The Beginning Of The Ruler
Chapter 16: That Rock?

"Hey, White! Hurry along! We're gonna be late!"

"YAGGHHHH!! Thania! Just stop! I surrender! I SURRENDER!" I'm yelling.

Thania finally came down from me, releasing the leg lock that she held tightly.

"Can't there be a gentler way to wake me up, Thania?" I grumbled, massaging the feeling back into my feet.

"It's getting harder to wake you up in the morning! I have to do something, right? Besides, you should be thankful that such a beautiful woman wakes you up every morning." He blinked his eyes at me.

"I found the waiter here quite pretty, thank you very much." I muttered slowly.

He must have heard because it pinched me to the side.

Where did the shy Thania who was too afraid to sleep alone in the tent go; the sweet Thania who asked me not to go? Bring him back! I like it better!.

Something I realized in the three years I lived in Elanoir was that elves woke up much earlier than humans. While the average age of a human was around thirteen, elves woke up around the age of ten.

Thania awoke quickly, even to an elf. It happened last year and he woke up hard. It wasn't as big as when I first woke up but he managed to destroy his room upstairs, crashed, and made a small crater from the explosion in the kitchen just below. Since then, she joined me in training with Grandpa. All I can say is, since waking up, he has become much more confident and courageous, in a way worse than good. She knew how strong my body was so she did not hesitate to use me as her sandbag as she tried out new spells she learned from Grandpa Victor and the other witch teachers. What he didn't seem to get after all my cries was that I still felt an unlucky pain!

For me, today was a very special day because, after three years, I was finally able to complete the assimilation of mana into my body. It was almost my birthday, so when Tess was nine a few months ago, I would finally be eight. During this time, I was not allowed to absorb anything from my surroundings and was only allowed to use my innate mana formed from my mana core to spread it into my body. Today is the last step that happens after the beast tamer completes its assimilation.

I skipped the bath and changed into a neater outfit, tucking stones, into my robe before heading to the courtyard with Thania.

"Wake up now, White? How did your wife wake you today? Haha!" Grandpa Victor pondered as he sipped his tea on the small table outside.

"Ugh, wife? Over where? I didn't know you could marry a demon. You turned him into a monster, Grandpa," I said.

Fortunately Thania could not hear as she came out a moment later.

"She'll grow up to be a good woman, White. Better get rid of him before it's too late" He chuckled, raising his teacup to a toast.

Thania only blushed to hear it and nudged by my side.

"ASHER!" Wh why? What the hell am I doing?

"Haha! Whites! Are you ready? Today is finally the day. After this, you will become a true beast tamer, unlike lucky adventurers who only have the will of animals," he emphasized, arms crossed.

I gave her a firm nod while Thania headed to the table that grandfather was sitting at to watch.

It's not a ceremony. All of that consisted of Grandfather exerting a large amount of mana into my core. It will trigger a huge wave of which one I should aim and spread to my body.

"Do you remember the basic phase of beast tamer, White?" she asked.

I recited the basics Grandpa Victor had pounded into me these past few years. "All, the Beast Tamers had a different number of shapes that they could desire from their bodies. The number of forms depended on the Beast's will power remaining at the mana core. The first phase, which all Beast Tamers possessed, was Acquiring In this phase, Tamers could utilize a fraction of the innate abilities their beasts possessed. The second stage was Integrating, where Tamer's body was fully infused with the Beast's will, allowing far better control over their beast's innate abilities."

"Really! The phases that beast tamers could open showed how much they could utilize the will of their Wild Animals. The stronger the beast was, the harder it was, but at the same time, if the tamer could not gain insight, then it was also impossible to pass the first phase. One thing to note, however, is that, not always the Integration stage is stronger than Acquire. The Acquire phase makes use of the specific innate abilities of your beast as Integration is a far more all-encompassing force using your beast will," he reminded, his face was extremely serious.

"While I didn't tell you before, now that you're going to become a true Beast Tamer, you should know is the difference in how Beast Tamer's will is obtained. If the beast is killed and its mana core is extracted with its power. Will remain intact, a magician can absorb the will and try to gain insight. That witch would be considered a fake Tamer. While it is much easier and easier to become a fake Tamer, the chances of gaining insights are extremely rare and limited. One of the reasons why it took me so long to break through to the second phase was because I was a fake Tamer. I consider myself lucky to even be able to break through to the second stage. White, you are one of them. a very rare inheritance tamer; where the beast willingly gives his will to you."

Continuing, he explained, "White, my first phase didn't really make me any faster, but I was able to erase a bit of my presence and immerse myself into the shadows. You haven't seen my second phase, have you? Take a good look. It took me over ten years to make a breakthrough to this phase."

Feeling the strong mana waves around his body, inevitably I was horrified. Suddenly, the mana around his body seeped back into him and my eyes widened.

Grandpa's skin turned pitch black. Even the whites of her eyes turned black while her irises became sharp and yellow. His white hair that was tied up became untied and was also shiny black. The aura surrounding him made me shudder and take a step back.

"This is the Integration phase. I'll sneak up behind you. Notice," he growled, his voice far more hoarse than before.

Would it really sneak if she told me. .. is what I was thinking when she disappeared from my sight. I could not feel his presence at all but I when I looked behind me as instructed, his finger was already stuck to my neck as he looked at me with his shining yellow eyes.

Quick.

It looked like instant teleportation but I knew it wasn't due to a slippage from his starting position. It was a speed that even I couldn't keep up with. Not even close. No. gabe. The scary part wasn't even his insane speed. It was his lack of presence. Even right behind me, I couldn't feel where he was.

She returned to normal, her face slightly flushed red as Thania started clapping as if this was a show.

"Well! Using that form always costs me. After training with him for decades, I was able to maintain that form for less than an hour. During my Acquire phase, I only channeled a small portion of my beast will and I was able to borrow the speed and laziness from the Shadow Panther. However, with my Integration phase, not only did my speed and stealth increase, so did my senses to follow suit."

I nodded in agreement.

"Good! Let's start the ceremony" he replied, clenching his hands together.

We stood face-to-face, separated only by one arm. Thania is now leaning forward in excitement, as we are about to begin.

"Leave anywhere you go out freely. Don't try to control anything. I will restrain you if necessary so it is very important for you to remain calm and awaken to which particles you have assimilated all this time," he instructed .

After nodding in response, he then began exerting mana into my core, flooding my core with mana along with mine.

Instantly, I began to feel a warm sensation, like a gust of hot air flowing in and out of my pores.

*Detonation*

As I felt my body reach its limit, a loud explosion shocked me from my concentration, only for me to see Grandpa being thrown backwards and Thania falling into her seat and also rolling backwards.

An unbearable pain immediately surged from my body, as if my skeleton was trying to crawl out of my skin. Without the strength to shout, my gaze darkened. I welcome the darkness because I know it will relieve me of my pain.

Waking up back in my bed, I sat down feeling refreshed. Sitting by my side, putting her head on my feet is Thania. Seeing him sleep like this, it reminded me of the time I drove him home after saving him from the slave merchant.

"How do you feel, boy?" His lips curled up in half a grin.

"I should have asked you that, Grandpa. I saw you sent flying; even Thania was beaten back."

He just laughed in embarrassment. "I have to admit I didn't expect that much power. I know you might have a good reason not to tell me what animal gave you his will, but I'll ask you one more time. What beast gave you his will?"

Scenes of my time with Silvana flashed through my mind, one of which was that she told me not to tell anyone that I had met her. However, Victor may be the only person I can truly trust, and he deserves to know. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be alive.

"…Well, using his own wool, that is what we call a dragon who has given up his will to me."

A thick silence filled the room as Victor's face froze in the same expression he had when I told him. He started muttering to himself, the only words I could understand were 'maybe' and 'never happened'.

"N-Dragon ..." he managed to exhale, his eyes staring blankly at me.

"Dear lord. In my life, I never thought I could see the birth of a dragon tamer.A-I even trained it! HAHAAHA! Dragon Tamer !"

Thania wakes up from the now senile Virion and looks at her, confused.

He suddenly grabbed both of my shoulders and looked at me closely. "You were right in keeping this a secret. Don't tell anyone else. This power of yours must be kept secret until you have the power to protect yourself and those around you."

"I'm starting to believe that more, Grandpa," I replied seriously.

"Good! Although I want to know the whole story, but I am more than satisfied with what you told me for now." He smiled back.

"What's Grandpa? What did White tell you? Uu.. unfair, keep secrets from me." Thania started to frown at this moment.

“Hahaha, you will know when the time is right, little one. Whites! I have some good news. The teleportation gate that was supposed to open in two years would open early. There is a tournament to be held in the city of Cyrus in four months. This tournament will be a very important event for the future as both dwarves and elves send youth as representatives for the tournament and as preliminary students to your human academy. During the tournament, we were able to smuggle you back to Xafir unbeknownst to humans back then," Grandfather exclaimed with a smile on his sharp face.

"Creally Grandpa? Can I go home soon?" I shot from the bed.

I finally get to see my parents again! I had sent messages to my parents occasionally through Elder Rania but after seeing them through the water divination technique, I was unable to see them anymore.

"You're leaving soon, White?" Thania asked, her face disappointed.

"Yes. I need to see my family soon. But don't worry! I'll visit you again! And maybe you can come visit me at Xafir!" I said, hoping to cheer him up.

"We still have four months, White! Until the day the teleportation gate opens, I hope you train harder than before, boy! Your mana's core hasn't developed at all over the past three years of assimilation that you have to do."

"Don't focus on just training your beast's will. It should only be used as a trump card. Understood?"

He's correct. Although I have not activated even the Acquiring phase of my dragon will, I know that using it will only bring unwanted attention. I shouldn't have used my beast will if possible.

Continuing, Grandpa slapped me on the back and said, "Now! Take a shower and rest. You smell something rotten, boy. Little boy, leave White alone so she can recover."

I saw that Thania was still visibly distressed by the news of my sudden departure. Growing up and living with her for three years has given us a very close bond with siblings and when she was just nine years old, she said, the fact that she's already shown signs of developing into a beautiful woman makes me feel a little sorry that I won't be here with her when she grows up.

"Thaniah! Spirit huh? I still have a few months left and even after I leave, it won't be permanent. I hope you can one day come and meet my parents too." I gave him a sincere hug.

"eeep! Wh-what are you?" I could almost see the steam coming out of his head as he became a dead red. Suddenly, he pushed me and ran out.

"ah! The youth! Haha, sleep well, boy!" he chuckled, shaking his head while closing the door behind him.

Has Tess passed puberty?

I jumped back into bed, feeling too lazy to take a shower right now.

"I'll lie down for a while and take a shower." I muttered loudly.

*Switch**Switch*

I wonder if it's windy tonight. I don't usually hear the rustling of leaves.

*printing*

Okay ... That's an unusual sound

I sat down to look around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.

*print***Break*

I turned my gaze to where I left my robe on the chair.

"Kyu~" "Kyu~"

Kyu's?

My robe makes a "Kyu~?" sound?" My brows furrowed as I tried to judge what was happening.

*crack! * "Kyu~!"

That rock!.

...----2.223 Word----...