The bell above the door jingled as Kael Ardent stepped into the dimly lit pet supply store. The scent of kibble and cedar shavings filled the air, a familiar comfort after three years of working here. He adjusted his apron, the fabric worn thin at the edges, and glanced at the clock on the wall. 4:45 PM. Fifteen minutes until closing.
"Hey, Kael!" called his boss, Mr. Hargrove, from the back room. "Don't forget to restock the chew toys before you leave."
"Got it," Kael replied, his voice low and steady. He grabbed a box of rubber bones and began arranging them on the shelf, his movements mechanical. His mind, however, was elsewhere.
It had been three years since the Veil Festival. Three years since he'd stood in the center of the ritual circle, his hands trembling as he chanted the ancient words. The crowd had watched in silence, their eyes heavy with expectation. After all, he was an Ardent—a name that once meant something. A name that had been whispered with reverence in the halls of Tamer guilds and academies.
But Kael had failed.
The ritual had sputtered and died, leaving him with nothing but a weak, sickly spirit fox. Ember. The creature had been so small, so fragile, that some in the crowd had laughed. Others had looked away, their pity worse than the laughter. And his father… his father had turned his back and walked away without a word.
Kael's hands clenched around the chew toys, his knuckles whitening. He forced himself to take a deep breath, to push the memory aside. It didn't matter anymore. He wasn't a Tamer. He was just a guy who worked at a pet store, and that was fine. It had to be.
The bell jingled again, and Kael looked up to see a customer enter—a young girl with pigtails and a bright pink backpack. She made a beeline for the aquarium section, her eyes wide with wonder as she pressed her nose against the glass.
Kael smiled faintly. He remembered being that age, dreaming of the day he'd bond with his first Spirit Beast. Back then, the world had seemed full of possibilities. Back then, he'd believed he could be like his great-grandfather, Orion Ardent, the man who had tamed a Celestial Phoenix.
"Can I help you?" he asked, walking over to the girl.
She turned to him, her eyes sparkling. "Do you have any fish that glow in the dark?"
Kael chuckled. "Not exactly. But we do have some neon tetras. They're pretty close."
As he helped the girl pick out fish food, his thoughts drifted back to Ember. The little fox was waiting for him at home, curled up in the corner of his tiny apartment. Kael had tried to bond with it, to train it, but nothing seemed to work. Ember was weak, and no amount of effort could change that.
Or so he'd thought.
After the girl left, Kael finished his tasks and locked up the store. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the pavement as he walked home. His apartment was on the third floor of a crumbling brick building, the kind of place where the elevator was always broken and the walls were thin enough to hear your neighbor's arguments.
He unlocked the door and stepped inside, greeted by the soft rustling of Ember stirring from its nap. The fox lifted its head, its amber eyes meeting Kael's. For a moment, Kael thought he saw something in those eyes—a spark of intelligence, of potential. But then Ember yawned and stretched, and the moment passed.
"Hey, buddy," Kael said, setting down his bag. He pulled out a can of Spirit Beast food and emptied it into a bowl. Ember trotted over and began to eat, its tail swishing lazily.
Kael sat on the edge of his bed, his gaze drifting to the small wooden box on his dresser. Inside was his mother's locket, the only thing he had left of her. She'd given it to him before she died, telling him to keep it safe. He hadn't opened it in years.
For some reason, tonight felt different.
He crossed the room and picked up the locket, running his thumb over the intricate Ardent family crest engraved on the surface. With a deep breath, he pressed the hidden latch, and the locket sprang open.
Inside was a small, folded piece of parchment. Kael's heart skipped a beat as he unfolded it, revealing lines of ancient script and strange symbols. At the top of the page were the words: The Ardent Tome, Fragment I.
Kael's hands trembled as he read the first line: "To bond with a Spirit Beast is to understand its soul."
He barely noticed Ember padding over to him, the fox's eyes fixed on the parchment. As Kael read, a strange energy filled the room, a tingling sensation that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Ember let out a soft whine, and Kael looked down to see the fox's fur glowing faintly.
"What the…?" Kael whispered.
Before he could process what was happening, the parchment began to emit a soft golden light. The symbols seemed to shift and dance, forming new patterns that Kael could almost understand. He felt a pull, a connection, as if the tome was calling to him.
And then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the light faded. The room was silent, save for the sound of Kael's rapid breathing.
He looked at Ember, who was now sitting upright, its eyes bright and alert. For the first time in years, Kael felt a flicker of hope.
Maybe he wasn't a failure after all.