
Elio closed his eyes. 'Please,' he prayed, though he didn't know who he was praying to. 'Just give me something good. I must be a successful tamer.'
A faint heat began to seep from the pedestal into the egg. Then, a sound.
*Crack.*
It wasn't a thunderclap or a roar. It was a wet, pathetic sound, like a boot stepping into a puddle.
The shell didn't shatter; it just sort of… crumbled.
Out tumbled a creature that made the laughter in the room stop.
————~~~~~————~~~~~———
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