章 20: The Egg Hatches
"Egg?" James questioned. He slammed his fist into his hand, "Oh, right! The egg Professor Metal gave me. I left it at the dorm. Want me to go get it?"
"You idiot!" Skeleton yelled with rage, "Do you know how much that egg is worth? Not even ten 9th grade magic-cores would be enough to buy one! Bring it to me now! If you're not back here within two hours with my egg, then I'll make your future training seem like hell! You'll beg me to go back to the hole and feed you maggots!"
James shivered in fear. "I'll go get it right away master!" He sprinted out of the castle. He had never run this fast in his life before.
"Huff, huff" James breathed heavily. 'It took me nearly an hour to reach here even when sprinting at full speed. I've got to hurry!' He ran into his room on the 2nd floor of the white castle. In the corner of his floor was a simple blanket. A black egg with silver stripes was sitting atop it. James had left the egg here with a blanket since living things can't be put in interspatial storage. He grabbed the egg and immediately ran out of the dorm.
Halfway back to the mountain. "Huff! Huff!" James was breathing so hard he felt like he would collapse. Suddenly, he felt his hand trembling. "eh?" He looked at the egg in his hand. It was shaking. 'Ah. Is it hatching? This isn't good! I better speed up!' He continued to run with all his might. He was almost there. *Crack* The egg cracked apart…
James stopped and looked at the hatching egg with fear. 'Will it be okay if it hatches? It should be fine right? I can just give whatever hatches to master.' A head with two red eyes popped up from the egg shell. It slowly slithered out of the egg. Its body was covered in black and silver scales. They formed a spiraling pattern that ran the length of its entire body. It was a snake big enough to wrap itself around James wrist.
'Eh? It's just a snake. Why was master so obsessed about a snake of all things?' The snake looked at James. Its eyes suggested a hint of intelligence. "Hiss", the snakes tongue flickered. It began to devour the egg shell it just hatched from. When it was finished, it looked towards James again. "Aghh!" James screamed in pain. The snake bit him on his wrist. He saw a strange black and silver rune appear on his wrist. It looked just like the snake. The rune quickly faded until it disappeared. Then the snake happily wrapped itself around his wrist and went to sleep.
'I've got a bad feeling about this…' James started to run again. He quickly reached his masters throne room. "Mm. You're a few minutes late." Skeleton spoke, "Go ahead and hand me the egg."
"Uhm. Master…" James rose his arm into the air, "The snake hatched on the way here."
"Impossible!" His master stood from the throne and ran towards James. He grabbed his wrist and examined the snake. "It shouldn't have hatched yet! It should have taken another week! How could this have happened?" Skeleton paced back and forth while rubbing his chin. He glared at James, "Did it bite you?"
"Un." James nodded his head. "It bit me and a rune showed up. Then it went to sleep."
Skeleton's eyes darkened. He walked back to the throne and slumped down on it. "The void snake I paid so much for. There are less than 10 of them in the world."
'Only 10? Why not just breed more?' James thought to himself. "Master, you can have the snake. I don't need it or anything…"
"Fool." Skeleton glared at James. "When magic-beasts are born, they can form a contract with a human. They bite you and a rune will appear. It will view the one it bites as their only family in the world. Most magic-beasts form this contract with their parents. The snake will only listen to you. I can't take it even if I want to."
James eyes widened in surprise. "Can't you just form a slave contract with the magic-beast? I've seen plenty of them at the market."
"Hmph." Skeleton snorted in disdain. "Those are all weak magical beasts. They agree to a slave contract to save their own lives. Most magic-beasts are proud and will fight to the death before becoming a slave. Almost all enslaved magic-beasts are of the 3rd grade or lower, with very little room for growth. The void snake hasn't even started training yet, but it would commit suicide before agreeing to a slave contract."
James lowered his head in shame. He had initially stolen the egg out of anger. Then he hid it due to guilt. He planned to return it today but had forgotten it. It seemed the relationship between him and his master would continue to deteriorate.
While the two were silent for a moment, two beautiful women entered the throne room. "Master!" A blue haired maid called out. "Professor Metal is here to see you."
Skeleton's eyes darkened even further. "What can I do for you today esteemed headmaster."
"I thought about what you told me last night." Professor Metal blushed. "I've decided not to believe you. There's no way your disciple is a toy with a system! The odds of that are nearly nil! You're just trying to hide your embarrassment. The wedding will continue as planned! Don't even try to weasel your way out of it! I'll chase you to the end of the world!"
Skeleton frowned, "I'm willing to swear a beholder oath. I'll have my disciple do so as well. It was his prank that caused this mess."
"Hmph!" Professor Metal snorted, "Do you think you can fool me with your lies? I doubt anyone in this country has as many ways to get out of a beholder oath as you do, sly old man! I'll question your disciple myself!"
Professor Metal walked towards James and placed a hand on his shoulder. She had a beaming smile on her face. "Hello young man. You're Yale correct? Why don't you tell us the truth?" Her eyes narrowed as she looked James in the eyes. Hidden from Skeleton's sight, a small blade of metal shot from her sleeve and aimed at James neck. "Now why don't you tell me. You don't have some kind of system, right? Even if you did, then you certainly didn't use it to deceive me and steal a kiss, right?" She squeezed his shoulder tight causing James to wince in pain. "Your master is just making excuses because he's embarrassed. No need to lie or feel any pressure from him James. I'll protect you. All you have to do is tell the truth!"
James stared at the smiling face in front of him. His heart shook from terror. 'I'm sorry master. It's not that I want to betray you. I have no choice. I believe you would do the same thing in my situation.' James smiled brightly, "I have no idea what you mean headmaster. I've never heard of a system. What's that?! I was still training in a dark hole yesterday. So, I'm not really sure what you're talking about."
"Good boy!" Professor Metal patted James on the head. "See how good telling the truth feels? It's very important to be truthful in front of your teachers!" She smiled broadly and turned towards Skeleton, "There you have it. The wedding will be in one month. If you run away I'll chase you down, cut off your limbs, and make you into a metal statue okay?" She happily hummed and left the throne room, not even giving Skeleton a chance to argue.
"You!" Skeleton stood up from his throne. His entire body was shaking, and his face was red. He had never been this angry at his disciple before! "You ungrateful mutt! Even a dog knows loyalty! I'll kill yo-"
"Hello old man." A deep voice interrupted his rant. A man and woman entered the room. "Master!" A red-haired maid bowed. "The city lord has requested a meeting with you. She took a step back and stood next to the blue-haired maid that had entered earlier.
James looked at the man that just entered. He was tall and had broad shoulders. His silver eyes and long silver hair shone brilliantly. Two dragon horns stuck out of his head. James legs trembled. 'The city lord? Is he Lumi's father?'
Skeleton calmed down and sat back on the throne. He rested a head on his hand and spoke lazily, "Lord Brine. To what do I owe the displeasure."
"Haha!" Lord Brine laughed, "Still letting that old grudge bother you? I'm here with good news today. Your disciple and my daughter have joined together. I just found out 15 minutes ago, and I flew here as soon as I heard the news! I think we should have the wedding as soon as possible. What do you think?"
Skeletons eyes widened in surprise. He turned to look at James. "Is this true?" He questioned. James shivered in fear. He knelt on the ground, "Master! It was an accident! We went out drinking and I woke up next to her in bed. I don't remember anything! I'm not sure we even did anything. Master, I don't want to get married! I'm still young. I need to grow old and have 100 maids. I want to be just like you master! The master I respect more than the sun in the sky!"
Lord Brine smiled brightly, "So this is Yale? Haha, we all have fantasies when we're young. However, you must take responsibility! Cheer up. I'm a 9th grade magus as well! You'll have two 9th grade magi backing you in the future. Your future child may even become the city lord some day!"
James looked at the man. 'Just how desperate is this man to marry off his daughter?! He doesn't even care if I'm a scum bag that slept with her and ran away! He doesn't care that I'm begging my master to get me out of this right in front of his face?'
"Hmm. So, you want to be just like your respected master…" Skeleton frowned. He turned to Lord Brine. "I must respect the wishes of my disciple Lord Brine. Since he wishes to be so much like me, then the wedding shall be held in one month."
"Excellent! I'll make the preparations right away! I'll contact you again soon." Lord Brine rushed out of the throne room.
"Master! How could you betray me like this!" James screamed.
"Betray?" Skeleton questioned. "All I did was respect your wishes to be like me? Your master has just found you a wife. You should kowtow and thank me with tears in your eyes."
James eyes went blank. He knelt there with his head hanging down in defeat. 'Master… I knew you would get revenge on me. Just not so soon… You and I really are two of the same kind of people.'
"Okay then. Enough of that. Let's move on to training. What spell matrix did you choose to learn in the hole?" Skeleton asked.
James looked up at his master. He tried to smile while pushing his emotions to the back of his mind. "I've chosen the Shadow Threads spell."
"Mm." Skeleton nodded. "You made a good choice. It has better potential in the long-run compared to the other two spells. I only let you choose since each magus must walk their own path. You are not to train as a magus for now. Not until you reach the 1st grade as a knight. Once you've done that, then you may begin growing your magic-core once again."
Skeleton stood up. "Follow me." He led James towards a large garden in the castle courtyard. "I will train you here for 12 hours a day until you become a 1st grade knight."
Skeleton walked towards a large tree in the garden. He broke off an ordinary branch. He slapped it into his hand a few times and nodded. "Mm. This should be good." He smiled towards James, "Don't think I forgot about my egg. As thanks, I'm going to train you personally. I haven't done this since my 7th disciple. There was a time where all new students refused to become my disciple because of this training."
James took a couple steps back. "Master… There is no need for that. What is an egg between master and disciple. I'll bring you all the eggs you want in the future. I'll bring them even if I must travel through a sea of flames! Let's just do the normal training okay?"
"Hehe. Nice try brat. That's what I like about you. No shame. No giving up. You're stupid and talentless, but you keep pushing anyways. Do you know why most talented magi fall?" Skeleton took a few steps forward while slapping the branch into one of his hands threateningly. "It's because of their pride! They aren't willing to bow down to others. They don't take every opportunity they can get. You remind myself of a younger me. I'll be sure to train you to the best of my abilities. Gahahaha!"
…
The red-haired and blue-haired maid stood to the side while watching the master and disciple. They were the maids Little Red and Little Blue. Little blue spoke, "I don't think I've ever seen master get along so well with one of his disciples."
"Mm." Little Red nodded. "I've served master for over 200 years. I've seen him train 40 of his disciples. I've also met all of his living disciples. Young master Yale is the most similar to master Skeleton by far."
"Oh. Looks like the training is beginning!" Little Blue excitedly exclaimed. "I wonder what kind of training master used on his first 7 disciples for it to scare away potential students."
"I don't know." Little Red shook her head. "However, I've heard it's utterly terrifying. I quite look forward to seeing it."
クリエイターの想い 
SnoozySloth
SnoozySloth We reached over 50k total words last chapter. We're officially at the length of a short novel!
If you have time, please read my other novel Steampunk Apocalypse! and vote for it. I'm trying to win the Steampunk writing contest and it's almost over. Thanks!
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