The dining hall of Serenum Prestige was not merely a room. The ceiling vaulted upward, lost in shadows, while the walls were lined with tapestries depicting legendary tamers' victories.
It was just Sereneum's aesthetic. Serenum had conceived a tradition of celebrating the prodigies, every goddamn legendary breakthrough and record.
You slay a high Gold Rank beast, your name is etched in the hall of fame. You make a grand discovery, your story will be told for generations. And that was the city's choice of art. No argument.
Every scrape of silver against porcelain was hushed, every movement of a napkin was a choreography of class. It felt cold, pristine, and entirely alien to a boy who had spent his entire life dining in a poorly lit house with no pristine etiquette whatsoever.
Elio found himself muttering "Even the way they eat is fancy," scanning his entire environment with frightened eyes.
Gaelius led Elio to a secluded table near a towering pillar. You'd think Elio was the oddball, but Gaelius was the one who stood out like a sore finger.
Of the entire feasting population, he was the only adult seated by a dining table, but nobody dared to comment on his presence here, though their gazes lingered.
Really, who is this guy?
The meal appeared before them as if summoned: roasted meat that glistened with savory juices, grains seasoned with aromatic spices Elio couldn't name, and loaves of bread still steaming in the basket.
Elio stared for long moments, restraining the obvious impulse to dig in like a ravenous beast.
Gaelius of course gave the necessary nudge, joking he'd finish the entire meal if the boy kept staring.
Elio didn't wait for another signal. His discipline, such as it was, shattered instantly. He tore into the food with a desperate intensity, his hunger overriding his manners and the feeling that others were pinning their sight on him.
He also didn't see the way Gaelius watched him, not with judgment, but with a quiet pity that bordered on something far heavier.
"You eat like a wolf, Elio," Gaelius remarked, his voice low and teasing. "Perhaps even hungrier."
Elio stopped, a piece of bread halfway to his mouth, his face flushing. He felt the sting of embarrassment, but the ache in his stomach was stronger. He forced himself to slow down, to chew with a semblance of human dignity.
Right in the middle of the sweet meal, a sharp laugh sliced through the hushed air of the hall, cutting through the sophisticated clinks of cutlery.
"Look, isn't that the 'Lantern Boy'?"
The voice belonged to a boy three tables over, surrounded by a small clique of students who leaned in to look.
"The one who contracted the Bloat Lizard at the Ceremony?"
"Yes. Look at him, sitting with Sir Gaelius like he actually belongs here. How pathetic."
The pitch of the last speaker, Julian (the blonde noble from the ceremony), was unintentionally high, and had managed to reach multiple ears.
The room seemed to drop in temperature. At the sound of the man's name, the snickering stopped instantly, strangled in their throats. Julian paled, his eyes darting to Gaelius before he buried his nose in his plate, his hands trembling as he gripped his fork tightly.
Gaelius didn't turn around. He didn't need to. He simply looked at Elio, whose head was bowed so low his chin pressed against his chest, his shoulders shaking with a mixture of rage and shame.
"Finish your food." Gaelius simply said, not intending to ruin the boy's moment.
Elio's throat felt like it was filled with desert sand. He didn't look up. The delicacy he was downing suddenly felt like piles of brick. He ultimately dropped the already shaking cutlery in his hands, losing his once ferocious appetite.
Gaelius heaved a long sigh before asking; "Is it true?"
Silence, one that stretched for too long.
"Ye-yes. He was at the ceremony. I got a…" Elio stuttered before raising his head to look directly into the adult's eye.
"A Bloat Lizard," he whispered, the very words he wished he wouldn't be using after that one big event.
In that moment, it finally dawned on Gaelius. When he looked into the kid's eyes, he saw the true anguish embedded in the tiny orbs, the scenarios that those orbs had lived through.
Elio's composure finally fractured. The secret, the shame, and the crushing weight of the ceremony spilled out. He told him everything—the gray egg, the mockery, his melancholic trip in the capital city, the cold realization that he was fated to remain Iron Rank until the day he died. He spoke of the fire, though he kept the shadows and the Wyrmling buried deep behind his teeth, guarded by layers of fear.
And yes, he didn't mention the system. He couldn't mention something he didn't understand or would outright seem preposterous.
Gaelius however listened to the lamentations of a grief-stricken boy, his expression shifting from curiosity to a hollowed-out, profound sorrow.
When Elio finished, the silence between them was thick with the weight of a shattered life.
"I am sorry," Gaelius whispered.
That was the regret of a man who realized he had only just scratched the surface of a boy's trauma.
"I see now why you were so guarded. The world has not been kind to you, Elio."
Gaelius didn't try to question the boy further, his interaction with the kid changed immediately—occasionally trying to lighten the mood with funny tamers' stories.
After the dining rendezvous, Gaelius ensured to give a proper tour with whimsical narrations that yielded considerable positive results.
Elio's mood had quite improved, and the system had confirmed that with the strange stability message. Now, the odd duo were standing before a tall building with an atmosphere that contrasted other parts of the academy.
Here, only few students passed, and even these ones were strangely upright, as if any mistake would cost them their lives.
Well, that was partially true.
"Elio, welcome to the Administration Building. Are you ready to fully become a Serenum Prestige Academy student"?
Elio gawked at the towering building for a moment, then shifted his gaze to Gaelius. His parents' face briefly appeared in his head, and with a final resolve, he nodded.
"This is what they'd want".
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of bureaucracy and cold, gray corridors. Gaelius moved with an authority that brooked no argument, guiding Elio through the labyrinthine registration process. He stood as a guardian, ensuring the boy received his uniforms, identification emblem (IE), a dorm assignment, and all other necessary supplies. Most officials who met Gaelius's gaze suddenly became incredibly efficient.
When it was all over, Elio stood before the entrance of the Administration Building, clutching the bag containing his essentials.
"It still feels like a dream. How I was in trouble and woke up in my supposed dreamland," Elio said, holding the bag tightly with a mask of expression you couldn't tell.
"What matters now is that you're here. This is what you said they want, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"I know you still feel like you've disappointed them, that you can't amount to anything with your beast, but believe me when I say it's not the end of the world. You're still full of potential. Go for it. Make them proud".
Elio nodded with a small smile, although he was sure the man was only trying to soothe him. He knew there was no path for him with that swollen thing. No one had ever succeeded with it.
Albeit, he was determined to fulfill his lost ones' wishes, even if it meant going out of his way to rise.
"I can't thank you enough, sir. I don't know where to start. Today, luck decided to be with me, and it came in human form. You, sir. Thank you".
Gaelius chuckled at the boy's fine choice of words and knelt to his eye level, patting the boy and saying "I really meant what I said. If you need anything, let me know. The world is too small for a boy like you to suffer."
"It'd really be nice if I knew you, sir. I saw the way most reacted when they saw you. You must be a notable figure. I'd like to know you, sir".
Gaelius chuckled yet again. "You'll know me soon enough."
And with that, he bid his farewell, apologizing that he wouldn't be able to escort Elio to his dorm, but would give directives.
Gaelius turned towards the building, taking two steps before a familiar figure stepped out of the shadows.
It was the senior administrator, the one who finalized Elio's registration processes.
"Is that the one they found in the city?" the administrator asked, his eyes narrow as he watched Elio disappear into the school's yard.
Gaelius watched the boy go, his gaze lingering for a moment too long. "Yes. But it is not what we thought. The boy is just a victim of a series of tragedies."
The administrator sighed, stroking his smooth chin, "Poor thing. But his tragedy is only beginning as a Bloat tamer".