Suddenly, a sinking feeling coiled in her gut.
She looked up with a pale face and saw what she feared most, disdain.
Some sighed, feeling sorry for her.
Some snickered, happy to see her defeated.
Some changed. If previously, she was like an unobtainable goddess in their eyes, then now she was someone they could own and possess. The way they looked at her, she found it infinitely offensive.
Garrick's face remained as stoic as ever as he announced.
"Chansi. Unable to awaken. Talentless."
In that instant, the silver-haired beauty, who had always looked down on everyone else, fell from her high horse, her pride shattering like glass, as Garrick's words struck harder than any blow.
She collapsed to her knees, her vision growing thin and blurry, tears streaming out of her big almond shaped eyes.
"No."
"No way."
"This can't be happening…"
"I refuse to accept it!"
Her mutterings grew louder as she lost it, eventually growing into a high pitched cry of indignation. Struggling to accept the fact that she was nothing special, she didn't even hear Garrick telling her to move aside to make way for the next participant.
"Annoying."
Garrick's tone was flat, almost bored, but the faint glint in his eyes betrayed his displeasure.
It is one thing to anger a pauper. They might grumble, but life goes on. It is another to anger a noble. Your life might become a slow, miserable spiral down a path to ruin if they were really out to get you. But to offend a god? It never ends well. It ends with blood on the streets and cities erased from the map.
To Chansi, Garrick was no different from such a god who could decide her life and death on a whim.
Spoiled rotten by her family and admirers, she unfortunately didn't realize it… and in her arrogance, signed her own death sentence.
"Die!"
Garrick's hand moved lazily through the air.
As if such a simple action could bend reality.
Chansi's body shot from the circle like a broken doll fired from a cannon.
Her body smashed into the ground at lethal cannonball speed, bursting into a mess of blood and flesh.
Just like that, a beauty, who could attract admiration from all four directions, was reduced to nothing in an instant!
No one breathed.
No one dared.
Seeing the cruel display, they realised they were in the presence of a man who could wipe out a city with a turn of his hand, their breaths hitched in their throat.
"I hope this serves as an example," Garrick's voice rumbled like thunder, carrying with it the coldness of a thousand-year-old iceberg and a finality, remiscient of a death sentence! "This is not your home where you may act spoiled. This is the territory of the Beast Hall, and you stand before a Black Gold Beast Tamer. Maintain a likeable attitude… if you value your lives."
Ray gulped.
Just because a black gold rank beast tamer took offense at her breaking down in the middle of a sacred ritual, Chansi died.
This world was more cruel that he thought.
'Damn, big sis is dead. Lord Garrick did me a favour for no reason.' Kiana didn't even bother shedding a few crocodile tears at the loss of his sister to seem humane. He smiled broadly, laughing in his mind. 'With Chansi out of the way, I am the only successor left. In the future, I will become the head of the Gilmoren Family. Hahaha! Hahahaha!'
"Strength. It's the only thing that matters in this world. I want to grow strong!" Ray stepped into the ritual circle to awaken his seal.
In that instant, the world underwent huge changes.
Dark clouds swirled into existence overhead, blotting out the sun.
In less than a breath, the warm sunlight vanished, and a cold shadow fell over White Sparrow Town.
The town was plunged into sudden darkness, and silence fell so abruptly it was almost deafening.
For a moment, every citizen of White Sparrow Town stood frozen in shock.
"W-What…?" a man stammered.
"Why is it suddenly dark in the middle of the day?" another whispered, voice shaking.
"Something's wrong… something's very wrong…"
Panic rippled through the streets. Mothers clutched their children close. Shopkeepers abandoned their stalls to look at the sky.
Those unfamiliar with the seal awakening ritual were bewildered, exclaiming and panicking without pause.
But among those gathered for the ritual, the reaction was different.
"What kind of seal is he awakening to cause such a powerful vision?"
"Don't tell me… it's a divine rank seal."
"If it really is divine rank, he will be like a dragon ascending to heaven, obtaining endless glory and admiration in a single move."
"No, that must never happen. How will I be able to take my revenge if he becomes such an unattainable existence?"
"I would die of jealousy if I see a mere commoner awaken such a seal."
As the crowd speculated wildly, an image formed in Ray's mind.
"This is what my beast taming seal looks like? It's so plain and ordinary. What does it do? Nothing... Huh?"
Ray gaped as he turned to Garrick, who finally spoke.
"There is, in fact, a sixth type of beast taming seal I didn't mention before, because the chance of awakening it is less than one in a hundred thousand. It's called the Cursed Seal. It has no effect and cannot tame beasts. It does absolutely nothing. In the history of our empire, only one person has ever had the misfortune to awaken such a seal. His Majesty's eldest son."
"He was meant to be his Majesty's successor and he was even being trained for it, but upon awakening the cursed seal, he was stripped of his Crown Prince title. Since then, the black seal has been known as the cursed seal… a mark of ruin that brings only misfortune to its bearer."
"Doesn't that mean my beast taming seal is completely useless," Ray said.
Garrick modded. "You are the weakest beast tamer in history."
Kiana pointed at Ray and laughed, "Trash."
A glare from Garrick shut him up.
Ray maintained his calm as stepped out of the ritual circle, returning to the crowd.
"God, Buddha, any great being out there, if you are real, please bless me," he begged desperately in his heart, not wanting to live a life where he could be killed for no good reason a second time.
[Ding!]
'Huh? Did I just hear a chime?'
Ray looked around.
There was no bell to ring nearby.
Where did the noise came from?
A notification popped up, clearing up his confusion.
[Your prayers have been heard.]
[You have gained the Strongest Beast Taming System!]
Ray smiled.
His golden finger.
It was here!