I barely made it into the living room of the Zerog estate when my parents stormed toward me like frenzied beasts. Even their gazes were fierce as they pulled me into a tight hug.
We didn’t say a word, but that wasn’t necessary. More often than not, actions spoke louder than words ever could.
Dad released me after a few seconds. He smiled at me with the same proud eyes as in the last few weeks, but there was also a tinge of something else in his gaze. They scrutinized me intently, trying to discern what had changed. Uncertainty, anxiety, and hope flickered in his eyes, but Dad was not alone. I could see the same expression in Mom’s eyes when she finally released me after what felt like an eternity.
They don’t know if I made it, I realized, trying to maintain my expression. Unfortunately, Aureus was not up for any games. He materialized in the air before me, letting out a low growl as he tried to stay afloat for the umpteenth time. His wings fluttered faster than the eye could follow, yet he still couldn’t fly – not yet.
Mom shrieked and retreated, which was an entirely understandable reaction when a frustrated beast suddenly appeared before you. David was unmoving, but his eyes bulged. His hair stood on end. I heard Bert’s familiar gasp and Daniel’s way-too-familiar voice: “What in the Rulers’ names happened to Aureus?”
I stepped to the side to see Daniel standing between the table in the living room and my father. “Erm…he evolved?”
Did I really have to say that?
Daniel rolled his eyes and gestured wildly at Aureus’ wings as the glutton slumped to the ground with a loud thud. “So, you’re trying to tell me that a Soilback evolving into a winged beast is normal? What even are those wings?”
Bert ignored our banter and squeezed between my parents to take a closer look at Aureus. He bent down and gently touched Aureus’ silky, translucent wings. Aureus’ hindwings shifted excitedly, but his forewings remained still—or as still as wings shuddering in anticipation could be. At least, my Soulkin knew better than to move while someone studied his wings.
“What happened?” Peter Zerog’s voice resounded. My gaze drifted past Daniel to his father seated at the table behind him. “We were informed about the official complaint, but that isn’t news to us. You mentioned that already.”
He looked calm and composed, exactly how I recalled him, but his fingers tapped restlessly along the ridge of the table. “We were told the test scores are out, but we cannot access your data.”
That…made no sense. The sponsors should be able to see if their retinue successfully made it into the Camp. The Camp started in less than twenty-four hours, so they should have told the sponsors all about it.
Weird.
I retrieved my phone and uploaded the results into the Zerogs’ drive.
As if he had been waiting for this, Peter Zerog jerked upright. Holographic screens popped up, revealing everything about my test scores, notes made by researchers, examiners, and referees, as well as a lot more information I hadn’t bothered reading.
“79th in the combat exam?” Peter Zerog’s voice cut through the air like an ether-infused blade, sharper than usual. My parents flinched, and so did the Blackbellied Gibbons resting on their shoulders. Aureus hissed at Peter, and Chloe had to nudge him in the side and glare at him.
“Well, there were more than a hundred participants.” He caved in, albeit reluctantly. If anything, it sounded like Peter Zerog was trying to convince himself, until a faint smile tugged at his lips. His eyes had already returned to the reports.
“Aureus broke through in the middle of the combat exam? Talk about timing.” He shook his head. “Your fight was against a Journeyman while you were still a Novice? Your advancement wasn’t complete when the second fight started either, yet you wielded an element with the mastery of an elementary innate? That—…not too bad.”
“That’s impressive!” Daniel exclaimed and joined his father. He skimmed through the report, and his head flicked toward me when he reached the end. “You made it! You really made it!”
I felt like bantering with Daniel, but I was actually just relieved. My combat rank was not the best. It could have been a lot better—or worse. Nonetheless, I scraped by and was accepted into the Camp with my rank.
44th place.
The last exam had been a pain in the butt, my ranking unfortunate, however, nobody cared about that. Well, it might matter once the Camp started the day after, but I could afford to be happy for a bit.
I didn’t want to think too much about the rankings and exams now that the tests were over, but I was forced to as everyone talked about the exams and the detailed reports. The more they talked about it, the more I wondered how one victory had pushed me to 79th place.
“I barely made it into the Camp.” I shuddered, the color draining from my face. If my combat ranking had been a little worse, I’d have been in the 50s, and that would have been enough to disqualify me.
Special merits had been awarded to me, but why? Was it because I was a late bloomer, or because of Aureus’ evolution?
Whatever! I slapped my cheeks firmly, banishing the bad thoughts from my mind.
The slap resounded and silenced Peter and Bert, who had gotten up when the Zerogs started rummaging through the questions of the first exam and my answers.
“You did great, honey!” Mom stepped closer and embraced me again. Her fingers cradled my red cheeks, and a look of disapproval flickered in her eyes, but she pressed me closer and planted a quick kiss on my cheek. “I’m glad everything worked out for you on your birthday.”
Dad appeared beside us and joined the hug. “Happy birthday, kiddo.”
The Blackbellied Gibbons squeaked and forced their way into the hug, setting off Aureus, who yipped aloud. A moment later, his heavy frame crashed into us, and we stumbled to the ground. Aureus yipped, excitement flooding our bond, as my parents and I looked at each other. We laughed and watched the Blackbellied Gibbons as they leaped at Aureus, fighting playfully with the young Awakened beast.
“This has to be celebrated!” Daniel roared, pumping his fists into the air.
Chloe nodded in agreement, her warm, doting gaze lingering on me. “Adam went against all those training for years and successfully entered the Camp. Of course, we have to celebrate this.”
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“And he turned 16 just in time!” Daniel added excitedly.
His mother nodded again, her smile even more brilliant than before. “Yes, it is his birthday. He deserves to enjoy the rest of the day to the fullest!”
Daniel squealed as if it was his birthday being celebrated, while Bert offered me a kind smile, all as Peter Zerog tried to maintain his power face. However, cracks were forming, and I enjoyed every moment of it.
“We shouldn’t forget Aureus,” I added with a smile, which was accompanied by loud, excited noises.
“Of course, we have to celebrate Aureus’ evolution into…” Chloe halted momentarily and turned to Beaster Bert. “What exactly is he?”
All eyes turned to Bert, whose lips parted only to snap shut.
“That…” He winced and ruffled through his hair. “That is a very good question.”
The Beaster’s eyes flicked to me, and he grinned.
“I think that depends on Adam,” Bert said. “How do you want him to be called?”
***
The feast the Zerogs prepared for me was exactly that: a feast – massive and all. They were forced to extend the table to fit all the food, be it massive steaks from a Titan Boar, ether-infused vegetables that were grown on the outskirts of the Eighth Bastion, sushi from freshly harvested aqueous beast, and a lot more.
I had no idea what most dishes were called, but they were delicious. The Zerogs had dozens of meals delivered, and they prepared a special meal for Aureus as well. Even the desserts were made from rare ingredients that probably cost more than I’ve earned since bonding with Aureus. Normally, I’d feel bad about someone spending so much money on me—especially for meals—but not today. Today I looked the other way.
My cheeks ached from smiling all day, and when I didn’t smile, I was either talking or chewing on something. My jaws were constantly on the move, and soreness was slowly settling all over my body. Exhaustion was catching up with me, but I brushed it aside. Today was too good of a day to waste with sleeping.
“Can we move on to the gifts, or is someone still eating?” Peter Zerog asked casually.
My eyes widened at that.
Gifts? What were they talking about?
The leftover dishes disappeared in a violet cloud. But I was too focused on jumping up from my chair as Peter Zerog stood. He walked over and…he pulled me into a quick hug.
“Happy birthday.” He released me as suddenly as he pulled me into the hug, his eyes momentarily flickering to Aureus, playing with Coco.
“We know you don’t like expensive gifts—Daniel told us all about it—but I don’t really care about your issues,” Peter said, retrieving a leather belt with a black metal clasp. “Throw it away if you don’t like it.”
My body moved before my mind could react. I accepted the belt and stared blankly at it.
“Is that a storage unit?” Daniel asked, appearing beside me. “I think I’ve read about them. They’re upgradeable, aren’t they?”
Peter Zerog ignored Daniel. He studied me for a moment and pointed at the clasp. “The storage is small. Chloe told me not to overdo it, or you’d feel bad for accepting a large storage belt. Either way, it fits a suitcase filled with clothes, a few other miscellaneous items, as well as the refined silvernit sword. I made sure of that.”
It was…perfect.
My fingers trembled as I put the storage belt on, and it took me a moment to regain composure. Controlling ether was especially difficult while excitement flooded my entire being, but I made it work—somehow—and attuned the storage belt to my ether signature.
“I…” My mouth closed when Peter glared at me, and I winced. “Thank you. It’s perfect. It really is.”
Peter walked off, his expression never changing, even as everyone stared at him in awe.
Next up were my parents.
“I’m sorry, honey. We cannot buy you storage units and the like. We–...” Mom hesitated as she stepped closer. I smiled at her, and Dad pushed her gently. “We might not be the best, but we are the proudest parents in all of Razarn! I hope you know that.”
I felt like saying something about the first part. However, Dad stepped forward, dragging a suitcase behind him.
“We prepared something for you,” he said with a smile, silencing all attempts at retorting to Mom’s comment with a look. “Everything you need for the Camp is in there: combat clothes, regular clothes, and a lot of other things I have no idea about. Chloe was kind enough to help us prepare everything.”
How did they pay for all of that?
I glanced at Chloe Zerog, who threw a pointed look at my parents. “They paid for everything out of their own pockets. Steve—you should have seen him a few times—took a liking to them and hired your parents. That means a lot more than you may think.” She winked at me, her voice soft as butter. “After spending some time with your parents, I can tell where you’re coming from. You are definitely the best parts of your parents combined into one.”
That…was a weird thing to say, but I took it gracefully. At least, I thought I did. Daniel, however, was anything but graceful when he jumped up. He shattered the moment with his bright—and very punchable—face.
“I have the exact same model,” he exclaimed even before I could take a look at his gift. Daniel pushed a small box into my hand, his eyes daring me to open it right this instant. I obliged, not without first thanking my parents a dozen times for their present, and my eyes landed on a watch. “That is an Etheriam, model V12.09. I can show you all its functions. It can project up to ten screens, you can connect it to your ether stream if you want to, and it analyzes your physical exercises. There are hundreds of other functions, and I will make sure you know them all inside out by tomorrow!”
That was a little bit over the top, but so was Daniel’s excitement. Still, inspecting the watch, I smiled warmly.
The Etheriam, be it the first model or the latest, was better than my phone. One hundred percent!
In the next ten minutes—though it certainly felt like hours—Daniel rattled off a few dozen functions. I barely remembered half of them, and I stopped listening at some point.
“Erm…” I turned to Beaster Bert, who cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I didn’t know it was your birthday, so I didn’t have time to prepare a special gift for you.”
“That’s no problem. I didn’t expect anyone to—” Evalynn shushed me with a mischievous smile and gestured for me to wait.
“But if you’re fine with that, I can teach you all about the work of a Beaster whenever you have some time to spare.”
I didn’t think I was going to have a lot of time to spare for Bert’s teaching, but every bit counted. It was a great opportunity – a great gift – and it couldn’t have come at a better time with Aureus being an—well, I still hadn’t decided on a name.
Aureus showed me the image of a clump of muck, which he had already done earlier when I tried to come up with a cool species name. But this time the images changed and formed into something else.
Heart!
Soilheart? Is that what you want to be called?
Aureus snorted and bombarded me with emotions of hate. That was a hard no.
Mudheart? No, you wouldn’t like that.
I tilted my head and watched Aureus as he shaped a block of hardened soil the Zerogs had purchased to test his Earthen Aspect.
“Earthheart?” I muttered, and Aureus yipped excitedly in response. “Are you serious now?”
I’d been thinking about a cool name for the last few hours, and he wanted his kind to be called ‘Earthheart’!?
“I like it,” Daniel chipped in.
Really now?
“Fine,” I groaned. “It’s not that bad.”
Aureus jumped up and down, forgetting all about the charging Thunderhorn Bull and the earthen wall he was supposed to erect to block Coco.
“Thank you, Bert. I will definitely come back to bother you.” I snickered, locking eyes with Bert, who nodded subtly. He turned to Aureus for a moment, his eyes glimmering, and I began to wonder who this present was for. Did he offer to teach me for my sake, or did he just want to research Aureus, the first Earthheart that had been discovered in the Bastions?
“We can visit the lab for a thorough examination tomorrow morning,” I offered, grinning at Bert as he looked back at me with hopeful eyes. “Only if you want. I don’t want to force you or anything.”
Evalynn chuckled at the last bit. “I’m sure Bert would have kidnapped you and Aureus to examine you whether you wanted to or not.”
“That is—” Bert blushed, his lips sealing shut momentarily, only to surrender after a second or two. “That’s probably true.”
“In that case, let’s celebrate before it’s too late!” Daniel roared aloud, while Coco joined him with a loud moo.
I just stared at Daniel, brows furrowed.
Isn’t that what we’ve been doing for the last few hours?