The morning sun was pale and soft, filtered through drifting clouds that hung low above the Avara mansion.
The grass shimmered faintly with dew, and a faint wind carried the scent of wet earth. Rudy stood quietly in the courtyard, his hands behind his back, trying to calm the fluttering in his chest.
It was his first day of training.
Miya Ynivera stood a few paces ahead of him, small and still, her blue hair glimmering faintly in the morning light. The tiny white cat still perched neatly on her head, its tail swaying lazily from side to side. She was dressed in the same pale blue garments as the day before, simple but elegant, trimmed with white, like something woven from mist itself.
For some reason, the cat bothered him more than anything.
He couldn't stop wondering why it never moved.
Is that… part of her magic? he thought. Or just a pet that really likes her hair?
But the moment Miya raised her hand, all idle thoughts vanished.
"Before we begin," she said quietly, "you must understand what it means to be a Tamer."
Her voice carried effortlessly in the open air, calm, measured, and unshakable.
"A Tamer does not command beasts. We connect to them. They are reflections of our mana, bound through spirit and will. If your mind wavers, the beast will resist you. If your heart is weak, it will devour you."
Rudy swallowed hard.
Her words weren't a warning, they were a truth. He could feel it.
Then Miya slowly raised both hands, and the air began to hum.
The ground beneath her feet glowed with faint white light, tracing a complex circle that pulsed like a heartbeat. Ancient symbols spiraled outward, shimmering with threads of blue and gold. Rudy stepped back instinctively as a surge of energy rippled through the courtyard.
"M-Miss Miya…" he whispered. "What are you doing..."
Before he could finish, a crack of thunder split the silence.
A blinding light erupted from the magic circle, forcing Rudy to shield his eyes. When it faded, a creature stood before her, tall, powerful, and terrifyingly beautiful.
It was a wolf.
Its fur shimmered dark blue, almost black, with streaks of white lightning that danced along its body. Its eyes glowed a sharp silver, and a symbol, shaped like a lightning bolt, was etched across its forehead. Two long fangs jutted from its jaws, gleaming like polished bone.
Rudy's breath caught in his throat. "What… what is that?"
Miya's expression did not change. "This is a Lightning Wolf," she said simply. "One of my contracted beasts."
The creature lowered its head slightly, as if acknowledging her. The air crackled faintly around it, strands of static dancing between its paws and the ground.
Rudy had never seen anything like it.
The only beast he had seen was Horn Steed but this creature radiated power. It wasn't just strong; it was alive in a way he couldn't describe, as though the air itself bowed to it.
"Watch closely," Miya said.
She turned her gaze toward a large oak tree at the edge of the courtyard and gave a single command.
"Strike."
The wolf's eyes flared white.
Lightning burst from its body, a blinding arc that leapt through the air with a deafening crack. It hit the tree in an instant and the trunk exploded. The upper half splintered into fragments, smoke rising from the blackened wound where the lightning had struck.
The sound echoed through the valley.
Rudy stared, speechless. His legs felt weak. The tree was simply… gone.
The wolf lowered its stance, growling lowly as the energy around it faded.
Miya raised one hand, and another circle flared beneath the beast. The creature began to dissolve, first its paws, then its chest, then the rest of its body, turning into blue-white particles that drifted upward and vanished.
A few seconds later, only the faint smell of ozone remained.
Miya lowered her hands. "Summoning and dismissal. The foundation of taming."
Rudy blinked several times before managing to find his voice. "That was… amazing! How did you, Can you teach me to do that?"
Her eyes turned to him, calm, unreadable. "You cannot summon what you do not understand. First, you must feel the mana within yourself."
He hesitated. "Feel the mana?"
"Exactly." She gestured to the ground. "Sit."
Rudy obeyed without a word, folding his legs as instructed. The grass was cool beneath him, the air still buzzing faintly from the Lightning Wolf's energy.
"Mana flows through every living thing," Miya said softly. "In you, it sleeps, faint, but present. Find it."
Rudy closed his eyes.
At first, he felt nothing. Just the sound of the wind and the distant calls of birds.
But then, slowly, he focused inward, the way she told him to.
He tried to imagine what mana might feel like. A current? A flame?
Then, suddenly, something stirred deep within his chest.
A faint pulse, like the beating of a second heart.
It spread through his limbs, gentle but undeniable. A warmth. A rhythm.
Rudy gasped softly. "I… I can feel it."
When he opened his eyes, Miya was watching him carefully, her expression still calm but her gaze slightly sharper, surprised, even impressed.
"That was fast," she murmured, almost to herself.
Then something flashed in the corner of Rudy's vision, his system interface.
> Mana Level +9
Current Mana Level: 10
His pulse quickened. The system was responding. It was working.
"I did it!" he said, smiling for the first time all morning. "I really felt it!"
Miya nodded slightly. "Good. That means your mana is awakening. Most beginners take some time to sense the flow. You did it in minutes."
Rudy's excitement grew. "So what's next? Can I summon a beast now?"
Her gaze softened, though her tone remained even. "Not yet. Summoning is not the first step. You must first learn the art of contracting."
"Contracting?" he echoed.
Miya turned her back to him, clasping her hands behind her as she walked slowly toward the spot where the Lightning Wolf had stood. Her small form looked almost ethereal against the morning light, her cat still sitting atop her head, watching Rudy with silent, golden eyes.
"To contract," Miya said, "is to open your soul and allow another being to share its strength with you. It is a sacred bond, not of domination, but of trust."
She looked over her shoulder at him, her voice dropping lower, more serious.
"Now," she said, her tone cutting through the quiet like a blade,
"you will learn how to contract with an animal."