"W-What!?"
A stunned voice echoed through the entire Summoning Ceremony, shattering the pin drop silence instantly.
"H-How is this even possible!?"
"This is… this is truly extraordinary!"
"Forget talent, I don't think anyone in the history of this continent has ever done something so transcendent!"
"It's even an avian-type summon! Only 20 percent of summoners summon avian type monsters!"
The crowd were stunned speechless.
On the summoning platform, the brilliant pillar of light slowly faded revealing a magnificent creature.
The creature was one-meter tall with muscular body. It stood on two thick, scaly legs, its extremely sharp talons scratching deep into the mable floor.
The creature's eyes were half-opened as its looked around with indifference as though the crowd were beneath it.
It's sharp beak opened up casually and then a sound came out.
"Kukuru—kuuuuu!!!"
The entire stadium exploded.
Students, teachers, invited parents, every single person present lost their composure in an instant, erupting into unrestrained laughter.
Some doubled over, slapping their thighs, tears streamed down some faces while some clenched their belly as they laughed violently, unable to stop.
"It's a chicken!! Its actually a chicken! Hahahaha!"
"A 3-star talent and he summoned a chicken?! Thirty percent of nothing is literally nothing!!"
"Not only is his father a traitor, turns out the son is just as worthless!!"
"The heavens truly have eyes. They didn't let this traitorous guy to summon something good."
"The father summoned a dragon while the son actually summoned a chicken instead!"
The roaring laughter crashed down like waves as students mocked in laughter.
On the platform, the chicken bobbed its head and blinked, totally unbothered by their mockery.
And behind the summoned chicken was Tyrion.
Tyrion Maxwell's face had gone completely pale.
His mouth hung open and his eyes were blank.
This was the moment his fate was supposed to change. This was the moment he was sto grasp his destiny in his own hands.
He had waited patently for this moment, trained his ass off, endured more than 10 years of mockery, poverty and bullying, just for this moment.
But not only didn't he summon a dragon like he had expected, it was a chicken, rooster to be exact that came out of his summoning.
There was no words to describe the despair, fear and sorrow he was experiencing at this moment.
Ten years ago, his father a renowned summoner who had once ridden a dragon into battle during the Dimensional War had been branded a traitor.
Angered, the head of the Maxwell family drove Tyrion and his mother out of the main family, and were also chased out of the city like dogs, stripped of status, wealth, and dignity in a single night.
Eventually, they ended up in Gorge Village. Though the villagers gossip, mocked and bullied, they didn't try to kill them as punishment for his father's sin.
Mother and son scraped together a life as farmers. They sold chicken eggs, vegetables and herbs to the villagers. They ate what they grew. They survived.
Growing up, Tyrion had been bullied nearly every day, spat on, shoved, called traitor's spawn until the words became background music to him as he grew older.
But then everything changed the he was ten years old. His Monster Seed was tested at school and he scored 6.1. Which meant he was a 3-star talented student!
In the past one hundred years, Gorge Village had never produced a single three-star talent. The village head had made them retest it three times just to be sure.
Even in the major cities where talented individuals were as numerous as clouds, a 3-star talent was rare enough to be nurtured personally by institutions.
A 1-star Beast Seed granted 10 percent of the summoned beast's strength. Tyrion's 3-star Seed granted 30 percent, meaning in a physical confrontation, he could overpower opponents well above his level.
And then there was the lineage factor.
His father's summon had been a dragon. Based on bloodline compatibility, it was guaranteed that Tyrion's summon would also be a dragon or a creature as powerful.
The village's attitude toward the Maxwell family shifted slightly and they were able to live a better life. They finally had hope.
However, that hope shattered the moment the chicken walked out that gate and opened its mouth.
The sneering, the laughter, the mocking, all converged at once, weighing down on Tyrion and suddenly, Snap—
"HAHAHAHA!"
Unexpectedly, a mournful and hollow laughter burst out of Tyrion's mouth, resounding through the entire field. Everyone suddenly went quiet.
The students and teachers froze as they gazed at Tyrion with peculiar expression.
"…Has he gone mad?"
"Honestly? It's to be expected.. If my father was a traitor and I summoned a chicken, I'd lose it too."
People began whispering to each other.
Tears rolled down Tyrion's face. He waved his hand and his summoned monster entered his Monster Seed as he walked off the summoning platform.
He didn't even glance at the university envoys standing nearby, hoping to scout talented students. Everything blurred together as he walked straight out of the school.
"Tyrion! Tyrion!!"
A girl's voice cut through the noise. But Tyrion's consciousness was far too gone.
The girl was 15 years just like Tyrion. She had golden eyes, dark hair and rosy lips that trembled as she watched Tyrion. go. Her name, Lara Evaton.
Lara bit her lips in worry. She wished to chase after him but she hadn't yet summoned her beast and couldn't leave her spot in line.
The ceremony continued without him.
"Malcolm Treant! Please approach the platform."
The robotic announcement echoed through the entire stadium.
***
On the high table of the stadium, Principal Henry turned to his honored guest with a fawning, sweaty smile on his face.
"I sincerely apologize for that unsightly display, Young master Grant. We had fully expected the traitor's son to at least summon something decent, following his father's bloodline. We never imagined it would turn out to be so… embarrassing."
Grant Stonewood was a youth about 18 years old. He had a look of arrogance all over his face and was dressed in the uniform of Golden Storm Monster Training University.
He sat on pridefully in the high chair as the principal and teachers fawned over him.
Grant was actually also from this village and strangely a 1-star talented individual.
With his low talent he was barely accepted into Golden Storm university through bribes and connections.
As expected, he was mediocre through out his stay in the university and was expected to remain at the Infant Realm through his entire life.
However, three months ago, Grant surprisingly surpassed everyone's expectations by breaking through from the Infant Realm all the way to the Lifebound Realm.
A complete major realm breakthrough in under sixty days.
Not even a 4-star talent could manage such rapid breakthrough. Some said he was a late bloomer, others said his talent was likely higher than 1-star.
Overnight, his name had gone from a mediocre to a rising star in the university.
Principal Henry had called in every favor he was owed just to get Grant to come back to the Village.
He even had to fork out his family's heirloom, a Grade 2 Flint-Leaf Clover herb and also begged the village head to intervene, just for an hour of Grant's time, on the off-chance he might refer a student or two from his secondary school to the university.
Grant snorted coldly, not even turning his head at the country bumpkin of a Principal.
"What could a traitor's son ever amount to? We should have put him and his filthy mother down years ago while I was still here."
The principal chuckled nervously and bobbed his head like a chicken. "Yes, yes, their deaths would certainly close that shameful chapter. But we must be cautious. The Maxwell family is still a superpower we can't afford to offend."
A trace of fear flickered in Grant's expression when he heard of the Maxwell family but it vanished, replaced by his arrogance.
"Disgusting traitorous bloodline." Grant spat on the floor. "Tch."
Seeing as Grant was still riled up, the Principal quickly changed the topic. "There are two talents we are all looking forward to apart from that trash. One of them is called Lara Evatom, a high-grade 2-star talent! Not to mention my own son Gerald, also a 2 star talent. I can assure you both will put on an impressive show."
Grant leaned back in his chair, utterly unmoved.
"I hope so. I'm not interested in wasting any more of my time today."