The Awakening Hall pulsed with golden light, shimmering like a cathedral forged from crystal and pride. Rows of beast eggs glowed faintly on pedestals, each promising the birth of mighty companions.. gryphons,drakes,serpents of fire,wolves carved from lighting. They were the foundation of the Tamer Guilds,the measure of a man's worth.
And tonight was Kairo Veyron's turn. He stood before his egg, hands trembling slightly though his jaw was right with defiance. His black hair, streaked faintly with gold in the light,caught whispers from the crowd.
"Will he summon anything at all?" Someone muttered.
"Doubt it. His father died a pauper, his bloodline's trash."
"I heard his fiancée already has her eye on Vale Renfield…now that's a real tamer."
Laughter rippled as the words cut right through him like blades but Kairl kept his eyes on the egg. He wanted…no needed to prove them wrong.
The guild master raised his staff. "Step forward, Kairo Veyron. Place your hand upon the egg and call forth your beast."
Kairo pressed his palm against the warm shell. For a heartbeat,the world went silent. The egg pulsed once, twice…light swellt inside, cracks forming across it's surface. His chest swelled with hope.
And then it shattered..not into life, but into ash.
The entire Awakening Hall gasped, The golden light faded into smoke, curling lifelessly through Kairo's fingers. Nothing,no beast, no bond,no future.
A cold laugh broke the silence. Vale Renfield, his rival since childhood, stepped forward. His white robes shimmered with arrogance, his own egg glowing proudly behind him. "Pathetic. Not even fit to be a servant in the guild."
"Kairo Veyron," the guild master's voice thundered,final and cruel, "you are unworthy. You're stripped of all standing. From this day,you're no tamer."
The crowd erupted. Some jeered,some smirked,some even pitied. His fiancée,Alira,didn't even look ashamed… she smirked, lifting her chin as she slipped her hand into vale's arm.
"You knew this would happen," she hissed,her voice sharp with disgust. "Did you really think I'd chain my life to a failure? You disgust me."
Something inside Kairo cracked. They tore the guild crest from his sleeve and shoved him towards the gates.
He staggered into the wasteland night, clutching nothing but a battered,broken grimoire.. an inheritance from a father who'd died a forgotten man.
The gates slammed shut behind him.
The wastelands stretched endlessly,jagged stone and rotting mist. The stench of death clung to the soil. Every shadow seemed alive with hunger.
Kairo collapsed onto the ground,the grimoire heavy in his lap. He wanted to scream,but the sound remained in his throat. Rage and despair churned together until only emptiness remained.
And then…The grimoire pulsed. A faint golden glow seeped through its cracked cover. The air thickened. The ground trembled.
[System Notice: SSS-Rank Talent Detected.]
[Golden Grimoire Activated.]
[Skill Unlocked: Necrotic Domination.]
Kairo's breath stilled slowly. Words burned across his vision, alive, undeniable. His hands shook as the grimoire snapped open on its own,pages flipping in a frenzy.
The earth groaned. Fingers of bone clawed through the soil. One by one,corpses dragged themselves from the dirt, hollow eyes glowing faint blue. A wolf skeleton,ribs jagged,rose and bowed its skull at his feet. Behind it, soldiers with shattered armors and rotting flesh straightened like knights kneeling before a king.
The wasteland moaned with their chorus.
Kairo's despair burned away, replaced by something dark, fierce and unstoppable. He rose slowly,golden light etching his outline against the night.
The broken boy they had cast out was gone.
"Useless?" His voice was low,ragged, but filled with iron. He spread his hands wide,the legion answering with rattling bones and undead howls. "No…not useless.. Never again!"
The skeletal wolf snarled in unison with his words. Lightning cracked across the red-stained sky.
And far behind the fortress walls, Vale Renfield stirred uneasily in his sleep, dreaming of bones clawing from the earth.
[SSS Rank- Necro-Tamer Unlocked.]
[Begin Apocalypse Domination.]
Kairo smiled and for the first time in his life,the world trembled for him.
The earth still shook from the rising legion. Bone and ash clattered together in a chorus of deathly reverence. Kairo stood tall, golden light in his eyes, his voice raw with new power.
And then he felt it… A gaze.
Not the mindless stares of skeletons,but a sharp, human and deliberate.
He turned and perched among the ruins of a collapsed watchtower was a girl. Cloaked in ragged fabric, face half-hidden,eyes glinting silver in the moonlight. She had a knife in one hand, but she hadn't drawn it yet.
For a moment, neither spoke. The only sound was the groan of corpses bowing before him.
Finally,she spoke breaking the silence. "So the rumours were true."
Kairo's voice was low and guarded. "Who are you?"
She tilted her head, studying the golden grimoire that pulsed in his grip. Someone whose been waiting to see if the legends were real… And now…" she slid down the stones, landing lightly before the skeletal wolf. The beast snarled but her calm gaze never wavered. "I suppose they are."
He narrowed his eyes. "Stay back.
She smirked faintly. "If I wanted you dead, I'd have slit your throat when they threw you out of the gates. Instead,I saved you from the pack of carrion hounds tailing you. You're welcome."
Only then did Kairo notice the three lifeless beast corpses scattered nearby, throats slit clean.
The girl wiped her blade against her cloak and sheathed it. "Name's Skylar. Remember it,if you plan to live,you're going to need more than bones and bravado."
His jaw tightened. "And why would you help me?"
Her smile was sharp, unreadable but not insincere. "Because I've been out here long enough to know power when I see. And you…" she gestured to the skeletal army kneeling in the dirt. "You're about to turn this rotten world upside down."
The grimoire hummed in his hand,as if agreeing.
Kairl exhaled slowly. His first ally had found him, though he didn't know if she was going to be a friend or a foe, didn't know if she was salvation or disaster.
All he knew was this, he was no longer walking alone.
And the wasteland had just gained two predators.