Riven walked out into the ground floor of the arena, flanked by his family and a giant black bird trotting alongside. The once-white-tiled stadium had been replaced by simple dirt, and ten large cages lined the circular walls, taking up a small segment of the arena's circumference. Three of the cages stood out, at least double the size of the others, with white metal interlaced with gray. In front of them stood the hunter, the royal knight, and the other contestants who had achieved a place in the top ten. Among the nine, only two were regular people, while the rest hailed from prominent families. This was evident from the absence of their actual parents; instead, each noble contestant was flanked by two guards from their respective families.

Their families will get them stronger and rarer beasts later, regardless of whether they choose something today. I guess it's nice they are given this much of a choice.

Riven shook his head and walked forward, joining the others in line to await further instructions from the invigilators, while his family moved back to stand with the rest of the spectators.

"Alright, let's get this underway. The top three can select from beasts with regular or greater bloodlines. The picking order will be determined by positions," the knight said, gesturing toward Silvia.

Silvia confidently walked forward, peering into each of the cages. To Riven's surprise, she studied the larger cages but chose to move on to see the others as well. I suppose it makes sense since when a person with a Veil soul bonds with a regular beast and their intent is sharp and powerful, the creature evolves to suit them, improving their bloodline in the process.

After looking over them all, she stood in front of a regular-sized one and spoke. "This one."

The knight nodded and undid the cage, stepping back as he spoke. "We have added mana dampeners to each of them. Make them submit and form your bonds."

As he moved back to stand with the hunter, the door to the cage swung open, and a large creature, standing about six feet tall, lumbered toward Silvia. Riven squinted through the radiant rays of the evening. That's a Rockarid. I read about those. They're very rare among the regular bloodlines and are a type of construct beast, usually having a core and making their body out of a certain material. It seems like it's an earth type, as its body is made up of giant, irregular stones placed next to each other, vaguely resembling a humanoid shape.

The dampener was particularly effective as the creature used mana to keep control of its limbs, which made its movements slow and rusty. From its size, Riven guessed it might be rank two. His thoughts were proven correct when Silvia, armed with her rapier, dashed toward it, delivering precise and powerful strikes, but only managing to leave shallow holes on the giant stone making up its central body.

The Rockarid did not take kindly to the volley of attacks and attempted to swing its massive stone arms toward Silvia's head, aiming to bash her skull in. Silvia was aware of the attack and, instead of backing down, continued her onslaught while weaving left and right to evade the slow fists. Slowly, the stone was riddled with holes, spider-like cracks spidering through its center as a few fist-sized chunks of rock fell to the ground.

Silvia jumped back and stood still for a few seconds, her weapon held in front of her, aimed at the sky. Her eyes narrowed, and she burst into motion, arm outstretched and weapon pointed straight ahead. As her rapier collided with the rock, it pierced through, poking out from the other side. The entire middle stone shattered into pieces, which fell to the ground around her.

As the stone fell, a hand-sized black sphere appeared from within it. Before it could hit the ground, Silvia caught it in her off hand, holding it closer to her, staring intently at it.

That must be its core. She's probably making a contract.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Slowly, a white light started to emit from Silvia's palms, and the stone core began to glow with a dim light that grew as time passed. For a minute, nothing changed except for the pulsing lights, when suddenly, the light surged, increasing in magnitude and momentarily blinding everyone watching.

As Riven's eyesight returned, focusing on Silvia, he was shocked to see a ten-foot-tall giant standing beside her. Its body was made up of interlaced segments of ice, shaped like armor, covering its entire frame. It was sleek, not at all rugged or random like its previous form. A helmet adorned with pointed spikes jutted from four sides, with a Y-shaped hollow for eyes that faintly glowed with blue, icy energy, giving the creature an almost royal look.

The beast crouched and extended its giant gauntleted hand, hovering two feet off the ground. Silvia jumped onto it, and the giant stood back up, reaching its full height. It slowly started walking toward the invigilators.

"That's a mighty fine beast, young Frostveil," said the hunter, with the knight interjecting, "An ice-based greater beast of construct type. Very fascinating. To be able to convert a single attributed mana to a dual element like ice is a testament to your immense will and determination."

Silvia gave a short nod, and the beast slowly walked over toward a man standing on the far left of the arena, someone Riven hadn't noticed before. The man seemed to be in his fifties and stood next to a giant feathered beast with four limbs and two massive wings. Its head resembled a hawk's, with a sharp beak, and its limbs were as powerful as a lion's. He must be from the Beast Association here to record all the new beast contracts, as is the law across the empire. No one is exempt from it, but the information is kept secret and only the emperor has access to it.

Riven nodded to himself, and with butterflies in his stomach, walked toward the hunter.

The hunter smiled and said, "It seems we will be able to see the birth of an Exalted bloodline beast today." He clapped Riven's shoulder and helped him along toward the cages. Riven gulped, sensing the stares of everyone present bearing down on him. He inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and stared at the three giant cages.

As he peered into the first one, he saw the outline of a giant gorilla sitting by the wall. It had silver fur, golden eyes, and sharp tusks jutting from its face. Other than its size, it didn't seem particularly powerful. I assume the invigilators won't be of any help here.

Shaking his head, Riven moved on to the second cage. What lay inside caught his attention—a massive wolf, standing and looking intently at him with blood-red eyes. The air around it was heavy with danger. The wolf had sharp purple claws and fangs that gleamed in the light. It had a network of pink line patterns starting from its eyes and spreading throughout its gray coat.

Maybe poison, though I can't be sure. Regardless, it doesn't feel right.

Riven shook his head and walked toward the final large cage. As he peered inside, he saw a truly massive creature. Its body was thick with muscle, resembling a wolverine, but with one glaring difference: it was coated in hard, stone scales arranged in hexagonal patterns. Its underbelly, however, seemed less protected. The creature's hands were covered in stone gauntlets, and its massive tail, instead of being fluffy, was a segmented rock appendage with sharp edges, resembling a wide sword's edge.

Its golden eyes opened and fixed on him intently, not moving a muscle. The only sound was its slow, calm breathing.

Something about the creature resonates with me. This is the one.

Swallowing audibly, he backed away a few meters and entered a combat stance. This will not be an easy fight. I truly hope it's only rank one. A greater bloodline beast, even with its mana dampened, was an incredibly powerful creature. As Riven prepared for the worst, his eyes caught a glimpse of light shining off Corvax's sharp metallic feathers and his nerves steadied. Focus, Riven. You can do this.

"This one," Riven shouted, and the knight appeared next to the cage, unlocking it before dashing back. For an agonizing minute, nothing happened. Then, a spiral line curved through the entire cage in an arc, and the upper part slowly slid down to the left, exposing the creature. Its sword-like tail was poised upward, the edge glowing faintly.

Did that bastard channel all the dregs of mana it had and channel it into its tail? Can I even take that thing?

Riven thought as he unleashed sixty percent of his mana throughout his body. Since the invigilators haven't budged, they probably expect me to take it down.

The creature didn't give Riven any more time to think. It began barreling toward him, but fortunately, its speed was nowhere near that of Silvia's. Riven had a somewhat decent idea of how to handle it.

I'll have to aim for its underside.

With that thought, he rushed in, blurring toward the creature.