Clark felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He had been tested by the generation's top genius, Clara Mane. She had set a record in the known world for fastest growth as a spirit tamer ever. Her spirit beast had reached tier six before anyone her age had even reached tier three. The fact that she was now tier seven was spectacular on its own.
Making it to tier eight might not take her the ten years it would take other so called geniuses. Making it to tier nine? A guarantee at this point. But making it to tier ten was a mystery that not many could ever imagine. What was even more, Clara had given him a letter of recommendation to bring to Nova academy. The Nova academy. The best place for any tamer to study in the entire populated country. It was why the tamers had been able to survive and build cities.
The headmaster and the team of esteemed professors were all master level tamers. It was thought that a few might have tier nine tamed beasts putting them closer or on the demi-god tier tamer list. Reaching that point meant they had strength to walk in to the wilds and put down roots for a city to grow. Above that? If someone managed to become a god tier tamer with a rank ten beast, then they could build a kingdom. Beyond that, no one had ever reached. It seemed the human lifespan was just not long enough to even have the potential to do such a thing.
Devi had latched on to Clark's shoulder and was still groggy. It had just participated in its first fight and been soundly beaten.
Yet, this wasn't a bad thing. The power behind that single burst of flames astonished him. Not just Clark, but now Devi, had the extraordinary dream of being able to use a simple attack without a target to push away and defeat any enemy. They wanted to be stronger than Clara. They wanted to fight to become the top talent in the city.
While walking home from the test, Clark fiddled with the new identification spacial ring. He found it strange that Clara hadn't taken his basic one away like it normally should. In his examination, he found that his spatial ring had actually been upgraded with new magic. It was larger and had the novice tamer's license set up on it.
However, the second spatial ring was different. It had the name Phantom engraved within it. The space was larger inside, and even more, there was an experienced tamer's license. Along with the letter, there was a note within.
"This is for your own safety. If you ever find yourself unsure of your actions while traveling to Nova academy, wear a cloak covering your face and use this alias. I personally settled it for you. Don't let me down -Clara"
The things that Clara had done in this short time were too much for Clark to believe. It felt that he had just discovered a brilliant new path. Someone that could guide him on to a better future."Devi, I know you are absorbing the spiritual energy you got from biting someone with a stronger soul than us, but we are rushing home to tell mom and dad that they won't have to work anymore once I graduate from the academy!"
The energy that Clark put out made the few delivery men out at this time of night look over confused. But it had brought Devi back to focus. Clark had been out later than he had meant to be and he was sure his parents were waiting for him to get home.
Running at full speed, Clark dodged the few horse drawn carriages around while holding back his laughter. He was sore from being completely knocked down during the so called test, but felt none of it.
He was too happy. This was the thing he had wanted for so long and now he would be able to wash all the stress away that his parents had been under worrying about his future as beastless.
"Kid! Stop there!" The guard that caught Clark and lifted him up shocked Devi and caused him to go invisible. "Can't you see the flames!? The entire street is on fire. Stay here and wait for the captain to get here with his raindrop falcon." The order was like a slap to the face. Clark had been rushing ahead so fast he was blinded from reality.
The sky was bright orange in front of him. The entire street was on fire. Every home, every shop, every fruit stall. It was all on fire. The heat was enough to dry the air and burn the skin of those watching. "Can you really believe this happened? That brat from the Mourne family strengthened his red salamander again, causing another fire. There are people that live-"
"Shut it. If anyone hears you they will put you six feet under. The Mourne family will throw money and power at this to erase it as unknown causes again. We can rebuild the shops." The angry voices dimmed as they realized the threat that one of the strongest families had in this city. But Clark had stopped listening.
The guards saw him burst through the line kept to keep everyone at bay. The sprint was no longer full of joy. He had fear and panic painted on his face while the pace picked up. Clark could feel the air burning his lungs whole he moved past any guard attempting to get him back to safety. His home was not the fanciest or the largest, but it was his.
Standing in front of the brilliant yellow and orange flames without seeing his parents, Clark prepared to rush inside.
So what if he had memories of his past life?
So what if he had a second set of parents?
Did that mean he didn't feel the love when he saw their smiling faces?
Did that not mean he looked forward to seeing them every morning?
Did that not mean that this was his damn family and that he would give them the world?!
Chilling raindrops started to fall in torrents around him. The caws of the raindrop falcon broke over the flames causing smoke to rise and fires to die out. The citizens that had been forced from their homes cheered seeing the captain of the guards in the area come on scene to put out the flames. This was the power of someone at the fifth rank who specialized in helping the community with security.
Unfortunately, Clark still could care less about his soaking clothing. He couldn't notice the drag on his shoulder as Devi tried to keep him from going anywhere near the still smoldering ruins that was their home. It wasn't enough though, Devi might have sensed the energy around because of his species but Clark was blind to it.
Frantic eyes fell on the two odd shaped burned lumps. Two shapes that resembled a human structure. The skin charred black and the smell caused Clark's nose to sting. There was a cracked and blackened beast egg next to them.
"Mom…Dad…you got me a beast because I didn't have one. But don't worry, I'm going to take you both to a perfect house with cleaning staff and every luxury. You can retire early and watch me reach the top. I promise I will be the best spirit tamer you have ever seen in the history of existence."
The smoldering ashes burning Clark's shoes soon sizzled with water, but it wasn't from the raindrop falcon, it was from the streams of tears falling down Clark's face. However, he couldn't even feel them. He wasn't showing sadness. Instead, there was an odd calm. A calm that made the air tremble.
Even Devi felt that Clark had changed at this moment. There was no hope for smiles and laughter any longer…Clark would not let the Mourne family escape this time. "The world is better off without some people."