"Son! Wake up. It's already past 5 am. If you are late on the first day of the academy, you will get blamed!"

A voice rang through his ears. He lazily opened his eyes to see his mom's smiley face. As expected she was smiling. But something felt off.

"Are you awake? Get up! Don't behave like a child anymore. You are already 17!"

The woman blamed him, but with a smile on her face.

'Oh no! Mom is angry.'

He quickly woke up and hugged her.

"Okay, mom... I am sorry. Don't be angry. Today is a special day, right?"

With his cuddling behaviour, the gloom around her face disappeared. Her expression instantly lit up.

"Mmph! Enough with sweet talk. Go and get ready! Your dad is waiting."

She rubbed his hair and kept watching the boy run to get ready.

His long hair reached to the waist and was all over. With a smile, his face was so handsome, but also cute. The mom laughed alone happily realising her little son has already grown up into a big boy.

This is a world where magicians exist. In this world, people are ranked by power. People have different types of abilities. But there is something common in everyone.

All the people here have one more appearance than their normal human form. They will get to know their other form when they reach 13 or 14 years old. According to the other form, they would get special abilities unique to each form.

This other form is called the second form, beast form, animal form and different names. Anyways, the most used word is beast form. That was because the forms they got are not only animals. But also mythical creatures, different kinds of beasts and some unbelievable things.

"Mom! Is this alright?"

The boy came in front of his mom and smiled brightly. He was super excited about going to the academy.

"Thomas, You look cool. Dad loves you!"

A man behind her said while peeking at him. That was his father.

"Thank you, I love you too."

Thomas, the boy happily replied to him and looked at his mom. He was stunned seeing her all teary.

"Mom! Why are you crying?"

He gently asked her and held her hands.

"She is over the moon seeing you have grown up."

His dad said while stealing a glance at his wife. Then he met a cold pair of eyes which made him fall for her 20 years ago. He looked away while coughing lightly.

"I am happy to see you have grown up. We love you so much."

She got emotional seeing her son in the academy uniform.

The Academy, where the legends came out from. Every student must attend the academy ever since they passed 17. So Thomas also had to attend the academy this year.

But he had another problem. Even though he was already 17, his form has not awakened yet. Usually, all the students who were gonna join the academy with him had a beast form which was awakened when they were 13 years old.

He is a late bloomer. It's a rare case. But being a rare bloomer means they are weak. So they were always bullied. Just like Thomas's father. He was also a late bloomer. He had terrible experiences in the academy. He was abandoned and left alone. But Helena, his wife accompanied him in the academy and in the end they ended up getting married after falling in love.

Helena never regretted marrying Jonathan. Now she has a lovely son with him. He is also the same as her husband. As gentle as a flower!

"Mom! I know. I love you both. So shall I go?"

Thomas clearly knew his mom and dad were worried. His dad was the most worried one. He had experienced everything himself. But he couldn't stop Thomas or couldn't do anything. He wished Thomas could get a better academy life than him. So Helena wouldn't have to worry either. But that was just a wish. Jonathan knew his son would face the same fate as him. And what made him even worry was Thomas's calm and gentle behaviour.

It could make anyone bully him. He won't get mad. He won't be angry. Always smiling and cheerful. Even more gentle than him. He remembered what his wife always said whenever she noticed Thomas's kind behaviour.

"Gentle as a flower."

Before his son, he was also called that. But later his son stole that phrase from him.

"Son! Don't be like me. Be like your mom. Be someone as strong as your mom. Then no one could raise their voice at you."

That was the last thing Jonathan wanted to say before Thomas went to the academy.

"Honey!"

Helena turned to Jonathan and saw his trembling hands.

She held his hand and comforted him.

"My father is not weak. He is the kindest person ever. I am also not weak. I will prove that neither I nor my dad is weak!"

Thomas promised and hugged his parents. They were truly proud of him.

Jonathan's second form is a butterfly. When he transformed into his form, he would get two huge and beautiful wings. With that, his special power was healing. He had the healing ability. That was not a fighting skill. So he had no way to even protect himself.

But Helena was the opposite. She was a basilisk. With a scary appearance after the transformation, she could flat a whole city. So powerful. With her abilities, she had the chance to marry someone amazing. But she chose this gentle butterfly boy to spend her life with. She surprised everyone.

....

If we look into everyone in this world, they have their own form. Transform means they would get some features of that animal or that creature they could transform into. They won't completely become like that animal. When they transformed it's like a hybrid, made of a human and a animal.

So Jonathan would get two wings while his other body parts were still the same. Helena would gain a serpant tail and she could control her size. Her skin would change like a real basilik. That's what happened to everyone when they transformed. Some of their body parts would change. Their appearance would change according to the animal or the creature.

They could tranform into that form whenever they want. Normally, they would stay like humans. They would transform only when it needed since their main form was human.

....

Jonathan had a light hope because of Helena. Since she was powerful, Thomas may stay safe. But he always felt a little disappointed being protected by his wife. However, Helena was the moon in his life. She always made Jonathan stop thinking nonsense.

"That's my son!"

Helena watched his son proudly.

Since Thomas was a special case, the academy had special plans for him. According to the rules, every student has to stay at the academy dorms. They won't be able to meet their parents or any other people from the outside.

So Thomas won't be able to meet his parents for three years. This feeling made him feel a bit lost. He would miss them for sure. But he had no choice.

Before leaving he said goodbye to both of them and went to the address he got from the academy even without looking back. Because if he saw his mom's face now, he won't be able to leave her.

"Good luck, my son!"

They were happy for him. They wished him the best of luck from the deep of their hearts full of love.