Bond Master

Promised Adventure

The moment the grueling defensive skills training with the first-year student mages finally ground to a halt, the exhausted casting students could do little more than drag their aching feet across the stone paths toward the district cafeteria. They were completely spent, yet thoroughly satisfied with the rapid progression they had carved out over the last two mornings. Ren Barrett sat among them at a long wooden table, taking a moment to mentally prepare his mind for the upcoming afternoon martial block.

Beside his tray, Grim was physically manifested on the heavy oak surface, happily tearing his way through a massive chunk of roasted mountain ox meat. Even without looking down at the hound, Ren could easily tell along the thought link that the young beast's mind was already wandering to the high-energy, blood-treated delicacies he had securely stored away inside his Containment Vault, ready to be snacked on all afternoon while his leader learned how to fight with his bare hands.

"Hey, Ren, do you think the proctors are actually going to let you go out into the wilds with the first-year student training patrols anytime soon?" one of the girls at the table asked, leaning over her meal to attract his attention. Her name was Lyra, a third-year student who wore a gleaming black badge on her uniform, identifying her as an Awakened-grade mage. She was a bit older than the rest of the misfit casting block, and her sharp eyes held a great deal of practical experience.

"I know you’re training completely alone under a completely different, specialized learning program than the rest of our intake, but we heard the faculty supervisor talking in the corridors today. He mentioned that the administration might officially grant you a black badge before the mid-semester exams. Once you have that, you'll legally be allowed to lead a first-year student gathering group straight into the outer woods.

The regular academy classes always have mandatory wilderness assignments on the syllabus, but the first-year students can't cross the perimeter walls without an Awakened-grade team leader to protect them. Because of that, most of the first-years have to spend half their time begging for favors from the upperclassmen or waiting around for weeks until the teachers finally organize a formal school outing."

"I’ll honestly have to ask Sergeant Corvina about how that works," Ren explained, swallowing a mouthful of grains and offering a thoughtful shrug. "I didn't have any idea that the standard students were already leaving the academy grounds to complete practical tasks in their very first year, so this is all completely new information to me.

To be fair, outside the afternoon combat training class—where the instructors don't even let me spar with many of my classmates because my physical strength is too high, and my forms are totally untrained—you guys in this bunker are the only real student interaction I have on a daily basis."

"Oh, well, that makes perfect sense for your track," Lyra agreed, nodding understandingly. "This early in the winter semester, the combat elites aren't expected to do much of anything except memorize the baseline martial forms. It's mostly the alchemists, the druids, and the garden witches who have to constantly leave the academy walls and head out into nature just to train their core abilities. Their specific skills completely require live soil and wild plants to grow. If they stay locked inside these stone halls, their development completely flatlines."

"Yeah, and then you have the completely opposite side of the spectrum," one of the boys down the table added with a heavy, dramatic sigh. His name was Cyrus, an unaligned mage whose uniform was immaculate. "The more esoteric theoretical mages often don't leave the central library stacks for more than an hour or two a day for their entire time at the academy.

They spend four years learning absolutely everything there is to know about complex spell structures, and then they graduate without ever actually using their magic to fight anything in the real world. I swear, I should have worked ten times harder during middle school to get assigned to their track. It sounds about a thousand times less exhausting than getting polluted by earth-mice or breathing in concrete dust every morning."

"If the option ever opens up for you, Barrett, you definitely want to secure permission to go outside the walls as fast as possible," a familiar, commanding voice interrupted from directly behind Ren’s shoulder.

Ren didn't even need to turn around to recognize the crisp, military cadence of Sergeant Rita Corvina. The mages at the table instantly straightened their postures, their casual complaints dying down as the instructor stepped into the light of the dining hall.

"The outer frontier zones contain all sorts of exceptional resources, especially for a ravenous meat-lover like those hounds of yours," Corvina continued, casting a sharp look down at Grim, who was currently licking his jaws on the table. "Furthermore, the administration grants a substantial amount of extra academy credits to any first-year student capable of successfully leading a gathering group through the outer sectors.

You can spend those credits directly in the central supply room to buy customized gear, rare treatments, or whatever else you need for your studies. However, are you lot currently trying to steal away from my primary student? Ren has a long, brutal way to go before his personal combat skills are ready to handle the wilderness unaccompanied."

The first-year student mages broke into a collective wave of lighthearted laughter, and several of them pointed directly at the bone-armored hound resting beside Ren's plate.

"Come on, Sergeant, did you see the drills this morning?" one of the ice mages argued with a wide grin. "Did you know that the unique Volden Shackle-Hound can already cast a flawless [Kinetic Shield] on the move? Combined with his raw [Bone-Plate Rend] spikes, that pup is already functionally tougher and more versatile than most of the second-year mages on the field. Plus, he's a highly intelligent magical beast, and you still have a whole, solid Ren to go along with him in a fight. They're practically a self-contained vanguard squad."

Sergeant Corvina leveled a stern, unyielding look at the casting block, her expression making it abundantly clear that she wasn't about to alter her training curriculum for Ren's wilderness outings, regardless of whether his arm mark received a white badge or a black badge from the central administration.

"Your ceramic plates are completely empty, mages, and your hound has officially finished basking in the unearned attention of the casting block," Corvina ordered crisply, tapping her finger against the wood. "Pack him away immediately, Barrett, and report directly to the western training rings.

We will be thoroughly testing your mental retention and muscle memory today."

"Well, it looks like the mere mention of me heading outside the academy walls managed to get her thoroughly upset," Ren laughed quietly, looking over at Aria and the other mages as Corvina turned and marched out of the cafeteria. "I guess I’ll see you all back at the subterranean target lanes tomorrow morning."

With a concentrated movement of his mind, Ren focused on the connection and unlocked the spiritual gateway of his Beast Vault. The hound vanished from the heavy table in a smooth, silent ripple of crimson light, returning to the comfort of the iron-pillared space inside his consciousness. Ren noted that he could perform the recall from a significant distance now, though he still wasn't entirely certain just how far the spatial tether would work from his own body, as he hadn't attempted to summon or dismiss Grim from more than across a standard room.

That was another vital skill he would have to meticulously practice with his hound eventually, once their bond and their physical bodies grew strong enough that they could safely operate individually on a battlefield without having to constantly rely on each other's immediate presence for structural survival.

Well, perhaps they wouldn't wait entirely for their physical bodies to finish the growth phase; Volden Shackle-Hounds were far better known throughout the Golden Dragon Nation for their relentless kinetic skills and armor-shattering jaws than their raw physical durability, but the underlying sentiment remained exactly the same. Ren jogged down the wide stone steps, leaving the casting district behind and heading directly toward the western martial fields.

When he arrived at the hard-packed earth arena, Sergeant Corvina was already waiting for him near the primary sparring ring, accompanied by a handful of older, senior warrior students who were acting as assistant proctors for the block. The regular mixed martial arts class was just beginning to assemble inside the locker rooms, their voices echoing through the wooden partitions as they prepared to change into their gear.