'As expected the pressure emitting from her is on another level, give our Hero a couple of years and she could perhaps be on par with the 5 sword gods, maybe her talent even surpasses mine...'
Soon a voice could be heard throughout the forest, it came from a man with long blonde hair, accompanied by two crimson eyes that seemed to stare into the soul of every being present. Everyone knew who this man was, the Archwizard of the Empire Zel Malkeith.
"Welcome everyone I am Archon Malkeith, and today I have come as a representative for the Central Empire, you may address me as Archon Malkeith. Currently, accidents that root back to demons have been quite common, I am here to supervise and wish all of you talents good luck."
It could be true that demons are causing issues, but everyone knew he was here for the Hero...
'This isn't a completely bad situation, people that form a bond with powerful creatures could possibly get a scholarship to the academy in the Empire.'
And thus the ritual began people began everyone had a number they would be called in, mine happened to be last.
'This isn't surprising I have always been quite unlucky, even Zenith during life met constant hardships.'
Having a bond is a peerless achievement, even if it was not a monster with a strong lineage you would have many benefits over regular people. The power of bonds didn't give you anything like summoning the monster you had a bond with or even having a relationship with them at all, the monster was essentially giving you their bloodline power. People with bonds had the traits of the monster, physical and spiritual. A person who bonded with a venomous reptile, such as a Snake would most likely gain venomous fangs, hardened skin, and exclusive elemental poison magic. Everything depends on the bloodline of your monster, some Bonds will only give you simple physical traits like heightened senses and that could be all.
Malkeith had a face filled with excitement and then called.
"Number 78, Dawn Leveia!!!"
'This should be interesting... Most people have contracted basic monsters, and a few people were able to make contracts with legendary creatures, they probably will get those scholarships.'
The ritual is simple, everyone sits in chairs on the sideline after performing it, and those waiting are in a line based on their order. In the middle of all this is a magic circle, the student would sit and in around 10 seconds it would end with them either creating a bond or not. It happened quickly due to the contracts taking place in the consciousness of the person, for a student the contract could take up to a week, but for everyone else it could be 5-20 seconds.
Everyone went quiet, watching the figure of the next person to be pitted against the Demon King walking up to the magical circle, standing in the middle of the circle she looked around and sat. I looked up and saw the Archwizard staring at her with a wide smile never taking his eyes off her.
'What a creepy smile, anyways I'm excited to see how this will turn out, even though I probably won't be able to contract to a creature on her level... I will still manage to get a scholarship to the Empires academy... Right? She won't overshadow me too much hopefully.'
I decided to pray for her utmost failure. 13 seconds passed and the magic circle turned purple signifying she finished... What shocked everyone was the projection of what she contracted.
Malkeith's eyes enlarged his face told everyone he was extremely surprised and excited.
The students began expressing their amazement
"!!!"
"No way."
"As expected of the Hero."
Malkeith then spoke up
"Dawn Leveia, number 78... Has formed a bond with one of the Mythical Beasts... Pegasus."
Cheers erupted, it had been mostly quiet until then but nobody could hold back their excitement at this impossible feat.
I clapped with a somewhat sour expression on my face. I could also tell everyone else in line was slightly depressed.
'Fuck... I'm probably gonna get overshadowed, after that no matter what anybody gets it won't compare.'
And just like that around an hour later. "Number 100, Rei Ven-August."
Looking up at the crowds I lowered my gaze
'Malkeith who had been so enthusiastic a while ago seemed to have lost interest in the rest of us. Fuck I'll have them all prove them wrong.'
Standing in the middle of the circle I heard many students talking, some ready to leave, others shaming me. Although my family is currently in one of the weaker kingdoms in terms of military and political power, my family did originate from the Empire and my father is a sword god giving us quite a bit of fame, so it's an obvious fact for most people to know I'm the families shame.
As I began to sit down I heard many students chattering
"He's probably not even gonna get a Contract."
"I heard he has low talent."
"Is this the same guy that got rejected by Princess- err what's her name?"
A distinguished cold voice that everyone recognized echoed throughout the venue
"So he's the typical scum."
Everyone bashing me got to my head because I was about to stand up from the middle, but my consciousness was suddenly dragged out. Waking up I was on a rough surface and the sky was dark a dark endless void.
'So this is what my consciousness looks like? My father said I wouldn't get a Contract... Guess he was right, there aren't any monsters here.'
Suddenly a cold voice rang out from behind me towards the sky.
"You've awoken, child."
I looked up and saw a white scaley body, that seemed unending... Until I paused on its face, a majestic face that struck fear, even the mana in my Mana Heart seemed to fear this creature... The creature was a dragon...
"Wh-"
Foaming at the mouth I passed out.
*******
"Are you finally awake?"
At the sound of that voice, I opened my eyes, seeing a handsome man with long white hair reminiscent of snow, smooth skin that could rival the most beautiful existence in creation, red eyes with a cat-like pupil, and a worried expression.
We appeared to be in a small cabin, both sitting on a sofa across from each other and a fireplace towards the right side of the cabin.
'So this is my contracted monster... He seems to be maybe a wolf, perhaps a snake-based? But monsters being able to appear as humans is impossible...'
Blushing the man asked, " What is your name?"
"Rei Ven-August, I greet my future bond."
I stood up and bowed before sitting back down, looking dumbfounded the man looked at me.
"Bond? What are you talking about foolish boy, did you forget about our previous encounter."
Instantly I remembered what happened before my collapse... I instantly swallowed my saliva.
"D-dragon?"
I had a fearful expression when the dragon instantly stood up, and when he stood up I cowered into my chair, I was scared dragons aren't even considered Monsters... They don't even originate from this world, it's known they travel through realms spreading chaos and destruction... Me meeting a dragon here means It's the end of the rope for me. But that fear vanished immediately when he performed a passive gesture trying to calm me down.
"Don't worry Rei, I don't play on eating you or anything. Though I do have a request, could you share your memories with me?"
I was confused after this, 'did I dragon just ask me to please share my memories... Why was he being so polite?'
Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, and I rested my hand on my forehead.
"Mighty dragon, how do I share my memories."
"Simple, I just need to touch your head."
"Then you may see through them."
Trying to be as respectful as possible I responded, he then walked over and placed his hand on my head feeling a strange aura I gulped, and then I noticed he removed it and was smiling, very brightly. He then walked over to his chair and sat down.
"You've lived an interesting life, my grandson..."
"Yes... It's been quite amazing-."
'WHAAAAT?? DID HE JUST SAY GRANDSON?'
I screamed in my mind and had an obvious skeptical look
"It seems you also met that guy.."
"Who?"
Smiling he said
"The one you call God, though I wouldn't consider him as that much."
"I see, so... What did you mean when you called me grandson?"
"Yes, you're my grandson. You're also not human which is why your father said you won't be able to form a bond. As for your next question, my daughter sealed your bloodline and used the power of the Song to manipulate reality... She's quite clever, though I don't know where she ran off to. Right now I'm in a place where I can't reach you so I can only help you by unsealing your bloodline, I'll also cast a spell to make it seems like you signed a contract with me, you should be able to get into that academy right?"
'He answered almost all of my questions, but his explanation makes a lot of sense... And learning more about God is interesting.'
"What is your name grandfather?"
"King of Dragons, Realm Destroyer Azrael."
His name is quite flamboyant...
"Looks like our time is up Rei, we will meet again if you're ever in dire need of help shout grandfather and I'll do my best to help you, since I've awoken your bloodline the more you use draconic abilities your Mana Heart will regress, us dragons have a higher form of power, eventually you will finish your transformation into a pure-blooded dragon, your Mana Heart will be gone by then... And you will be able to control the Song at a much higher level."
With a solemn expression on my face, I was secretly excited in my mind...
'Kind of strange, I just started training my Mana Heart to know I will lose it in the future, this power of the Song how powerful could it be? Manipulating realities laws themselves is impossible... But to grandfather, it seemed more or less like a small display of power.'
"Goodbye Grandfather."
In an instant, I opened my eyes, the entire venue was silent...