"Skarion Zentara!"
The first name boomed through the hall and the wall projected the words as well, showing it in luminous white script.
Whispers started immediately as heads turned once more at the direction of the boy with the black egg. David watched just like everyone else as Skarion strode forward, unhurried.
"Did you know that he was gifted that Egg by a Sector's governor?"
"I heard that too."
"What Sector is that? Maybe I could go there since they're giving away Black Eggs for free."
"For free? Do you know what he did? He saved the governor's daughter from a Volcanic Boar!"
"I heard he jumped into a Dragon's belly and carved it open to get her out."
"Liar! You just made that up!"
"Did not!"
David overheard the chapter, watching as Skarion reached the Ascension Pad— a raised platform etched with swirling circuit patterns —and gently placed his Egg in the Pad's socket.
'How come I didn't transmigrate into his body?'
Skarion pressed his hand to the sync port and a mechanical humming sound filled the air. Everyone's focus was fixed at the display on the center stage.
It was not often one saw the hatching of a Black-Rank Beast, they were the rarest in the planet, which was why they were all excited to witness this.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened, until someone opened their mouth to jest about the beast rejecting Skarion. Before the words could land, a sharp crack, like a gunshot, split the air as the egg fractured.
'Whoa!"
Everyone leaned in to see.
From the shattering shell, what appeared to be a feathered wing emerged first, then, the rest of its body— around the size of a cat —followed.
It was a bird type beast. Its body was as black as obsidian, and the wings were large and glorious. It had talons that curled slightly at the edges, glistening sharply, the metallic feathers reflected the light of the room while its eyes were as black as its own metal skin.
But the most interesting of its features was the beak.
It was immaculate, sharp and argent colored, gleaming with a cool, metallic sheen.
"A Silverbeak!"
Whispers of amazement filled the ceremony hall. Silverbeaks were evolved raven beasts with powers of umbrage manipulation, dark light manipulation and aerial excellence.
Rather than a Shadow Fiend Raven, their more common name, the Silverbeaks was given to them for their most standout feature, the powerful silver coated beak on their face said to be as hard as diamond.
Only two other Silverbeaks have been recorded since they were Black Rank Beasts, making this Hatching an even more unbelievable thing to witness.
"Skarion Zentara has hatched a Shadow Fiend Raven!"
More whispers wasped around the room. Skarion rose without fanfare, cradling the beast against his forearm as if it were made of glass.The Silverbeak curled itself around him, metallic wings folding to a makeshift shell.
Without glancing at the audience, he walked offstage through a shimmering silver arch, disappearing into the New tamer's Wing.
As Skarion's silhouette faded through the arch, David heard someone say, "They want us to follow that? No way."
He looked down at his own Egg and clutched it tighter.
'Why do I care about this anyway?' he thought, looking down at the egg. 'This guy's memories have already started messing with my emotions.'
The next name was called and it appeared to be a popular one amongst the Aspirants.
"Princess Jessamine Mordess!"
David frowned. 'Princess?'
From the crowd, a red haired girl in an expensive high-end white and silver form-fitting suit, a red cape with fur, and armored metallic boots stepped forward.
She had a diplomatic smile on her face that made it clear that she was better than everyone else here, and cradled in her arms was a black colored egg.
"Black!"
"Hold on. Princess Jessamine was here?"
Jessamine, daughter of the governor of Sector Five, strode to the elevated stage where the Ascension Pad waited, proudly holding her Black Egg that she had purposefully hid just so she could get this reaction.
"I can't believe she had a Black Egg too. I thought it would just be that Skarion guy."
"Hah! What did you expect? She's the daughter of a governor! Most of the nobles are already licensed around now. She's one of the younger ones."
"Let's see what beast she hatches."
Jessamine placed her Egg on the pad socket and stepped back while the entire hall was soaked in anticipation.
With a Black Egg like hers, mythical potential was assured, but there were still varying levels in each potential.
Skarion's Silverbeak— after its required growth —would stop at a Level 3 Black Rank, as that was its peak inside the rank.
Other Blank Rank Beasts such as the Storm Leviathian and Lightning Dragon, reached Level 5 of the Black Rank, and the Iron Colossus and Antwark Monarch, had a limit of Level 1 Black Rank.
It was like this for all Ranks, five different Levels in each of them, a hierarchy of power within each class.
This presented a dilemma that all Aspirants had to deal with: Even though one purchased the same Rank of Egg as another, with the same amount of credits, the level within the Rank that the beast would reach was entirely spontaneous. Leaving some with stronger beasts even though they were in the same Rank.
…Even though they spent the same amount of credits.
Beast Eggs came with a magical protective layer that stopped anyone from being able to decipher what beast was inside. The only way one would know was if they had watched the Egg being laid by its parent.
Many wealthy and skilled individuals had tried to find ways to bypass it, but had always ended up unsuccessful.
So, even powerful nobles like Jessamine Mordess, had to wait— frustratingly so —for the Hatching Ceremony to find out what her beast was, right before everyone.
David found himself entertained by these newfound information that offered background knowledge to the otherwise overwhelming scenes before him.
However, there was an issue.
It had been almost a minute now and Jessamine's Egg was yet to hatch.
Everyone started murmuring.
Jessamine was getting frustrated, an emotion she preferred to fear, and just when she was about to yell at the Egg to 'hatch for crying out loud!', a crack formed from its peak then spiderwebbed through the obsidian metal surface.
Her eyes widened and everyone stretched their necks to see. Then the Egg burst open and the beast within it came out.
It was around the size of her own head and had three, short, stubby necks with underdeveloped heads— each bearing a single glowing eye.
It had a segmented tail and on its back were heat vents pushing out tiny puffs of smoke, while the entire body radiated a low, constant heat. All three heads tilted to its sides as it gazed at Jessamine. She, on the other hand, had an elated grin on her face.
"Are you all seeing what I'm seeing?"
"It's an Ashmaw!"
"Don't call it that. Call it what it really is; a Volcan Hydra!"
"I thought those things were extinct!"
"They were! We haven't seen one in 300 years!"
David, with the information he now had, understood the gravity of the situation. He was just as surprised as everyone else, even though he'd lived in this world for all of twenty minutes.
But, it was difficult not to be shocked, considering the announcer himself was also surprised.
"Princess Jessamine Mordess has hatched a Volcan Hydra!"
Another round of whispers followed as the noble girl proudly picked her Mechbeast and went through the shimmering arch, joining Skarion Zentara in the New tamer's Wing.
Silence filled the hall immediately after as the announcer returned his gaze to the Aspirants, their expressions filled with anticipation for who would be called next.
"Jakk Quaid!"
Like that, the Aspirants were called one after the other to step forward and attempt to bond with their beasts and hatch their Eggs.
Amongst the next set of people that were called, who all had Platinum Eggs, three had stood out to David.
A girl named Padva Darlstarc had hatched a Doomsday Panther, commonly known as a Deathclaw. They were bound to reach Level 4 Platinum Rank, some even claimed there were instances where Deathclaws leveled up higher.
Padva had been quiet and straightforward with her hatching. Once she was done, she picked up the cub and entered the arc.
The other two were Kekius Dreamlake and Aerci Spearlight, who had hatched a Thinkerback (Brain Turtle) and a Skyrazor (Sonic Falcon) respectively.
The other six successfully hatched theirs but one of them had failed to hatch his Egg, leaving the Ascension Pad in wails.
The next set of names continued, and when a Gold Egg holder stepped forward, David realized that they were calling names based on Egg hierarchy.
Essentially, they didn't want those with higher ranked Eggs to have to stand, waiting for their turns. Bronze Ranks and him, the only Gray Rank was more deserving of that chore.
The Gold Ranks finished, most had been successful, a handful— four —had failed.
David watched them leave, wondering if he was better off failing the ceremony than hatching a Gray Ranked Beast.
The Silvers followed. Because of their number, a good amount had failed, but most successfully hatched their beast, joining the victors in the New tamers' Wing.
The Bronzes went next, and almost all came out successful, leaving the ceremony hall empty, save for one Aspirant and the failed tamers.
The announcer raised his brow at the sight of David standing there, clutching an egg halfheartedly. "You," he called him. "Have I not called your name?"
David jerked back a little, frightened by the thunder in the man's voice. Then, he slumped his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure you haven't, Mr. Announcer sir."
The man grunted. "The last name was Freddon Jafter. That's not you?"
"No. That was the boy that just left now."
"So how are you here? The list of Bronze Egg holders is finished."
David creased his brow. 'Is he blind?' He hoisted his egg. "Check the next list! My Egg is Gray!"
The man suddenly frowned, narrowing his eyes at the metallic gray colored egg raised in the boy's hands, and then looking at the list of names in his holographic screen.
"A Gray Rank Egg?" he muttered like it was the most absurd thing ever. "Why would you… Gray Ranks are much too weak to be considered for taming or combat. But…" he placed a thinking hand on his jaw, "there are no rules against it. And he does have a slight chance of hatching a Gearbite Spider."
He raised his gaze to David. "Very well then, Jethro Merrick! Step forward and Hatch your Egg."
David's heart sank. Why had he reminded the man? Somehow, he'd grown invested in this bizarre ritual without realizing it.
He headed towards the Ascension Pad, hearing one of the failed Aspirants give, "Just a waste of time, really. I rather fail and try again in the next ceremony than hatch a Gray Egg."
David pretended not to hear and made his way to the raised platform.
Moments ago, when that information had rushed into his mind, he'd gotten access to Jethro's reasoning.
With Black Eggs, just like other Egg Ranks, there was a high probability to hatch beasts with Level 2-4 potential and low probability to hatch beasts in Levels 1 and 5.
The Gearbite Spider was a Level 5 Gray Rank, almost as powerful as a Level 1 Bronze Rank. But Jethro knew it would be unrealistic to hope for it, considering the odds.
So, he prayed for a Light Beetle or a Spiked Mole, both were Level 3 Gray Rank. In fact, he wouldn't mind a Mace-tailed Rat which was Level 2 or a Venom Starfish of the same Level.
Anything but a Level 1.
That would mean utter worthlessness.
David found himself sharing this idealism as he placed the Egg on the Ascension Pad, pressing his palm into the sync port after.
Amongst the Level 1's were Mechbeasts that barely had powers of whatever kind, offering no functional use.
There was the Breeze Tick that sent out of a puff of air when it sneezed, the Dustmite Roach that only squeaked, Bubble Frogs that swelled and exploded when startled, and Red Lizards that only nodded its head continuously and ate insects.
At least a Mace-tailed Rat had a weapon, and a Venom Starfish could paralyze people with one touch. And they were just one Level higher.
Crack!
The Egg splintered. The announcer tilted his head. "Look at that, a hatching set at record time. The beast must really like you."
David stared at the egg, watching the crack extend through its gray metal body.
'Please. Please. Not a Level 1. Anything but a Level 1!'
The Egg finally shattered open, and his beast was revealed.
Once he got a good look at the creature, David froze.
The announcer shook his head, as if to say he knew this would happen, and declared to the few left in the hall,
"Jethro Merrick has hatched a Red Lizard!"