Those words echoed in Wild's mind again and again until they finally settled deep into him.
"I have a chance...?" he asked softly, as if he still could not believe he had heard it right.
"Everybody has a chance here, Wild. But not everybody can take that chance and turn it into reality." The Dean stood up and walked away from his desk, his eyes drifting toward the window and the magnificent city beyond it, a city he still remembered from the days when it had been nothing more than a few huts. "Can you?" He turned toward Wild, his eyes impossible to read, though the smile on his face looked strangely gentle.
"Yes, sir. No matter what I must do, I'm certain I can make my chance a reality."
"Good. You will need that spirit." He flicked his fingers, and crimson spilled across the room. In the very next second, Wild opened his eyes and everything had changed. He was no longer sitting in the chair. This time, a clear blue sky stretched above him, and the smell of fresh air filled his lungs.
He looked around quickly. It was an open field, the ground dry and cracked, rocks stretching far into the distance. It looked like an arena. Round walls surrounded him, lined with rows of empty seats wide enough to host thousands of observers. Behind him towered the white marble walls of the academy building, so vast and mighty that they made him look insignificant in the bigger picture.
"How long are you going to sit there, Wild?" The Dean's voice reached him from afar. Wild turned toward the sound and finally noticed someone sitting high among the top rows of the observer seats.
"Why am I here?" Wild jumped back to his feet and shouted toward him, but the Dean only stretched out his ear as if he still could not hear a thing.
"What? You need to speak up!"
Wild did not know whether to laugh or cry at the situation. How is this related to the conditions for me joining? He sighed and filled his lungs with air.
"I said, why—am—I—here!?" he roared at the top of his lungs, but in the next second, something slapped the top of his head.
"I'm here, no need to shout."
Wild had not even noticed when the Dean appeared behind him.
"When did you—?"
"Doesn't matter. I want to see your transformation again. Summon your beast for me," the Dean said calmly, his eyes shining with reasons Wild could not understand.
Wild was taken aback by the request. It was not uncommon in an academy built around beast taming, but it still felt strange in his current situation.
Summoning a beast was not something easy without proper training. But he had read a lot about beast taming, and more importantly, how to summon a beast again after the ceremony. Now it was finally time to see whether all that reading had been worth anything.
"Yes, sir." Wild exhaled sharply, making the Dean raise an eyebrow.
Oh? He's not asking me how to do it. Seems this kid really did his homework... Unique and smart... What else are you hiding from me, hm? The Dean smiled faintly, already feeling the pressure in the air begin to shift.
Wild forced his breathing to remain steady. He already knew his transformation was likely nothing like normal summoning, but he had to try anyway. That intoxicating power he had felt before, that Netherflame Fenrir burning over his skin, still lingered in his mind and made him crave more. It made him want to grow stronger.
Remember what the book said. Guide the energy from your chest toward your fingers. Let the tension build. Then call the name of your beast in your heart. Right... so the first summon is when I'm supposed to name it... Alright. There goes nothing!
His body trembled, and the air around him shook so slightly that a normal summoner might never have noticed it. But the Dean did. His eyes narrowed at once. The very second Wild snapped his fingers at the pressure building inside him, he called out the name he had chosen for the beast in his heart.
Ashfang!
"AWWWWRRROOOOOOO!"Wild's mouth opened against his control, a savage howl tearing from his lips as beastly blue flames burst over his body and transformed him into something between human and beast. The wolf head behind him turned toward the Dean as though it were ready to defend Wild from the true monster in front of him.
"Magnificent... a beast and human... in one. This is what I needed, this is what will guarantee us a spot..." the Dean whispered a little too loudly, enough for Wild to catch it.
"What do you mean, sir?"
Coming back to himself, the Dean smiled.
"One of the conditions for you joining is showing me something that is worth my protection."
Crimson light flashed with a snap of the fingers, and a loud roar erupted to life.
"GRAAAAAOOOORRRR!"
A violent wind blasted out from behind the old man as something enormous crashed into the ground, shaking the entire arena. Then the shadow of a giant lion stepped forward, crimson flames licking across the old man's skin, yet not burning him in the slightest.
Wild took a few quick steps back at the pull of the wolf behind him. It bit into his shoulder as if warning him not to move any closer.
"Good boy, calm down... that's it." The old man patted the lion, its fur as crimson as the light that had summoned it.
"What is the meaning of this, sir?" Wild felt his whole body tense, the pressure rolling off the beast pressing down on him like a mountain.
"Meet Furball, my mythic-grade beast. I summoned him on the day of my own ceremony." The heat rose even higher as the two opposing flames hissed at each other, both beasts locking eyes without blinking.
"Wild, my other condition for joining Dragonborn Academy is simple. You will secure a place among the top five most talented summoners at the end of the year's academy gathering."
Wild's heart nearly jumped out of his chest. He had heard of the gathering before. Of course he had. Everybody knew of it. It was the grandest tournament of the year, a stage every young summoner dreamed of reaching.
"But why me?" he asked, unable to hold it back.
"Because." The old man patted the lion again, urging it to step toward Wild. "Your ability and the beast you control are exactly the kind of madness this academy needs. And if you cannot even overcome my very first beast, then I cannot allow you to set foot in that tournament. After all, if you fail to rank, you will be expelled, without a second chance..."
The lion lunged, charging at Wild with feral ferocity.