Ashton was a bit nervous today.
He sat in the middle of his personal training room, staring at an egg intently as if it was going to fly away at any given moment.
It's been 100 days since he received the Beast Egg from the Beast God. It's also been that long since he had been feeding it his blood. Today was the day that it was scheduled to hatch and Ashton was watching it like a hawk.
He knew that it was going to hatch not only because that's what its description said but also because the egg was releasing a soft brilliance for a while now.
Usually, this only happens for a couple of seconds before fading away. However, today was obviously a little different.
Ashton could now feel the vitality of the life inside the egg. He still has no clue what it was though. He couldn't even see its shape past the eggshell.
Thankfully, he didn't have much to do today, allowing him to pay close attention to this. Now, he's just patiently waiting until the egg hatches and reveals the creature that was meant to be his companion beast.
Crack!
Ashton's eyelids twitch the moment his ears picked up that sound. His eyes immediately searched for the crack on the egg's surface and he located it. From there on, his attention was fully focused on it, waiting in anticipation for what was to come next.
The web of cracks spread all over the top part of the egg. Ashton could hear some shuffling from the inside of the egg but no sounds from the creature just yet.
Its hatching felt painfully slow, Ashton was whispering some encouraging words to it, not even thinking if the creature could actually understand him at all in hopes of helping, even just for a bit.
Crack!
Then it finally happened. Ashton saw a limb for a split second, pushing the eggshells away, leaving a small hole as it did.
He then saw it again, this time it was comically reaching out to the eggshell it just pushed to no avail.
Ashton blinked and pushed the eggshell with his fingers so that the creature could feel it and take it. This also gave him the chance to see the limb properly.
It looked like a wrinkled chicken, a very tiny one though. That wasn't much to work with but he thought that he wouldn't have to wait long for the grand reveal anyway.
He heard from shuffling this time with the addition of crunching, the creature must be feasting on the eggshell, taking it as its first meal.
Ashton watched in interest as, slowly but surely, the hole got bigger and bigger until it was enough for him to see what it was hiding.
And to his surprise...it's a chick.
Unlike normal chicks though, this one has strands of feathers already. It wasn't completely bald.
It was small, fitting just right on his palms. It looks so innocent and fragile that he's almost scared to touch it.
The chick had big and doe-like eyes that looked around curiously. It sat on its butt, using its tiny talons to munch on the eggshells. It then saw Ashton and their gazes met.
There was a strange connection there, Ashton could sense it. And he guessed that the chick sensed it too since it tilted its head and chirps crisply at him.
A fond smile unknowingly appeared on Ashton's face. But he didn't touch it yet. He didn't want to disturb it while it was still eating its first meal.
And the chick was going at it, seemingly having no intentions of sharing. Not that Ashton would like to taste its eggshell in the first place.
After a few minutes, the chick finally finished its meal. It let out a loud chirp and stared at Ashton.
They held eye contact for a bit before eventually, the chick stood up.
Ashton unknowingly held his breath. He watched as the little thing took its first few steps.
Standing itself was challenging to the chick at first, but it was determined to do so and it eventually succeeded. It then started taking its first steps toward Ashton.
He laid his hand flat on the ground, indicating that this was the chick's goal. The chick seemingly understood that as it started walking towards this palm.
It fell a few times, but it didn't give up. It stood up again and continued its path. Eventually, it managed to climb Ashton's palms.
The chick then let out a chirp of celebration, causing Ashton to smile fondly at it once more.
This would've been much easier if he just reached out to it and picked it up the moment it started standing. But Ashton could sense the chick's intentions, probably due to the connection they share.
He knew that the chick wanted to do this by itself, and who was he to deny that kind of chance?
Ashton then brought up his palm close to his face with the chick on it, to closely inspect it.
It was then that a System Prompt showed up...
[Beast Companion]
Name: ???
Age: Newborn Chick
Species: Dream Weaving Songbird
: A beast born out of a methodical conception. It is one of a kind since it has taken its owner's essence to achieve its current form. In other words, this Beast is a miracle of its own.
: Due to its uniqueness, it has no known abilities, skills, or abilities. The Beast's potential is also unknown due to similar reasons. It is highly encouraged that the Host explores this part on his own.
'So it's a unique type of Beast huh?' Ashton mused to himself.
This isn't something that he expected but it was fine. He likes surprises anyway.
Moreover, since the Beast followed his template, he could safely assume that its abilities work somehow similar to how he does it. Of course, this is just a theory for now since it's still a chick, but he's convinced that it wouldn't be too difficult to find out in due time.
Chirp!!
"Mn? Ah, right. You still don't have a name. Hmm..." Ashton furrowed his brows as he started brainstorming for names.
He inspected the chick's body and it would seem that it was androgynous. Somehow, he thought that its name should be gender-neutral for that matter.
"Skylar."
Chirp?
"Mn! Skylar. That would be my name from now on." Ashton smiled.
The chick was silent for a couple of seconds before it let out a couple of celebratory chirps on his palms. It seems happy with its name.
It moved so much that it fell on its butt, seemingly tired. Ashton chuckled, he was thinking of where to put it when all of a sudden, a surprising development occurred.
Skylar turned into a streak of light that shot straight into his head. It happened so fast that he was caught off guard by this.
He then heard Skylar's cheerful chirp inside his mind. This forced him to use his inner sight to find where the chick was and to his surprise, he found Skylar chilling on his Mageroot.
More specifically, it is inside his Sorcerer's Tower.
He was honestly surprised. Thankfully, he had a connection with Skylar. If it weren't for that, then the enchantments on the Sorcerer's Tower might've already killed the poor chick.
Strangely enough, Skylar seems to be at home here. It has mistaken his Sorcerer Tower for its nest.
This idea wasn't too bad if you ask him. At least in here, Skylar's safe. Plus, he could already tell that Skylar needed his Mana for sustenance, and wouldn't you know it, his Mageroot is where all of that Mana is at. So, Skylar did end up in the right place after all.
At this point, Ashton would like to think that Skylar's growth is somehow linked with his. For now, Skylar was dependent on him. The chick can't help him just yet with anything but eventually, it'll earn its keep.
'At least I don't need to make a home for it anymore. This way, it'll be with me at all times. That doesn't sound too bad.'
Skylar's drain of his mana wasn't too much anyway. In fact, he could barely feel the difference. Ashton could recover absurd amounts of mana in each second so this was nothing to him.
He observed Skylar's behavior in there for a few moments until he saw it feeling cozy. It then sat on its legs and closed its eyes, sleeping peacefully in no time.
Ashton watched as not only Mana but Aether itself started being absorbed into Skylar's body.
The tiny feathers on its body started releasing a faint rainbow-colored light, the same colors that represented his Dream Laws.
He thought he might've seen him wrong but it wasn't. Skylar was growing at a visible speed due to this nourishment.
Ashton continued watching for a couple more minutes before he eventually withdrew from his Mageroot, leaving Skylar there to rest and grow.
He's looking forward to the time when Skylar starts showing him what it could truly do. For now, though, the chick could take it easy. It's a newborn chick and Ashton didn't want to take that away from it this early.
