Friend!
The word thundered in my mind, high-pitched and rough around the edges. It felt almost foreign, as if spoken by someone who had just learned a new language…or their very first.
I giggled like a child, happy tears streaking down my face as my swollen World stirred. The combat exam and my performance lost all meaning in that moment. At least, they weren’t as important as this—for the moment.
I blinked once, and in that single moment, something heavy slammed into me, yanking me from the stone seat. A rough tongue scraped across my face, and the thunderous, high-pitched voice returned.
- Back!
Destiny squeaked excitedly to the side, and from the corner of my eye, I caught Scott buckling over, laughing his butt off. A pained groan escaped me as the heavy weight pinned me down. Familiar emotions and vivid images flooded my mind, carried by an earthy scent, followed by a second sweep of that wet, rough tongue. I couldn’t even be mad.
That was, quite literally, the best birthday present I could have wished for.
My muscles strained to lift the weight from my chest, but only when it shifted did I finally breathe again. Aureus clicked his tongue and bounded up onto the stone seating where I’d been a moment ago, his twinkling golden eyes locked on me. They were larger than before, but that could be said about everything. Aureus was… different.
“Let me take a good look at you, buddy!” I scrambled to my feet, ignoring the pain in my lower back, and faced Aureus as he froze. Only the gleam in his eyes, paired with the rush of excitement and happiness through our bond, told me he was playing. I shook my head but decided to play along.
My gaze traveled from the tip of his tail to the end of his snout, and I couldn’t help but be impressed. Even calling it an understatement would’ve been the understatement of the year. Aureus was incredible.
Everything about him, and even myself, felt different, but not in a bad way.
Happy?
“Yeah, I’m happy. I’m glad you’re back, Aureus.” I said, failing to hide my emotions.
Strong!
“Yes, you’re strong. And thanks to that strength, I—no, we—defeated one of the retinues!” I cradled Aureus’ head, noticing his scales felt oddly soft.
Hard!
His scales hardened in an instant as a wave of ether rippled through his body. They overlapped into a plated armor, pitch black with a star-like shimmer that highlighted the matte finish. The shimmer vanished when the scales softened again, but Aureus continued to play, clicking his scales into hard and soft states in rapid succession.
I felt countless eyes on us—on him—but Aureus and I focused solely on each other. I laughed as the little glutton let out a muffled growl.
LITTLE?!
“Erm… you’re right. Calling you ‘little’ feels wrong.”
Aureus wasn’t massive, but he was far from the miniature Soilback he’d been half a year ago. He wasn’t as big as a mature one either, and I was oddly grateful for that. His body was sleek, two meters from nose to tail, clad in scales as hard as refined metal. His shoulders stood at no more than fifty centimeters, though his height reached nearly seventy with his elongated neck. The neck didn’t look strange—just unexpected for a Soilback evolved into an Awakened beast.
Rather than a bulked-up Cragling, Aureus was lean and long, his skull tapering into a narrow, elongated muzzle. Two ridges rose above his deep-set golden eyes, crowned with bony crests that hadn’t been there before. But even that surprise was nothing compared to the wings.
Four wings—two complete pairs—sprouted from his back where the bulges had once been. I’d only seen similar wings in illustrations, but memories of reading about dangerous flying insects resurfaced as I studied them.
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Two forewings and two hindwings, each long and narrow with slightly different shapes, stretched out from his back. An intricate network of golden veins—like living stained glass—ran through the membranes, lending strength without weight. Aureus moved the hindwings independently, testing them with obvious excitement. If they worked, they’d grant him astonishing aerial precision.
Fly!
“Yes, you’ll fly eventually,” I assured him.
If your wings grow.
I ran my fingers down his back to the base of his wings. They were thin as silk, almost invisible except for the golden shimmer they caught in the light. Circling him, I noticed a faint metallic glint, uncertain if it came from the transparent membrane or the scaled bones reinforcing the leading edges of the forewings.
Even the forewings were covered in scales that shifted, forming a structure that resembled pitch-black plate armor at Aureus’ command; however, that did little to hide the wings’ size. They were small, spanning no more than half a meter, but they fluttered with great strength once I pulled back.
“You can move again.” I snickered, eyeing the wings as they fluttered faster than my eyes could track. Aureus leaped into the air, but gravity was still at work, pulling the glutton back to the ground.
“Do you have any idea what your Soulkin has become?” Scott asked moments after Destiny leaped onto Aureus’ snout, squeaking happily.
“I have no clue. Do you?”
Scott glanced at me mischievously and shrugged lightly. “Nope.”
I scoffed at that and noticed only now that some retinues were still fighting.
“Don’t worry, the combat exams are over,” Scott said. “The commander told us to wait for the results, though some people seem to think that this is also part of the exam. So, while you’re playing with your Soulkin, others have been socializing. That was all they did at first. Now, however, they’re challenging one another, trying to increase their ranking. Not that it’ll change anything.”
I raised an eyebrow at Scott but nodded. Rather than bothering with others, I talked with Aureus. Working on our communication was crucial, and it was actually what I wanted to do. Instead of getting thrashed—I was beaten to a pulp often enough in the last six months—I wanted to enjoy the rest of the day. I deserved that much. At least, today I did.
I focused on the World and my bond with Aureus, and his head snapped back to me. He yipped and jumped up and down. Excitement flooded the bond, and I watched in utter shock as the stone seating beneath him shifted. Aureus, seemingly unbothered, released strands of ether into the surroundings and started to shape the stone. His tiny wings flapped valiantly as the stone shifted, revealing the carving of a… circle?
Face!
For the first time, Aureus seemed disgruntled. His wings stopped instantly, and he stared blankly at me, disappointment glimmering in his eyes.
“Is that a face? Well, of course it is!” I tried my best, but I doubted I succeeded. Nonetheless, I continued. “You can draw really well! Isn’t it hard to shape stone? You—how exactly are you doing that, buddy? I don’t think I could draw my face even half as well as you did.”
Against my expectations, Aureus’ expression lit up. His wings fluttered again, and he returned to his art until one of the referees told us to stop.
“Your Soulkin—Aureus is his name, right?—he just evolved into an Awakened beast, didn’t he?” Scott asked, watching everything from the side.
When I nodded, he broke into a smile and patted my shoulder. “To be able to control the earth, especially stone, mere hours after acquiring a minor elemental aspect is quite impressive. Not unheard of, but it is highly valued. Combined with that trait that allows you to freeze your enemies, you can now wield two powerful traits.” He offered me a genuine smile. “Congratulations!”
Minor elemental aspect? That… well, it was not exactly unexpected. Even Craglings, the weakest evolution path for Soilbacks, had a minor affinity. I should know that much after reading about all their known evolution paths to prepare for this day. To put it simply, I agreed with Scott’s analysis; Aureus did not only acquire the elemental aspect, but he learned how to control it quite fast. Possibly even more important than that, I used the aspect already, even if it was only once!
Twice, I added inwardly, thinking back to my fight with the ice-wielding woman.
“Is that why she called me a liar?” I grimaced, hoping I could clear the misunderstanding in the future.
I talked a little more with Scott while Aureus fooled around with Destiny. We watched a few fights and chatted about the other exams. Scott was shocked when he heard what happened to me in the second exam. The shock transformed into anger, and he grumbled about official complaints until I told him that a staff member had already done that.
At some point, a footstep reverberated through the entire hall, and everyone stopped moving. My head turned to Commander Spencer, who’d returned with several staff members as well as the referees and healers.
“The test results have been compiled, rankings have been adjusted, and everything has been triple-checked.” Commander Spencer’s deep, emotionless voice echoed. “The official verdict has been sent to your accounts. You may check them now, or later when you are alone.”
“Leave the building in ten minutes, or we will make you leave.”
The last bit was unnecessary, but it didn’t look like anyone was bothered about that. Everyone hurried to materialize the holographic screens of their bracelets, and my heart started to race like crazy. It drummed valiantly against my chest and skipped a beat when the first screams, shouts, and victorious roars rang in my ears.
A mixture of despair and happiness filled the hall as I retrieved my phone. My fingers shivered, hair stood on end, and I broke into a cold sweat, but I unlocked my phone and opened the newest notification anyway.