The ruby stone, as big as a pigeon egg, gleamed briefly in the young man's hands. It emitted a strange light, fascinating yet filled with a threatening sense.
His hands were sore. His palms, enclosing the stone, oddly nearly turning to the same color as it. He quickly hid it from any prying eyes. The soreness made it as if the stone had sucked all the energy out of him.
However, he quickly surmised that it was merely his feeling. He was just exhausted from all the running after the heist he had just committed.
Nolan slapped his back, his eyes fixated on the ruby stone Kaius was holding with both of his hands. "You look so enchanted by the stone."
"It seems to have a strange power." Kaius murmured.
"Let me see." Nolan tried to snatch the stone from Kaius' hands, but the latter avoided him. With a snort, Nolan grumbled. "You are so stingy."
Currently, they were standing on a deck of a ship, sailing peacefully toward the land across. It was the only choice both of them had, because they hadn't expected that a mere stone could stir the City Lord into dispatching all the city guards in search of it.
The fact that the City Lord had an ordinary caravan to smuggle it to his City Lord mansion was quite unusual. Yet, they also understood that sometimes the most dangerous place can also be the safest.
The ordinary caravan traders weren't that strong, but that also made it less suspicious. Unfortunately, they just had to run into the two boys.
Kaius and Nolan were only seventeen years old. They had known each other since they were babies, practically closer than brothers. Both of them had grown up in the same orphanage. Until they decided to run away together from there.
The orphanage wasn't an ordinary place, but a building disguised for inhuman experiments. The moment they heard about it, they instantly decided that they would rather scavenge for food rather than suffer from a heinous experiment.
Living in the slums, they were forced to steal and do odd jobs in order to fill their stomachs. Nevertheless, even such a life was better than some people out there who lived close to the Wasteland.
At least their city was protected by the Necrotamers, the group of people who wielded immense power in their grasp by using dead beasts. Like a puppeteer.
"You are standing too close to the rail, Kai. Careful or you will fall." Nolan reminded him. His hand reached out for his friend.
The moment Nolan's hand reached Kaius, the latter looked at his friend in disbelief.
Blood poured from the gaping wound in his stomach. His vision quickly blurred because of the pain, and yet, he hadn't recovered from the betrayal.
Why?
They treated each other as brothers, but Nolan had taken the chance to turn against him the moment he had his back to him. He ruthlessly stabbed him. Why?!
"I am sorry, Kai. They will kill me if we don't hand over the ruby stone…" Nolan's voice trembled, quickly answering the question in Kaius' mind.
Of course, it wasn't that simple.
Only one of them had the chance to survive in this predicament. Nolan couldn't bear the pressure and was forced to push Kaius out as the only one responsible for this.
He had told the City Lord that he had seen the thief and promised to help him retrieve it back.
"We shouldn't have stolen the ruby stone. If you hadn't suggested it…"
Kaius used every bit of his last strength to hold on onto the stone. Nolan was trying to pry the stone off his hand. Previously, it wasn't only him who thought the stone wrapped in an exquisite box was merely ordinary jewelry.
"You… traitor… asshole…" he spat, making the wound feel more painful.
"Let the stone go, Kai." Nolan told him in a panic, afraid that Kaius would say anything that would land him in trouble. At this time, the cabin crews were far away from them in this gigantic ship. The commotion would soon draw people's attention to them.
Below the ship was a carcass of a whale beast controlled by a necrotamer.
Kaius tried to endure the pain and clutched Nolan's neck with his other hand stiffly. Nolan struggled to breathe, and in the process, he tried to shove Kaius into the ocean.
He had thought about it. Kaius let himself be thrown into the ocean, his body losing balance. Along with the ruby stone in his hand. At least, Nolan also wouldn't survive without the item he was desperately trying to take possession of…
Well, that was what he thought before he lost consciousness.
He thought that he had died.
"Failed? That's impossible." An enraged voice snapped him back to reality.
Kaius looked at the middle-aged man with a face full of daze. This man was his father. And then there was the man beside him who appeared to be of the same age as his father.
Pain wrecked his body again, and blood seeped out of his mouth.
No, he had truly died, and somehow, he reincarnated into the Noble House of Petrakis as their third son. For fifteen years, he hadn't remembered the memories of his previous life as a street thief, one of the lowest members of the society.
Now, it seemed that the failed attempt at controlling the beast's egg triggered his memories of previous life. His soul had received a backlash.
Instead of caring about the injured son who had blood pouring out of his mouth, Davin Petrakis insisted on the test result being wrong.
"What kind of beast egg is this? Maybe the grade is too high for Kaius." Davin muttered, still unwilling to accept it. His stern gaze fixated on his third son. "Try again."
Then, he ordered his subordinates. "Get the other beast's eggs here and let Kaius try again."
"Or he can try from the infant the beast's carcass first. He might be more compatible with the dead ones." The man, who had been silent all this while, finally opened his mouth.
Kaius looked at the man with a deep gaze. He almost didn't recognize him.
Nolan!
He clenched his fists, trying not to let his impulsiveness take over. He held monstrous hatred for the man, but… now wasn't the right time.
The man was such a contrast to his previously thin, easily frightened self. It was as if he was an entirely different person.
The calm, collected look on his face made people feel good about it. He looked amiable but, at the same time, also unapproachable. His tall frame hid boundless, unshakable power.
Who would have thought that one of the high level masters in the Holy Beasts Academy used to be a thin street thief? Kaius was also curious; how did Nolan survive when he didn't manage to retrieve the ruby stone?
As for that stone, it should have drowned on the seabed when he brought it down with him.
Luckily, although his name was still the same, his appearance differed vastly from his previous blonde self. Even so, it still made Kaius wonder whether his current self, who possessed the same name, managed to stir any ripples of emotions in him? Even if it was just a bit?
Kaius wasn't sure. The way Nolan looked at him… it was as if he was looking at a kid far below his generation.
Davin pondered over Nolan's opinion before agreeing. "Bring all the infant carcasses here, along with the other eggs. We can try one by one."
The egg that Kaius had used to try to bond earlier appeared cracked, but there was no life inside. The aura of death was strong, which meant that Kaius had killed it in the process of bonding with the beast.
Beast masters were similarly prestigious occupations, but necrotamers generally have stronger power. Unless… the beast master has the resources to upgrade their living beast's power continuously.
Some geniuses within prestigious households would choose to do both. They could only have one living beast, and if their soul power allowed it… limitless deadbeasts, they could control.
Soon, the subordinates brought the beast eggs and some infant beast carcasses.
"Try it." Davin told his son. When Kaius glanced at Nolan, the latter sent him an encouraging look. Kaius withdrew his gaze, feeling slightly disgusted in his heart.
His strength hadn't completely recovered yet, but he suddenly became eager to try. He also aspired to be a powerful beast tamer or necrotamer…
"Relax your breathing and concentrate on your soul's power to build the bond." Nolan's voice rang in his ears.
Kaius closed his eyes, slightly irritated by Nolan's voice. Soon, he was back to concentration. He was able to perceive a life within those eggs with his soul power. Using his soul power, he slowly tried to form a connection with one.
Because his soul power was exhausted previously, the attempt failed again. His soul power was overdrawn, and he felt a pain like his soul was ripped apart. A voice in his heart told him that this might be his last attempt to form a bond with a living beast, otherwise…
He tried once again, despite the pain. In a moment of disorientation, something moved near him. Before he knew it, a gigantic shadow lunged toward him.
The adults at the scene couldn't react fast enough, and the monstrous claw embedded itself on Kaius' left, making him yell in pain. In that moment of disruption, the attempt to form a bond accidentally shifted the focus.
Kaius wasted his chance and bonded the dead beast egg…
"Catch the traitor!" Devin yelled a command in anger.
Later, on top of wasting his chance, Kaius was also declared losing his left arm.
Then, he had to face his father's disappointed face, that gradually morphed into ruthlessness.
The Petrakis family no longer welcomed their third son.