(3RD POV)
Lyon had barely managed to decide what he wanted to eat and found the right portal toward the fresh fish for Azera when a commotion erupted near the entrance of the cafeteria.
The sudden noise was enough to pull his attention away from the selection of portals, and he turned around, immediately greeted by the sight of another student entering the enormous dining hall.
Judging by the black sports coat with red cuffs and thin crimson stripes running down the arms, along with the imperial crown embroidered in gold across the back of the jacket, Lyon could tell that the newcomer was a second-year student.
The uniform alone wouldn't have been enough to cause such a commotion among the first-year students, especially in a place where talented cultivators were common enough that simply being a year ahead carried little meaning.
The six-foot-long dragonfly following closely behind him was another matter entirely.
Its wings were engulfed in flames, vibrating at such an incredible speed that Lyon could barely make out their individual movements.
Instead, the wings appeared as little more than a crimson blur, with brief flashes of their actual shape becoming visible whenever the creature shifted its position. Heat rolled off its body in waves, causing the air around it to distort slightly as it moved through the cafeteria.
Several students had stopped eating entirely to watch it.
Lyon studied the creature for a few moments before his expression slowly changed. It wasn't the dragonfly itself that caught his attention, but rather what its presence represented.
That was when it finally hit him.
The reason the cafeteria had so many portals and connected locations wasn't simply because the Aserx Royal Academy had an absurd amount of wealth and resources. They had been designed with the contracted Kei Beasts of the students in mind.
Every student who had managed to form a successful contract needed an environment suitable for their Beast.
Some could eat ordinary food and survive in nearly any location, while others would require specific prey, vegetation, minerals, atmospheric conditions, or even environmental Kei Energy to maintain themselves properly.
The Academy had prepared for all of it.
Lyon looked back toward the numerous portals scattered throughout the cafeteria, suddenly seeing them in an entirely different light. What had seemed like excessive luxury only moments ago was actually another demonstration of the Academy's resources.
In the excitement of his first day, Lyon had forgotten one of the biggest reasons the Aserx Royal Academy had been granted its supreme title.
They had access to arguably some of the best locations in the world for hunting and contracting Kei Beasts.
That resource alone was enough to change the trajectory of countless lives.
The Academy's connections provided access to environments that would otherwise be dangerous, restricted, or nearly impossible for ordinary people to reach.
Some locations contained rare Kei Beasts that could only survive in highly specific environments.
Meanwhile, others were so dangerous that even experienced practitioners would think twice before entering them without proper preparation.
For the students of Aserx, however, those places could become opportunities.
And opportunities were often more valuable than raw strength.
The impact of such a resource could never be understated. While everyone may or may not be born with a powerful Innate Spirit, a good Kei Beast contract could turn the most ordinary citizen into the head of their own noble house in less than a generation.
Sable had seen such things happening for the last few years, after all.
The Emperor would send someone in his name to find a commoner or minor noble with somewhat ordinary talent and bring them into the Imperial Palace to be granted his blessing.
The ceremony was always presented as an act of generosity, an opportunity for someone with potential to receive the support necessary to rise above the circumstances of their birth.
Then, a few years later, that same youth would return as an accomplished Kei Master.
And before long, they would establish a noble household of their own.
When Lyon had been younger, he had admired the Emperor immensely for that.
To a child, the stories were simple. The Emperor had recognized talent where others had not and had given people an opportunity to change their lives.
It sounded like the kind of thing a benevolent ruler was supposed to do.
That admiration had lasted until his uncle revealed what the Emperor was really accomplishing.
According to him, the Emperor wasn't simply creating opportunities.
He was creating another generation of people who owed everything they had to the Imperial family.
Every new noble house created through an imperial blessing became another potential ally within the royal circle. More importantly, those families could be kept on a much tighter leash than the older noble houses that had already established themselves through generations of talent, influence, and hard work.
Lyon had found the insinuation difficult to believe despite hearing it from his own uncle.
The idea that the Emperor would deliberately use the dreams of commoners and lesser nobles to strengthen his own political position had seemed almost too cynical.
Then Lyon stumbled across a descendant of one of those newly established noble households.
He had made the mistake of asking what goals the family intended to pursue moving forward.
The response had nearly gotten him arrested for treason.
Lyon still remembered how quickly the conversation had changed. What had begun as a simple question had somehow become an accusation of questioning the family's loyalty to the Empire.
He had been young enough at the time to not fully understand the political implications, but old enough to recognize that something was terribly wrong with the situation.
After that, his uncle's explanation became much harder to dismiss.
Despite the somewhat underhanded reasoning and methods involved, virtually every commoner family would jump at the opportunity if it were presented to them.
Some would even do so while knowing exactly what they were giving up.
Because for these families, the decision wasn't as simple as choosing between freedom and servitude.
It was a choice between remaining where they were for generations or gambling everything on the possibility of rising.
A single good Kei Beast could quite easily change their entire lives.
While the effect of repeated similar Spirits wasn't common knowledge among everyone, the effect of possessing a top-talent Kei Beast was well known throughout the World.
Far from only benefiting a single person, when an individual successfully bound a Kei Beast that was significantly more talented than themselves, the contract could alter the talent of the binder and forcibly raise it toward the same level as the Beast being bound, provided the person could withstand the process.
That last condition was what made the process dangerous.
The Kei Beast could provide the opportunity, but the human still had to survive the transformation.
For those who succeeded, however, the rewards could be extraordinary.
A person who had once possessed an ordinary talent could suddenly find themselves standing on an entirely different foundation. Their cultivation potential, their future limits, and even the expectations placed upon them by society could change almost overnight.
Lyon's gaze briefly returned to the flaming dragonfly.
The second-year student probably understood that better than most.
That single creature represented far more than a powerful companion. It was an investment in the student's future.
And the Imperial family understood the value of such investments better than anyone.
Knowing that, combined with the Emperor possessing a host of top-talent Kei Beast cubs with unique attributes that were much easier to bind successfully, it was only to be expected that commoners and even some nobles would be willing to sell themselves and their families into the service of the Imperial family.
The opportunity was simply too valuable.
The best time to bind with a Kei Beast would almost always be while still young. A person's body and Spirit were more adaptable during that period, and the process of incorporating a foreign source of power became increasingly complicated as they advanced.
The Emperor could take advantage of that.
A family might receive a powerful Kei Beast, see one of their children rise rapidly through the cultivation ranks, and believe they had been given a blessing that would benefit their descendants for generations.
But if that family's entire rise depended upon the Imperial family's continued support, how much freedom did they truly possess?
If they stepped out of line, the same hand that had lifted them could just as easily withdraw its support.
It was an effective method of bringing another powerful force under the Emperor's thumb without having to worry about the Imperial family's honor restricting his activities.
Older noble families could rely on their history, connections, and reputation. Newly established families had none of those things.
Their greatest strength was also their greatest weakness.
They owed their existence to the person who had created them.
It was a sad reality, but one that Lyon had his eyes opened to at a young age. Because of it, he had never taken up any of his so-called loving uncles' and aunts' offers to help him secure a talented Kei Beast for himself.
The offers had always sounded generous.
That was precisely what made them dangerous.
Lyon knew that if he accepted one of those gifts, he would be accepting far more than a Kei Beast. He would be accepting an invisible chain that could eventually become much harder to break.
Still, that didn't mean Lyon misunderstood the value of having one.
Quite the opposite.
While it wasn't strictly necessary, having a Kei Beast during the physical stage of cultivation provided a practitioner with a significant advantage.
It allowed them to move foreign energy through their bodies and become accustomed to controlling something fundamentally different from their own Kei Energy before reaching the Astral Plane, where manipulating foreign energy would eventually become a necessary skill.
At lower levels, the process was considerably more complicated and required a deeper understanding of Kei Energy as a whole.
The first level of cultivation was fundamentally different from what came afterward. Its primary purpose was sculpting the best possible physique for absorbing and transforming the natural Kei Energy present throughout the World.
For ordinary people, simply completing the first level was already a grueling process.
The body had to endure constant refinement, and mistakes could have permanent consequences. Disfigurement, loss of limbs, crippling injuries, and even death were possible outcomes for those who pushed beyond what their bodies could endure.
For people like Lyon, however, things were different.
For those capable of making it into the Academy's Heaven Class, survival was no longer the ultimate goal.
They were striving for perfection.
That was the first barrier a true genius had to cross.
Surviving the first level proved that a person possessed enough talent, determination, and physical potential to continue cultivating. Perfection, however, demanded something else entirely.
It demanded that they refuse to settle for merely being good enough.
Every flaw in their physique became something that needed to be corrected. Every weakness in their control became something that needed to be eliminated.
Every imperfection in their foundation represented a potential limitation waiting somewhere further down the path.
That was why having at least one Kei Beast was so important for someone like Lyon.
A powerful Beast could provide stronger, purer, or otherwise unique Kei Energy that could be carefully introduced into the practitioner's body. If properly controlled, that foreign energy could become another tool for refining the body and pushing it closer toward perfection.
Of course, the stronger the Kei Beast...
The greater the potential benefits.
And the greater the danger.
Lyon's eyes returned to the second-year student as the crowd slowly began moving again. The flaming dragonfly hovered beside its master with an almost casual confidence, completely unconcerned by the attention it was receiving from the first-year students.
Lyon watched them for another moment.
Until now, he had approached his first day at the Academy almost entirely as an opportunity to observe.
The morning classes had given him information. The discussions had given him a better understanding of the Academy's students and expectations.
Even the strange cafeteria had revealed another layer of what made Aserx different from the places he had experienced before.
But this...
This gave him something he could actually act upon.
With his original plans disturbed, Lyon had simply gone with the flow during the morning classes and discussions.
He had been gathering information, studying the people around him, and attempting to understand the environment before deciding how he wanted to proceed.
Now he had an initial understanding.
And with that understanding came the need to adjust his plans.
Lyon slowly turned back toward the portal leading to the fresh fish.
Azera could wait another few minutes.
His mind was already working through the possibilities.
He needed information first. He needed to know which regions the Academy allowed first-year students to access, what restrictions were placed on Kei Beast hunting, which areas contained the highest concentration of suitable Beasts, and what kinds of talents could be found within those regions.
He couldn't simply choose the strongest Beast he encountered.
A powerful Kei Beast without compatibility could become a disaster.
A rare attribute might sound impressive but offer little benefit to his cultivation.
And a Beast that was too difficult to control could end up becoming more of a liability than an advantage.
Lyon understood that much.
Still, the conclusion remained the same.
He needed a Kei Beast.
Not an ordinary one.
Not something chosen simply because it was convenient.
If he was going to form a contract, then he might as well pursue the best possible option available to him.
After everything he had learned, Lyon finally understood one of the Academy's greatest advantages.
They had placed an entire world of possibilities within reach of their students.
All he had to do was find the one that belonged to him.
His expression remained calm as he glanced once more toward the portal network, but the quiet calculation in his eyes had changed.
His first step at Aserx Royal Academy would no longer be simply learning.
His first step would be acquiring a top-talent Kei Beast for himself.