A clear, mechanical chime echoed inside Luciel's mind.
> Ding! "Tameable creature detected. Binding to the God-level Trainer System… 90%..."
Ding! "Binding complete. System initialization successful. Loading user interface…"
Luciel froze. His grip on the small tortoise tightened as strange light flickered in his vision.
Before he could react, a stream of information poured directly into his consciousness—cold, efficient, and impossibly precise.
Images and words flashed before his eyes like lines of code unraveling across the air.
A high-dimensional system… designed to train professional beast tamers… accidentally swept into a temporal storm during transit… merged with a compatible host.
Luciel stood there silently, his mind processing what he'd just learned.
So this was the explanation. Some kind of advanced system from a higher dimension—something meant to cultivate "trainers"—had fallen through the cracks of time and space and fused with him during his mysterious crossing into this world.
He exhaled slowly, lips curving in a faint, ironic smile. Even in a dying world, I can't escape strange luck.
> A system from a high-dimensional civilization, he thought. Even something designed for training professionals can rewrite reality in a lower dimension… that's beyond anything humans ever achieved.
Luciel gathered his scattered thoughts and focused inward. The purpose of the so-called God-Level Trainer System quickly became clear.
Its function, at least for now, was simple—primitive even. The system allowed its host to tame creatures, help them evolve, and, through them, gain new abilities.
Each day, he would receive a limited number of "taming points," refreshed every twenty-four hours and capable of being stored up. Evolution, however, required "evolution points," which could only be earned by finding items that contained energy.
It was like a survival game—but real. Deadly real.
Luciel tested his thought aloud within his mind. System, can you display my personal attributes?
> Ding! "Commencing body scan… Analysis in progress."
A faint shimmer passed across his vision, and suddenly a holographic interface materialized before him, projected directly onto his retina.
---
Trainer: Luciel
Physical Strength: 3.0
Speed: 2.6
Power: 3.2
Spirit: 2.7
Lifespan: 24 / 79 years
Taming Points: 10 (refreshed daily, accumulative)
Evolution Points: 0
Abilities: None
Domesticated Beasts: None
(Baseline for ordinary human: 1)
---
Luciel studied the display, eyebrows lifting slightly. Everything about it was straightforward—bare-bones, like a game's starting stats. Even his years of military training weren't reflected; perhaps the system measured physical potential, not skill.
Still, one detail made him chuckle softly.
"Seventy-nine years old, huh? That's longer than I ever expected to live," he murmured under his breath.
Mino, who had been anxiously hovering nearby, caught his faint smile but not his words. She misread it entirely.
"Luciel… does that mean you'll stay?" she asked hopefully, her voice small but bright.
He blinked, pulled out of his thoughts. Before he could respond, Mino took his silence as a yes and began bustling about the shed, gathering supplies.
"I'll help you pay the taxes!" she said quickly, as if afraid he'd change his mind if she stopped moving.
Luciel watched as she placed the freshly caught lizards back into her cloth bag and carefully selected five pieces of dried lizard meat from her wooden box. She left three pieces behind—just enough to keep herself alive.
When she glanced at the tortoise in his hands, her gaze softened. "Big Sis gave that one to me. It eats the bugs in the hut. You can trade it for ten small lizards if you want—it's worth that much."
She began counting under her breath. "Seven live ones, five dried ones, plus ten from the tortoise… thirty-three lizards total." Her lips curved with cautious optimism. "If I set more traps tomorrow, we'll have enough for both of us before the tax day!"
Luciel's voice cut through her excitement, calm and firm. "Mino, this tortoise can't be traded."
"Huh? Why not?"
She stopped mid-calculation, her joy evaporating. When realization dawned, her shoulders slumped, and she whispered, "So… you're still planning to leave?"
"Not quite." Luciel turned the tortoise over gently, studying its rough shell. "I just want to keep this one. May I?"
Mino blinked at him in surprise. "You… want the tortoise?"
He nodded.
For a few seconds, she stared blankly, and then, as his words sank in, her expression brightened like dawn breaking through clouds. "Oh! Sure, take it! The little turtle's yours," she said eagerly.
But almost immediately, her face crumpled with new worry. "Without it, that means I'll need to catch at least forty-three lizards…"
Luciel couldn't help smiling at her earnest muttering. She crouched by the dusty floor, sketching a crude map with her fingertip, mumbling to herself about trap placement and hunting routes.
Watching her plan so seriously for survival—such a small, stubborn spark in this dead world—made something inside him stir. He looked down at the tortoise resting in his palm and felt a strange warmth spread through his chest.
"All right," he thought silently. "Let's see what this system can really do."
He focused inward. System, initiate taming. Target: the tortoise in my hand.
> Ding! "Target identified: Level-0 lifeform—Tortoise. Beginning taming process…"
Ding! "Taming successful. Consumed 10 Taming Points."
The moment the second chime sounded, white light flared around the tortoise. Luciel blinked as the glow intensified, spilling across the shed walls.
Startled, he quickly placed the creature on the ground. "Mino, move back," he said sharply, gripping her shoulder and pulling her several steps away.
"What's happening?" she whispered, eyes wide. She turned toward the door, half-expecting an attack.
Then she saw it—the tortoise, glowing brighter and brighter, its shell expanding and hardening under the light.
Her jaw dropped. "Wha—why is it getting bigger?!"
"Calm down," Luciel said, though even he was awed by what he was witnessing.
But panic had already overtaken the girl. "It's changing! That's how beasts start to mutate!" she cried, snatching a sharpened bone spur from her belt. Before Luciel could stop her, she lunged toward the growing creature.
"Wait!" He caught her wrist mid-swing. "Don't! It's not dangerous!"
"Luciel, are you crazy? If it turns into a beast, we'll both die!"
Her fear was real—he could hear it trembling in her voice. She had likely seen mutated beasts tear people apart before.
"Relax," he said softly but firmly. "It's under control. The tortoise… it's tamed."
Mino froze, disbelief etched across her face.
The glow slowly faded. In its place stood a creature that looked nothing like the tiny reptile from before. It was nearly a meter long, its head broader and fiercer, its shell dark brown and jagged like stone. The air around it seemed heavier, thicker—as though the earth itself was acknowledging the creature's presence.
> Ding! "Evolution Complete. Level-0 Tortoise → Rock Tortoise (Level-1)."
Luciel's eyes gleamed faintly in the dim light. "Rock Tortoise…" he murmured. "So this is what taming does."
The tortoise blinked slowly, lifting its massive head. Its gaze met his, calm yet filled with intelligence.
Mino, clutching her bone spur, whispered, "It… it really evolved? And it listens to you?"
Luciel smiled faintly. "Want to see?"
He extended his hand and, through the connection he could now feel—a thread of intent linking their minds—he sent a simple command. Come here.
The Rock Tortoise tilted its head, then lumbered forward, each movement deliberate and steady. When it reached him, it nuzzled his palm with surprising gentleness, its rough head pressing against his hand like a loyal pet seeking affection.
Mino's eyes widened. "It's… friendly?"
Luciel chuckled. "Told you. It won't bite."
He gestured for her to touch it. "Go ahead."
Cautiously, she reached out. Her fingers brushed the creature's shell—it was hard and uneven, like weathered rock—but warm beneath her touch. "It's so strange," she whispered, a hint of wonder breaking through her fear.
Luciel couldn't suppress his grin. "How did I do it? Easy—I'm an awakened one."
She blinked. "Awakened?"
He shrugged casually, enjoying her expression. "You could say I have… a special ability."
Mino stared at him as though seeing him for the first time. Somewhere between awe and disbelief, she whispered, "So you're not just some injured soldier."
"Maybe I'm still both," Luciel said, half-smiling.
The Rock Tortoise rumbled softly, lowering itself to the floor beside him. For the first time since he'd arrived in this bleak world, Luciel felt a flicker of hope.
He had food, shelter, and now—something far rarer—companionship.
But more than that, he had power.
The ability to tame and evolve living creatures was no ordinary gift. If this was what the system could do with a simple tortoise, what could happen when he found stronger beasts?
Luciel's gaze drifted toward the dusky horizon through the crack in the wooden door. The wind outside carried the scent of dust and acid rain—a world trying to swallow itself.
He rested a hand on the tortoise's stony shell. "Looks like we're partners now," he said quietly.
The creature blinked, and in the back of his mind, Luciel felt a faint pulse of acknowledgment—a sense of loyalty, pure and instinctive.
Mino crouched nearby, still staring in awe. "It's really amazing…" she breathed. "You can make a beast obey. Maybe—maybe we won't have to starve anymore."
Luciel looked at her, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Maybe not."
For the first time in this ruined world, survival didn't feel impossible. It felt like the beginning of something greater.