Red barged through the pair of large wooden doors ten minutes later, finding himself on the stage area of a lecture hall. A short old man with a horseshoe haircut and white hair, who he assumed was the professor, glanced at him and ushered him over.
"First day and already late. At least you have a slip, though. Most of the beasts have already been taken, so you better be happy with whatever you can get, buddy," the old man said unapologetically, accepting the yellow slip that Red pulled out of his pocket. The old man pointed to the rows of cages on the stage area, mostly empty, though some had an animal or beast inside of them.
"Son, you missed the part where I explained this earlier, but the taming process is simple. You go into a cage, touch their head with the intent of taming them, and you'll enter a willpower clash. To put it simply, if your will overpowers theirs, the beast will be predisposed to listen to you so long as you can maintain your willpower over theirs. Take your pick of whatever is left," the old man said, turning to address the lines of students asking questions and protesting (more like screaming in rage and indignation) about what others got or what they got.
"Calm down, kids, one at a time! I already said, don't complain about what you got, because you'll always have another chance to tame something else if you have the skills for it. Calm down!" the professor shouted. Red glanced at the cages, noting that there only appeared to be four beasts left. That didn't matter to him, however.
"Let's see the options. A big, bad wolf, a fucking black-ass snake— is that piece of shit staring at me? A small-ass reptile-fox looking thing is in that cage there sleeping. The fuck? Is that a slime? That's one ugly fucker," Red thought to himself. "Who do I want though?"
"Sir, what kind of beasts are these?" Red turned back to the professor, who was being overwhelmed by questions and demands. The professor glanced at him quickly before quickly pointing to each thing.
"They are the Dire wolf, the Abyss serpent, and the Mireling," the professor said quickly before looking away to address others with clear agitation in his voice.
"And that blob?" Red asked, pointing to the blob which he assumed was a slime. The professor glanced back quickly before responding.
"Bud, that's a glob of dragon spit," the professor said, turning away again, snickering to himself before addressing the students once again.
"Ew, alright then, I guess I know my options," Red said to himself. "That Abyss Serpent seems like one strong motherfucker, and that Dire wolf seems like a tough one too… but that's one poor ass little Mireling. Shit, I'm feeling bad for it."
The lecture hall doors burst open without warning, and a boy with curly brown hair burst through the door, panting.
"I'm back from the bathroom!" the boy panted. His face was pale white from nervousness, for he was late to beast selection. The boy was present for the lecture earlier, but was absent from beast selection due to "bathroom issues."
"Hey there," Red said, turning to the boy curiously as he too approached the cages, stopping next to Red. "What do you have your sights on?"
The boy gulped nervously before his face turned deep red from embarrassment.
"I have my sights on the… uh… Abyss Serpent." the boy said nervously, shuffling his feet and fidgeting his fingers. Red seemed to understand his mindset instantly.
"Ahh, you're nervous about shooting too high and failing. Don't worry, bro. Worst case, you fail and move on to something else. You're probably not going to die from a willpower clash. Or will you? I kind of missed the lecture," Red said, scratching his head. "In any case, just give it a try."
The boy gulped nervously as he approached the cages of the Abyss Serpent, which was essentially a massive, fully black colored anaconda with purple eyes that seemed to stare into the soul of the boy as he opened the cage and stepped inside. The boy hesitantly reached for the Abyss Serpent's head, but flinched away when the serpent hissed at him, its hidden frills flaring up. The Abyss Serpent moved itself into an upright position, nearly the boy's height.
"Fucking chicken," Red said in annoyance, grabbing the boy's hand and sticking it onto the Abyss Serpent's head, inducing a yelp from the boy and a hiss of anger from the Abyss Serpent. As soon as the boy made contact with the snake, a blue aura flared out of the boy's body, clashing with a violet one coming out of the Abyss Serpent in response. The boy, seemingly having gained a bit of courage, roared at the Abyss Serpent, who screeched back in a challenging manner, trying to pull its head away.
"So that's a willpower clash," Red muttered. "How spectacular."
As the willpower of the boy and the Abyss Serpent clashed, the raw force of the clash caused arcs of lightning to shoot off into their surroundings, setting the lecture hall on fire. The stage began to burn, embers forming on the wooden stage and slowly growing larger. Despite the boy's momentary burst of courage, however, it was very clear the Abyss Serpent's willpower vastly dwarfed the boy's, for his blue aura was slowly crushed under the gravity of the Abyss Serpent's. Red flinched away from a stray lightning bolt that hit the the ground next to him, prompting him to swear out loud.
"SHIT! MOTHERFUCKING SERPENT, IF I GET HIT BY FUCKING LIGHTNING, YOU'RE NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM ALIVE!" Red bellowed, fists balled up in fury. The Abyss Serpent was momentarily distracted by his outburst, crying in alarm as Red stepped closer. The curly-haired boy's eyes almost seemed to light up at the opening, and with renewed effort, screamed into the air, allowing his blue aura to burst forward with more force. At last, his willpower began to overwhelm the Abyss Serpent's. Red angrily stepped closer the Abyss Serpent again, causing it to try and flinch back despite being glued to the boy's palm. The Abyss Serpent screeched loudly, eyes widening as it tried to squirm.
"PIPE THE FUCK DOWN, YOU FAT-ASS STICK!" Red shouted, his throat burning. The Abyss Serpent suddenly screeched in fear as a dark red aura burst forward from Red, frightening the serpent into retracting its own. The professor, who was ushering the students to quickly evacuate, turned away from the swarm of students to look at the commotion, face filled with shock.
"The hell? How's he able to use his willpower without physical contact?" the professor said, bewildered. However, he quickly shook off his surprise and reached for a ring in his pocket, aiming it at the fires that were produced from the lightning strikes. Water shot out of the ring, dousing the fires before they could grow any more.
The boy's blue aura managed to reach the serpent at last with the support of Red's, covering it inch by inch, bringing a screech from it. Its frills flared up again, but the boy was not intimidated this time. Red's own aura quickly receded from the serpent, allowing the boy's to completely take over the Abyss Serpent. The Abyss Serpent hissed indignantly as the boy raised his hand off the Abyss Serpent's head, having won the clash. The boy panted heavily, sweat dripping off his face. His shirt had changed from light gray to dark gray from absorption of his sweat, but despite the struggle he faced moments ago, all he felt now was relief. He turned to Red with a smile on his face, a shine in his eyes that stirred something... soft inside of Red's mind.
"Thank you, oh thank you!" the boy said to Red, bowing in gratitude. Red simply shrugged, nudging the massive Abyss Serpent towards the boy. The Abyss Serpent raised its head to glare at Red, hissing at him, only to quickly shut its mouth when Red glared right back. The Abyss Serpent turned to Rainer, lowering its head before slithering next to him. The Abyss Serpent turned back to Red, it's eyes meeting Red's.
"You own this bitch now. You're welcome, mister…" Red said, pausing as if waiting for a response.
"Rainer, sir! My name is Rainer! Thank you so much for your help!" the boy said gratefully, face lit up with joy.
"Great, now please shut the fuck up so I can tame something myself," Red said, waving the boy off. He turned towards the green reptilian-looking fox, which was no larger than a mouse. In essence, it was a fox with scales instead of fur. Its scales were a dark shade of green.
"Sir, I don't think it's a good idea to take that one. The Dire wolf is a lot stronger than this Mireling, and to be honest, the strength of your beast has a lot to do with your starting point and possibly reputation," Rainer said, gulping slightly.
"Fuck off, Rainer. There's nothing wrong with being weak. The only thing wrong about it is staying weak. I know better than anyone in this world," Red said with a wide grin on his face. "What does this little guy even do?"
"Well, Mirelings can use a very small amount of earth magic, but they're really weak," Rainer said. "With all due respect, I insist that you don't—"
"Shut up. I want this little guy." Red said, entering the cage, the sound of rattling bars waking up the sleeping Mireling. The Mireling quickly stood up, yelping at Red aggressively.
"A feisty one," Red commented as he scooped it up. It bit into Red's arm, but its tiny teeth could barely sink into his skin. Red placed his hand on its head nonchalantly, causing a willpower clash to initiate. The professor, who was just ushering students back into the room after having just put out Rainer's fires, looked up in shock as the Mireling's willpower manifested into an dark green aura, multitudes larger than the Abyss Serpent. It covered the entire stage of the lecture hall, proving impressive.
"Small guy with a strong will. What makes you have so much willpower?" Red asked the Mireling, unfazed by the intensity of the Mireling's aura and its feeble attempt to bite him. His own willpower manifested instinctively, shocking all but the Mireling, who defiantly increased his aura size to counteract the crushing pressure. "What is it that you want that makes you fight this hard?"
The Mireling continued to yelp at Red despite its aura being crushed to a mere sliver by Red's overwhelming aura, but it refused to stand down, attempting to sink its fangs further into Red .
"I don't know I was able to manifest my willpower without making contact with your head, but this shit burns. I feel like I'm on fire. And says a lot, because I've been set on fire before," Red said, the corner of his lips turning up into a smile as he approached the Mireling.
"You poor, poor thing. You look beat-up, sick, tired, hungry. They picked you right out of the wild, didn't they? Poor little guy," Red said, running his fingers over the Mireling's scales, running over several scars and wounds. "You want to live. That's what you're fighting by so hard for, you want to live, don't you? You got lost or got abandoned in the wild is what I'm guessing, and you've been feeding yourself since. However, you were just too small to get anywhere. Is that it, little guy?"
The Mireling's willpower seemed to waver, causing its aura to slink to just a sliver.
"Don't fight me, little one. Just accept me as your friend, and I'll never let you go hungry again. I promise you," Red said gently, running his fingers down the Mireling's scars, causing it to flinch. The Mireling yelped at Red again, but with far less anger in its tone now. Red patted the Mireling on the head, whispering gently into its ear. "Don't fight me. If I'm here, then you'll never grow hungry again. So be a good boy and become my pal, okay?"
The Mireling lost all will to resist, allowing his aura to collapse entirely under Red's. The Mireling went quiet as Red's aura covered every inch of it. The Mireling began producing a red glow, though it didn't seem to be alarmed. A humming sound began to fill the air, becoming louder and louder. Simultaneously, the Mireling's glow intensified alongside the humming. A few long moments later, a shockwave of energy burst from the Mireling, knocking down everyone in the lecture hall except for Red.
"Hehe, isn't that just nice," Red said, grinning from ear to ear as the light died down, revealing the Mireling once again. The difference now, however, was that Red could "feel" the Mireling. Picking up the little fox-like reptile, he hugged it close to him as it tried to squirm.
"You poor little thing, I'm going to spoil you so hard," Red said, lifting it up higher like one would when playing with a baby. Red put it down to the ground before turning around, only to be confused at the sight of the lecture hall burning in multiple places.
"What the fuck is happening, Rainer?" Red said. Rainer gulped a little, scratching his head.
"Well, you see, your willpower clash caused quite a bit of lightning to shoot out everywhere, and it kind of set everything on fire… we should start putting out the fires before it gets any worse," Rainer said, glancing over at the professor, who was still busy trying to put down the fires in the lecture hall as students poured out of the room in fear. Red agitatedly stomped on the ground, absolutely pissed. He glared at the little Mireling, who simply tilted its head innocently.
"Look what you did. You're going to help me clean this mess."