The military official moved closer without stepping on the circle, stretching forth a scroll to the girl.
"Recite the tamer command to complete the contract"
The girl gently took it and started reciting, with every strange word muttered, the glowing light became brighter as if it would engulf both the master and monster.
SWOOSH SWOOSH
A strong wind blew past everyone's face in the enclosed hall, and the Steel-Jaww Wolf was carried upward at once.
A beam of energy shot out from the center of the contract circle, spiraling around the monster.
And in everyone's view, the monster vanished in the spiral of light, with the runic circle light fizzling out on the process.
There was a prolonged silence before a round of applause sounded from every corner of the hall.
Then as if something had prompted her, the girl raised her right hand, this hand had something shimmering at the back of it, which manifested into a strange symbol.
"The talent mark, I wonder what her talent is"
"I mean she is from one of the elite families, it is only natural that she would receive a powerful talent. Didn't you see the bright light"
Whispering broke out among the crowd,
The girl stepped out of the runic circle and handed the scroll over to the military official.
She then walked confidently out of the hall with the suited bodyguards.
The next name was called, and the contract ceremony was going smoothly with many aspirants receiving their talent mark.
Some summoned back their monster pet from the soul void, and entered the association training facility for training, to see if they could awaken their talent right away. Others simply left the association.
But there were still a significant number of aspirants who hadn't contracted their monster pet.
"Kai Rheo"
As Rheo heard the mention of his name, his heart seemed to skip a beat.
With Raizen perched on his shoulder, he walked lightly to the front and stepped into the contract circle.
Upon entering into this circle, it started glowing with a deep blue light, its intensity rising as seconds passed by.
After some moments, it reached a stable intensity, not too bright nor low, just moderate.
The military official walked closer without stepping on the circle and gave him the tamer scroll.
The official then cleared his throat and moved backward, with eyes that seemed as if they saw or knew something about Rheo, one that he didn't know.
Well, since most high officials in the Ranger association knew his dad was a renowned monster scientist, Rheo didn't find it weird.
He had seen many of those looks before, especially when the incident happened and he was invited by the director of New Pearl's Monster Ranger Association.
Rheo held the tamer scroll tightly and swore in his mind to find out the truth, he must become stronger in order to access the uncleared private monster lair— The Island of Skulls.
He started reading the tamer command, it was something taught to all first year of middle school, monster ranger aspirant or not.
However, a contract couldn't be established without a contract circle.
This was it, Rheo's mind started racing once again after starting the last sentence.
He was going to unlock Raizen's potential. With this contract, they would grow and evolve together.
Rheo took a breath to steady himself, reading the tamer's command loud and clear. His voice was slow but sure.
As the final words left his lips, the contract circle shimmered—then suddenly fizzled out.
His head rang!
What just happened? That wasn't how it was supposed to go.
Whispers stirred among the other aspirants, confirming what he feared.
Rheo gaze landed on the officials, confused expressions clearly etched on their features.
It was as if an abomination had occurred, something that wasn't supposed to happen had happened.
Upon finishing reading the tamer command, the contract was supposed to have been established, the light of the contract circle was supposed to engulf and absorb Raizen into his soul void, waiting to be called forth with their mind linked!
But, did he miss something? Did he miss a word in the tamer command? No way, he could recite the tamer command by heart without the scroll, and judging from the officials expression, there was simply no way.
"Rejected?" "The fuck is wrong with this loser, I haven't seen someone rejected by their pet before"
"The lowest level of loser"
"Or is the monster defective?"
Rheo's heart started racing.
'No… My father would never give me a defective pet as a gift'
But then again, his father was a monster scientist. How many times had he performed surgery on Raizen? How many times had he implanted it with monster cells? How many times had he modified, injected, and altered its genetic structure?
A bitter thought surfaced. Was Raizen flawed all along?
Alas, when humans do not want to consider themselves a loser, nor accept reality, they would tend to find something to shift the blame on.
Rheo expression twisted into one of reproach. He looked Raizen in the eyes, and the monster bird—sensing the shift—flapped backward in alarm.
Rheo felt a burning sensation well up from the depth of his heart, how could this monster bird disgrace him on this important day, had his monster ranger dream been ruined ever since he received this bird monster? Was his determination only on false hope for all these years? Would he have to wait for another year?
Suddenly—Flash! A Screen.
A glowing interface flickers into existence in Rheo's mind.
Raizen kept hovering beside Rheo, daring not to perch on him due to the sudden hostility.
However, Rheo felt his hostility melt away as he struggled to make sense of what had just appeared.
What surprised Rheo was the details the interface brought.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION: COMPLETE]
[Scanning for Eligible Player...]
[Player Found: Kai Rheo]
[Class: MONSTER RANGER – Locked]
[Optimization Required – Searching Compatible Monster]
The interface pulsed. Glowing glyphs formed over each monster, one at a time:
[Analyzing: MechaKnight Beetle — ERROR: Configuration Error]
[Analyzing: Man-Eater Demon Cell – ERROR: Incompatibility]
[Analyzing: Ironfeather Drake – ERROR: Incompatible Constitution]
[Analyzing: Mini-God Kong– ERROR: Potential Stagnant Evolution]
Names. Flashes. Errors. Rejection after rejection.
Then—
A pause.
A shimmer.
[Monster: Steel-feather Thunder Falcon]
[Compatibility: 97.4%]
[Storing monster for system optimization]
Raizen gave a startled cry as a thin beam of blue light manifested from nowhere and struck the center of the bird's chest. Raizen stiffened, wings flaring wide as glowing rings of light formed around him—like ethereal circuitry.
Rheo gasped and reached out—but he couldn't move. Time felt frozen. Light swirled faster and faster.
Then—
FWOOM.
Raizen vanished. Gone in a pulse of light. No feathers, no trace. Not even sound.
[System Optimization Complete!]
[Class: MONSTER RANGER – Unlocked]
[CONGRATULATIONS: YOU HAVE BECOME A PLAYER!]
Rheo mouth could only hang open in utter confusion as the interface vanished after the last message.