Bond Master

The Threshold of Legends

The careful, light steps of the four companions kept them safe for almost the entire length of the treacherous plain, but the shifting hazards of a live testing ground rarely offered an easy exit. Just as the edge of the high grass came into view, a sudden, violent twitch of a thick green root sent a thorny vine snaking directly underneath Garrick’s boot.

The durable vanguard swordsman didn't just stomp down on the hidden trap; his foot slipped completely, his heavy frame tripping forward into the dirt. As he fell, his massive great sword swung out instinctively, slicing a dozen interconnected tendrils clean in half.

The entire sector of the field erupted instantly.

"Get him up and let's run! The plant monster is going to be absolutely furious about that!" Ren shouted, his voice cutting through the sudden hiss of rising roots as he kicked himself into a frantic dash toward the relative safety of the nearby treeline.

Barek didn't hesitate.

Relying on his raw woodsman strength, the woodcutter’s son grabbed Garrick by the collar of his uniform jacket and hauled the heavy swordsman back onto his feet in one fluid motion. The four of them took off, sprinting across the churning soil, desperately hoping their momentum would carry them past the terminal edge of the vine patch before the subterranean entity could fully mobilize its defensive grid.

Entangling, thorny vines whipped out from every direction, wrapping around Ren’s legs to anchor him to the spot. His fast, explosive steps kept the first few tendrils from securing a permanent hold, but the sheer volume of the writhing roots was overwhelming. He was nearly out of the plant's absolute hunting range when a thick, sap-covered vine clamped around his ankle, pulling his body to a sudden, jarring halt.

Sprinting hard directly behind him, the young dark-haired mage saw Ren’s immobile figure as a temporary lifeline. Without breaking her stride, Vesper used Ren’s broad, bent shoulder as a physical springboard, launching herself high into the air as Ren was struggling to stand back up.

She leaped with perfect focus toward the safety of the open field, only for a trailing vine to snap upward like a whip, catching her squarely mid-flight. With a sharp gasp, Vesper was dragged flat down to the ground, landing in a puff of dry dirt and letting out a pained, heavy groan.

"Good plan, poor execution," Garrick laughed gruffly from a few paces back, though his face was tense as he aggressively hacked his great sword left and right, carving a bloody path through the encroaching weeds.

Ren didn't waste breath answering. Drawing a deep pocket of energy from his soul-line, his iron-studded gauntlets flared with a dull gray power. With a swift, downward strike of his [Bone-Plate Rend] skill, he sheared through the thick roots binding his ankles in a single concussive flash.

He lunged forward, executing a rapid follow-up jab that severed the thorny bindings pinning Vesper to the dirt, freeing her completely. The dark-haired mage didn't need to be told twice; she frantically scrambled back onto her feet and dove into the safety of the perimeter trees.

The last member of the squad to reach the boundary was Barek. Surprisingly, the woodcutter’s son was also the most relaxed. Having spent his entire childhood navigating the thick, aggressive brambles of the outer logging sectors, he held an immense practical knowledge of entangling flora. Instead of panicking or wasting his magical skill, he calmly used the heavy, flat pool of his logging axe to smack the rising vines away before they could loop around his ankles, maintaining a steady stride.

"Sorry about that. The trick takes way too long to explain in a hurry, or I would have told you guys beforehand," Barek mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he stepped into the shade of the trees a few seconds behind the rest of the group.

"It's all good," Ren agreed, leaning against a solid trunk to catch his breath, his shoulders throbbing slightly from the rapid deployment of his skill. "We each have our own background and unique knowledge base to work without here. There was absolutely no time for a long lecture in the middle of a live battlefield anyway."

Vesper looked up from where she was dusting off her knees, looking like she wanted to argue the point, but then she reconsidered and kept her mouth shut. Ren was entirely right. There had been only a handful of seconds between Garrick’s initial stumble and their final escape into the woods; a single moment of hesitation or unnecessary talking would have left the entire squad hopelessly pinned down.

With the chaotic vine field completely behind them, all that remained between the four first-year students and their destination was a perfectly maintained section of freshly mowed emerald grass.

Cutting straight through the center of the beautiful lawn was a singular, polished cobblestone path that led directly to the towering granite gates of the Golden Divine Academy. If they could cross this final stretch without incident, they were completely safe.

Well, relatively safe. From everything the recruitment officers had told them back in the districts, the culture of the elite heavily favored the ruthless and the strong, and right now, they were simply unrated newcomers at the very bottom of the food chain. But they were all exceptionally well-suited to their respective classes, and given enough time and rigorous training, they had every intention of climbing the ranks.

"Whatever you do, stay off the open grass," Vesper mumbled under her breath, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the pristine lawn. "I learned that directly from my mother’s workplace back in the high district. Rich, fancy people absolutely despise it when commoners walk across their ornamental turf."

"Good point," Ren agreed with a faint grin. "I was honestly looking forward to feeling soft grass under my boots after growing up on the harsh gravel of the industrial mines, but using the official stone path just seems right for a group like us."

The other three classmates hadn't boarded the transport train at Ren's specific mining terminal, but coming from the surrounding blue-collar regions, they understood the concept perfectly. There were nearly ten different government-run middle schools scattered across the neighboring industrial towns.

Even if none of them had ever traveled outside their home sectors before the Divine Injection, they had all spent their lives looking at the massive, smoke-veiled mountains looming over the mineral operations in the distance.

Triumphantly, the small squad walked down the center of the cobblestone path. Garrick did his absolute best to walk with a straight, military posture, attempting to conceal a slight limp from his hard fall, while Vesper meticulously brushed the loose dirt and dried grass off the front of her uniform coat, trying to look a little less like she had just been rolling around in a live combat field for fun.

They finally reached the grand threshold of the gate, where a pair of senior academy instructors were waiting patiently behind a long wooden table. The surface of the desk was stacked with large canvas satchels stuffed with introductory textbooks, alongside several massive pitch-containers filled with ice-cold, refreshing herbal drinks.

"Welcome to the Golden Divine Academy, students Ren, Vesper, Garrick, and Barek," one of the proctors announced, a welcoming smile cutting across his face as he checked their names off a master registry sheet. "You are officially the very first four initiates to successfully cross the outer perimeter today.

As a reward for your exceptional speed and survival teamwork, you have earned the right to have first of the available living quarters in the first-year student dormitory block. The master layout map is right here on the table, and you may select any room on the second floor that isn't currently marked with an occupant's seal."

The exhausted teens rushed forward to collect a cold drink, gulping down the refreshing liquid before instantly crowding around the architectural parchment map.

"Man, this dormitory layout makes absolutely no sense," Barek muttered, crossing his broad arms as he stared at the geometric floor plan. "All the rooms are completely randomized. Look at this tiny suite right here—it's barely big enough for a footlocker, but it features a massive, oversized stone balcony sticking out over the courtyard. Who in their right mind would ever pick something that is unbalanced?"

Vesper nodded in agreement, her slender fingers tracing a long, narrow gallery room near the rear of the floor plan. "The spaces are completely specialized. But look at this one—it features an integrated training target mounted to the far bulkhead, which means I can practice firing my lightning runes from a distance without having to leave my quarters. It’s perfect. I'm taking the training suite with the Murphy bed that folds against the wall to maximize my casting space."

Garrick and Barek quickly agreed on a pair of the largest standard dorms, which featured a reinforced training dummy in the central living room and completely separate sleeping quarters to accommodate their bulky weapons. Every single room on the second floor held a unique architectural trait tailored to different lifestyles, but as Ren scanned the outer edge of the parchment, he noticed one selectable option that seemed hilariously inferior.

At the very end of the hall, an unaligned supply closet was officially marked as an available dorm option—a cramped space likely destined to be claimed by the very last student to drag themselves across the vine fields before nightfall.

"I'll take the balcony room," Ren shrugged, reaching down to collect a bronze room token from the table and placing it firmly over the designated suite on the map.

Vesper looked at him, her eyebrows raising slightly. "Right, you utilize a wide-area combat skill with those spiked gloves. If you want to properly practice your forms without tearing your own walls apart, you need the extra horizontal space. That actually makes a lot of sense."

Ren simply smiled, letting her believe whatever explanation felt right. The true reason for his choice was locked deep within his soul.

Inside the subterranean chambers of his Confinement Vault, the newborn Volden Shackle-Hound pup had pressed its snout against the spiritual boundaries of his mind, looking directly out through Ren's physical eyes. The moment Ren's gaze had locked onto the balcony room, the little beast had let out an appreciative psychic rumble, its heavy tail thumping enthusiastically against the stone dais.

The oversized stone balcony was one of the few residential suites that granted direct, unrestricted outdoor access to the open air and the canyon winds. In fact, its massive projecting structure effectively blocked the outside view of a half dozen adjacent rooms, unless their windows happened to open directly onto its private deck.

It was the perfect, hidden stronghold for a growing monster beast. Once the pup fully finished digesting the rich environmental Mana from the Earth's mice it had devoured, the tiny creature was convinced it would have the structural energy to double its size, allowing it to move around outside the vault under the cover of darkness.

In this world, juvenile magical beasts never remained helpless for long, especially when they were being actively nourished by the soul-force of a compatible Bond Master rather than competing for scraps in the wild.

Are there more crunchy mice out there? The Shackle-Hound pup asked hopefully, its telepathic thoughts echoing like rough, childish words inside Ren's mind.

It was still a surreal experience to hear his beast’s raw instincts translating into actual speech behind his eyes, but Ren simply offered a comforting internal thought.

Just be patient until dinner, Ren promised the hungry pup as he picked up his room key and slung his heavy backpack over his shoulder. Once we get settled into our stronghold, I'll make sure you get as much high-tier meat as you can possibly handle.

Good, the little hound rumbled back, its mental tone dripping with anticipation. I hope the academy serves mice.