The following morning Kelvin woke up to the sound flapping wings outside his window.
A quick glance revealed a flock of talons in a drill formation, directed by a third-year student in erald robes.
Their sharp aerial turns left glistening trails in the sky, like ribbons of glass.
"Morning," Darius greeted Kelvin from his desk, already flipping through a book titled Symbiotic Combat Dynamics.
He looked toward the small breakfast that he had set up for him and Kelvin: spiced bread, boiled root vegetables, and a vial of beast-nourishing nectar.
Kelvin responded his greeting, went off the bed and grabbed his tooth brush.
Imdiately he went ahead to brush his teeth, when he was done he grabbed a slice of bread which was prepared by Darius.
"Thanks you for the al. Do you always wake up this early?"
"This cos with being two years deep in Sanctum routines," Darius replied.
"Today is going to be a busy day for us and our first lecture is ’Advanced Taming Philosophy,’ then ’Elental Beast Coordination.’
Do not forget about the joint drill that we will be having after lunch."
Kelvin nodded his head as he went on with his breakfast. "Honestly, I am still getting used to all of this." Kelvin said
Darius laughed. "You are doing well, actually... better than most old students.
Yesterday, you showed a good control over your beast, even though you were rough around the edges but your instincts are sharp and your performance was great." Said Darius.
The both rushed over their breakfast and when they were done, they prepared and went for classes.
As they passed through the main courtyard towards the lecture halls, they passed so students who were grouped by rank: Novice, Adept, Elite, and Master classes, distinguished by the colored edges of their uniforms.
There was whispers of noise behind Kelvin, so were surprise, so were rejoicing. SSS-class tars were legends in reality.
Darius noticed Kelvin’s discomfort but tried to comfort him. "Ignore them and their shouting, most of them are just curious.
Just a few might be bitter but power has the ability to attract all kinds of attention."
They entered the Sanctum’s largest lecture hall and made their way to the front seat where they can comfortably see the lecturer and be fully involved in the class without losing concentration.
Grandmaster Belrick, a very tall man that has a piercing green eyes, presided over the course: Advanced Taming Philosophy.
When he walked into the class everywhere was noisy as the students were gisting with their friends, he had to calm the noise so as to get the attention of the students by hitting his cane so hard on the bench right at his front.
"Today," Grandmaster Belrick began, "we will discuss the ethics and perils of domination, based taming. Should you impose your will on your beast or earn its allegiance?" He asked.
The students raised their hands to respond to the question but with ti it turned into a discussion that took their ti.
Kelvin was quiet at first, but later raised his hand not to contribute to the discussion but to ask a question.
"Isn’t domination ant to be mutual? I an... what happens when the beast resents the tar?"
Belrick raised an eyebrow. "A thoughtful question but within you what do you think happens?" He threw the question back at Kelvin
"They will revolt," Kelvin answered. "Or the worse that can happen is that they will pretend to obey until they betray you at the worst ti."
A few students chuckled. Belrick only smiled. "You spoke like soone who understands the stakes.
Indeed, true bonds that is harmonized, soul-linked are the most stable bond between a tar and a beast. Domination creates rifts."
After the class, Darius slapped Kelvin on the back saying, "I didn’t that know you had a philosopher within you."
Kelvin just smiled without saying a word.
The next class started few minutes after the previous class when Master Arwen stepped into the class.
In Elental Beast Coordination, Master Arwen led them through complex formations.
The class focused on synchronizing elental outputs with beast movent, timing outbursts of fire with leaping strikes, ice walls with defensive positioning.
Master Arwen brought Kelvin out to visualize beast coordination.
Kelvin and Xerion struggled initially because Xerion’s power was too big, too wild to enable him gain precision in coordination.
Master Arwen yelled at Kelvin. "Lower your output, think like your beast and feel his rhythm of movent."
Sweat ran down Kelvin’s face as he closed his eyes and reached into the bond between him and Xerion.
Xerion...
We are fla, the draconic voice replied. But I will soften for you.
This ti, when he moved, the coordination clicked because a burst of fire intercepted with the summon and Kelvin rolled beneath the chaos, delivering a clean strike to the core crystal.
Arwen nodded. "This is not perfect but it is indeed promising."
After lunch, the Joint Beast Drill began on the eastern training plains.
So many of students ford squads, each were led by a higher-ranked Elite.
Darius was assigned as a sub-leader and to Kelvin’s surprise he was grouped with several Adept-level tars.
The drill simulated a Rift surge where beasts were brought into reality.
"Tar Kelvin, hold the left flank," Darius called out. "Also control the eastern breach."
Kelvin responded. "I got that."
Xerion erged in its full form, twenty feet of dark-scaled terror with flas coiled around his horns. The other tars were shocked.
"Just hold the line in steady manner," Kelvin muttered. "Don’t go for full apocalypse."
They moved like a storm as Xerion incinerated Riftbeasts with precision bursts and Kelvin was directing the flow with calm clarity.
One of his group mber panicked, Kelvin pulled her back and redirected her focus.
"Use your beast’s wind shield, not its claws. They are charging projectiles for defence!" Kelvin said.
She blinked. "Right! Thanks alot!"
By the end, the squad had the lowest casualty rate and highest coordination score.
In disbelief, Instructor Nalia, a strict woman with facial scars and a massive iron bear beast, reviewed footage from the beast drill.
"Kelvin," she said. "Your guidance under pressure was... notable. Where did you learn squad tactics?"
Kelvin hesitated. "I didn’t learn the tactics. I just... see patterns."
She stared at him and said. "Keep refining that, it is a rare one."
That night, as stars glead above the Sanctum, Kelvin sat with Darius beneath the moonlit tree in the south gardens.
"You are different," Darius said. "You do not know the rules but you know the ga, so tell , how do you do it."
Kelvin looked up. "I am just trying. Every day I wake up afraid that I will lose control but I am also afraid that I will never be worthy of Xerion."
Darius chuckled. "You’re not alone in that. Every tar here wrestles with doubt."
Kelvin nodded. "But I think I have finally seen a path that is not just to survive but to master it."
When it was deep into the night they both retired into their room to get so sleep.
Another day at the Sanctum had ended and Kelvin’s journey was only beginning.
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