Every planet begins its journey of formation with a cloud of gas and dust, and becomes perfect after awakening its mana.

—Unknown

***

Nick walked out of the post office after sending money. He missed Luna, worried for her well being, and wondered about her life in the Eclipse Academy. Three months was a long time. The longest she ever stayed away from him.

Has she awakened her Talent? Nick thought, his smile reaching the edges of his eyes. Would the amount I send be enough for her?

Nick eyed the remaining ten gold coins in his hand and chuckled in melancholy. Money. If he could he’d make it disappear off this world. A self mocking grin flashed over his face.

Nevertheless, the capital was a damn expensive place. He needed to earn more or his precious sister wouldn't be able to focus on her studies.

***

Jack stood in front of a lonely wooden door. A distracted look crossed over his face. Never in his wildest dreams had he thought about leaving his home. And now here he was, far from that loving and warm place. The place that turned into a graveyard. The place of cold and broken corpses of his parents and family members.

No. No more that warm place lived. A hell, dwelled by the spirits of his loved ones. Their screams and wails echoed through the smoldering corridors, berating him for abandoning them, for fleeing with his pathetic life.

A man should fight and protect his family. A man could bawl like a baby, feel afraid, get beaten, but a man could never forsake his family. Not to save his pathetic ass life, at least.

Coward, Jack muttered. A look of anguish clouding his face.

Then, he clenched his teeth and suppressed his lurching emotions. As he pushed the door open, a small, unfamiliar, cold room greeted him. Placed the bag he carried on a table and plunged on the bed. And gradually the thoughts of his home started to resurface.

Jack twisted and turned on the bed this way and that before sitting straight. He eyed the bag lying on the table. A distracted look flashed in his eyes before he dug out the note out of his pocket.

As he skimmed through its contents, his tired eyes began twinkling. How could it be? Jack shook his head. No way he knows how to activate artifacts, right?

Five minutes later he groaned and rummaged through the bag, pulling out a mask which, according to the appraiser, was an artifact called Mask of Two Senses.

To activate this mask one did not need any requirement apart from being a killer. Killer… Yes, that he was. And he'd kill more. For the sake of his parents. For his family. For himself.

Jack grasped the mask, poured his mana into it through the small perforated area at its back. The mask burst into an incandescence of light. A shocked look emerged across his face.

And then, the shocked expression turned into a solemn one as he eyed the note. A true master. Either that or someone strong was behind him. No fake appraiser could know such detailed information about artifacts. He was the real deal.

For the second time that day he left the inn. A rare occurrence. But he needed to confirm it. To calm his beating heart. And for that he needed external materials. He needed to verify if all the information written in the note was really genuine.

***

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

When the next day Nick arrived at his working location, a familiar face came into his view.

Jack stood by the road, searching this way and that as if looking for something or someone. Kate was nowhere to be found. And at that moment their gazes met. Jack smiled and stepped forward. “You are here, Mister Appraiser.”

“Yes?” Nick raised an eyebrow, pretending to be clueless of his intention. “How may I help you?”

“Two hundred gold coins for an hour. What do you say?”

“Deal!” Nick replied. Fuck pretending, money is more important.

Today Jack led him into another renowned antique shop. Nick discovered a new batch of artifacts. Of them he selected five for Jack and decided to buy the remaining for himself. Not now. He was too poor at the moment. But if he could buy and sell artifacts, he'd have another source of money.

After sending Jack off, Nick went to the Oblivion Alley. It was also called Monster Alley. A place where monsters were sold. And today he was going to get one. If he was old Nick, he’d have accumulated more money, to buy a monster with an Evolution Path of at least Uncommon rank. However, with his upgraded Talent, that problem was no problem at all.

He pushed open the door of a monster shop, and a hall enfolded in front of his eyes. An elegant chandelier hung at the hall's center while the walls were decked with portraits. A young lady with short hair and large eyes perched behind the reception table. And a number of people acquired sofas at the right side of the hall.

At this moment a man clad in black suit strolled in his direction and greeted him. “Hello, sir. How may I help you?”

Nick eyed the attendant and said, “I want to buy a monster. Common rank.”

“Perfect,” said the attendant and smiled. “Sir, do you have any preferences? I mean what type of monster you want.”

“No,” Nick shook his head. “I'll decide after looking at them.”

The attendant nodded and said, “Please, follow me.”

Nick followed him through a long corridor, spotting various bolted doors now and then; finally they arrived in front of a large gate.

As the young man pushed the door open, an unpleasant smell wafted over Nick’s face—the smell of dung and urine. A frown appeared across his face as he followed the employee into the Beast Hold. He spotted mammals, birds, reptiles and many more. Though none of them had known Evolution Path.

He examined the monsters with an impressed expression. Walking up to the mammal section, his face darkened. Five hundred. Yes. The lowest price of a mammal. No way he could afford one of these.

He eyed the different sections, but the outcome was not favourable at all. One by one he checked the monsters, only to lower his gaze in shame.

Nick was disappointed, sad and lost. All the anticipation vanished out of his feverish eyes. No glitter remained in them. Only a dull tinge of sorrow.

However, when he turned to leave, he spotted a plant in the corner with withering leaves and shriveling branches. A small tinge of green at its stem was the only indication that it lived.

And when he eyed the price tag a smile flashed across his face. One hundred and fifty gold coins. Finally something he could afford.

As he activated his Talent, a window appeared in front of him.

Name: [Dream Sprout - Level 1]

Type: [Plant] (Dehydrated)

Bloodline Rank: [Common]

Skills: [Dream World](Common): Mark the world, create the world, summon the world, control the world.

[Death Lash] (Common): Summon the wrath of nature, strike with a lash of thousand death.

Evolution Path: [1] (Click)

A surprise yelp escaped his mouth. For the first time Nick had seen a creature with two skills and a single Evolution Path. Though he could not understand the first skill, the second was definitely an attack type.

“I want this plant,” Nick told the attendant. The young man had a strange look on his face. ‘Poor turd,’ he thought. No chance I'd get tip from him.

“Ah, sure, sir,” he said, hiding his scorn behind his fake smile. “‘Would you like to bond with it here? Our shop provides a free room for bonding to our customers.”

“Sure, ” Nick replied curtly. How could the disdain on the attendant's face escape his sharp eyes? However, he was really a poor crab. What could he say?

After completing the transaction, Nick sat inside a room. Dream Sprout lay on his lap. He glanced at his finger that trickled with blood and began dripping it over the plant. As the blood spread over its withering branches, new leaves sprouted, branches turned healthy green.

At that moment a sheen of golden light shrouded the plant, and Nick knew the bond had been established.

He could literally feel something that connected him with Dream Sprout. A spiritual connection. A bond. Finally he was a beastmaster.