The Timid Beast Tamer
In this world, strength was measured by the beasts at one’s side.
From the moment a child awakened their Beast Mark, their fate was sealed. A roaring dragon meant glory. A radiant phoenix meant immortality. Even a ferocious wolf could carve a path through blood and honor. But a weak beast—one that limped, trembled, or failed to roar—was nothing more than a stain on one’s name.
Tamers ruled the world through domination. Beasts were bound, broken, and forced to obey. Loyalty was forged through pain, and evolution was paid for in corpses. This was the law of nature, written and rewritten by those powerful enough to survive it.
Everyone accepted it.
Everyone… except him.
Lin Yue had no ambition to conquer the world. He did not dream of standing atop mountains of bones or hearing his name whispered in fear. He had seen what happened to those who chased strength recklessly—how easily beasts turned on their masters, how quickly life was snuffed out by a single mistake.
Fear had kept him alive.
So when the Beast Selection Ceremony arrived, and countless eyes watched with expectation and mockery, Lin Yue made a choice no one else would. While others reached for shining eggs and roaring cubs, he stepped toward the corner of the arena—toward the creature no one wanted.
It was small. Frail. Its breathing uneven, its body marked by signs of early death.
A beast that would never survive.
Laughter followed him. Pity, then ridicule. Even the elders turned away, already certain of his future.
But when Lin Yue knelt and met the beast’s gaze, he felt something stir—not power, not dominance, but a quiet resonance. A fragile heartbeat answering his own.
Instead of a slave contract, he offered a promise.
“I won’t abandon you,” he whispered. “And you won’t abandon me.”
The world did not recognize such a bond. The heavens did not record it. Yet, in that moment, an ancient path—long buried beneath blood and tyranny—silently awakened.
A path where fear became foresight.
Where weakness became adaptation.
Where evolution was born not from slaughter, but from trust.
And though neither the timid boy nor the dying beast knew it yet, their choice would one day shake the foundations of a world that believed strength could only be taken by force.
