The sun beat down mercilessly on the scorched earth of the Northwood Academy training grounds.
Usually, this smell invigorated Jace Rolan.
Today, however, it smelled like failure!
Jace stood at the edge of the field. His knuckles were white as he gripped the railing.
In front of him, the rest of the third-year students were putting their contracted beasts through their paces.
Flame wolves howled! Wind hawks screeched! Rock badgers tore up the earth!
And then there was Jace's beast.
At his feet sat a creature the size of a dinner plate.
It was gray, fuzzy, and completely motionless.
It looked less like a beast of war and more like a ball of lint that had rolled out from under a sofa!
It was a Gray Dust Mite. An F-Rank beast.
The lowest of the low!
"Look at it!"
A voice sneered from behind him.
"It's actually eating the dirt! I think that's the most action it's seen all year!"
Jace didn't turn around. He knew the voice. It belonged to a lackey of the class elite, just another face in the crowd of people who found his misery entertaining.
"Hey, Jace!" The voice continued, closer this time. "Today's the deadline, isn't it? If you don't hit Awakened Realm Level 2, the Academy kicks you out! Saves them the embarrassment, right?"
Jace remained silent!
But his jaw tightened.
Three years. He had been at this academy for three years, stuck at Awakened Realm Level 1! In a world where Beast Tamers were the pinnacle of power, where humans contracted dimensional creatures to fight back against the void, strength was everything!
And Jace had none.
His "soul space" was incredibly small. The only creature he had been able to contract was this Dust Mite! Its only ability was [Clean], which allowed it to eat dust.
It had zero combat power! Zero defense! It was a glorified vacuum cleaner!
"Dismissed!" The instructor's voice boomed across the field. "Jace Rolan, stay behind."
The other students filed out, snickering as they passed him. Some whispered "good riddance," while others just looked at him with pity!
Which was somehow worse.
Jace walked over to the instructor, a burly man named Horgen who looked like he wrestled bears for breakfast. Horgen sighed, looking down at Jace and the pathetic mite trailing behind him.
"Jace." Horgen said, his voice surprisingly soft. "You know the rules. The assessment is at sunset. If that Mite hasn't evolved, or if you haven't broken through... I can't protect you anymore. The board wants you gone."
"I know, sir." Jace said. His voice was steady despite the turmoil in his gut.
"You have potential as a theorist, Jace. Your written scores are perfect! But this is a Tamer academy. We need fighters!"
Horgen clapped a heavy hand on Jace's shoulder. "Go. Try one last time."
Jace nodded and scooped up his Dust Mite.
"Come on, Dusty."
He walked away from the training grounds, heading toward the secluded area behind the dorms. It was a small, wooded patch where the "failures" usually went to cry!
Jace wasn't going there to cry. He was going there to gamble!
He sat down on a mossy rock and placed the Dust Mite on his knee. The creature wiggled its antennae, looking up at him with simple, bead-like black eyes.
"I'm sorry, little guy." Jace whispered. "I'm the one holding you back. If you had a better Tamer, maybe you wouldn't be F-Rank."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, glass vial. Inside was a single, murky green pill.
The Basic Nutrient Pill!
It cost 500 Credits. That was his entire savings from working part-time in the cafeteria for six months!
It was a low-grade resource, meant to give a small boost of energy to E-Rank beasts. For an F-Rank beast like the Dust Mite, it was risky! The energy might be too much! It could kill the creature!
But expulsion was a death sentence in its own right. Without the Academy's license, Jace would be a civilian. Civilians died in the first wave of any Beast Tide!
"Eat up." Jace said as he crushed the pill and offered the powder to the mite.
The Dust Mite chirped! A sound like dry leaves rubbing together! It began to consume the powder.
Jace watched. His heart was pounding.
'Please work! Please just evolve! Even into a Giant Dust Mite! Anything!'
The Mite finished the powder.
It froze.
One second passed.
Two seconds passed!
Then, the creature began to shake. Its gray fur stood on end. Jace felt a spike of panic!
Had he poisoned it?
"No, no, hold on!" Jace reached out.
Just as his finger brushed the Mite, a sound rang out!
It wasn't a sound from the world around him.
It was a crisp, mechanical chime that echoed directly inside his skull!
"Ding!"
Jace froze. He looked around. No one was there!
[System Compatibility Check... 100%.]
[Welcome, Host. The 10,000x Beast Evolution System has been activated.]
Jace's eyes went wide!
A semi-transparent blue screen materialized in the air before him, hovering just above the trembling Dust Mite.
"A System?" Jace breathed.
He had read about these in old legends, about heroes who awakened ancient powers. But those were stories! This was reality!
[System Bound. Passive Effect Activated.]
[Effect: All Beast Evolution speeds, Experience gain, and Skill Proficiency increased by 10,000x.]
Jace stared at the number.
Ten thousand times? That wasn't a boost!
That was breaking the laws of physics!
Before he could process the absurdity of the notification, another message popped up.
[Item Detected: Basic Nutrient Pill (Low Quality).]
[Absorbing...]
[10,000x Efficiency Triggered.]
[Energy Overload Imminent.]
The Dust Mite on his knee didn't just shake anymore. It began to glow!
The murky green energy of the cheap pill turned into a blinding, emerald torrent! The Mite let out a squeak that sounded less like a bug and more like a jet engine spinning up!
"Dusty!" Jace yelled as he shielded his eyes.
The energy didn't kill the beast. Instead, it was absorbed instantly! The 10,000x multiplier took the meager energy of the pill and compounded it, turning a drop of water into a tsunami of power!
[Evolution Criteria Met.]
[Beginning Mutation.]
A thick, metallic silk erupted from the Mite's mouth!
It wasn't the slow, gossamer thread of a normal insect. It shot out like a bullet, wrapping around the creature in the blink of an eye!
"Whirrrrrr!"
In less than three seconds, the gray fluff ball was gone! In its place sat a cocoon.
But it wasn't made of silk. It looked like it was made of spun steel, gleaming coldly in the twilight.
Jace sat back. His heart hammered hard against his ribs!
The System interface floated calmly next to the metallic egg.
[Status: Evolving.]
[Time Remaining: 00:00:05]
"Five seconds?" Jace choked out. "Evolution usually takes days!"
[10,000x Speed Applied.]
The System answered his rhetorical question with cold logic.
Jace looked at the countdown.
3...
2...
1...
"Crack!"
A spiderweb fracture appeared on the surface of the steel cocoon! A dark, heavy aura began to leak out. An aura that felt nothing like the harmless dust mite he had held moments ago!
This aura was heavy.
Jace swallowed hard as his hands trembled.
He had wanted a change. He had wanted a chance!
The cocoon shattered!