[The Hatching begins]
A bright seven-colored light erupted from the beast egg, illuminating the room. The bright light forced Alden, Neo, and Owen to close their eyes.
With closed eyes, Alden left the beast egg on the bed. He stood up and walked a few steps behind.
Crack!
A cracking sound sounded. The beast egg shook, and cracks appeared all over it.
BANG!
A loud bang erupted out of nowhere giving Alden and the others a scare.
BANG!
The door broke open.
Alden's heart tightened as it skipped a beat.
On the door stood Elttil. "You should have told me you have a beast egg," He spoke with a wicked smile on his face. "Not bad, not bad." He muttered, looking at the beast egg. "This is my first time seeing a beast egg like this. It will be enough to compensate for the trouble I went because of you."
'How did this happen?' Alden froze on the spot. 'It must be Chloe. She must have told him about the beast egg.' He gulped hard. 'What do I do now?'
Elttil took a step forward and slowly started walking toward the beast egg.
Swoosh!
Neo was the first to act. He leaped in the air toward Elttil. "Alden, snap out of it. We can not allow him to take your beast egg."
Pam!
Neo threw a fist at Elttil, but the fist could not reach him. Like there was an invisible barrier before Elttil. Just inches before his face, Neo's fist hit something hard, invisible.
"Meaningless resistance," Elttil commented. "The difference between us is like the sky and the earth. You can not even touch me."
Bang!
With just a casual leg kick to the side, Elttil sent Neo flying.
Neo hit into the wardrobe, shattering it.
"Alden, fight back. You are a beast tamer now!" Neo shouted. "Owen, you attack too." He turned to Owen who when the fight started, went into the corner of the room where he sat on the ground, hugged his knees, and trembled in fear.
Owen did not respond to Neo. He was too afraid to do anything. But Alden, on the other hand, snapped out of it.
"Agghh!" He groaned as he jumped at Elttil with his fist tightly clenched. Gathering all his strength, Alden threw a punch at Elttil.
BANG!
A loud bang erupted as Alden's fist, with all his strength behind it, collided with the invisible barrier protecting Elttil.
"Meaningless struggle!" With another kick, Elttil sent Alden flying back into the wall.
"Cough!" Alden coughed out blood.
"Why?!" Alden roared, trying to stand up from the ground. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not, as he was in too much pain. All his ribs on the side where Elttil kicked him were broken.
"That's a good question?" Elttil smiled wickedly. "But, why not? I went through a lot of trouble because of you. I will take your beast egg as compensation."
Alden's eyes dilated. "Why? Why? WHY! WHY!" He roared in anger and helplessness. He was angry. He got a chance to become stronger, but could not protect it. He was angry at his own helplessness and powerlessness.
He was angry at Elttil for abusing his power. Angry at Chloe for spreading his secrets and angry at the system that allowed the teacher to abuse his power like this. He was angry at the world. "I'll kill you! Kill me now! I will kill you If you don't kill me now!"
CRACK!
A loud cracking sound sounded throughout the room.
Elttil's body got distorted.
Alden could not believe his eyes. He closed and rubbed his eyes, and then violently shook his head.
When he opened his eyes, his jaw dropped in shock, and his eyes widened.
"W-What...is...going on?" He uttered in disbelief.
The wardrobe, which shattered upon impact with Neo, was intact, as well as the door.
Neo and Owen stood in the same place as before Elttil entered, and Alden himself had not moved even an inch and had no injuries. The room was not damaged in the slightest. It all looked like nothing had ever happened.
"A-Alden... Do you have any idea what happened?!" Neo questioned in shock.
"W-What is happening?" Even Owen could not help but question.
'S-System, what is going on?' The system was the only hope Alden had for receiving an explanation for what happened.
[Host, the beasts with the seven-colored bloodline have the illusion element. The light released by the hatching of the beast caused you to experience an illusion.]
[What you just went through was an illusion]
"The beast egg." Alden looked at the beast egg. With the sudden transition from the illusion to reality, he forgot about the beast egg for a second.
The cracks on the beast egg had widened. And through the cracks, a small paw was sticking out.
"It was just an illusion," Alden muttered, sweat running down his forehead. His back was drenched in sweat. Internally, he was thanking god that was just an illusion.
"D-Did the b-beast egg cause the illusions?" Owen asked.
Alden nodded.
"I almost had a heart attack. Crazy," Neo uttered. "That beast must be with the illusion element. One of the rarest elements. Crazy."
Crack!
The beast in the egg moved a bit.
The eggshells fell apart, revealing the beast. The beast was a little, seven-colored cat. It was just the size of a newborn cat.
"Meow!" The little cat meowed in a quiet, cute voice. It yawned and raised.
"What is it doing?" Neo asked.
The cat started eating the eggshells.
"Should we stop it?" Owen looked at the cat eating the eggshells worriedly.
"I think it's fine." Alden walked to the bed and with a parental gaze full of affection, watched as the little cat consumed the eggshells.
'Little guy. I went through a lot of trouble to hatch you.' Alden thought. 'I hope you can help me in the future.'
In no time, the cat consumed all the eggshells.
Suddenly, it started emitting a seven-colored light again, just not as bright as when it was hatching.
"Is it happening again?" Neo got on guard as he did not want to experience the illusion again.
After a few seconds, when nothing happened, he let down his guard.
Though light emitted from the cat, one could still see its body enlarging.
'System, what is going on? The cat is suddenly growing larger. Is it another illusion?' Alden questioned in panic.
[Host, the eggshells contain spiritual energy and nutrients for the beast. As a result of eating it, its growth quickened]
The bright light soon dimmed, and it revealed the transformed cat. The tiny little cat from before has grown to the size of an average adult cat.
Its fur was seven-colored, and it looked soft to the eyes.
Alden could not resist but touch the cat.
"It's so soft." He muttered. A smile spread on his face. He took the cat and raised it in the air above his head.
"Little guy, let me give you a name." He said with a smile, staring up into the cat's rainbow-colored eyes. "Let me see. Your fur and eyes are in seven colors, and you are cute."
"I know!" Alden exclaimed. "Your name will be Little Rainbow."
"Meow!" Little Rainbow meowed happily.
"It's so cute." Neo walked up to Alden.
"I know." Alden hugged Little Rainbow.
Unable to resist, Neo extended his arm to pet Little Rainbow.
"HISSS!" Little Rainbow hissed aggressively, revealing the cute white fangs. Its fur stood up, and it raised its tail.
Alden was surprised but quickly came to himself. "Little Rainbow, stop it." He said, trying to act angry.
"Meow?" Little Rainbow meowed plaintively, staring into Alden's eyes.
"Alright, alright. I am not angry. But don't do that again." Alden could not be angry at the cute Little Rainbow. "He is my friend."
"Alden, what are its abilities?" Neo asked.
With all that happened, and he got immersed in the cuteness of the Little Rainbow, Alden forgot to check its abilities.
"How should I know that?" He asked. He could use inspect on Little Rainbow, but since Neo asked, there must be some other way.
"I do not know how to explain it, but you two are connected. If you focus, you should be able to feel your connection. Just like that, if you focus, you will find out about its elements and the skills it can use.
It's like this information has always been in your memory, and you just never bothered to look at it."
Alden nodded in understanding. He understood everything that Neo said, but he found it troublesome. So he just used inspect.
'Inspect.'
[Name: Little Rainbow]
[Species: Cat with seven-colored bloodline]
[Amount of Seven-Colored bloodline in the body: 3%]
[Growth Stage: Hatchling]
[Realm: 1-star warrior realm]
[Element: Wind]
[Special Element: Illusion] - [Locked]
[Unlocking requirement: Seven-colored bloodline in the body reach 5%]
[Skills: Wind Blade]
[Illusionary Wind Blade] - [Fires off a blade of wind at the opponent with the illusion element. The Illusion element deceives the perception of the opponent and almost always hits the target] - [Locked]
[Notice: If the opponent is stronger than the beast, the Illusionary Wind Blade might not work, as the opponent's perception is high]
[Notice: The more the skill is used on an opponent in a short time, the more the opponent adapts. After using this skill on an opponent two times in a row, there is a high chance the third attack will fail]
'Wow, it's amazing.' Alde could not help but be stunned by the status window of Little Rainbow. 'It's a little pity that the illusion element is locked. System, how do I increase the amount of seven-colored bloodline in Little Rainbow?'
Unlike what Alden expected, there was no reply.
'Grea...'
Knock! Knock!
Just as Alden was about to complain to himself, a knock on the door interrupted him.
All three turned toward the door, and all three of them had the same thoughts.
Their blood froze and hearts tightened as the scenes of the illusion they experienced ran through their heads. They had no other friends, so they could not help but worry. Who was on the other side of the door?