This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange

Catching a train back to the college, Kain was constantly bombarded by gloating texts from Bridge, Finn, Leonara Addison, and Aiden about being within the first batch of students to enter the relic.

It seems like only volunteers among the top 20 first and second years were being initially accepted.

Therefore, by the time Kain arrived back on campus he could only twiddle his thumbs in his lab.

"Sigh…I wonder what it's like in there. Hopefully all of the good stuff aren't already taken by the time I get to enter. Why couldn't this relic appear before I left to meet the client…" Kain grumbled while sadly looking at his phone for any news about the first batch of entrants.

Considering that only those with spiritual power at or below yellow-grade were able to enter, everyone thought that the level of danger within the relic should also not exceed that level.

Since they'd also be travelling with the second years, many of whom are at that level, Kain wasn't worried about his friends' safety.

Instead, he tried to preoccupy himself for the next few days with planning out future experiments and overseeing how the business was coming along.

The first shipment of beer had been sent out and the marketing firm's plan was going flawlessly. Kain was already seeing a lot of buzz online about the spiritual beer.

In fact, Collin had already arranged to buy more neighbouring land in order to expand their production. Without the income from the Lumifin evolution, Kain would have been completely unable to keep up with the financial demands of the company.

Once production increases, with the current increasing demand, Kain anticipates that the income from the spiritual beer should exceed that of the evolution plan in no time.

Bang Bang Bang

"Hmm?" Kain was brought out of his thoughts by the sudden heavy knocks at his door.

Bang Bang Bang

"Open the door!"

'Who'd want to open the door when asked like that?' Kain grumbled as he moved towards the door. Despite what he said, he still opened the door since he recognized the voice. Although he wasn't sure why she'd be coming to his lab. Wasn't she supposed to be in the relic at this time?

Kain opened the door and was quickly shoved out of the way as Serena Storm entered the room carrying an unconscious Bridge.

'She is much stronger than she looks.' Kain though while looking at the slender figure maybe half of Bridge's size carrying him over her shoulder into the room.

However, Kain soon snapped out of his distracted thoughts one he realized that there was something wrong with his brother.

Thankfully, the lab was equipped with a large gurney-like bed that Kain usually used to take naps on. Serena placed him onto the bed and then stepped back so that Kain could finally get a good look at his brother.

Despite his large figure, Bridge's body appeared frail and gaunt. His skin was pale, almost ashen, with a thin layer of sweat giving it an unsettling glimmer.

Dark circles surrounded his eyes. His hair was disheveled, matted against his forehead, and the strands clung to his skin.

His breaths came in shallow, uneven gasps, and he shivered slightly despite the warm temperature of the lab. His clothes were tattered and stained, showing that he'd likely been rescued from a dangerous situation.

There was a faint tremor in his hands, and his lips were cracked, and a dull shade of purple. Compared to his normally bright and energetic brother, Bridge now more closely resembled that of someone teetering on the edge of death.

Kain tried to keep his calm but he could feel his heart start to race once he took in the full extent of his brother's condition.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Something is obviously wrong with him, why would you bring him here instead of to a healer?" He turned angrily to Serena.

"They won't be able to do anything. Currently, the medical staff are completely helpless and in the dark about what's wrong with your brother and the other students like him who suddenly collapsed in the relic."

"The relic…? Explain what happened, how you even ended up with him, and why you'd bring him here instead of to a professional healer."

"I was one of the team captains for the relic exploration, and he was assigned to join my team. Once we'd entered, there were several different directions to travel, we and a group of second-years were assigned to travel within the same direction."

"Honestly, within the relic there didn't appear to be any danger. After travelling for hours there were no attacks or any visible threats. Many students unconsciously relaxed their guards and took in the scenery. The inside of the relic was strange but beautiful. It felt as though we'd been transported to an alien planet, and there were many plants we'd never seen or heard of before."

"It's my fault. I should have watched the students assigned to my group more closely." She said while bowing her head in apology. "Somebody within the group tried to pick an unfamiliar flower and a black mist was suddenly released. To be safe, we all evacuated from the area and we thought it was no big deal.

That is until a few minutes later one of the second years suddenly dropped to the floor unconscious. Soon after nearly half of the students were on the ground and unresponsive…including Bridge."

"We immediately signalled that there was an issue within our group and moved back to the meetup area to regroup with the others. However, on the way there we were suddenly attacked by these grotesque black-looking creatures that smelled like decayed flesh.

"When we finally escaped the relic, I realized that the professors couldn't help us and brought Bridge here."

"Yeah I know that part," Kain interjected, "but why?"

"I'm not sure… I just know that his condition isn't due to a physical injury, and even the most powerful antidotes for poisons that the teachers have tried have been ineffective. Whatever is killing him is something that seems to resemble poison, but is alive…similar to your contract and how you killed Aric Nightsbane."

'Huh?!'