by William Hill
Greg´s parents and his sister heard this and they nodded their heads, agreeing to the old man's explanation, while Greg´s sister threw a threatening glance at Jason.
Meanwhile, Greg looked at the reinforced horned bull calf, not knowing why Jason wanted him to pick this beast cub.
While Greg went closer to the bull calf, Jason who stood next to him said out loud.
"I think this bull calf is much better compared to the other three choices."
There was no explanation or anything like that coming from Jason.
In a quieter voice, he added to Greg.
"You can pick whichever beast you want to pick because it's your decision but don't regret your decision later."
Somehow what Jason said made Greg ponder.
He wanted to pick the newborn lesser orc which would be bound to his physical soul.
However, picking the non-elemental bull calf would make a difference of a whole rank as the lesser orc had the possibility to reach the unblemished rank with a certain amount of resources provided.
Greg turned to Jason and questioned him
"Why do you think this beast is better than the orc for example?"
It was weird for Jason to say something like that, without giving a reason and Greg believed that Jason wouldn't want to harm him, even if Greg didn´t know why he trusted Jason so much.
Jason was in a tight spot because he still thought that he had to keep his eyes a secret as he remembered the old man´s words that his eyes could be revealed.
Turning to the old man he asked him again to be certain.
"Old man what you said earlier is still valid, right?"
The old man was confused but he nodded his head
"Yeah, well..it is."
Turning back to Greg, Jason slowly loosened the bandage which was still full of blood and already dried up, causing an unpleasant feeling while taking the bandage off.
His eyes were closed because of the sudden light invading them.
After a short moment of adapting to the sudden stream of light, as Jason opened his bright golden shining eyes, looking straight into Greg´s eyes.
"W-Whats with your eyes? You're NOT blind anymore???" Greg was astonished and his jaw dropped to the ground.
He knew Jason many years long and his eyes looked like a dead fish every time he looked at him, making him feel uncomfortable, but now they were full of vigor and golden in color at that.
It was the first time for Jason to see Greg and he had a muscular build with short brown hair and eyes with a frown destroying his facial features.
Jason had to ponder how to put it as he said
"I had to gather mana for a long time to reactivate them. There was some sort of problem previously I had to fix, causing me to forsake absorbing mana into my mana core.
And my eyes are slightly special to add."
Thinking for a second, Jason told
"Back to the main topic. I recommended you this bull calf because my eyes tell me that it's the right choice for you to do.
In the end, it's your decision to do what you think is right and don't let anyone hinder you."
Greg´s family only saw Jason taking off his bandage, Greg's astonishment, and his loud voice.
They didn't know what was going on but they weren't fond of this situation as they understood that Jason wanted Greg to pick the bull calf, which the old man said was weaker than the other three beast cubs.
Greg smiled at Jason who returned the smile and confidently said out loud.
"I want the reinforced horned bull calf as my soulbond!"
Hearing this Greg's parents were dumbfounded while his sister shouted with anger
"Brother, don't be stupid… what knowledge has this blind boy without any background we don't have? Don't be naive!!"
She went closer to the two youths that still looked at each other, while Jason's back was only five meters apart from her.
Somehow she wanted to hit Jason really hard in his face as she grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back.
This caused Jason to stumble backward, while he was forced to turn around
Jason was completely attacked off guard, still looking towards Greg, as his shoulder was unexpectedly pulled back.
The face of a gorgeous teenage girl with beautiful facial features, fair skin, big brown eyes, and long eyelashes entered his view, distracting him slightly.
Meanwhile, the girl's face changed completely from anger to astonishment before it changed to shock as she looked into the youth's golden eyes with surprise shining within them.
The golden eyes felt as if they were as deep as the abyss but full of vigor.
Jason was a little bit angered as he didn´t like to get thrown around or touched by strangers.
Staring into Jason´s eyes, the girl felt uncomfortable because it was as if she couldn´t hide anything from him.
Looking into these eyes only a moment longer would be fatal and she would probably expose every secret she had without any hesitation and she backed off and loosened her grip, almost tripping.
Greg who held Jason was a little bit confused.
He understood his sister's rage slightly, however, he had never seen her backing off from clashes.
But right now looking into Jason's eyes caused her to back off which was interesting.
The old man was annoyed by Greg's sister's behavior and said
"If you finished choosing your soulbond you can leave while I will help out Jason choosing his bond.
Your parents can help you with the last steps as they aren't difficult."
Greg was disappointed that he wasn't allowed to look for Jason's soulbond but he had to accept the old man's order.
While Greg said goodbye to Jason, his sister looked suspiciously at him and Greg's father looked somehow angry at Jason.
The reinforced horned bull calf was brought to a different room by an attendant and Greg followed the staff with his family.
Now, Jason and the old man were alone while the old man looked at Jason curious, Jason was slightly apprehensive.
"Why are you so sure that the reinforced horned bull is better than the other cubs we have looked after? Is it really because of your eyes?"
The old man was suspicious about him and also curious, while Jason got slightly nervous.
If he really told him the theory about his eyes seeing the potential of beasts, Jason wasn't sure what would happen so he made up a story.
"I'm not sure what's so special about my eyes but after seeing the bull calf I got the feeling that it is stronger than the other beasts Greg wanted to choose from.
But to be honest, I could also be wrong and I told Greg that it's his decision which beast to pick but I hope I'm not wrong. "
Chapter 16: Searching for the perfect Partner
Listening to Jason, the old man nodded after a moment before he said
"Well, it's okay. It doesn't really matter to me if his soulbond is really stronger than the other cubs.
But if it's true, that your eyes are special, I think it might be better to keep it a secret, that you 'feel' which beast has a stronger potential or 'feels' stronger.
Don't tell the other youth anything except your trust in him is exceptionally high, because they don't know that your eyes are special to such a degree.
The only thing they know right now is that your eyes are golden.
They don´t know anything about the degree of your special trait, which might be better!"
Jason noticed the last sentence and got curious about the traits.
"What is a trait? My late mother also told me something about traits but I forgot it."
"Some humans are born with special traits.
These traits are divided into physical traits, elemental traits, blessings, and so on... Traits are sometimes called mutations and they enhance certain body parts or even provide the chance to use elements abilities without having a suitable soulbond.
Your eyes are considered a rare physical tr
ait but I have never seen such intimidating golden eyes so I don't know what trait it is but probably something comparable to [Mana eyes]"
Jason listened to the old man carefully and he began to partially understand his mother's reasoning.
Previously his mother had only told him that regaining his eyesight would only take a few years because that was probably what she had to do due to her own special trait.
This means his mother also possessed a special trait for her eyes, which made Jason curious.
But Jason took almost ten years to regain his eyesight while his mother was getting more and more frustrated when he was younger.
Before she died, his mother cried often, because of Jason's inability to see.
She got more and more desperate as he was her treasure, everything she had left.
Thinking about his mother made Jason sad once again, but he was almost immediately distracted by the old man
"Let's go take a look after the one-star wild beast´s cub or egg. It's already late and we don't have many types of one-star wild beasts, to begin with."
The old man turned in a certain direction and went off followed by Jason.
After walking for 15 minutes they arrived at a small section with small canine and feline cubs and thousands of eggs.
"Most one-star wild beasts are only contracted for their look, while some one-star wild beasts are trained to run errands.
The most popular beasts are similar to ancient dogs, cats, eagles, and so on.
You can take a look. In this generation, we don't have any beasts with a superior bloodline or favorable mutations... I'm sorry.
If you want to wait for a few months then there might be something new but getting a better bloodline or favorable mutations depends on luck. "
Jason tried to listen to the old man while looking with his eyes' ability after the beast cubs and egg but there wasn't even a color radiating from more than 99% of these beasts.
But some beasts had a weak black color which meant they had the chance to evolve into an awakened beast.
Due to his unique soul, Jason could form a contract with every kind of beast and there weren't any requirements he had to fulfill which was his only advantage as the number of beasts he could form a contract with was also high but not measurable.
Jason was tempted to pick one of these black color radiating beasts solely to increase his soul energy, but he had to remain calm and think carefully about his decision.
Was it useful to form a contract with hundreds of beasts only to increase his soul energy slightly, wouldn´t it be a waste of his Mana eyes ability??`
In addition to that, the costs to feed the beasts would also be astronomical...
Jason looked at every beast cub and egg carefully with his eyes' ability and more than 20 minutes passed, before he was almost done with his inspection.
Suddenly, he saw a weak but heavy and mighty, yet unfamiliar color beneath some larger eggs.
Looking at the unfamiliar color caused his eyes to ache as his eyes felt as if they were stabbed by
burning needles.
Carefully moving the eggs on top away, he saw an egg that was at most half the size compared to the others on top of it.
He was confused seeing this color and his perplexed expression attracted the old man's attention, as Jason asked
"What's wrong with this small egg? Was it placed in the wrong breeding station or is this really the same species?"
Looking at the egg, the old man typed something on his bracelet, before a holographic screen appeared in front of him.
After reading it through for a few seconds he said
"This egg is the same species as the others inside this breeding station but it underwent an adverse mutation that caused its size to shrink.
Furthermore, the scan that was done said that its strength will be worse than a normal one-star wild beast because of and high possibility of the beast getting blindness and other illnesses once it hatches.
Jason however smiled like he had found a peak graded magical treasure.
The radiating color was weak but extremely heavy and dense and it was as if the beast inside the egg wanted to life against all odds.
Looking at the old man with his bright golden eyes Jason said with confidence
"I want this Snowflake Owl as my soulbond, please!! "
Slightly surprised about Jason's confidence he looked at the provided information again.
With a slight frown, he asked "Are you sure?? You know that once your soulbond contract is done it's over, right?
If this adverse mutated snowflake Owl doesn't evolve you won't be able to pick another soulbond for a long time until you increased your soul energy. And there is also an extremely high chance that it will get blindness and other diseases once it hatches.
You have to decide now otherwise I will register your soulbond to be this beast egg. "
The old man tried to help Jason out but somehow he felt that his desire to get the snowflake owl increased.
Jason stared at the old man and nodded his head while holding the small egg carefully
"Yes please give me this snowflake owl!"
Sighing the old man said
"Ok...but you don't have to pay the fee for this egg as it has an adverse mutation and nobody would want it either."
It was already past 10 pm and the lights lightened up the room when Jason and the old man were standing at a table with the small beast egg placed on a cushion.
Jason had a small knife in his hand and he had to cut his hand again to form a soulbond contract again.
Entering the world inside his mind as the old man explained to him, Jason loosened a thread out of the soul-world leading it slowly and carefully to his left hand.
After the soul thread entered his hand Jason cut the exact position with the knife and thick blood dropped down.
But different than normal blood Jason noticed that the color of his blood was not only red but it had also the golden hue which his soul had.
Dripping on the egg the blood began to boil and evaporate causing the snowflake owl egg to shine with weak white light.
Jason felt a connection building up between him and the beast inside the egg which slowly intensifies.
The whole process of a soulbond contract was relatively boring to look at but Jason was exhausted as it was difficult to loosen a thread out of one's soul.
Jason´s legs almost gave in but he had to remain standing.
Looking at Jason, the old man was still unsure what to think about this boy.
His eyes were a special trait and he had a very unique soul even if his soul energy was extremely weak.
If his soul energy was only slightly better, every high-school would offer him a scholarship without thinking about his grades...
Even Five-star Institutes from S-Grade Cities on Canir wouldn't wait to offer him many benefits.
Unfortunately, his soul energy is just too bad.
He wanted to finish everything up and said impatiently.
"You have my contacts, right? If something goes wrong just call me. Maybe I can help you.
Just take the egg with you and keep it close to you. It will hatch in the next few days.
As for the possible disease it can get… you should consult a professional about ways to prevent that...we didn´t bother to do something like that...I have to go now, there are other things I have to do and you two have taken up too much time...Let's go out."
Walking out with the egg in his hands Jason smiled gently at it, not minding the old man.
Jason ordered a shuttle and said politely goodbye to the old man.
Going to the Beast Pagoda changed Jason´s life completely and there were many obstacles he had to overcome.
Chapter 17: No Time!
It was past 11 pm when Jason arrived in his small room completely exhausted.
Holding the small beast egg in his hands he could feel the thumping of its heart.
Because he was exhau
sted the only thing he was able to think of was sleeping, without considering his unhatched soulbond.
His day was extremely long and Jason had completely used up the Mana he had gathered in the morning.
His headache and he took off his clothes, only wearing underwear as he went into the bed in order to sleep with the beast-egg close to his heart.
---
Waking up early in the morning, the first thing Jason did was looking at the beast egg that was still placed in his hand.
Activating his eyes' ability, he confirmed that yesterday wasn't a dream as the beast egg radiated still the same dense but weak color as before.
Washing up, he put on a set of newly purchased clothes, before Jason decided to replenish his mana.
There were many ways to replenish one's mana. The slowest would be resting, not doing anything as the body attracted marginal amounts of mana by itself.
With this method, it would take Jason a few days to replenish his useless small storage of mana.
The second method was much more efficient and sitting relaxed down while feeling the Mana flow slowly adjusting to it so that it would go through one.
While this happened one could actively absorb the Mana.
This method was the one Jason used and it took only two hours to replenish his mana completely thanks to his distinct mana sensitivity and control.
However, the fastest method to replenish one's mana was using mana stones but it was also the most expensive method, as mana stones were relatively rare and expensive.
Since the dark age and the sudden outburst of mana, some rare stones, trees, ores, and many more things absorbed mana causing them to change innately.
Some normal stones absorbed mana causing them to change into mana stones, with their density, quality, and quantity grading them.
While this happened occasionally, sometimes the permanent and temporary rifts were known for their innately manaphil materials.
This was also the reason rifts were seen as a blessing in disguise.
Jason didn't have enough money to use mana stones so wasteful and the method he used was more than good enough for him.
There were also some other methods one could use to replenish mana faster like certain techniques but these were rare and only people from the higher society could obtain and learn them.