"Grown-ups stuff? Probably something to do with yester-nights incident." Lilith suggested.
"Hmm… I can't say but one thing's for sure, an outdoor activity is always something worth participating in." Khay replied.
"First this sudden history lesson on the Godly 5, then this sudden gathering. Is this all because we're turning over a new leaf?!" He sung in excitement.
"Come on." The duo sighed in response and joined Lilith as they dropped off the roof.
The students gathered around, wearing their prescribed blue Dolrea Academy shirts and trousers of assorted colors and shades. The crowd went shoving side to side as the trio forced their way through to the front; the Head of the Beastiary Studies Department and teacher, Reus was present at the scene, standing to their front.
"Gather around students, boys and girls, I have something special for you all today." Reus cheerfully encouraged.
"I wonder what else could be so special about today." One of the boys gathered around spoke, he was amongst the students that found themselves to the front, his name was Han, the eldest of the Jun brothers and to his left was his younger brother Lui, who wore a hat that covered almost the entirety of his eyes. The two unlike the majority of the academy's students had been friends with the trio for quite a while now.
"Han, Lui. There you are!" Khay said.
"Shh!" Lilith hushed at Khay.
"What could it be though?" Khay whispered.
"Maybe a new beast reveal." Lilith cheeked in, whispering
"Maybe." Han said.
"Must be something important, seeing as it is Reus himself." Khay added.
"All right, bring it in." Reus shouted quite loud and they all wondered who or what he was talking about, then suddenly, a loud thud could be heard across the compound to Reus' left; the noise grew louder and closer. The heavy thuds was identified with a transparent box of no less than 16 meters tall with an obscure, fuzzy whitish blur around the contents.
"What is this giant box of clouds? One student cried out in a disarming tone.
The size of the box had made the individual carrying it barely noticeable. Closely approaching, a figure made distinct by his seemingly black attire could be seen underneath the container.
"Look, there is someone under that thing."
"No way!"
"To think there'd be someone carrying that thing is just crazy."
"It's not impossible" another commented.
The students gathered around wowed and passed remarks.
Meanwhile, the individual carrying the humungous box had arrived in close proximity; "Now that I'm closer to my goal… this is a bit heavier than I thought, isn't it." He groaned to himself underneath the box. Slowly, he dropped the box as gently as he could unto the ground and it blew dust all around landing with a subtle thud as the ground cracked; giving into the weight. He stretched out his arms and joints amidst the dust storm and as it cleared; "How are y'all doing students?"
A hand with brown gauntlets over a thin black glove waved through the air. He stepped out of the dust. His attire was a black sleeveless tight top that accentuated his physique (almost like a tight body suit that had only the elbow to the shoulder part cut out) and; tucked into his brown trousers and buckled over a brown belt and black boot.
His masculine build suggested he was male and in his mid-youthful stages, no less or more than 22. He was an apprentice and teaching assistant to the head of the General Beast Knowledge Department; Reus.
"You!!" Khay and Trilith said in unison.
"Well if it isn't the Mischievous Duo. I see you're healthy and energetic as always, cute Lilith too." He casually winked at her.
The students began murmuring among themselves. "Hey isn't that one of our seniors."
"One of the Top 8." Another student said.
"Yhh isn't he the one that finished with top scores in the Beastiary Subject in his time and was one of the best students overall."
"Ehhh… He's a big shot."
"No wonder he's Reus' assistant"
"Ehh… enough flattery." He replied to them all.
"Keep it down you kids, I haven't got all day." Reus quelled the bickering and discussions.
"Students, my young hatchlings, I'm sure you know who this is." Reus stretched out his hand towards him in introduction.
"Since when did he become Reus' assistant?" Trilith wondered to himself.
"Probably a mentorship thing." Lilith responded.
"The name is Kobby. I completed in this very same academy that you find yourselves in, I was once like you 5 years ago. So don't be afraid to call me when you need anything. I'm your senior after all."
"There you have it. Now…" Reus commented. "Kobby has been my apprentice for quite a while and he's been busy running errands for me (all around the world)." He whispered to those in the front." "If most of you are wondering why you've never seen him around much or at all. And he's been researching new beasts far and wide, but not long ago he decided it was time he got his own." He said with much delight. "After all these years of yapping at him, this boy finally agrees to do so, and so I thought, what better way than to teach you, since you're all coming of age already, and even though we're skipping a very important step. Let's have you guys experience it first-hand! All eyes on the prize kids, this can only be done once, so watch carefully."
"His own what?" Mira of Class 3A asked.
Kobby placed his hand on the cube and in a few moments the obscure white fuzzy blur began to dissipate.
"I'd be more than happy to tell you guys all about it." Kobby replied.
The students exclaimed as they saw the contents of the cube now that it was clear as day.
"That's the Mach stallion." Another student from the crowd cried out.
"Correct!" Reus asserted. "Now if you paid attention to our theoretical lessons, we studied quite a lot about this particular beauty of nature here. Can anyone tell me some of its characteristics? Hands before talking."
Lilith raised her hand. "Yes Lilith." Reus pointed out.
"The Mach Stallion is a beast of great stature and known to stand no less than 14 meters tall."
"It uses it tough skin to ward off external attacks." Han Jun added to Lilith's after Reus permitted him.
Trilith raised his hand enthusiastically, shaking it vigorously.
"Yes Trilith." Reus permitted.
"The Mach Stallion as the name implies has an incredible agility and speed which makes it difficult to trap or capture, and it can also evade attacks easily and can be very intelligent when it comes to escaping."
"That's unexpectedly vivid seeing that it's coming from you, well done Trilith. It's good to know you all picked a thing or two from our lessons." He nodded his head a few times as he pleasantly smiled. "Now to the topic at hand, Kobby if you would…"
"If it had all these traits then how come you were able to capture one?" Khay quickly questioned.
"Well, capturing this beauty wasn't easy, this is one tough overgrown horse." He glanced at the box. "Fighting something that has it skin supposedly tougher than most metal we've come across wasn't easy. The only reason you see this one here is because this isn't a fully grown Mach Stallion and even so, I had to resort to other options, poison in particular.
"Is that why it looks like it is dead?" Khay incessantly questioned.
"Did you kill it?" Trilith followed up.
Kobby couldn't keep up with these two. And could only sigh.
"A bio-weapon, paralysis type to be exact. It was recently engineered. This stallions integration level is roughly around 16 but it's not fully grown so that's to be expected." He shrugged.
"16! That's insane; I'm surprised you're not dead." Lilith exclaimed.
"Well you can say that again, as much as I'd love to give you details… we have lessons and time isn't exactly on our side. See me later if you want to know more." He confidently smiled.
"So back to the topic. For the integration; we have this pill." He took a blue pinball sized pill from his pocket and showed it to the students.
"I'm sure you learnt all about this in class but just to be on the safer side lets go over it briefly." He snapped the fingers of his free hand. "Cut from the beast integration gem and specifically refined under experts, this pill contains energy that responds to and awakens the latent potential that makes it possible for one to fuse with a beast. So before integration, you take this pill which I've taken mine quite some time ago, so there's no need for me to take this again." He showed it to them once again.
"The prescribed intake is one. In your entire lifetime, just one. Taking more than that can result in dire consequences kids. So refrain from taking more than one. Got it?" He cautioned as he put the pill back into his pocket.
Reus looked sternly at the transparent box. "Kobby, ready the final blow." Reus cautioned, sensing the beast regaining consciousness.
The transparent cube dissolved and the beast, landed on ground with its hoofs, and slowly, it regained consciousness, the life had seemingly left its eyes as it snorted softly. Kobby cautiously approached it and touched the stallion's leg gently comforting it and said; "Don't worry, you'll live on in me and I promise to take good care of you." The creature bellowed in response and Kobby successively raised his fist to deliver the final blow. But in a split second, just before he could launch the attack; the stallion's eyes rolled over and turned into a murky crimson red.