The lanky boy with ssy brown hair tucked under a pair of yellow multi-lensed goggles pushed up from his bed, glancing backwards to shoot the center boy a scowl. Then he turned to Jethro, who was still standing on the room’s threshold, face impassive, his Lizard in his palms. "Don’t listen to him! Welco to the dorm."
He placed a hand on his chest and a broad, genuine smile spread beneath his nose. "I’m Kekius, and this..." he gestured to the do-shaped chbeast laying beside his pillow. "...is Cogsworth."
Jethro looked at the chbeast, and it replied by tilting its head at him. The creature had a smooth, tallic bronze shell and four delicate arms currently fiddling with a tiny circuit board. Its large intelligent eyes blinked at Jethro.
A Brain Turtle.
As expected, the screen appeared imdiately, followed by a dizzying cascade of information concerning Brain Turtles, including possible evolution paths. Jethro had to force himself to look away in order to remove the interface.
"What is he wearing?"
The sneering voice ca from the other occupied lower bunk. The boy with slicked-back dark hair – the one who had whispered earlier – leaned forward, raking Jethro with a disdainful look. "Do you work in a healthpost or sothing?" His eyes paused at the small, bandaged Gutterling now peeking out of Jethro’s collar. "Haha! Is that why you’re bonded with a Gutterling? Do you use it to kill the pests in the clinic vents?"
Jethro didn’t say anything. He rely just walked past Kekius and headed to the bunk which had an empty pod above. "This is mine?" he stopped to ask Kekius.
"Yeah," the boy nodded enthusiastically. "If you want the lower pod I wouldn’t mind swapping with you. Sorry about the ss," he added, gesturing vaguely at the scattered tools and components near Cogsworth. "Perpetual project zone here."
Jethro ignored the offer. He carefully placed his Lizard on the pillow before climbing onto the pod, sitting on the cushion which was surprisingly very comfortable.
"HEY!" The slick hair boy rose from his pod, placing his feet on the edge to get a better view of Jethro. "Are you ignoring us? That’s a mistake you don’t want to make, scrap feeder."
Jethro finally looked down at him, his expression coolly assessing. "Let guess. You’re mom’s the Dean?"
Kekius choked back a laugh.
The boy grimaced, brows creasing. "I’m Ben Calder. I’m a cousin of Eryn Fenlor. You better start learning how to kowtow and show respect if you want to have the favor of a royal family."
Jethro shrugged casually. "I don’t even know who Eryn Fenlor is."
"Why you!" Ben’s grip tightened where he held the edge of Jethro’s pond. "How can you have the audacity to talk back at when you’re bonded to a scrap! I’m bonded to an Electric Kitsune! You want a Beast Battle right now? Co on then. I’ll teach you a lesson right away."
Jethro was running out of words to say. Actually, he couldn’t care much to give another reply. This generic bully character didn’t deserve his ti.
However, the boy in the middle pod, with styled purple hair that fell on both sides of his very handso face was the one to speak up. He slid down from his pod and adjusted his expensive synthweave jacket.
"Play nice, Ben," he said, his voice smooth as oil. "Even bootlaces have their place."
He looked over his shoulder and he and Jethro locked gazes at that mont. He had a proud smile on his face, and his blue eyes were taunting and condescending. He almost reminded Jethro of Songred, the wannabe Targaryen with all of the aura and none of the courage.
"So you’re really the one with the scrap, huh?" he said, chuckling after. "At least, this ans I’m still the most popular tar in this room." He turned fully to face Jethro. "Na’s Dash. Dash Brenton."
He gave Jethro a cursory gaze that clearly assessed and dismissed him. "If you’re going to stay in this room, try not to trip over Dune." He stroked the head of his chbeast, a Desert Cheetah sitting on his pod. Its tallic body was covered with peculiar black patterns over the yellow sheen, and it darted its head in different directions, golden eyes glowing. "He moves a lot and doesn’t like clumsy people."
As expected, Jethro felt the familiar rush of information crowding his vision. In a blink of an eye, he’d already assessed everything about Kekius’s Brain Turtle— it was a Platinum Rank Beast (Grade D) that possessed multiple evolution paths, one of which could lead it to beco a World Turtle, a Black Rank Beast with infinite wisdom.
And now, Dash’s Desert Cheetah.
It was a Gold Rank (Grade A), which ant Kekius’s chbeast was the most powerful in the room.
But Dash’s Cheetah was no joke. It was extrely rapid, with the ability to command sand vortexes from nothing. It also had different evolutionary paths as well.
If Dash tried, he could evolve his Cheetah into a Crimson Thundercat, a Platinum Rank Beast with similar speed powers but the ability to summon streams of red storm.
Jethro knew exactly how to do this. But why would he ever tell him?
"You have to just pretend like you can’t hear them." A ek voice ca from beside him.
Jethro looked to his left and found a boy hunched on the upper pod of the left bunk. He was a slight figure with nervous eyes that darted up and away. A mop of a brown bowl cut covered his round head and he hid most of his face behind the screenpage of the glyph he was reading.
Jethro imdiately noticed the damp-looking rock in a small terrarium by the boy’s bed. Inside, sat a small, vibrant, frog-like chbeast. Its synthetic skin shimred with iridescent greens and blues, and tiny sparks occasionally flitted around its back.
[Glimrpond Toad - Bronze Rank]
The screen was quick as always with the information, showing data on the chbeast including a singular path involving very difficult activities for an evolution into a Boulderbelly Bullfrog (Gold Rank).
"He’s right," Kekius said, suddenly appearing nearly eye-level with Jethro on the upper bunk. Jethro glanced down, startled, to see Kekius balanced precariously on the sturdy bronze shell of his Brain Turtle. Cogsworth remained utterly unfazed, one delicate arm still manipulating the circuit board.
"Just ignore them. My brother tells it happens every year. Extended family mbers of the royal families overuse their power to boss everyone around."
Jethro gave Kekius a scrutinizing gaze. "They don’t seem to be ssing with you."
The boy smiled innocently, eyes closing. "Hehehe. That’s because I’m the son of a very popular scientist. You might know him. Dr. Darlop Dreamlake."
Jethro pursed his lips, genuinely searching his inherited mories. "Doesn’t ring a bell."
Kekius’s mouth ford a surprised ’O’. "Eryn Fenlor. Dr. Dreamlake. You really don’t know anyone popular, huh?"
"What do you expect?" Jethro shrugged. "I’ve only been in this world for a week."
"Mhm?" Kekius stared at Jethro, not understanding what he ant by that. Then Jethro smirked at him. Kekius then broke into a surprised, hearty laughter. "You’re funny! How about we all got along? What do you say?"
Jethro’s gaze shifted to the other boy still half-hidden behind his glyph.
"Oand?" Kekius called him gently.
The boy imdiately turned off the screenpage and shuffled to the edge of his pod. "I’d... like that."
Jethro watched him, seeing how nervous and out of place he was. Like a kid sleeping away from ho for the first ti.
"How about you?" Kekius referred to Jethro. Jethro glanced at him, pressured by the friendly expression on his face. He thought for a mont.
Isolation in this viper’s nest of an academy seed unwise. The forr owner of this body lived most of his life in the outskirts of a Lower Sector. He was from another world. Glyphs on the Beastcorp Academy were super expensive. And the screen thing only gave him knowledge about chbeasts, not social maps or survival strategies.
So, if he was going to navigate this school, he was going to need help. Allies. Accomplices. But... not friends. He couldn’t risk that.
With a pretentious sigh, he responded. "I guess."
Kekius bead, feeling triumphant. "That’s aweso! It’s good to form friend groups early so you don’t feel left out when activities begin tomorrow. Trust , everyone knows everyone in this place." He looked aningfully at Dash and Ben, who were now muttering together.
Jethro glanced at the other boy briefly.
"Why don’t we reintroduce ourselves? Properly this ti!" Kekius suggested. "I’m Kekius. And my chbeast is Brain Turtle, or a Thinkerback— if you prefer the casual term —nad Cogsworth. Oand, you go next."
"Oh..." the boy said timidly. He sat up, hugging his pillow as he replied. "I’m Oand. Oand Wexley. And my chbeast na is Froggy."
Jethro chuckled, looking at the Sparkfrog in the terrarium. "Froggy," he repeated with a small smile. "You didn’t think much about that one, mhm?"
Oand smiled nervously.
"It’s your turn," Kekius said, still smiling.
Jethro looked down at him for a short mont, before replying.
"I’m Jethro," he said, before his eyes fell on the ch-lizard curled contentedly beside his pillow, already fast asleep. "And this little guy right here... is Scorch."
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