The polished marble of the Academy district gave way to cracked pavers, which eventually surrendered to packed dirt. The elegant townhouses with their mana-infused gargoyles faded into the background, replaced by the familiar, slightly leaning structures of the Lower East Ward.
This was Simon's sector. He paused at the corner of Baker Street.
Ahead stood a two-story building with a faded sign: Miller's Daily Loaf.
Technically, it wasn't his house. His parents had died in a Beast Stampede when he was four collateral damage in a skirmish between a Gold-Rank Tamer and a wild Wyvern. His Uncle Ben and Aunt May had taken him in.
Simon stopped at the door. His stomach gave a traitorous rumble. He could smell the dinner special Meat Pie with extra gravy.
He looked at his wrist, where the faint, invisible bond connected him to the Shadow Barracks.
"Unit-01," he sub-vocalized. "Stand down. Remain in stealth."
He pushed the door open. The bell above it chimed a cheerful sound that felt completely at odds with the "failure" he was supposed to be bringing home.
"Simon!"
Aunt May wiped her flour-dusted hands on her apron and rushed out from behind the counter. She was a woman built of soft curves and iron will, her hair already graying from waking up at 3:00 AM every single day for twenty years.
Uncle Ben followed, limping slightly on his bad knee a souvenir from his time in the conscript logistical corps.
They both froze. They looked at Simon. Then they looked at the empty space beside him.
"Where is it?" Aunt May asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of hope and dread. "Did you get... a Stealth Chameleon? An Invisible Stalker?"
Simon took a deep breath. He had run this simulation in his head on the walk over.
Strategy Option A: Tell the truth. "I have a necromantic system that defies the laws of nature."
Result: They commit him to an asylum.
Strategy Option B: Show confidence. "I got a skeleton, but don't worry, it's awesome."
Result: They think he's in denial and worry even more.
Strategy Option C: Operational Camouflage. Play the sad, defeated nephew so they don't ask too many questions, allowing him to work in secret.
Simon chose Option C.
"I..." Simon looked down at his boots. He let his shoulders slump. "I'm sorry."
He flicked his wrist. He didn't summon the full skeleton. He just summoned the hand.
A bony, white, skeletal hand materialized in the air, floating aimlessly. It gave a weak, disjointed wave.
"Oh," Aunt May whispered.
"It's... a bone type?" Uncle Ben asked, his voice sounding hollow.
"A Skeleton," Simon murmured. "Base level. No elemental affinity."
Aunt May let out a small, strangled sound, then immediately covered her mouth. She rushed forward and pulled Simon into a hug that smelled of cinnamon and despair.
"Oh, my sweet boy," she cried into his shoulder. "It doesn't matter. We don't care about the rank."
"We spent the renovation fund..." Uncle Ben muttered, staring at the skeletal hand which was now giving a thumbs up that nobody noticed. "The new ovens... the roof repairs..."
"Ben!" May snapped, pulling back to look at Simon's face. "Don't listen to him. We are proud of you. You are a Tamer now. That's what matters."
Simon felt a pang of genuine guilt pierce his tactical exterior.
They had gambled everything. The Elite Military Academy tuition was astronomical. They had paid it upfront, believing Simon would bond with a Wolf, a Bear, or even a Giant Beetle something that could get a job in construction or security to pay them back.
A Skeleton was unemployable. Who would hire a pile of bones to guard a warehouse? A dog could steal one of its legs.
"I'll make it up to you," Simon said, and for once, he wasn't acting. "I promise. I will make this pay off."
"We know you will," Uncle Ben said, forcing a smile that looked painful. "Come on. Dinner's ready."
The dining table was set with the "good" plates the ones with only minor chips in the porcelain. The meat pie was delicious.
Uncle Ben pushed a piece of crust around his plate. "You know, Simon... in the army, even the cooks were important. Maybe... maybe the Skeleton can learn to peel potatoes? If it has hands, it can work."
"It has hands," Simon confirmed, cutting his meat with precision.
"There you go!" Aunt May added, too brightly. "And bones are... sturdy! Maybe it can be a scarecrow? Farmers pay decent coin for mana-infused scarecrows."
They were trying so hard to lower the bar for him. They were mentally preparing him for a life of minimum wage and ridicule.
"I'm not hungry," Simon lied. He needed to get to his room. He had work to do. "I think I'm just going to go lay down."
"Take a plate with you," Aunt May insisted, piling two extra scoops of potatoes onto a tray. "You need your strength. Even... even a Skeleton tamer needs to eat."
Simon took the tray. "Thanks, Aunt May. For everything."
He walked up the creaky stairs. He could feel their eyes on his back, heavy with pity.
As soon as his bedroom door clicked shut, Simon's demeanor shifted. The slump vanished. His eyes sharpened.
He set the food tray on his desk and locked the door.
Downstairs, the candle on the table flickered.
Uncle Ben buried his face in his hands. His Beast, a fat, elderly Dough-Mole that sat on his shoulder, squeaked sadly.
"It's over, May," Ben whispered. "The tuition is non-refundable."
"We can take extra shifts," May said, though her voice was thin. "I can ask the Miller for an advance."
"It's not about the money!" Ben slammed his hand on the table, making the silverware jump. "It's the boy! We sent him to the Blackwood Academy. Do you know who goes there? The Mayor's son. The General's daughter. Monsters with Gold-Rank beasts."
He looked at the ceiling, as if trying to see through the floorboards to Simon's room.
"They're going to eat him alive, May. A Skeleton? In a combat school? It's a death sentence. He'll be the class punching bag for three years. We paid a fortune to send him into a meat grinder."
May wept silently. "He looked so defeated. Did you see his eyes? He looked like he'd given up."
"We have to be strong for him," Ben sighed, reaching across the table to hold her hand. "We tell him it's okay. We tell him he can come work at the bakery when they expel him. We prepare a soft landing."
They sat in the dim light, mourning the future that had died before it even began. Upstairs, the "defeated" boy was currently grinning like a maniac.
Simon's room was sparse. A bed, a desk, and shelves filled with toy soldiers he had painted himself. Maps of historic battles covered the walls.
"Unit-01, Unit-02. Front and center."
The shadows on the floor boiled.
The Skeleton (Unit-01) rose first, the bone club Simon had crafted from the cow femur gripped firmly in its hand.
Then, the Rat (Unit-02) scurried out.
[Unit-02: Scout Rat]
[Rank: Iron (Low)]
[Ability: Plague Bite (Locked)]
[Ability: Shadow Scurry (Passive) - Movement speed +20% in darkness.]
"Incredible," Simon whispered. "It retained the stats of a beast, but gained the undead passives."
He sat at his desk, ignoring the meat pie for a moment to pull out a notebook. He wrote PLAN OF OPERATIONS at the top.
The school term started in one week. If he showed up with a level 1 Skeleton and a dead rat, Uncle Ben was right he would be bullied. He would be weak.
But unlike other tamers, Simon didn't need expensive crystals to evolve his beasts. He needed bodies. He looked out the window. The moon was rising over the city.
Beyond the city walls lay the Waste Forest. It was a low-level zone, filled with Slimes, Horned Rabbits, and Wild Dogs. It was forbidden for unlicenced students.
"Unit-01," Simon said.
The Skeleton snapped to attention.
"Unit-02."
The rat chattered its teeth.
"We aren't going to wait for school to start," Simon said, grabbing his heavy coat and a flashlight. "The enemy is sleeping. That means we march."
He opened the window. It was a two-story drop to the alley below an easy climb for a boy who had spent his childhood playing commando.
His Aunt and Uncle thought he was crying into his pillow. They thought he needed a soft landing.
He climbed out onto the ledge, the cold wind hitting his face.
[Quest Generated: The First Campaign!]
[Objective: Hunt 10 Wild Beasts.]
[Reward: Level Up (Unit-01), New Skill Unlock.]