Jaster walked up the stage, his breath ragged, his palms sweating. "This'll be my forever spirit animal… I can't get a bad one!"
"I see you shaking your boots there, buddy!" Okramos pointed toward Jaster's leg, which was shaking out of nervousness.
Because Okramos said it out loud, the crowd began laughing hard. Each of their voices became louder in Jaster's ears, making him more nervous and shaky.
Adam had always struggled with stage fright. So if someone pointed it out, his mood immediately turned sour and he became even more nervous.
I don't remember Okramos having no sense of people's personal space. First it's Adrien, and now me?
Jaster looked at the crowd, scanning it. While almost everyone was laughing at him, he saw his family.
Lake screamed louder than the laughter. "Ignore them, brother! Just think about what's your priority!" His mom nodded in agreement.
That last word made Jaster's eyes widen. No one, ever in his life, had stood up for him or defended him.
Including his own mother, so seeing his sister support him made Jaster's heart melt.
Jaster closed his eyes. He thought about what his priority was.
"Getting my friend… my spirit animal."
He opened his eyes again, now full of confidence.
He grabbed the dice. He couldn't believe he was holding the actual Dice of Fate in his palm.
And then, Jaster rolled it. The dice bounced on the board, each bounce reflecting a different color, but Jaster only wanted one color.
Please be indigo, please be indigo.
The dice turned blue… then red… and then cyan.
The dice started losing momentum and bounced lower and lower.
"Please don't hit indigo yet, please…" He crossed his arms. After the final bounce, the terrifying truth hit him.
It turned indigo. Janster was sweating more than ever. The dice wasn't bouncing this time, but rolling.
And after a couple of rolls, it stopped on indigo at the very last moment.
Jaster eyes widened. He jumped in joy.
"Yes, yes, YES! YES, YES, YES!"
His family erupted in cheers.
The portal opened behind him, the beam of light piercing through the sky.
The reason Jaster wanted indigo was because it had the Shade Affinity.
Spirit animals that had the Shade Affinity were usually good at hiding and were slick. They excelled at stealth.
In Soulbound, you could upgrade your spirit animal's skills and even gain new ones. But getting a stealth-focused ability was harder than the rest.
So having a spirit animal that excelled at the hardest ability to obtain early on could be a game-changer for most people.
Especially Jaster. He would use it to its full potential.
Jaster's chest felt warm. He looked down to see it glowing indigo. It reflected in his purple eyes.
It felt strangely warm and comforting. "So this is what it feels like… it's kinda cool!"
After the light stopped, the portal opened behind him. Once again, a pillar of light pierced the sky, calling forth the spirit animal.
Jaster stared at the portal for a while… but nothing came.
"Uhhh…" Okramos looked around, his face genuinely confused. "Where's your animal?"
The crowd went silent. They wanted to know what happened too.
"This is taking unusually long… It's making me—"
"Krrk."
Just then, Jaster heard a strange sound near him. He looked beside him and saw nothing.
"Krrk… krrk."
"What's making that noise?"
All of a sudden, a gecko appeared beside his shoulder. It had camouflaged itself to become the same color as his jacket.
"AAAAAAH!" Janster was so startled that he slipped on the stage as the gecko fell onto his face.
"Krrk?"
The gecko tilted its head, staring at Janster with its yellow eyes and contracted pupils.
"AHAH, what a prankster this spirit animal is!" Okramos shouted, his face genuinely shocked.
"Congratulations, Janster. Your spirit animal.... is a GECKO!"
Everyone erupted in laughter. But he could hear Lake screaming loudly, surpassing their laughter.
Jaster couldn't care that he was being made fun of, because he was staring back at the gecko as a white screen appeared in front of him.
——————•●•———————
"Spirit animal: Gecko"
◇ Power: ■□□□□□□
◇ Regeneration: ■■□□□□□
◇ Intelligence: ■□□□□□□
◇ Agility: ■■■□□□□
◇ Defense: ■□□□□□□
◇ Power stat: 8
◇ Rank: F
——————•●•———————
Janster's eyes widened as he looked at all the stats.
"You've gotta be kidding me?"
He was more concerned about the low rank he'd gotten. Getting the lowest rank of spirit animal, which was F-Rank, was extremely rare.
He couldn't believe he'd gotten it. But… Janster was not too upset, because he had just gotten the first form of a dragon.
"A gecko…" His mind was screaming with happiness.
There were many different types of dragons, like leviathans, lindorms, drakes, longs… and the list went on.
But the premature version of them was always a wyrmling. People thought that was the earliest stage of a dragon, since no one had ever seen anything younger than that.
But… Jaster, who had been playing the game for years, 24/7, knew the game hidden secret.
And that was, before a wyrmling, a gecko came first.
Geckos were absolutely the first form of a dragon after hatching from the egg.
Jaster was happy, since he could cultivate the gecko into something even better than Adrien future dragon.
The gecko shook its body, revealing its true color.
Its whole body was bright purple, the same color as Jaster's eyes. "Woah, you're so pretty."
"Krrk." It made a noise as if agreeing with Janster.
"I predict that we're gonna have a long journey ahead of us, buddy." Janster patted the gecko's head.
The gecko enjoyed the pat for a bit, but when it became too long, it bit Jaster's hand.
Its strong mouth clamped onto his index finger.
Jaster just stared… before screaming.
"AAAAAAH!"
This damn lizard.
----
"BROTHER! You got your first spirit animal!" Lake ran to Jaster and hugged him.
"Yeah…" He awkwardly hugged back. Jaster didn't know how to hug people, since no one had ever hugged him before.
His mom watched in the background, her eyebrows raised. What's up with Jaster lately?
"Can I please pat your spirit animal!?" Lake pointed toward the gecko on Janster's shoulder.
It was shocked seeing Lake and began hiding itself by changing to the jacket's color.
"I'm sorry, sis, maybe later." Jaster didn't want to make a bad first impression on his spirit animal.
After all, he was going to cultivate that gecko to the max. He didn't want to scare it on the first day… yet.
"Aww, I want a spirit animal now."
"Later, dear. When you turn seventeen, only three more years!" Jaster's mom stepped in and hugged her son.
This was the first time Adam had felt himself being hugged by a parent. Since he was the black sheep of the family, he never got along with them.
"Thanks, Mom," he whispered beside her ear.
"No problem. Most students whose names were already called are going straight to the academy dorms. You should catch up to them." His mom kissed his forehead.
Great. Jaster thought to himself. He was going to school again—his worst nightmare.
But at least this time, he knew his way around the academy. Jaster already had one thing he wanted to do in mind.
---
After packing all his suitcases and going to the train station, Jaster's family stood in front of him, with his gecko on his shoulder.
His mom was holding back tears, unlike his sister, who was crying her heart out.
"Uhhh…"
"Hey, I'll be okay, guys!" He tried to reassure them.
"No, you won't! How can you survive on your own?" His sister countered.
"Krrk… krrk." His gecko nodded, agreeing with his sister.
Well, I've been alone my entire life. I think I'll be fine.
"This must've been a big step for you, Jaster." His mom rubbed her eyes. "We wish you the best of luck out there!" She hugged him dearly.
Lake joined in, and the three of them shared a heart-touching moment, even though Janster wasn't planning to get along with anyone in this game.
He remembered how his "game family" supported their son more than his own family ever had.
Adam felt bad for Jaster. He had such a loving family, but Adam had taken his place.
I'll find out who did this, and I'm sure we'll get our bodies back.
Jaster stepped inside the train, waving at his family.
He found his seat inside a booth.
After settling his luggage on the shelf, he made himself comfortable and looked out the window at the beautiful view.
He noticed his family waving and screaming at him from outside. As the train began moving, they ran alongside it.
Lake made a heart sign with her hands. Seeing it made Jaster's heart melt.
He waved back, blew a kiss through the window, and gave a thumbs-up.
After a while, the train moved faster, and he couldn't see them anymore.
He stared blankly at the window without much reaction.
Until his gecko put its tiny paw on his face.
"Hey, is your paw even clean?" He wiped his face with a wet tissue.
"Now…" Jaster looked at the screen in front of him.
[ Congratulations on obtaining your first spirit animal, Aspirant! Your journey begins today. ]
[ System Prologue Initiated ]
A notification appeared beside the screen.
——————•●•———————
『Prologue: Prove Your Bond 』
◇ Objective: Deepen your bond with your Spirit Animal
◇ Condition: No external assistance
◇ Requirement: Reach Bond Level 20%
Progress: 1% / 20%
『Reward』
☆ A random growth Unlock
☆ 10 Blueberry
☆ Spirit EXP +100
※ Failure will lessen your bond with your spirit animal!!
——————•●•———————