Four hours had passed, and the cooking exam had finally co to an end.
I was currently standing in front of my apartnt door, downright depressed by today's events.
Although I'd rather not admit it openly, Alia had truly saved from failing the exam… and potentially getting expelled.
Haaa.
You see, while I was engrossed in cooking, my mind wandered elsewhere and as my attention diverted, I made a mistake.
Well, let's not dwell too much on the details and let's say that I almost set the entire class on fire.
How did sothing like that even happen, one may ask?
You see, I always wear my hidden blade on my right wrist— by always, I an all the ti. And by all the ti, I an ALL THE TI.
As a result, it's quite easy to forget it's even there sotis.
So, there I was, deep frying the skinned Moonlit Rabbit, holding myself from drooling over the mouthwatering aroma filling up the kitchen.
Suddenly, I felt a tinge of sharp pain in my belly.
Distracted by the pain, which I blad on the sudden shift in my diet, I instinctively tried to grab my waist.
But while moving my hands, I accidentally flicked my wrist twice, causing my hidden blade to spring forth.
To my horror, the blade struck the gas line and punctured it, resulting in a dangerous gas leak.
Thankfully, before an explosion could occur, Alia, for reasons unknown, had been keeping a watchful eye on .
She reacted quickly and with her wind magic, she create a vacuum to seal the cut in the pipeline.
It was a foolish mistake on my part.
But the worst part, however, was what happened after that.
After everything settled down, Alia looked at and uttered, "That's why I said your utensil usage is not good," and gave a look that scread, 'I told you so.'
As if that wasn't enough, Alia also managed to complete her dish on ti and ended up winning the bet we had made.
And to make matters worse, I had to listen to an earful from our culinary instructor for jeopardizing the safety of my fellow cadets.
She also deducted a huge chunk of my rit Points.
Usually, when I make blunders, they're intentional and ant to cause chaos or openings in my enemy's defense.
But this ti, it was a genuine, stupid mistake, which made it all the more frustrating since I was really looking forward to winning that bet with her.
I should've taken out my hidden blade before coming anywhere near the cooking stove.
Haaa.
Hmm, I should be more concerned about the lives I put in danger rather than my bet with Alia?
h. No one was in any mortal danger since everyone present there was a Mana User, after all.
At worst, they might have suffered second-degree burns, but even that could have been easily healed with so healing potions from the academy's stock.
So, yeah, I was only disappointed from losing the bet with her.
Haaaaa.
Well, it's fine. I trust that Alia won't ask to do anything weird. I hope… that she won't.
Shaking my head to clear such stray thoughts, I pressed my thumb against the biotric scanner on the wall beside my door.
Ding—!
As the fingerprint scanner turned green, I quickly twisted the doorknob and swung open the door to my apartnt.
Ba Dum, Ba Dum—!!
"....?!"
However, the mont I stepped inside, my breath quickened, and it felt as if my heart was about to burst out of my chest.
"Gaaah!" I gasped for air, collapsing to my knees.
My vision blurred, and my head felt light.
Confusion washed over as I scanned the room, until my eyes finally landed on the Mana Beast Egg resting on top of the center table, radiating a bright golden glow.
"It... It's hatching?!" I managed to utter through ragged breaths, struggling to regain my composure and stand back up.
Yet, no matter how hard I tried to rise to my feet, all I could manage was to crawl.
So that's what I did.
Down on my knees, with a frantic kick, I closed the front door of my apartnt and propelled myself forward.
I started crawling using every ounce of strength left in my muscles.
The egg shouldn't be hatching right now!
Based on my calculations, it should have taken at least a few more weeks. Did I make an error sowhere?
No, that's impossible.
I don't make mistakes. And I certainly couldn't have made such a big blunder.
With each passing thought that only raised more questions in my mind, cold beads of sweat started to form on my forehead.
I was trying my best to get to the Egg as quickly as I could, but I was nearly not fast enough.
All I could only manage to do was crawl a few steps before the blinding light coming from the Egg grew brighter and forced to squint my eyes in discomfort.
At that very mont, an excruciating pain pierced through my abdon, centered around my solar plexus.
"Arghhh!" I gritted my teeth, muffling a scream of agony as I clutched my stomach tightly, feeling the pain ripple throughout my entire body.
"Agrhaaaa!"
My head grew lighter. An overwhelming fatigue washed over . It felt as if my eyelids were suddenly made of lead now.
The last thing I can rember before darkness shrouded my vision and I fell unconscious was a crack appearing on the surface of the Egg.
†
Tak, Tak, Tak, Tak—
I felt soone constantly poking with sothing pointed like a pencil.
"Grhh!" Groaning in frustration, I rubbed my eyes and tried sitting up straight.
I was still feeling pain in my muscles, but due to my drowsiness, I paid it no heed.
Sitting back up, I opened my eyes and blinked a few tis to clear my vision before looking around.
"The fuck just happened–"
Confused, I touched my chin and tried to rember why I was sleeping on the floor before I suddenly rembered!
I had co back from the academy when I opened the door and saw that the Egg was already starting to hatch.
I felt pain and lethargy before I finally passed out.
"The Egg!" I exclaid and looked around.
Did the Mana Beast co out?!
As soon as I thought that, sothing poked again on my leg.
"Ouch!" I yelped, jolting back on my legs and quickly looking at my feet.
To my surprise, it wasn't a person wielding a pencil; it was a bird using its beak to poke .
"...Huh?"
Before I could even process any of this, the little baby bird flapped its wings and hopped on its legs.
"Krik! Krik!"
It ca up to and started rubbing its head against my leg while chirping rrily.
"...Uh?"
Was it trying to wake up?
I knelt down, cupped my hands, and gently picked up the baby bird.
"Damn," as I looked at it closely and it took my breath away.
Its feathers were a brilliant shade of red and were subtly glowing, like dancing flas that shimred with a magical light.
Around its delicate neck, its feathers transitioned from red to silver, adding an elegant touch to its fiery presence.
"Krip! Krip!" The baby bird emitted soft chirping sounds, filling the air with a sweet lody.
Its wings, though small, quivered with excitent, as if ready to take flight into the sky.
I couldn't quite explain it, but there was an undeniable bond between us.
If I rember correctly, in the novel, William experienced a similar connection upon eting his cat, Rui.
When Rui's egg hatched— yes, she was hatched despite being a cat— William felt an indescribable bond with her.
"Although I didn't understand it while reading, right now, I guess I'm feeling sothing similar," I mused.
In simple terms, it felt as if we were deeply connected.
William referred to this phenonon as Soul Sync in the novel.
When he poured his mana into the Beast Egg, he internally circulated it throughout his body.
Consequently, as his mana flowed into the egg, it carried a tiny essence of his soul every ti with it.
As a result of that, when his Mana Beast Egg hatched, Rui and William's soul were synced in a similar wavelength.
Maybe the sa thing was happening with and this little baby bird.
Essentially, it was like sharing the sa soul with the Mana Beast. This process was the most effective way of taming the Mana Beasts.
"But what are you?" I blurted out, my eyes fixed on the srizing red baby bird in my hands.
Yup, there was no mistaking it.
One look at it and it's clear that this creature was anything but ordinary.
After all, the Egg it hatched from was of mythical rank. So, obviously, this beast ought to be special.
But what is it?
Hmmm. Let's see.
A bird-type mana beast, adorned with feathers that resembled flickering fire.
Could it be…
"Hmmm... Wait!" I gasped, my mind racing to a startling realization. "Could you be... a Phoenix?"
"Kreeeik!" The baby bird chirped in response, almost as if affirming my suspicion.
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