Chapter 25: Hatching Begins
"Students," Terof spoke as he leaned on the desk. "In this class, I will explain more about the beast taming and the requirements to tame a beast."
Though some students did not like Terof, they still listened closely to what he had to say.
"Now, the most important thing you need to know is that there are three ways to tame a beast.
To tame a beast one must form a soul contract with the beast. Though the name is a soul contract, it is more like bonding, a partnership relationship with the beast. Of course, if the beast breaks the contract, it will suffer a backlash. The strength of the backlash and the damage it will do to the beast depends on the realm of the beast and your realm.
The beast needs to be willing to be tamed, or you can forcibly tame it. In both cases, your realm needs to be higher than the beast.
If the beast is willing to form a soul contract with you, your realm needs to be the same or one level higher. However, to forcibly tame a beast, your realm has to be several realms higher than the beast."
Terof stopped for a while to let the students absorb the knowledge.
The students immediately started chatting between themselves, expressing their worries that when they broke through the 1-star warrior realm, they would not be able to get a beast.
Clap! Clap!
Terof clapped his hands to take the attention of the students. "However, those two methods have a fatal flaw. And that is, you are not attached much to the beast. The only thing holding back your beast from betraying you is its fear of your strength.
So if one day the realm of the beast exceeds your own, it will most likely betray you. Because first, if its realm is higher than yours, the backlash is minimal, and second, it deems you unworthy to be its master.
The best way to tame a beast is to tame it when it has still not hatched. This way, from the moment your beast hatches, you will be the master. The memories of its whole life will be with you. Your bond will be deep. This way it's almost guaranteed the beast will never betray you."
The class continued, and Terof went into the details of beast taming and explained how it is crucial to care about your beasts and treat them as friends, not tools.
Ringggg!
In the blink of an eye, the time passed, and the bell rang, indicating the end of the class.
Alden could not wait for the class to end, and the same was true for Neo and Owen. Terof's lecture was interesting, but Alden could not wait to return to the room and hatch his egg. Especially now, after learning it was the best way to tame a beast.
As for Neo and Owen, they could not wait for the class to end and learn the truth behind Alden's actions.
After the bell rang, Terof left the classroom. Seconds later, the children followed and started leaving the classroom.
Alden, Owen, and Neo set on their way back to their room.
"Alden, can you now tell us the reason for your actions?" Neo questioned as they walked.
"Wait till we arrive in our room, I will show you," Alden replied, steeling his resolve. In the back of his mind, there was a little worry. He worried that Neo might turn out greedy after he sees the beast egg and attack him.
Had it been before Terof's class he would not have even worried. But now that he learned the true value of the beast egg.
The seed of doubt was slowly taking root in the back of Alden's mind. 'What am I thinking?' He shook his head violently. 'I trust Neo. He will not do something like that.'
Walking in silence, they soon arrived at their room.
Alden unlocked the door, and they entered. Once entered, Alden locked the room from inside.
"Why did you lock the door?" Neo questioned, a little suspicious.
"Patience," Alden replied shortly.
He turned on the lights, walked to the window, and pulled the curtains. He knew he might be a little too cautious, but one can never be too careful.
"Now, you can go ahead with your question." Alden smiled.
"Why..." Neo intended to ask, but Owen overtook him.
"W-Why did you tell us to leave?" Owen questioned.
Neo looked at Owen and nodded. He then turned to Alden. "I thought about it a lot. In that situation, you should have begged us to stay. You should have panicked. But you chased us away.
After thinking about it a lot, I came to only one conclusion. You deliberately fired at your own palm, right?"
Owen gasped in shock. "N-Neo, d-don't say things like that. Alden would never..." When Owen looked at Alden, he shut up.
Alden smiled. "You are smarter than you look."
Neo instantly got on guard. Hearing this in a situation like this, made Alden look suspicious, almost like he was a villain.
"Now, now." Alden's smile turned into an awkward one. "I was just joking. Do you not trust me that much?"
"Not after what you did today," Neo replied seriously. He did not take Alden's joke well. "If you don't give us an explanation..."
"Don't worry." Alden did not let Neo finish his sentence. "I have an explanation." He walked to his bed.
The seven-colored portal appeared above the bed, and the beast egg fell on the bed.
"T-that is..." Neo's eyes widened in shock.
"A beast egg," Owen uttered in shock.
Alden sat on the bed next to the beast egg. He started his explanation as to why he fired at his own palm.
He told them he needed to feed the beast egg one liter of blood to hatch it and explained that that was the only way to injure himself and feed the beast egg. And then get healed.
"I am sorry for not trusting you." After hearing the whole story, Neo apologized.
With a slight smile on his face, Alden shook his head. "No need. I am sure you must have been just worried."
"Alden, where did you get the beast egg from?" Neo asked the question that Alden hoped he would ever ask.
"Sighh!" Alden sighed with a heavy heart. "Neo, I am sorry, but I can not tell you. Do not take me wrong, I trust you, but..."
"Alden, it's alright. Everyone has secrets. Even I have. It's not about trust. You are just not ready to tell us yet. You can tell us when you are ready.
However, I am curious about one other thing. Did you plan this from the moment when you got the beast egg? To fire off a gun in technology class?"
Alden shook his head with a smile. "What do you take me for? I can't plan something like that, and I can't possibly plan something without information about the technology class.
I just improvised. Honestly, I knew how to act at the beginning and the end, but I had no idea how to make the students leave. Luckily, they left on their own."
"A-Alden," Owen spoke. "What about Chloe? Did she leave as well?" He asked in his usual quiet and shy voice.
Alden shook his head again. "Unfortunately, she did not. She said she had seen me fire at my own hand, so she demanded to know why I did that.
I had no time to argue with her, so I summoned the beast egg and let it absorb the blood. She saw it all."
"That is troublesome." Neo's expression changed into a worried one. "If she tells the teachers, you can get in trouble."
"Is it forbidden to own a beast egg at the academy?" Alden asked worriedly. If that was the case, then he was in trouble.
"No." Neo shook his head in response. "But If she reports it to a teacher, the teacher might try to take it from you. Or better said, steal it from you."
"Is it that precious?" Alden could not help but question. "A beast that would never betray you must cost a lot. But is a powerful beast tamer like a teacher going to act for just one egg?"
"Certainly, the teachers can afford and get a lot of beast eggs if they want. But you still underestimate the value of a beast egg. You are an easy target for the teachers. They can easily steal it from you. And more importantly, your beast egg looks strange and rare. I have never seen a beast egg like this. Seven colored egg covered in scales." Neo explained.
"I understand." Alden nodded in understanding. "But you don't need to worry. As I will hatch the egg right now."
"What do you mean..."
"Please step back," Alden said, interrupting Neo. "And stay silent for a second. I need to concentrate."
Neo did not say anything and fell silent. As for Owen, he was quiet by nature.
'System, what do I do now?' Alden questioned internally. Now that Neo and Owen watched him, even though they could not hear his thoughts, he felt stupid communicating with the system.
[Host, touch the beast egg to your forehead and send a whisp of mental energy into the egg]
'Uggh. System, I do not know how to send mental energy into the beast egg.'
[Host, just touch the beast egg to your forehead]
Alden took the beast egg in his hands and did as told. He touched his forehead to the beast egg.
[Ding]
[Do you want to form a soul contract? Yes/No]
'Yes.'
The moment Alden confirmed, he suddenly felt a headache and a momentary dizziness. He also felt like his mental world had suffered a loss. He felt it to be a little empty like he had lost something.
'The system must have sent a whisp of my mental energy to the beast egg. That must be why I feel this way.' To remain calm, Alden had to explain the reason for suddenly feeling like this.
[Ding]
[You formed a soul contract with the beast inside the egg]
[Hatching increased by 1%]
[Hatching at 100%]
[The Hatching begins]
As Alden received the last notification, the beast egg shone in bright, seven-colored light. The seven-colored light illuminated the room, blinding Alden, Neo, and Owen.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone