The small bird, no larger than a hawk but radiating with a terrible energy, cut through the air like a living missile. Its eyes—beady, intelligent, merciless—locked onto John as its body shimmered with eerie blue fire, trailing vaporous streaks that hissed through the air.
Its beak glinted, a needle of death. Its speed was blinding.
John braced himself, frozen in the inevitability of impact.
Then—
BOOM.
A blinding green explosion erupted behind him, fierce and radiant. It wasn't fire, or lightning. It wasn't even light, not really.
It was life—violent, ancient, unrelenting.
The temperature in the air dropped instantly, and the force of the energy whipped the grass flat and tore papers from open windows.
From within the emerald blaze, a shape emerged. Long, sinuous, and monstrous.
A serpent.
Not just a snake—a behemoth.
Its body glistened with polished, deep-green scales like shards of black jade. Wicked, thorn-like blades jutted from its sides—razor-sharp and shifting with every breath it took. As it slithered forth, the ground seemed to bend around its power.
With a roar like the grinding of ancient stones, the serpent launched.
In one impossibly fluid motion, it coiled itself around the charging bird mid-air, slamming it to a halt with bone-crushing force.
The bird shrieked in panic, thrashing wildly—but it was over in seconds. The serpent squeezed tighter. Thorned coils dug in. The avian monster flailed, blue fire flaring—only to sputter out against the serpent's sheer power.
Gasps and whispers rippled through the gathered crowd like waves in a storm.
John couldn't breathe.
The shock wasn't fear.
It was awe.
Whatever had just happened… it had saved him.
Across the field, Mark Williamson's expression twisted from triumph to something raw and shaken. His voice, usually smooth and dangerous, now cracked with disbelief.
"Impossible!" he barked. "That's a hybrid! A real one!"
Murmurs spread instantly.
Hybrid?
Did he say hybrid?
Even students who barely understood the technicalities of Beast Taming knew one thing: hybrids weren't ordinary. They were rarer than diamonds, stronger than elite beasts, and nearly impossible to control.
"Only certified Doctors can tame hybrid monsters!" Mark snarled. His voice, loud and accusatory, was now laced with a panic he could no longer hide. "And not just any Doctor—Two-Star, maybe even Three-Star. There's no way anyone in this backwater city could have access to one!"
He spun, eyes scanning the gathering in disbelief.
"Is there a high-ranking Doctor among us?" he demanded. "Who authorized this? WHO tampered with the system?"
Then his gaze stopped.
Dead.
Frozen.
On two people standing just behind John.
Doctor Thomas, in his usual relaxed pose—hands folded, eyes shining behind rimless glasses—and beside him, Doctor Luna, regal and composed, her violet eyes calm as a still lake, yet unreadable.
Mark's voice dropped to a growl.
"Doctor Thomas? Doctor Luna? What are you two doing here?"
The air was electric.
Dr. Thomas smiled.
Not smugly. Not proudly. Just… lightly.
As if this moment had been planned for a long time.
He pushed his glasses up with a single finger, then crossed his arms.
His tone was casual, almost playful.
"Oh, nothing much."
He glanced toward John.
"We just have someone… special here."
A hush fell over the courtyard.
And then—all eyes turned to John.
The boy.
The burden, as Mark had called him.
Only now, he didn't look like a burden at all.
He stood at the center of it all, the emerald serpent still coiled beside him—silent, waiting, its ancient gaze fixed on the man who had dared threaten its master.
The creature didn't ask for orders.
It awaited permission.
John didn't speak.
He didn't need to.
Because the world had already started to see him differently.