Arthur slowly woke up on something soft, at first he didn't realize what was happening around him, but soon he snapped out of his stupor only to see a shocked face looking down on him. This was the receptionist, Arthur looked around only to see that the other kids are also looking at him with shocked expressions and sparkling eyes. Some of them felt awe, some of them felt envy, but all of them were very surprised seeing what happened.
"How can this be?.." muttered the receptionist. "I've never seen anything like this before.. I mean a beast, willingly choosing a partner to soul-link with? That's very, very rare, I have only heard rumors!"
The receptionist continued muttering to herself in a daze. While Arthur, still scared out of his wits slowly calmed down.
When he finally processed what he had heard, he became ecstatic, but he didn't show it on the outside. On the outside he looked calm and only had a slight grin on his face.
"What is your name, young man?" Asked the receptionist. "I - I'm Arthur, miss" Arthur blurted out while being slightly embarrassed. And who wouldn't be, when such a stunning lady is talking to them?
"Nice to meet you, Arthur, I'm Mara" Said Mara with a smile that had a hidden meaning behind it. "N-Nice to mee...", "Well since you already created a soul-link, go wait over there" Arthur was cut off mid sentence as Mara pointed to the door that looked as luxurious as the one Arthur entered coming into this room.
"We will talk about what happened after everyone gives a shot at creating a soul-link" she said in a soft voice and gestured for Arthur to go.
The other kids, continued searching for a possible beast to create a soul-link, while still being awestruck and feeling inspired by what just happened. After that all of them went to the altar with their chosen beast and tried creating a soul-link. Most of them failed and left with depressed look on their faces.
There were only a few kids, who managed to create a soul-link. Including Arthur there were four.
One boy and three girls. Two of them were twins, while the other one looked to be from a wealthy background.
While all of this was happening, Arthur was alone in the room he was sent to. It took three hours for everything to be finished so he had plenty of time to explore his newfound abilities.
He looked down at his right hand and saw a crimson red gem embedded in the back of his hand. It was in the shape of a half moon and looked very pretty. A lot of Linkers would be jealous of such a pretty soul gem.
After that, Arthur tried focusing on feeling mana around himself, and to no ones surprise he did, he felt a warm wind like current passing by every inch of his his body, mana was everywhere so it was natural, that it covered everything with a thin layer of warmth, thought Arthur.
"What's my name..." Arthur nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard a strange voice. When he looked around, there was no one in the room, so he got really confused for a moment. "What's my name..." He heard the same sentence again, but this time he did not freak out.
This time he understood that he wasn't hearing things, it was as if he was feeling them with his soul. And this realization shocked him. 'Is my soul-beast, talking to me?' Arthur had never heard anything about soul-beasts talking to their partner before. 'Is it special in some way?'
He thought that it might have something to do with the pattern he saw on the snakes head before it turned into energy and entered his body. 'A mutated soul-beast!' Arthur came to a conclusion that it has to be some sort of a mutation. And this made him even happier.
There was never a mention of a soul-beast being able to communicate with their partner before. 'I better keep it a secret, or else i might become a lab rat for scientists or even get dissected' Arthur promised himself to keep it hidden from the outside world and prying eyes.
"What's my name..." The voice asked again, and Arthur came up with a perfect name for his own partner. 'Your name is Cali' Arthur gave it an answer with his thoughts. 'It's short for Excalibur, a legendary sword that king Arthur wielded in the legends'. Arthur explained, not knowing if the soul-beast would understand him.
"A legendary sword.. Cali, I like it!" The voice said. "From this day forth, I will be known as Cali, A legendary weapon for my master", Cali exclaimed again with a joyous tone.
'Your... Master?' Arthur tried to communicate again. "Correct, you are my master, don't you remember? I chose you myself", said Cali. 'But why me? And how can you talk to me?' Arthur continued with his questions.
"I felt a strange connection to you, and so, only driven by my instinct, i forged a soul-link with, master", Cali explained. "Although, I don't know how to explain myself being able to communicate to master. From the moment i fused with your soul, I received the ability to do so, that is all that i know, master", Cali explained honestly.
Arthur somehow knew that what Cali said was the truth. 'Maybe this has something to do with the soul-link aswell', he thought. "Indeed it does, master, our souls have fused, and so it is like we are a part of each other", Cali said.
'You can read my mind?' Arthur was surprised at that moment. "Yes, i can, master, this is how we communicate", Cali explained again. Arthur was a little bit surprised by this information, but he quickly calmed down. 'It's not like it can harm me in any way' he thought.
'Hey Cali', Arthur called his soul-beast by its name. "Yes, master?", Cali answered. 'Call me by my name, we are partners and friends from now on' said Arthur. "Very well, Arthur", Cali replied. He was a little confused, because he didn't fully understand the concept of "friends" yet, but he strangely felt happy because of what Arthur had said.