Two weeks had passed since the brutal training session with Raphaeline Cortezia. The bruises had faded, but the memory remained etched in Albedo’s bones.

And now, the world moved on.

In two weeks, Albedo had got into a stable routine. He’d have classes 5 days a week, whether it was Mana Theory with Professor Kayle, Combat with Professor Skye, or Beast Taming with Luna, everything went well.

At night, he’d once again go under Raphaeline’s brutal training, making him wonder if he was sent to this world to suffer. However, he couldn’t complain too much as he saw the benefits quickly.

From mana control to combat instincts, everything had improved.

Alongside that, he had completed the second mission, a bodyguard mission to protect a Blacksmith, doing that alongside Elara. The strongest beast they had faced was Early Silver Rank, so it was an easy 800 Merit in pocket.

Now, he was back at his home, leaning against the wall and staring at the massive incubation chamber, or rather, the Beast Egg inside of it.

For the past 13 days, the egg’s aura had grown significantly. The runes on the egg were now glowing intensely, and Albedo knew it was only a matter of time before it had hatched.

He sat around waiting for another five minutes before he finally heard it.

~CRACK!~

A hairline fracture crept across the surface of the egg, a sharp streak of white cutting through translucent crystal. Another crack echoed.

And then another.

The runes along the casing shimmered violently for a moment before shattering like glass, falling away in glittering shards that evaporated before touching the ground.

~THUD!~

The entire chamber shuddered as the egg split open, steam and mana mist rolling out from within. Albedo’s eyes widened, not from fear, but awe.

From within the mist, a soft glow illuminated the room, and slowly, a shape moved.

A small leg stepped out, slender and graceful, covered in white fur tinged with bluish hues at the ends. Another step followed, and then the full form emerged.

It was a baby horse, though ‘horse’ didn’t quite do it justice.

It looked like a baby horse, though it had snow-white fur that shimmered with ethereal light, and dancing all across the fur of the beast was white and blue flames, burning intensely.

The flames burned away at the incubation chamber, so Albedo quickly had to pick it up into his arms, since he could control the flames.

Holding her in his arms, he could more clearly see her. The horse’s mane was short and fluffy, also ignited in flames, and as for her eyes, they were large, luminescent, and a deep celestial blue.

Round and filled with innocent curiosity, they stared at Albedo with wide-eyed wonder before tilting its head, not recognizing him fully.

Then she neighed softly, a high-pitched, cute little sound that resonated not with power… but joy.

Albedo blinked. “…You’re… adorable?”

He didn’t expect those words to leave his mouth, but there they were. He reached out his hand, and the horse quickly nuzzled his palm, her blue flames licking his skin without harm, as if recognizing him as the one who incubated her.

He took a breath and activated his Gift.

The world shimmered for a heartbeat, and a strange stillness settled in the air. The beast’s head twitched, her celestial blue eyes suddenly narrowing with a flicker of recognition, as if some barrier between them had quietly broken.

“You can hear me?” Albedo projected, his thoughts shaped into gentle intent.

The baby mare lifted her head, eyes wide with a soft pulse of light behind them. Her reply was not words in the human sense, but emotions and images: warmth, safety, firelight, and… you.

Then, a whisper returned through the link, like wind brushing through a flame.

“…Ember.”

It was her name.

Albedo smiled, “Ember,” he repeated aloud, letting the name settle on his tongue like a vow, “You’re mine now.”

And in the quiet of their shared warmth, he pricked his thumb with a mana-coated blade, a single drop of blood glowing with silvery-blue light.

“Do you accept me, Ember? Not just as your incubator, but as your partner? Through fire and blood? Through battle and bond?”

He held the drop of blood to her snout, his mana flaring in synchrony with hers.

Ember’s flames pulsed bright, almost blinding, and then she leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his thumb, merging the light with a shiver of emotion that ran through both their bodies.

A glyph of radiant fire bloomed in the air between them, coiling into a circle with two entwined sigils—one shaped like a burning flame, the other like a howling wolf.

[ Soul Contract Established ]

A pulse ran through Albedo’s chest, then through his soul. A connection deeper than empathy. Their mana now flowed in resonance. If he lived, so would she. If he fell, so would she. It was dangerous. Permanent.

But she had chosen him.

And he had chosen her.

Ember neighed softly again, curling beside him, her blue flames dimming to a gentle glow.

“…We’re stuck together now,” Albedo whispered.

And Ember, through their shared link, responded simply.

“Always.”

Holding Ember in his arms, he quickly used Appraise on her.

[ Name: Ember ]

[ Race: Solaris Equine ]

[ Mana Rank: Low-Silver ]

Albedo was surprised Ember was Low-Silver, giving how cute she looked in his arms, but he had to believe it, as he could also sense that level of power through their soul contract.

She happily flicked her fiery tail in lazy arcs through the air. Her celestial blue eyes blinked up at him, intelligent and curious.

Albedo smiled, brushing a few fingers along her snowy mane. The fur was impossibly soft despite being wreathed in white-blue flame.

“Alright, Ember. Let’s see if you’re hungry.”

He stood and walked toward the locked drawer embedded in the far wall of his chamber. The runes along its frame glowed as he placed his hand upon it, recognizing his mana signature.

With a soft click, the drawer opened, revealing a small velvet-lined case containing several thumb-sized shards of brilliant, crystalline red.

SulFire Crystals.

These were the ones that hadn’t been absorbed by Ember during her incubation He quickly brought them to her, and her head perked up immediately, nostrils flaring as she smelled the crystals.

A sound halfway between a purr and a delighted neigh bubbled up from her throat.

“You want it?” he teased, holding one crystal between his fingers.

“Hungry,” came the reply through the bond, accompanied by an image of fire blooming, consuming, satiating.

He chuckled and tossed the shard into the air.

In a flash of movement that left a streak of white-blue across his vision, Ember chomped the crystal mid-air.

A loud crack! rang out as her teeth crushed the SulFire with ease. Ember gave a delighted groan, an almost comedic, muffled sound as her tiny mouth worked through the burning mineral.

Albedo’s eyes widened at how easily she chomped down on the crystals. Even he himself wouldn’t have an easy time crushing those, yet she did it effortlessly just to eat, showing off her chomping strength.

That got him curious to check the description of her race from the system.

[ Solaris Equine – An ancient celestial lineage of flame steeds once considered an Apex Predator of the Magical Era. Forged between the crucible of twins suns and forbidden moons, bathed in both moonlight and fire, they wield the white-blue flames of eclipse. Despite their graceful appearance, they were monstrous entities of unmatched physical prowess, boasting strength rivaling ancient creatures like ThunderClap Bears and Black Abyssal Dragons. Their flames are corrosive and destructive, destroying the fiercest armor. ]

Albedo wondered how such a powerful race could be lost to time, but didn’t think of it too much as he saw her eating, her flames flickering more intensely across her body after having a nice meal.

Blue veins of light pulsed under her fur, traveling along her body like glowing rivers of energy. Her small hooves sparked with each playful stomp, the mana in the room shifting subtly in reverence.

She quickly devoured two more shards with growing enthusiasm, each bite punctuated by a satisfied growl through the link.

“Alright, alright,” Albedo said, waving off her eagerness, “Save some room for training.”

An hour later, Albedo was inside the private training room provided to him as a Myth-Class student.

The room was massive, a rectangular chamber with reinforced obsidian walls etched with countless suppression and monitoring runes.

Dummies stood at the far end, made of enchanted stone and layered in beast-hide armor to simulate real combat. A central ring marked the mana convergence zone, amplifying spells slightly for testing purposes.

Ember stepped onto the ring, hooves clinking against stone, her body humming with quiet intensity.

Albedo stood at the edge and folded his arms, “Alright, Ember. Show me what you can do.”

The filly blinked at him, head tilting slightly, before her flames surged upward in response.

The gentle white-blue fire that had danced along her back moments ago now erupted outward like a living tide. Her mane flared upward like a crown and she focused on a single target, a reinforced training dummy at the far end.

With a low, sharp whinny, Ember vanished in a blink of blue flame.

Teleportation? Albedo’s eyes widened just as she reappeared in front of the dummy, barely leaving an afterimage. Her hooves kicked off the ground, and her mouth opened, a swirling vortex of flame forming at her throat.

Then,

~FWOOOSH!!~

A spiraling torrent of white-blue fire erupted from her mouth and engulfed the dummy entirely. At first, it seemed like normal flame, albeit intense, but within seconds, it became apparent that something was wrong.

Or rather… too effective.

The flames clung unnaturally to the stone and armor. Not just burning, but burrowing, swarming into cracks, and emitting a high-pitched hiss as steam and corrosive smoke rose.

Albedo narrowed his eyes, “It’s not normal fire… It’s corroding from the inside out.”

Indeed, the dummy’s inner runes failed almost instantly. The enchanted armor cracked like overcooked porcelain. The flames seemed alive, moving with a predator’s purpose, seeking weak points and exploiting them with vicious glee.

In less than ten seconds, the dummy collapsed into a pile of charred rubble and melted steel.

“…Yeah. You’re definitely Silver Rank,” Albedo muttered.

A Beast with a Corrosive Flame, Spacial Manipulation and intense physical strength. It was essentially a perfect partner for Albedo, and she was cute.

Ember pranced back over to him, flames returning to their gentle flicker. She nudged his leg with her head, still radiating the joy of combat like a child showing off their art project.

“Let’s test some more things.”

Albedo muttered, wanting to see just what the limits of Ember’s powers were.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep