The next hunt came two days later.
Word had spread through the Ashen Blades camp like wildfire: the new probationary kid with the weird shadow beast had pulled more than his weight on the temple run. Ragnar assigned Kai to a smaller, elite team this time, six hunters tasked with scouting a newly unstable mid-high Rift that had opened three leagues north.
Garrick led the group.
The old veteran rode his iron-back bear like it was an extension of himself, the massive beast lumbering through the badlands with ground-shaking steps. Jorin and Mira came along for support, along with two mid-rank veterans: a fire mage named Serna with twin salamander companions, and a tracker called Vance with a keen-nosed wind hound.
Kai walked near the rear, Nyx perched on his shoulder in full juvenile pup form. The phantom pup's tail flicked lazily, but its eyes constantly scanned the horizon.
Garrick dropped back at one point, matching Kai's pace.
"You did good last time," the old man said gruffly. "But this Rift's different. Unstable. Things come out twisted. If your beast starts acting strange, you tell me immediately."
Kai nodded. "Understood."
Garrick eyed Nyx. "It's growing fast. Too fast."
He didn't say anything more, but the warning hung between them.
They reached the Rift by late afternoon.
It was ugly, a jagged vertical tear in reality, edges flickering between purple and sickly green, easily fifty meters tall. Lightning crackled inside, and the air around it warped like heat haze.
No stabilization pylons here. Too new, too dangerous.
Garrick raised a fist. The team halted.
"Scout only," he reminded. "Map the interior, note guardian types, grab minor loot if safe. No heroics."
They entered single file.
The world shifted.
Inside, gravity felt off, slightly heavier, pulling sideways in places. The ground was black glass obsidian, reflecting distorted versions of themselves. Massive ruined structures loomed: broken spires, collapsed bridges, and everywhere, fragments of celestial architecture, shattered thrones half-buried in the ground, chains thicker than a man's torso dangling from nowhere.
Kai's [Seal Perception] went haywire.
Crimson threads thick as ropes crisscrossed everything. The density made his head throb.
Nyx growled low, fur standing on end.
Garrick noticed. "Problem?"
"Strong energy here," Kai said carefully. "My beast is reacting."
The old man grunted. "Keep it leashed."
They advanced cautiously.
First contact: twisted amalgam beasts, fusions of normal creatures warped by the Rift. A six-legged boar with spider mandibles. A flock of bat-birds with human-like faces.
The team handled them efficiently. Serna's salamanders bathed groups in flame. Vance's hound harried flanks. Garrick's bear tanked hits like they were nothing.
Kai contributed precise strikes, Nyx's Phantom Dash and Shadow Bind turning chaotic fights into controlled executions.
Levels ticked up steadily.
By the third hour, they reached the core area: a vast circular chamber dominated by an intact celestial throne.
Not a fragment, a full one.
Twenty meters tall, carved from black stone veined with crimson, chains wrapping it like binding serpents. The seat glowed with inner fire, and at its base lay a cracked stone egg the size of a wagon wheel.
Runes pulsed across the egg's surface, sealing script, ancient and furious.
Kai's system screamed.
[Critical Alert: High-tier Divine Beast embryo detected.]
[Bloodline: Primordial Ember Sovereign (0.01% Awakened)]
[Current Form: Sealed Stone Egg (Dormant)]
[Taming Difficulty: Extreme]
[Corruption Spike Predicted: 20–40%]
Nyx whined, pressing against Kai's neck.
The rest of the team stared in awe.
Garrick's voice was hushed. "Gods above… a throne core. Intact. This Rift's older than we thought."
Serna's salamanders hissed uneasily.
Vance backed up a step. "We should mark it and withdraw. This is beyond scout level."
But greed flickered in eyes. An intact throne artifact would fetch millions in the black market.
Garrick hesitated, then shook his head. "Orders were scout and minor loot. We take rubbings of the runes, samples from the chains. Nothing more."
He directed the team to spread out, documenting.
Kai couldn't move.
The egg pulled at him like gravity.
Cracks spider-webbed across its surface, hairline fractures leaking faint ember light.
It was hatching.
Slowly.
Inevitably.
The system prompted.
[Opportunity: Attempt contract with Primordial Ember embryo?]
[Success Chance: 12% (increased by host resonance and Nyx assistance)]
[Failure Consequences: Severe backlash. Possible guardian awakening.]
Kai's mouth went dry.
A second Divine Beast.
Fire to Nyx's shadow. Balance. Power beyond anything he'd imagined.
But the risk…
He glanced at the team. They hadn't noticed the cracking yet, focused on rubbings and samples.
Garrick's bear sniffed the air, growling.
Too late.
The egg shuddered.
A wave of heat rolled out, scorching the obsidian floor.
Cracks widened. Ember light poured through.
The team spun.
"What the—"
"Fall back!" Garrick bellowed.
But the throne reacted.
Chains animated, lashing out like living whips.
Stone sentinels, far stronger than the previous Rift, rose from the ground, eyes igniting with crimson fire.
Battle exploded.
Garrick's bear roared, meeting the first sentinel head-on.
Serna's salamanders spewed flames that barely scorched the guardians.
Vance and Jorin retreated, firing arrows that chipped but didn't penetrate.
Mira screamed as a chain wrapped her leg, she cut it with a light blade, but blood flowed.
Kai stood frozen between choices.
The egg cracked fully.
A serpentine head emerged, small, newborn size, but scales glowing like molten lava. Eyes pure fire. Tiny horns. Wings folded tight against a body that promised immense growth.
It looked weak.
It wasn't.
The newborn serpent let out a cry... high, piercing and ancient.
Every guardian paused.
Then turned toward the team with renewed fury.
The embryo was protecting its hatching ground.
Kai made his decision.
He dashed forward, Shadow Step blinking him past a chain whip.
Nyx leaped off his shoulder, growing mid-air into full combat size, phantom wolf form briefly flashing before settling back to pup for speed.
Together they reached the egg.
The serpent's head turned, fire eyes meeting Kai's.
No hostility.
Curiosity.
Pain.
It was alone. Sealed for eons. Hatching into a world that would fear it.
Just like him.
Kai extended his hand.
The system flared.
[Contract attempt initiating…]
Black and crimson runes exploded outward, merging with the egg's ember script.
Chains from the throne lashed toward him.
Nyx intercepted, Shadow Bind wrapping chains, Phantom Dash evading strikes.
The team fought desperately behind.
Garrick's voice cut through chaos: "Kid! Get out of there!"
But Kai didn't move.
The serpent coiled out fully, ten meters of newborn ember scales, weak but radiating raw divine pressure.
It lowered its head, touching Kai's palm.
Acceptance.
[Ding!]
[Second Divine Beast contracted.]
[Name the beast?]
Kai's voice was steady despite the corruption fire pouring through his veins.
"Veyra."
[Name registered: Veyra]
[Veyra - Primordial Ember Serpent (Newborn)]
[Level: 1 → 10 (contract bonus)]
[Bloodline Awakening: 0.01% → 8.4%]
[Basic Skills Unlocked: Ember Breath (Lv.1), Flame Cloak (Lv.1)]
[Host Corruption Resonance: 30.2% → 58.7%]
The backlash hit like a hammer.
Kai dropped to one knee, dark veins crawling across his arms, neck, face. Vision tunneled. Hunger, not for food, but for destruction, surged in his chest.
Veyra coiled protectively around him, small body radiating heat that countered the corruption chill.
Nyx returned, pressing against his side.
The guardians… changed.
With the contract complete, their purpose shifted. They turned away from the team, crumbling back to stone.
The throne's chains retracted.
The chamber fell silent except for heavy breathing.
Garrick approached slowly, bear limping from wounds.
The old man stared at the massive newborn serpent coiled around Kai, then at the dark veins fading from the boy's skin.
"You…" His voice was rough. "You bound it."
The team gathered, awed and terrified.
Serna whispered, "Two beasts. Impossible."
Jorin's eyes were wide. "And that one's… divine."
Veyra lifted its head, ember eyes regarding them calmly.
No aggression.
Garrick exhaled slowly.
"Kid… what the hell are you?"
Kai stood, corruption stabilizing at 58%, painful, but bearable. Power thrummed through him like dual heartbeats: shadow and fire.
"I'm just trying to survive," he said.
Garrick looked at the throne, then back at Kai.
"You just changed everything."
He turned to the team.
"We're withdrawing. Now. And this—" he gestured at Kai, Nyx, and Veyra "—stays between us. For now."
No one argued.
On the march back, Veyra shrank to arm-sized, coiling around Kai's torso like living armor, warm and comforting.
Nyx trotted proudly beside.
Corruption sat heavy, but the power…
It sang.
Back at camp that night, Garrick pulled Kai aside.
"You've got two now. Divine blood. The kind that starts wars."
Kai met his eyes.
"I didn't ask for this."
"No," Garrick agreed. "But you took it anyway."
He paused.
"Whatever path this is, boy… I'll walk part of it with you. Someone needs to keep you from burning the world down."
Kai nodded, surprised at the relief he felt.
In his shadow, Nyx purred.
On his chest, Veyra's scales pulsed gently.
Two beasts.
Two thrones stirring.
The world wasn't ready.
But Kai Voss was starting to be.