Outside the cave, he breathed in deep and sent a silent prayer to the heavens.
He wished he could see the female lead that helped him up the mountain so he could thank her, because if she hadn't helped him, he might still be climbing the mountain right now.
He began the descent of the mountain. The exit of the cave led to a different, dangerous path and now, he was standing at the tip of a long bridge that looked like it was falling apart. The bridge was made of rocks, and it had no railings at the sides to protect anyone should they fall.
He stared over the edge, and all that was underneath the bridge was white smoke.
A kid screamed bloody murder as he fell off the bridge, right into the smoke and Zade felt pity for everyone falling left and right. They wouldn't die, the smoke is just an illusion, they'll fall on a safety net. However, they'd fail the exam.
Zade crouched and took off one shoe just as a few kids emerged from the cave and he decided to wait for them. From the sight of the kids' one was a beast tamer, one a healer, and one a hunter. Since he received a little help up the mountain from the blue eyed girl, he felt like returning the favor.
He urged them to join him and to take off a shoe each. The hunter vehemently refused and claimed that was a stupid thing to do.
"I'm certain of what I'm saying, but you can choose to do whatever you want." Zade said calmly, not interested in arguing.
The hunter still refused to take off his shoe, the beast tamer with a glowing white egg hesitantly took off his shoe, but the healer, a timid looking brown haired girl, clutched her glowing rune to her chest as she hesitantly took off her left shoe after receiving an encouraging nod from the beast tamer.
The hunter chose to go first and we all walked right behind him.
"No hand holding." Zade told the beast tamer and the healer. That would make them fall off almost immediately.
"See? I told you I didn't need to take off any an—" the hunter was speaking as he suddenly slipped and fell off the bridge. He screamed as he fell through the white smoke, and the two kids walking behind Zade screamed as well.
They successfully crossed the bridge in a heavy, frightened silence, and as they profusely thanked Zade for the help and asked how he knew what to do, he told them he just had a feeling.
Then they introduced themselves.
The healer went by Alina.
The beast tamer went by Francis.
And Zade introduced himself to them as… Zade. Not killian. But Zade.
That's the name he'll answer in this story on moving forward.
~~~
It was evening, and all the kids that succeeded in completing the exam were about quarter of the total amount that began the exam this morning.
Majority of the kids failed the exam.
Zade was relieved to be a part of those that were successful. After that bridge, they passed one more step- rope climbing, and at one point, he almost dropped his egg, because he had to use one hand to climb the rope, and then the other to protect his egg.
Overall, it was hectic as hell, but he was just relieved and grateful to have succeeded.
Presently, all the kids that succeeded were gathered on the stage in a large hall, and right before the stage, sat everyone's parents and guardians who are here to witness the unveiling of each kid's new path.
Zade was nervous because he didn't know what beast his egg would produce, compared to every beast tamer he could see right now, his egg was the weirdest looking one and a few people had outrightly laughed after seeing it.
But Zade wasn't gonna let that affect him.
"Your egg looks cool." Francis complimented his egg as he came to stand beside him.
Zade grinned at him, already liking his vibe. "Thank you, yours is color."
"I wonder what kind of beast we'd awaken." Francis said, just as Ego sauntered towards them and guffawed at the sight of Zade's egg, saying it was the most ridiculous egg he had ever seen.
Zade pointedly ignored the rest of the snide remarks and laughter, just as a hush came over everyone when a woman walked to the front of the stage, her beast perched on her shoulder. It was a phoenix of A-rank, level 1.
Her aura could be felt from miles away and Zade was beyond awed.
The woman introduced herself, gave a little congratulatory speech to the kids, then she began to instruct everyone to come forward one after the other for the reveal.
Cyrus went first, and as he stepped forward and held out his bright and glistening egg that glowed so beautifully with his eyes closed, the egg slowly cracked to reveal a blinding glow, then a tiger cub leaped out of the cracked egg and laid in Cyrus's hands. The crowd went crazy with excitement, the beast Cyrus just awakened was a C-rank beast!
If cultivated right, it would easily evolve to B-rank, or higher.
The other kids went forward for their display.
Zade noticed when the blue eyed female lead went forward and he reminded himself to thank her again later. As she held up a staff, it glowed so brightly and produced a burst of light that exploded like stars above her head, then glowing, white tattoos crawled over her pale fingers.
As everyone clapped madly, Zade was blown away. She had just awakened a B-rank mage ability!
As everyone else went forward, most of them awoke D-rank and E-rank of various paths. Only a few more awoke higher ranked paths.
When it was Zade's turn, he was nervous as he stepped forward and exhaled before holding his egg out.
There were instant snide remarks and crackles around the congregation, but Zade shut everything out and closed his eyes. While focusing on the small mana inside of him, he pictured the egg inside his mind and gently willed it to crack. He heard a cracking sound as he hesitantly opened his eyes.
Every beast tamer's egg that had cracked, revealed a bright glow. For Zade, his egg puffed out a single puff of smoke that was of four colors, like the body of the egg.
Everyone was silent as they stared closely at the egg, their breath held in anticipation.
Zade stopped breathing as the smoke slowly cleared to reveal a beast that was made of… water?
The beast was a cub, and as blue as the ocean, and small drops of water slightly fell through Zade's fingers. The cub blinked up at Zade with large, silver eyes, its head tilted sideways in clear curiosity.
Zade's mouth fell open when he noticed the small, fluttering wings at the back of the cub. When it opened its mouth, a tuft of smoke left its mouth and everyone was frozen in awe.
No child has awakened a beast that had wings in… ever.
And this beast… it's an A-rank beast!
The first A-rank beast of this year's entire exam.