"The Government has granted you an advanced beast", the moderator gave a deadly pause, biting his lips slightly.
"What?!" Jayden muttered, baffled, and took a step backwards with his body trembling, his hard work crumbled before his eyes.
Even the audience was left with their mouths agape as questions flowed all over the air.
"Math is a perfect 800 score, but English was not recorded", the moderator blinked with pity at Jayden, nodding his head slightly.
"Jesus!" Jayden rasped, placing a hand over his mouth. 'My score wasn't recorded, An advanced beast, that's an insect, that's my death ticket, dad wouldn't even look at an elite beast.'
He rubbed his hand down his temple, 'I don't need to care about the future, Dad is gonna kill me. But—'
"This-this isn't fair. What beast is that?" Jayden clenched his teeth, obliged to the murmuring behind him.
The moderator took a deep breath as if feeling Jayden's pain himself, "S-Stone Egg."
The beast stone egg, or whatever it was, had never been recorded in history, and what the name implied killed Jayden the most. The egg was as old as mana history itself, kept in the MAGEO laboratory, but nothing had awakened it, not time, not heat, not force. And now the government was handing the piece of junk to the student with the lowest SAT scores.
"The fuck did you just say?" Jayden roared, narrowing his gaze at the moderator.
"I can't take that!" Jayden's heartbeat raced as his life was broken into shards before his eyes. Those sleepless nights spent on his book, avoiding relationships for concentration and reassuring his father he was going to get a perfect score all fell to waste on the ground.
"Look again, Mr., that isn't my result."
But the moderator only tucked his lips in his mouth and nodded slightly while the murmurs behind began increasing.
"I'm sorry, kid, but the president has signed this document, and you just had to accept it the way it is."
Jayden's eyes flicked between the moderator and the egg that lay on the ground where a soldier had dropped it. The egg or maybe the stone was cold and still.
"You want me to contract this thing?" Jayden shouted, pointing at the egg.
"I'm afraid you will have to, kid," a soldier interfered from behind as he stepped forward with authority, "we've got no time to waste."
Jayden's heartbeat paused as he noticed the dramatic scene he was displaying in front of almost the whole nation. People could easily tag this 'how the best student got the worst beast' or 'he couldn't cheat on SAT exams like he did in school.'
'T-this sucks.' Jayden nevertheless calmed himself and bent low to meet the egg, 'Does this even have mana, and if perhaps it does, what would I look like after contracting it?'
His hand shivered, but he stretched it out anyway and poured mana on the egg, but it just bounced away like pouring water on stone.
A single laughter spiked from the audience at the sight, and then two, and then everyone was laughing, although a few remained sympathetic.
"Damn. Come on, answer me," Jayden clenched his teeth, but nothing.
The moderator tapped him on the shoulder and gave him signs to take the egg and try in his seat. Jayden shot the man a dangerous glare, as if he were a heartless monster, but simply obeyed since he didn't want to create another dramatic scene.
He cradled the egg in his armpit and turned to the laughing audience with his face down.
The blades began to strike.
"I bet if you sit on it for two days it would hatch." The voice echoed from amongst the audience.
"You don't need to be sad," another voice said slyly. "If it doesn't hatch, I bet there would be enough content to fry within it."
"From genius to egg man. That's a cool record, Jayden."
Jayden ensured he noted the faces of all who were bragging, and worse, some were insect tamers. "Who gave them the right?" he whispered low, anger bubbling under his skin and dark circles forming under his eyes.
In frustration, he walked out of the hall with his fist clenched. He worked hard, yet hard work didn't pay off.
"I'll just get a beast myself, whether or not it's illegal. Fuck whoever recorded those results."
☆☆☆
The taxi halted just at the gate of the Logan.
"I'll just need a mana control serum, then I'll be off to the tunnel," he whispered desperately, calming himself as the obstacle ahead demanded that.
His father's beast was a falcon, which allowed the old man to sense the smallest shift in the wind around him.
"Even the wrong breath could alert him," Jayden whispered as he stepped in, a bit thankful the gate had been left open.
He tiptoed with the caution of a man walking a thin rope over fire to the back door, opening the back door that led into the kitchen, and slowly taking off his boots as he cautiously stepped inside.
'The equipment I need must be in Dad's room, I just need to...' His thoughts died in his mind.
There it was, his house pet, a regular dog.
"Woof, woof," the innocent creature barked, wiggling its tail.
'No. No. No. Shishhhh,' Jayden rasped in thoughts as he fell to his knees, shutting the dog's maw with his hand, but the wiggling of its tail was already enough to alert his father.
"Who's there? Someone get that dog under control!"
"Tch," Jayden hissed. The voice was undeniably his father's, but what could he do now? Running would only show the dog didn't bark for no reason, and staying was just as suicidal.
"I'm on it, honey," Jayden's mum's voice resonated as she rushed downstairs.
"Wow… our young Tamer is back," Jessica, his mother, said with a tight-lipped smile as she reached the bottom of the stairs, watching him from a distance.
'This is it… my RIP moment has finally come,' he thought, forcing a smile that failed over and over again. He gently released the dog's mouth, turning his desperate grip into soft pats.
"What beast was he rewarded with?" boomed Jude's voice, his words sliced Jayden's heart in half.
The weight of the air seemed to shift as Jude stepped forward, his footsteps loud, measured, and full of judgment.
Jessica's smile faded quickly. Her expression turned pale, then bitter. "What happened?" she whispered, extending a trembling hand toward him, "Why is there no change in your look or mana pattern?"
Jayden's knees felt heavier as his eyes met the disappointed fury building behind his father's silence.
"Why hasn't your mana pattern changed?" Jude asked, pushing past his wife. His gaze was sharp. Claws gleamed on his fingertips. Small falcon feathers shimmered along his arms with mature wings flanking his back. And worse, his eyes weren't just seeing—they were calculating.
"I'm talking to you, Jayden… why hasn't your mana pattern changed?"
Jude's voice struck like lightning.
"I... I got an egg..." Jayden stammered, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He held the egg out as if offering his final breath.
"You what? What was your score?" Jude growled, stepping forward with restrained fury.
"Eight..."
BOOM.
Jude's fist came down—not on Jayden, but on the egg. Yet instead of cracking the shell, the tiled floor beneath it shattered.
Jayden flinched, his legs trembling as he fought the urge to pee from sheer fear.
"Eight what...? That's garbage!" Jude roared, pacing around with growing frustration. He knew the law forbade striking a child—but the fury in his movements made even that law seem fragile.
"You couldn't answer those simple questions correctly?!"
"Dad—" Jayden tried to speak, but the word died in his dry throat.
Jude's fist found the wall. Smash. Smash. Smash. The room echoed with his rage. With his falcon's active enhancement, he was already two hundred times as strong as any normal adult.
"Alright... answer me this," he said, spinning toward Jayden again.
Jessica stood behind them, trembling. But she knew better than to interrupt.
"What happens when something becomes useless?" Jude roared, his tone high, his voice cracking with a storm of emotions he could no longer contain.
Jayden swallowed. One more wrong word and he knew he'd share the same fate as the egg on the ground.
"It's... It's thrown into the garbage."
"Half correct," Jude spat. "It becomes invaluable—not even worth the strength it takes to throw it in the garbage. So I'm giving you two choices before I lose control."
A heavy silence followed. Jude's next words were cold steel.
"Walk to the garbage yourself... or let me use my strength to dispose of you personally."
"Honey, please—" Jessica's voice broke from behind, pleading.
But he didn't even glance at her. She rushed in between them, dropping to her knees, and rubbing both palms in appeal. "Please don't do this."
Still, Jude paid no attention.
To Jude, there was nothing special about Jayden anymore. He wasn't the first nor the last of his children. Disowning the disgrace attached to his name was nothing difficult for a man like him. Even a gatekeeper at the presidential courtyards wouldn't want a stain like Jayden tarnishing their reputation not to mention him, who was the president's personal bodyguard.
No warning. No pleading. In fact, Jayden had expected worse.
He picked up the egg. Begging would only invite a slower kind of death, he thought. So he stepped back... further... until he crossed the threshold of the house.
Thanks to the long distance it took from the ceremony home, he had already done most of his mourning before reaching the gates. Now, all that remained was to carry the fresh burden on his shoulder—the most disgraceful, yet somehow the strongest egg he'd ever seen.
"All this doesn't make sense," he whispered bitterly as he left the compound.
"I wrote well, or is hard work not repaid with success anymore?"
He looked down at the egg. "I'll just go get myself a beast."
"But I didn't get the mana serum," he muttered. "I can't tame a hungry beast without it..."
"Jayden!"
He turned to the sound of a familiar voice.
"Reese..." he rasped, blinking back tears as his younger sister sprinted toward him.
"Take this," she said, thrusting a crossbody bag into his hands. "Mum asked me to give it to you. There's some cash inside, a bottle of water, an address she said you should go to... and an ATM card in case you need anything. The PIN is '1234.' Lastly, she said, "Don't worry too much—I'll talk to dad, but honestly?" Reese paused, her eyes dim. "That's useless."
"Thanks," Jayden said, accepting the bag. "One more thing—"
"Nope." She waved him off, already turning toward the house. "Gotta go before Dad realises I left."
"I wanted to ask for the serum..." Jayden mumbled to himself. "But I'm grateful. The money inside would be enough to buy one."
As for that address—that would wait. First, he needed a beast strong enough to outmatch the old man's falcon.
With a fresh breath of hope and a tyrant of a father to humble, Jayden headed to a beast-parts vendor. The man hesitated at first, reluctant to sell. But the moment Jayden mentioned Logan—his father's name—the vendor's posture shifted. Not just because Logan was an A-ranked tamer, but because he was well known for his generosity.
The transaction went through. Serum in hand, Jayden searched for the most isolated manhole he could find—one that would lead him to the underground world.
As he reached the rusted iron cover, Jayden reviewed his motives again. 'Pleasing someone who never valued me is worthless,' he thought, stashing the serum and leftover change into his bag.
'But the university...'
Luckily, Dad has paid my full five-year tuition and signed all the legal documents. This isn't for the old man who doesn't give a damn about me. It's for my own damn future.'
With silent resolve, he pushed the heavy manhole aside. It groaned open, revealing nothing but shadow... and a pulse of slightly denser mana concentration.
'The deeper I go, the stronger the earth beasts... and the denser the mana. That's where I'll find my contract.'
It wasn't a safe path. Down there, beasts ranked D, C, and even B inhabited depths beyond 150 meters. But his decision had already been made.
'From the books I've read... the beast dominating this area is—'
He stopped himself, shaking his head. 'Thinking too much will only kill my resolve'
He dropped the egg first into the dark tunnel.
Then, without hesitation, Jayden followed—vanishing from the surface of the earth.
Just a sixteen-year-old boy, facing the cruelty of this world.
A distant, monstrous cry echoed from within the depths, as if welcoming him.
Jayden gripped the egg in his arms. Though barely visible, it began to glow faintly as if it reacted to the change in mana concentration.
"I'll show the old man SATs aren't the only way to gain a mana beast," he said under his breath, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Let's go, Eggey," he said with a smirk, "Let's show that old man what real potential looks like."