章 16: Searching for the perfect Partner

The old man listened to Jason, and nodded after a moment before he said,

"Well, it's okay. It doesn't really matter to me if his soulbond is really stronger than the other cubs.

But if it's true that your eyes are special, I think it might be better to keep it a secret, that you 'feel' which beast has a stronger potential or 'feels' stronger.

Don't tell the other youth anything except the fact that your trust in him is exceptionally high because they don't know that your eyes are special to such a degree.

The only thing they know right now is that your eyes are golden.

They don't know anything about the degree of your special trait, which might be even better!"

Jason noticed the last sentence and got curious about the traits.

"What is a trait? My late mother had also told me something about traits but I forgot it."

To which the old man replied, "Some humans are born with special traits.

These traits are divided into physical traits, elemental traits, blessings, and so on... Traits are sometimes called mutations and they enhance certain body parts or even provide the chance to use elements and abilities without having a suitable soulbond.

Your eyes are considered a rare physical trait, but I have never seen such intimidating golden eyes. I am not entirely sure of the trait but my best guess would be something comparable to [Mana eyes]."

Jason listened to the old man carefully and he began to partially understand his mother's reasoning.

Previously, his mother had only told him that regaining his eyesight would only take a few years because that was probably what she had to do due to her own special trait.

This means his mother had also possessed a special trait for her eyes, which made Jason curious.

But, it took him almost ten years to gain eyesight. He recalled his mother getting more and more frustrated with each passing day when he was younger.

Before her untimely death, his mother often used to cry because of Jason's inability to see.

She used to grow desperate and pray for her son to gain eyesight because he had been her treasure and everything she had left.

Thinking about his mother made Jason sad once again, but he was almost immediately distracted by the old man.

"Let's go take a look at the one-star wild beast's cub or egg. It's already late and we don't have many types of one-star wild beasts, to begin with."

The old man turned in a certain direction and walked away, closely followed by Jason.

After walking for 15 minutes they arrived at a small section with small canine and feline cubs and thousands of eggs.

"Most one-star wild beasts are only contracted for their look, while some one-star wild beasts are trained to run errands.

The most popular beasts are similar to ancient dogs, cats, eagles, and so on.

You can take a look. In this generation, we don't have any beasts with a superior bloodline or favorable mutations... I'm sorry.

If you want to wait for a few months then there might be something new but getting a better bloodline or favorable mutations depends on luck. "

Jason tried to listen to the old man while using his eyes' unique ability. His eyes glanced through all the beast cubs and eggs but there wasn't even a single color radiating from more than 99% of these beasts.

But some beasts had a weak black color which meant that they had the chance to evolve into an awakened beast.

Due to his unique soul, Jason could form a contract with almost every kind of beast and there weren't any requirements he had to fulfill which was his only advantage. The number of beasts he could form a contract with was also high but not quantifiable.

He was tempted to pick one of these black color radiating beasts solely to increase his soul energy, but he had to remain calm and think about his decision carefully.

'Was it useful to form a contract with hundreds of beasts only to increase his soul energy slightly, wouldn't it be a waste of his Mana eyes ability??`

In addition to that, the costs to feed the beasts would also be astronomical...

Jason looked at every beast cub and egg carefully with his eyes' ability and more than 20 minutes passed, before he was almost done with his inspection.

Suddenly, he spotted a weak but dense yet unfamiliar color beneath some larger eggs.

Looking at the unfamiliar color caused his eyes to ache as his eyes felt as if they were being pricked by hot, burning needles.

The eggs had been stacked neatly over each other and Jason carefully removed the eggs on top placing them at the side. He then saw an egg that was at most half the size when compared to the others on top of it.

Jason was confused seeing this color and his perplexed expression attracted the old man's attention, as Jason asked,

"What's wrong with this small egg? Was it placed in the wrong breeding station or is this really the same species?"

Looking at the egg, the old man typed something on his bracelet, before a holographic screen appeared in front of him.

After reading through it for a few seconds he answered,

"This egg is the same species as the others inside this breeding station, but it underwent an adverse mutation that caused its size to shrink.

Furthermore, the scan that was done said that its strength will be worse than a normal one-star wild beast because of its adverse mutation. There is a high possibility of the beast getting blindness and other illnesses once it hatches.

Jason however smiled as if he had found a peak graded magical treasure.

The radiating color was weak but extremely dense and it was as if the beast inside the egg wanted to survive against all odds.

Looking at the old man with his bright golden eyes Jason said with confidence

"I want this Snowflake Owl as my soulbond, please!!"

The old man was slightly surprised by Jason's confidence and he looked at the provided information yet again.

With a slight frown, he asked "Are you sure?? You know that once your soulbond contract is completed it cannot be retracted or nullified, right?

If this adverse mutated snowflake Owl doesn't evolve, you won't be able to pick another soulbond for a long time until you increase your soul energy. And, there is also an extremely high chance that it will get blindness and other diseases once it hatches.

You have to decide now, otherwise, I will register your soulbond to be this beast egg."

The old man tried to help Jason with his cautionary words but somehow he felt that his desire to get the snowflake owl had only increased further.

Jason stared at the old man and nodded his head while holding the small egg carefully.

"Yes, please give me this snowflake owl!"

Sighing, the old man replied,

"Ok...but you don't have to pay the fee for this egg as it has an adverse mutation and nobody would want it either."

It was already past 10 pm and the bright lights illuminated the room where Jason and the old man had now walked in. They were standing near a table with the small beast egg placed on a cushion.

Jason had a small knife in his hand and he had to cut his hand again to form a soulbond contract.

He then followed the old man's instructions and entered. Jason loosened a thread out of the soul-world leading it slowly and carefully to his left hand.

After the soul thread entered his hand Jason made a cut at the exact position with the knife as thick droplets of blood fell down.

As he looked at the blood flowing freely he noticed that the color of his blood was not only red but it also had the golden hue which his soul had.

Dripping on the egg, the blood began to boil and evaporate causing the snowflake owl egg to shine in a weak white light.

Jason felt a connection building up between him and the beast inside the egg which slowly intensified.

The whole process of a soulbond contract was relatively boring to witness, but Jason was exhausted as it was difficult to loosen a thread out of one's soul.

Jason´s legs almost gave in but he had to stay on his feet.

Looking at Jason, the old man was still unsure of what to think about this boy.

His eyes were a special trait and he had a very unique soul even if his soul energy was extremely weak.

If his soul energy had only been slightly better, every high school would have offered him a scholarship without thinking about his grades...

Even Five-star Institutes from S-Grade Cities on Canir wouldn't wait to offer him many benefits.

Unfortunately, his soul energy was just too bad.

For now, the old man wanted to finish everything and added rather impatiently.

"You have my contacts, right? If something goes wrong just call me. Maybe I can help you.

Just take the egg with you and keep it close to you. It will hatch in the next few days.

As for the possible disease, it can contract… you should consult a professional about ways to prevent that...we didn't bother to do something like that...I have to go now, there are other things I have to do and you two have taken up too much time...Let's go out."

Walking out with the egg in his hands, Jason smiled gently at it, not minding the old man.

Jason ordered a shuttle and politely bid goodbye to the old man.

The visit to the Beast Pagoda changed Jason´s life completely and there were many obstacles in front of him that he now had to overcome.