Inside the academy, there is something called "missions," which are issued inside the mission hall of the academy.
By completing these missions, students can earn academy points, which are considered as a form of currency for them.
Steven stood in front of the hall, feeling quite annoyed.
How could he not be annoyed when he was surrounded by two irritating people,
and the mission hall was strangely crowded with students?
Nathan spoke up,
"This is the mission hall, right? Tch, what a mess."
Nathan thought,
"Are they in a hurry to earn points? This is annoying. I don't even want to go in there."
David agreed,
"Yeah, it's really annoying. I don't want to go in either."
Both of them looked at Steven.
Steven:
"...."
'Since when did I become a babysitter?'
Nathan's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Wait! I have an idea."
David looked at him curiously, while Steven thought,
'What crazy idea did he come up with this time?'
Nathan continued,
"Why should we do missions just to earn a few points? There's a faster way to get them."
David asked,
"How?"
Nathan smiled,
"Of course, we should just confiscate the points from those annoying students and servants. What do you think?"
Steven frowned and spoke coldly to Nathan,
"Why should we take what others worked hard for?"
Nathan tilted his head slightly, speaking with mild confusion,
"Why? Of course, because they don't deserve them."
Steven asked,
"And how do you know they don't deserve them?"
Nathan paused for a second, then replied,
"...I just know."
David interrupted, asking in confusion,
"Wait! Why do we even need to collect points?"
Both Steven and Nathan turned to look at David at the same time. Nathan asked,
"You don't know what the points are for?"
David tilted his head,
"Why should I?"
Nathan asked again,
"Then how did you eat yesterday?"
David shrugged,
"Leonard brought me food on his account. So tell me, what are the points for?"
Nathan laughed amusedly and answered,
"I won't tell you."
David frowned arrogantly,
"Tch, annoying. I don't need you to tell me. Fine—hey, you tell me what the points are."
David pointed at Steven.
Steven, who was about to leave, was stopped by David. He turned around, frowning.
'That annoying old man—why do I have to deal with his grandson?'
"...They're like money," Steven said, then turned to leave.
Nathan grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait."
After stopping him, Nathan asked,
"Where are you going?"
Steven thought,
'Damn it! Is he going to keep following me?'
Steven replied calmly,
"Shouldn't you two be training before the sun sets?"
David's face darkened,
"Damn it! I didn't train today!"
David looked seriously at both Nathan and Steven.
'Steven's rank is much lower than this annoying guy with the patch.'
David raised his head and pointed at Nathan.
"Alright, I've decided. You'll be my training partner."
Nathan raised an eyebrow and pointed at himself.
"Me?"
David nodded, and without even waiting for Nathan's reply, dragged him away.
"Wait a seco—"
Steven watched as David dragged Nathan off.
'It worked!... Why do I feel a bit happy about it?'
'Now I can move freely.'
Steven headed toward the library. He needed to find books explaining about contracted beasts.
After learning that Byron wasn't just an ordinary animal, he began researching contracted beasts, but what he found was only surface-level information. So, he believed that the detailed books he needed were stored in the academy's library.
Mark had sent him a message saying that Byron had disappeared since the day Steven left for the academy.
'That little nuisance didn't even call—just sent a message and ignored mine.'
Steven entered the library.
The library's design was strangely impressive — it was built in a large circular shape. After entering, you could see a wide open space in the center with tables and chairs of various shapes for reading. On both sides, there were two long hallways, each containing twenty-four smaller aisles. Each of these aisles had shelves on both sides, and in the middle of each aisle was a long table with several seats.
At the end of the right and left hallways were two crossing staircases leading to the first floor — the library had two floors above the ground level.
Steven spoke to the librarian,
"Where can I find books related to contracted beasts?"
The librarian replied,
"You can find them in the fifth aisle on the right."
Steven browsed through the books, picked three of them, and began reading.
He wasn't in a hurry to find Byron — he could still feel that Byron was alive, perhaps due to their contract.
After two hours, Steven discovered many things.
Contracted beasts were first discovered by a human girl. According to the books, the girl had an extremely weak talent and was abandoned by her group in the middle of a battle against vampires during the war between humans and vampires. While hiding to save herself, a small red bird approached her. She held the bird close and cried in sorrow, then named it *Flamy*.
When the vampires found her hiding place, the little bird grew in size until it became a great and beautiful phoenix, burning the vampires in a storm of flames.
Contracted beasts can be categorized into several levels of power.
The weakest are the **common contracted beasts** — not everyone can form a contract with them. There are also **unique beasts**, which are extremely rare; often, only one person in a hundred years can form a contract with such a beast.
As for **legendary beasts**, after humans gained information from an ancient dwarf, it was revealed that only four legendary beasts were known to exist:
The Phoenix, the Dark Panther, the Pegasus, and the Minotaur.
Throughout history, only one person was ever known to have contracted a legendary beast — the same girl who contracted the phoenix she named *Flamy*.
It is also said that there exists a beast that surpasses all legendary beasts — the **Dragon**.
No one among the dwarves, elves, vampires, or any other races had ever heard of someone contracting a dragon.
To Steven's surprise, Byron turned out to be one of the four legendary beasts — which explained why he could speak.
Steven also learned how to sense the location of his contracted beast, share mana with it, and many other things.
He closed his eyes, focusing on his mana, trying to locate Byron.
He saw a faint thread of mana leading somewhere outside the library.
He returned the books to their place and followed the mana.
Strangely, it didn't lead him outside the academy but toward the eastern area, where third-year students resided.
Following the trail, Steven reached a secluded part of the academy — a quiet and calm place few students seemed to know about. There were a few benches surrounded by green grass, trees, and flowers that bloom in December, like camellias and winter jasmine.
The sunset light filled the scene beautifully, making Steven stop in his tracks.
"...This is beautiful."
He walked slowly, following the mana trail. After a short while, he stopped — there was someone sitting on a bench, lazily petting a cat resting on his lap.
Suddenly, the cat's ears twitched, and it opened its eyes, looking directly at Steven.
Byron immediately jumped from the black-haired person's lap and ran toward Steven.
Steven crouched down and quietly picked Byron up.
The black-haired person looked at Steven for a while before standing up and walking toward him.
He was strikingly handsome, with features even more refined and mature than Steven's. He was also about 15 cm taller — Steven was currently 163 cm tall, typical for a student.
The student looked at Byron, who was resting comfortably in Steven's arms, then raised his gaze to Steven and spoke in a deep yet gentle voice,
"Is this your pet?"
Steven looked into his green eyes for a moment — there was a strange warmth in his gaze — and nodded.
The student tilted his head slightly, thinking for a moment before asking,
"What's his name?"
Steven replied,
"Byron."
Upon hearing the name, the student smiled faintly and said softly,
"What a strange name."
He looked at his watch; the smile faded, his expression turned calm again.
"I'll be going now. Take good care of that little cat."
Steven watched as the cat pretended to sleep again, and the black-haired student walked away without waiting for a response.
Steven returned to the northern area of the academy, where first-year students stayed.
On the way, he asked Byron,
"Did you follow me to the academy?"
Byron lifted his head,
"Meow!"
Steven said quietly,
"I know you can talk to me in my mind."
Byron lowered his head, licked his paw, and spoke telepathically,
[Yes. Tch, why should I stay with that two-toned-haired idiot?]
Steven stayed silent for a moment before asking again,
"Why didn't you come to me after entering the academy?"
Byron replied indifferently,
[I found that beautiful place and decided to stay there.]
After walking a bit farther, Steven spoke again,
"I need to register you as my pet so you can stay in the academy freely. After that, you'll be able to roam around as you like.
I also read that contracted beasts need to be nourished with mana regularly. Why didn't you tell me that?"
Byron looked up at Steven and replied,
[I didn't need mana back then. I had plenty. But now it's different — I need to be fed every week.]
Steven asked,
"Why is it different now?"
[Only at the beginning of the contract, or when my contractor is in mortal danger, can I use my full power. After that, everything depends on the mana I receive.]
Steven nodded in understanding.
.....
I'm really sorry, friends, I published the chapter in Arabic and I didn't know about it.😟🥺