With trembling hands, Kale reached out. He slowly placed his palm in front of the Hydra, and the creature seemed to hesitate for a moment, with three of its heads showing three kinds of weird expressions.

Eventually, though, it walked onto his palms and fit perfectly on his hand. Slowly but surely, an ethereal flow of light surrounded the Hydra; the same glow of light also enshrouded Kale.

As a familiar notification flashed.

[INITIATE THE BEAST BONDING RITUAL TO TAME YOUR FIRST EVER BEAST?]

[YES / NO]

This time, Kale didn’t hesitate in the slightest and uttered confidently, "Yes..."

And the instant he made that choice, his pupils constricted greatly, and the hydra in his hand let out a deafening shriek that seemed to cause all the air around them to tremble.

That beastly roar was filled with an unfathomable supremacy that made Kale’s heart shake as the greenish glow covering his body and the glow covering the Beast’s body overlapped into a conflation of natural light.

Mana throughout the area churned, and the system’s barrier covering that spot shattered like glass.

Then abruptly, the three heads of the hydra all bit on his hand, but Kale did not feel a single bit of pain; a greenish mark seemed to spread out from that spot, and like a python slithering on his skin, it crawled up from his hand and settled at the back of his chest.

A barrage of notifications hit his vision...

[Beast bonding ritual has been initiated...]

[Reevaluating the method of bonding....]

[Compatibility between Host and the Beast is 99.99%]

[Initiating advancement to Apprentice rank Tamer.]

BOOOM!!!!!

A combined explosion of mana between Kale and his Beast exploded outward like a torrential storm.

Kale gritted his teeth as he felt his insides were torn apart; he was being changed and evolved in accordance with the potential of his very first Beast.

He laughed amid the horrid agony, "Yes, YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHAHH"

Kale felt his senses widen, his vision turn upside down, his strength and speed increase, but more than any of that, it was his very existence that evolved.

When he advanced to become an Apprentice Artificer, that was merely his Partial Pathway, for it never truly elevated his existence to the point it was supposed to.

Only when he advanced in his main Tamer Pathway could he truly say that he had escaped from the clutches of the curse.

The Draconic Curse stirred, as the band on his forehead came undone automatically, and it was trying to spread its influence to disrupt and block his ascension.

And yet, the three heads of the Hydra who had been silently focusing on the bonding process suddenly opened their eyes, their narrowed slits were Draconic and yet different, and more threatening despite their tiny form.

Kale was on the ground, struggling, but he still noticed how the Hydra growled in a low tone, its gaze murderous beyond reason. Hearing that threatening echo from the Chimeric Hydra, the curse mark seemed to tremble, then settle back into its original form, and the disruption Kale was facing vanished.

Kale finally felt an invisible yet overwhelmingly strong and ethereal tether linking his soul to that of the three-headed winged hydra. He could feel the supreme might contained within this tiny creature.

He thought he would face resistance, defiance, fury from the Beast. After all, it would make sense if the Hydra did not want to be tamed by a mere Human.

And yet, not an ounce of resistance was felt by the Cursed Tamer.

He could now feel and understand the Hydra at a fundamental level that could not be described.

Kale’s heart suddenly stopped; the bones in his body began to crack; his entire figure began to change, and Kale grew taller, wider, and stronger, as if he had turned 18 from 12 in an instant.

His clothes were torn apart as the Black tattoo of the Three-Headed Winged Hydra became visible on his back.

Even though he was already much taller and bigger than other 12-year-olds, he now looked like a complete Young Adult, and no one would be able to tell otherwise.

The colour of his eyes, which were dark green, became light green.

His black hair colour also changed to green.

Suddenly, his vision changed, and the world exploded in colour. It felt like he was blind his whole life, and now he could see the true face of the world.

The skies were bathed in six distinct colours, and those were energies, each representing one of the six Awakened paths of power.

As if echoing his new being and the success of the impossible feat he had achieved, a storm of messages flashed in his retina, the system itself cheering in joy.

[Congratulations!! Host has successfully advanced to the rank of Lesser Apprentice Tamer.]

[The Hydra has advanced to become a Feral rank Beast]

[Host has successfully circumvented the Curse, Host has completed the quest with flying colours.]

*

[Host has successfully created a Beast that has perfect affinity with all Awakened Paths]

[Ding!! Host has gained the Beast Trait Absolute Affinity]

[Host has gained the Beast Ability Gaze of the Monarch]

[Host has unlocked full functions of the Gene Lab]

[Host has gained the skill Lesser Mana Manipulation-lv1]

*

[Host has gained 200 Beast Force stats]

[Host has gained 200 Mana stats]

*

[You can now learn Martial techniques of any quality]

[You can now learn Elemental Arts of any element]

[You can now learn Psionic techniques of any patterns]

[You can now tame Beasts of any specialities]

[You can learn Artificing of all paths with 100% affinity]

...

.....

...

Kale was overwhelmed by the sheer number of notifications, and there were countless more. He frowned and said, "What are you? an iPhone or something, summarise the notifications, damn it."

After a moment, when he finally took a look at the things once more, his jaw nearly dropped in shock. No wonder he felt so damn different compared to before.

His entire being was changed to accommodate the overpowered qualities of his majestic Beast.

Kale laughed, he laughed in incomparable joy, everything that he had worked for till now, the constant effort and the fear of having the doom clock hanging above his head, it was all over.

Or maybe it was just the beginning, because he not only found the cheat but also created that cheat of the Awakened paths with his own hands, through his own blood and sweat.

Yet, suddenly, the system chimed in once more.

[Host’s race has evolved to Hexarion Human.]

[Host must choose a name for the Beast race]

Kale was flabbergasted, "The hell? How did my race evolve, and shouldn’t you have mentioned that first instead of being the last?"

"Never mind, don’t answer that, I’ll check the details in a moment, let me name him first," he decided, looking at the Hydra.

Noticing his gaze, the Beast hurriedly flapped its wings, jumped onto his shoulder, and, with all three heads, stared, acting like a cat needing to be cuddled.

Kale was greatly amused. He took the creature in hand and asked, "What kind of name would you like?"

The Beast answered through the bond, conveying its own train of thought, which Kale understood perfectly.

The corner of his mouth rose as he uttered, "A name that would make even the world tremble one day? Huh, so arrogant, and I like it."

"In that case. From now on, your race will be NEMESIS HYDRA," declared the Cursed Tamer in a definitive tone.

He added, "And I will call you NEO for short, since you are The Chosen Beast to go against the heavens of this world, to go against the Dragons."

All three heads of Neo let out a monstrous roar, and even Kale screamed at the top of his lungs, overwhelmed by the Beastly urge coming from the Bond.

All the tiny Beast eggs on the shore of the Lake began to tremble; eventually, they cracked under the pressure of Nemesis Hydra’s deafening echo. Thousands upon thousands of newborn Beasts, no matter their diverging nature, after the very moment of their birth, all kneeled in unison towards Neo.

It was an instinctive acknowledgement, contained in their blood, to bow to a bloodline that existed far beyond their own.

And that moment was the beginning...

Like a candle being lit. It was a spark of newborn flame.

A spark that would eventually turn into a forest flame. A spark that would have the power to destroy the very world itself.

Kale reminded himself of the promise he once made on the edge of the destroyed Dagan, when he stood atop the corpse of a slaughtered Red Dragon.

He did not shout any words or declare them in his mind because he did not need to.

His murderous gaze said it all, and his first Beast also possessed the same vicious gaze and desire for revenge.

Seekers Note - {END of Arc-1: Creation of the Nemesis Hydra}

Thank you all for reading. The next arc will be packed with action and progress. Please leave a Review if you like the story so far. Thanks again.