The moon drifted high above the silent wilderness as Rayzen stepped deeper into the night-shrouded forest. The hover-lights of the academy faded behind him, swallowed by trees ancient enough to remember the first tamers.
His heartbeat was steady… but his mind wasn't.
Seraph…
Who are you really? Why me? And who was that voice—
[SYSTEM: WARNING]
A high-level presence is tracking your soul signal.
Prepare for contact.
Rayzen narrowed his eyes and summoned the amulet into view. The crystal in its center spun rapidly, radiating waves of silver and black light.
Seraph spoke quietly, like a whisper from another dimension.
"Don't panic. We are not prey anymore."
Branches snapped behind them.
A sinister laugh floated through the trees.
"Running from your academy… only to run into us.
How fortunate."
Rayzen turned.
Three silhouettes emerged — armored figures with beast symbols etched on their cloaks. Shadow Pact Tamers — an underground organization famous for killing tamers and stealing their soul-contracts.
The leader, a tall man with glowing crimson eyes, smirked.
"Hand over the artifact, kid.
And I might let you live headless."
Rayzen clenched his fist.
"I don't want to fight."
The leader stepped closer, metallic claws sliding from his gauntlet.
"Good. Then you won't mind if we tear your soul apart."
⚡A surge of dark wind blasted toward Rayzen.
His body froze for a heartbeat.
Then—
"SERAPH! NOW!"
A pulse of celestial light erupted from the amulet, transforming Seraph into the air — black divine flames, wings stretching like cosmos unfolding.
The Shadow Pact froze.
"A… A Primordial? Here?!
Kill him before he bonds completely!"
Five shadow beasts lunged forward, forming around them like nightmares with bones instead of skin.
Commander's voice roared:
"Shadow Wolves — devour the boy!"
Rayzen inhaled sharply — but instead of fear, adrenaline ignited inside him.
[SYSTEM: NEW SKILL AWAKENED]
Primordial Link — First Bond Combat Mode
Your stats increase proportionally to the Dragon's will.
His knees stopped shaking.
His eyes turned silver.
Seraph's voice pierced his mind like lightning:
"Rayzen… command me."
He lifted his hand, instinct deciding the words.
"Crush them. Show them what a Primordial is."
Seraph roared — a roar that shook the entire forest.
His claws ignited, sweeping through the wolves with an effortless divine arc — shadow beasts disintegrating into cursed smoke.
The leader stumbled back.
"Impossible… a dropout… controlling THAT?!"
Rayzen stepped forward.
"Next?"
The leader tried retreating — but Seraph's tail slammed the ground, trapping him with pillars of obsidian flame.
He screamed as his armor melted.
"W-Wait! A deal! I can give you information—AHHH!"
The air vibrated. Seraph was about to finish him—
"STOP."
Rayzen commanded.
Seraph halted instantly, the flames freezing mid-roar.
The leader gasped, barely alive.
Rayzen knelt beside him, voice low and terrifyingly calm.
"Why did you track me?"
The man coughed blood.
"The… The Crown… chose you.
The Forbidden Crown… sealed by the First Dragon Monarch…"
Rayzen's breath hitched.
"What crown?"
"In you… in your soul… the trait of the Dragon Sovereign.
You were supposed to die at birth…"
Rayzen's heart pounded.
"Who ordered it?"
"Someone with the authority… higher than all Royal Tamers…
The one who rules your academy from the shadows…"
His eyes rolled back — dead.
No, not dead.
Soul-erasure.
Someone severed his existence before Rayzen could extract further truth.
Seraph growled.
"The puppeteers are watching. They fear you."
Rayzen stared at his hands — trembling not from fear, but from the weight of prophecy.
🌑 A Vision of the Crown
A sharp pain struck his skull.
The world faded—
And suddenly he was standing in a throne room forged of scales and galaxies.
A colossal throne towered ahead, and upon it… a crown of ten dragon heads radiating overwhelming dominance.
Each dragon whispered a word:
"MASTER…"
Rayzen reached out—
A voice, ancient and furious, shattered the illusion:
"YOU ARE NOT READY TO RULE."
The crown exploded into fragments of light—
Rayzen collapsed back into the forest, gasping.
Seraph hovered near him, worried.
"Your fate is tied to that crown.
But power without control will consume you."
Rayzen wiped sweat from his brow.
"Then train me.
I won't let them decide my destiny."
⚔️ The Hunter Becomes the Game
Far above them, on a floating fortress cloaked by clouds…
A council of masked tamers watched the scene through a holographic mirror.
One masked elder chuckled sinisterly.
"He awakened too early.
Notify the Royals… our failed experiment still lives."
Another slammed his fist on the table.
"If he truly hosts the Forbidden Crown… then the world will burn again."
A third spoke calmly:
"Then we will burn him first."
The fortress bells rang.
Hunters mobilized.
Orders dispatched to the entire continent:
"Eliminate the Crown-Bearer."
🔥 A New Purpose
Rayzen stared at the forest sky, determination like steel in his eyes.
"Seraph… they hunt us."
"Then let them come.
We are not prey — we are the storm."
Rayzen stood, spine straight, destiny roaring inside him.
Tonight he lost his place in the academy.
Tonight he nearly died.
But tonight… he learned something greater:
He wasn't weak.
He wasn't defective.
He wasn't alone.
He was chosen.
By power older than the world itself.
Rayzen whispered into the wind, voice fierce:
"Let them try to erase me.
I'll rise so high, they'll kneel."
Seraph's wings unfurled — a cosmic dragon ready to break heavens.
And together…
They walked deeper into the darkness —
Where every step would shape a legend feared across eternity.