My spirit animal is a F–Rank gecko-Chapter 12: Not so welcoming ceremony (1)

The paramedic told Jaster that he’s fine, and with only a minor rest, he should be as good as new.

Jaster took a taxi towards the academy. While in the backseat, he looked at the bustling streets of Silver City.

"Wow.... It looked just like in the game."

Silver City, known as the busiest place you’ll find on Boundara and also the capital of Starastan.

It’s complete with high-rise buildings, but also has a lot of parks where you can play with your spirit animal freely there.

Despite all the attractions the city had to offer, there were many things clogging up Jaster’s mind.

"The Jefferson character quest... Why is it so early on?"

The last time Adam remembered, you could only get that quest after finishing Act 2 of the main quest.

So for it to appear all of a sudden like that made Jaster even more worried.

"At first I thought that things are progressing slower than how it was in the game, since no one knew about Joker yet. But this character quest appearing so early on..."

He rubbed his head and rested it on the chair.

He closed his eyes for a bit, trying to not get overwhelmed by this whole situation.

"Maybe.. It’s because I interacted with one of the Jefferson family members. Yeah, that’s probably what triggered it."

For a second, Jaster got reminded of Annie; he held the number she gave him,

staring blankly at it.

If it wasn’t obvious already, it’s the first time Jaster had ever received a number from a girl, so naturally his teenage brain didn’t know what to do.

"I’ll think about it later."

He stored the number in his pocket.

"What’s important right now... is to survive the welcome ceremony!"

Jaster looked out the window and saw the beautiful spire of the academy.

It stood tall, taller than all the other buildings in Silver City. The spire had a spiral that glowed purple along the line, matching with all the other silver colors.

In front of the spire stood a huge building, known as the academy itself, where you’ll be learning for three years.

"I’m coming back to school, baby!"

---

Jaster walked with the other first-year students around the big academy circle.

In the center of the circle was a statue of the principal of the academy.

He had a long white beard and white hair. Beside him was his famous albino lion, and albino snake.

Purpleberry’s eyes sparkled towards seeing the lion.

"Krrk krrk!!"

It tapped Jaster’s shoulder.

"Oh. Do you wanna be like that tiger there?" He pointed towards the statue.

Purple gave a quick nod.

"Don’t worry, you’ll be something even better. I promise." He whispered into Purple’s tiny ears. Hearing this made Purple jump in joy.

Oh Purple, I can’t wait for you to turn into a dragon.

"ATTENTION EVERYONE!"

A blonde-haired man shouted towards all the other freshmen.

He got up to the nearby podium and grabbed a microphone.

Everyone went silent, looking at him.

The man is wearing the student council blazer, with the black and gold lining around the collar.

"Greetings, first years. I, Marcus, the president of the student council, congratulating you all on passing the entrance exam!!"

Marcus’s hands glowed yellow and shot out a burst of light.

The light then traveled to the sky and exploded, turning into fireworks.

Everyone watched in awe; some pulled out their phones to record everything.

"Why don’t we all give an applause to each other?"

Marcus clapped his hands in front of the microphone, and then the rest of the crowd soon followed him.

"Marcus, huh? Seeing him again, I think he really deserves the president title!"

When Jaster first saw Marcus in Soulbound, he was awestruck by how smart and crafty he was.

Marcus, unlike other student council members, has a very weak active skills. But he studied the skills hard.

while improving it more and more, and now he could make a useless skill into his signature move.

"We don’t get to see Marcus much, but I’m pretty sure he can bend light with his origin aspect, making it really hard for opponents to defeat him."

After the clapping subsided, Marcus purposely coughed into the microphone.

"We, as the student council, will celebrate our first years’ first day by launching a welcome ceremony, just for you all to make friends and get to know each other before the school decides which class you’ll be going into!"

Jaster gulped when he said class.

In Bondspire Academy, there are about 26 classes. Their names are by the alphabet.

The school separates the strongest students from the weakest students. This is so they can prioritize the students that have more potential in the far future.

For example, the strongest student will be put in Class A, while the weaker one, unfortunately, will be put in Class Z.

But they decide that in the special bond exam that happens every few months throughout the school year.

Jaster was prepared, though; he knows what the special bond exam would be.

"My goal is to get at least D or E class. Just so I won’t be the outcast, and people won’t expect too much of me if I were in Class A."

Jaster took a deep breath and kept telling himself that he was ready for anything that would come to him.

Unbeknownst to Jaster, he was being watched far away on the spire by an unknown professor.

The unknown professor sighed.

"So, in your opinion, I should change the special bond exam for this year?"

He asked the mysterious, hooded guy behind him.

The hooded guy didn’t say anything; he simply just nodded his head slowly.

"Ok... If what you said is true, then we have an anomaly in this school ground..."

---

Marcus told all the other first years to explore the school more, just so they could get to feel what being in Bondspire is like.

Some students went to visit the cafeteria, some checked out the classes, while some just tried to make new friends.

But Jaster, however... was different than those other students.

He was currently digging at a patch of ground near the school building.

He ripped out all the plants that were in the way and continued to dig with his hands, Purple helping him get rid of the dirt with its tiny hands.

They continued to dig until a brown glow peeked out from the ground.

"Gotcha!"

Jaster dug some more and found what he was looking for.

On the ground lay a stone that had something engraved on it. The stone was glowing brown.

Jaster picked it up, and a window appeared after touching it.

———————•●•——————

『Item: Stone Rune』

Description: A parting gift from the Shield Titan, this rune holds the essence of the beloved titan. Can be used to evolve your spirit animal into a stone affinity type.

———————•●•——————

Purple tried to lick the rune, but Jaster quickly pulled it away and put it in his pocket.

"Purple, don’t! This rune will turn you into a stone spirit animal. You’re already special by having the shade one!"

The reason Jaster grabbed the rune was because he knows that runes are rare things in Boundara. So he can sell this rune at a high price.

But if he didn’t sell it, he could potentially recruit an animal and have it become a stone affinity one, since it’ll be useful for him in the future.

"NO!" Jaster slapped his head, trying to come to his senses.

Jaster is one of those players that got attached to the beginner animal and doesn’t tame a new one in the game.

"I’ll stick with my one-animal policy. Besides, I don’t need any other spirit animal when I already have a toddler dragon beside me here."

Jaster played with Purpleberry’s hands.

"Krrk?"

"Someone, hellppp, pleaseeee!"

Jaster heard a faint girl’s voice screaming in the distance.

He looked at Purple, and Purple looked back.

"Purple, did you hear that?"

"Krrk?"

"You’re right! I should check who that is!"

Jaster got up as Purple jumped to his shoulder.

He walked for a bit and then heard it again.

"Someone, anyone, please helllllpppppp!!"

Jaster looked around and noticed a well.

"Why would there be a well in this modern era?"

He walked towards the well, and sure enough, the girl’s voice came from inside the well.

"Pleaseee, anyone, help!!"

He looked down and saw a blonde-haired girl in the darkness, holding something he couldn’t quite make out.

"Hey, are you okay down there, ma’am?"

His voice echoed through the well.

The girl let out a huge gasp.

"OMG, finally someone! Can you please help me, I’m stuck in this well!"

What situation would you have to be in to be stuck in this huge well?

"Ok, wait, I’ll go ask a student if they have a flying ability to help you!" Jaster shouted at the girl.

"Wait, no!" The girl instantly shouted back at Jaster.

"Please don’t bring any student or a teacher here, I’m scared it’ll make a bad first impression on them!"

Is this girl serious?

"Wait? Are you a Bondspire student?"

"Yes, I am!... That’s why, please, kind sir, don’t tell anyone I’m stuck here. Just go grab a rope or something!"

The girl sounded desperate, which made Jaster feel a little bad.

Since he understands that in Bondspire, first impression is really important in this place. That’s also the reason why Jaster stepped in on helping Annie fight off Hanjon.

"Ok, fine. Just wait for me, ok? I’ll be right back!"

"Ok.. thank you so much!"

Jaster thought for a while about what he could do. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

He could just disobey the girl’s request and ask a teacher or a student to help.

But that would mean Jaster would need to talk to a human. And we all know Jaster hates socializing more than ever.

So, the only option was to find or buy a rope somewhere.

Jaster took out the stone rune he’d just found.

"Glad I found this little guy. I could buy you an amulet, Purple! And also buy a rope while I’m at it."

Jaster rubbed Purple’s head, and it let out a satisfied purr.