This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

The fox shaped 'scar' on Ferrin where the array previously was located, was similar in appearance to the tattoos that would spontaneously manifest on the bodies of those from the nomadic tribes south of the Empire. The only difference was the colour, a tattoo for a dark-attribute fox should be much darker in colour.

Thankfully, there was a special ink to create tattoos indistinguishable from those that naturally manifest among the southerners. Apparently, it was developed when the relationship between the tribes and the empire was at its worse and they needed to send over spies that could blend in.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Now they could reap the benefits of their ancestors.

Serena tattooed over the white fox using black ink, and they decided that their cover-story would be that Ferrin had spontaneously manifested the tattoo at a late age to become a beast-tamer.

While the story was improbable, it was not impossible and was definitely a lot more likely in most people's books than what actually happened.

After everything was settled, Ferrin was snuck back out of the college, and he'd have no intersection with Kain and the others until the scheduled check-up in a month.

Instead, Kain and Serena's attention turned to Gabriel. They had shown that this method worked, and Kain didn't detect any dangers during the process, meaning that it should be safe for Gabriel.

However, they still needed to ask Gabriel for his opinion. After all, this method of becoming a beast-tamer still has some known, and possibly still unknown, shortcomings. Perhaps Gabriel would want to try his luck with becoming a traditional beast-tamer.

Additionally, even if Gabriel did elect to use this method, they could do it right away. They should still watch Ferrin for any changes for at least another month.

Therefore, there was still some time before Gabriel had to decide if he wanted to remain confined to a laboratory in the slim hope that he'd awaken an affinity normally, or regain his freedom now using an alternative contract that had some disadvantages.

At the same time, Kain mind also began to stir at the prospect of what the success of this experiment meant.

Gabriel was young, so more thought needed to be put into whether this path was suitable for him or not.

However, there were still many individuals, approximately two-thirds of the Empire, that had already had the door to being a traditional beast-tamer shut to them—Pangaea and Kain would be their only option. And many would give anything to undergo the procedure.

Perhaps he could put building his own force, one loyal only to him, on the agenda. Of course, though he'd need to spend more time studying Ferrin and gauging the strength and potential of those who become beast-tamers using this method.

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Time passed and over the next couple of months, in addition to the scheduled visit with Ferrin—where both he and the fox, now named Nyx, were developing well together—Kain and Serena's lives returned to normal as they attended their classes.

However, strangely both of them were spending only a fraction of the time of the other students actually in their classes.

That was because the Black Missions which were supposed to be extremely rare, were suddenly being assigned to the both of them at a high frequency.

In just two months, Kain and Serena received 2 Black Missions together.

The first was to assassinate and obtain the information from a high-level member of the parliament who had defected to a nation hostile to the Empire and was attempting to escape across the border with classified materials.

While the other joint mission was to obtain proof of a high-ranking noble family suspected of secretly funding a terrorist organization's anti-Empire activities. The leader of this family was an 8-star beast-tamer, but thankfully they were not required to eliminate him, only to collect evidence.

Kain also obtained a solo mission in which he was required to infiltrate an underground auction house known for selling and trafficking forbidden items. There had been news that an evil artifact capable of discretely of absorbing the lifespan of a selected target to enhance its own power, was being auctioned. Kain simply needed to retrieve it before it was sold. While tedious, the mission hadn't been that dangerous.

He didn't know if Serena also received any solo missions, but combined they'd likely completed more Black Missions in a couple of months than all the Black Missions that would be received by the rest of the school in a year.

Kain and Serena were confused by the sudden influx of Black Missions assigned just to them, but perhaps their questions were about to be answered…

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One day, both Kain and Serena were called to the office of the Vice Chancellor of the College—an 8-star beast-tamer only below the 9-star Chancellor.

The two of them ascended the marble stairs leading to the imposing double doors of the Vice Chancellor's office. The air here seemed heavier, almost saturated with spiritual energy. Likely due to arrays gathering spiritual energy to this office.

Kain could also sense faint barriers layered over the structure—meant to keep prying eyes and ears away.

A secretary, her face emotionless, led them through a grand hallway to the Vice Chancellor's door and knocked.

"Enter," a deep voice resonated from within.

The doors opened smoothly, revealing the office of Vice Chancellor Darrow. The man himself stood at the far end of the room, his broad frame backlit by the light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Despite his age, Vice Chancellor Darrow radiated an intimidating presence. His dark blue suite trimmed with silver shifted slightly as he turned to face them, his powerful gaze pinning Kain and Serena in place.

"Sit."

Neither of them hesitated, taking their seats in the wooden chairs opposite his massive desk. Kain kept his expression calm, though inwardly his mind raced through all the possible reasons for this meeting.

Vice Chancellor Darrow's steely gray eyes moved from Kain to Serena before he finally spoke. "You've both been assigned an unusual number of Black Missions recently. I assume you've noticed."

Experience tales at empire

Serena, sitting straighter, nodded. "We have, Vice Chancellor. But we assumed there was a reason."

"There is," Darrow said simply, folding his arms behind his back. "And you two may now be privy to it since you've passed the tests given to you."