Supreme Tamer: The Rise of Beasts

The Substitute

The morning was shrouded in fog as the second-level students gathered in the old Stone Circle, a natural ring used for more advanced practical lessons. The stones forming the circle were covered in moss, and some emitted a faint glow—remnants of energies used in previous trainings.

Professor Alden was absent.

In his place stood a tall man, draped in a dark gray cloak with hidden blue details, silently observing the students. His eyes, half-closed, appeared to scrutinize each one meticulously, as if deciphering open books.

— I am the substitute professor this morning, — he finally said. His voice was firm yet controlled. — Call me Master Kael.

Ethan frowned. There was something about that presence… an almost imperceptible oscillation in the energy surrounding the man, as if space itself hesitated in his presence.

Unexpected Reaction

The lesson was to focus on identifying hidden energy patterns. Each student received a simple stone, designed to amplify or reflect nearby energy traces. When Ethan's stone touched his skin, it immediately glowed with a light green hue—the natural reflection of his affinity with the Ancestral Forest Deer.

Kael stepped closer.

— A natural affinity, — he commented, studying the glow. — But something more… hidden.

Ethan swallowed hard.

At that precise moment, the floor beneath the young man pulsed. A warm vibration radiated from the boards of the concealed floor in his room—where the golden fragment lay hidden. Ethan felt the connection like a jolt along his spine.

The crystal was reacting.

Kael locked eyes with him.

— You carry something. Something that should not exist here.

A Veiled Challenge

Ethan attempted to maintain his composure.

— Only knowledge and curiosity, sir.

Kael smiled, though the smile did not reach his eyes.

— Curiosity can be a curse if one does not know where to seek.

The tension was abruptly broken by a sudden sound—a dry crack in the air. A student in the back rows had dropped his stone, which now shone with an irregular purple hue.

— A bad omen, — Kael murmured, distancing himself from Ethan. — There is too much energy scattered in this academy. And too many open doors.

The Nocturnal Conversation

Later that night, Ethan visited the library, feeling restless. In the darkest corner of the second floor, he searched among ancient volumes—the ones that spoke of fragments of primordial energy and entities from before the Guilds.

There, he discovered a scribbled note in a diary:

"…the fragments act as dormant sentinels. When the bearer crosses paths with an emissary, they react, alerting to the bond that unites what has been divided…"

Sentinels. Emissaries.

Kael.

Was the new professor there to watch over, or to capture?