Novel Full Chapter 845: The ’Reward’ Revealed
Chapter 845: Chapter 845: The ’Reward’ Revealed
Malzahir’s hands shook slightly as he set the last needle-pen down. The circle of recruits sat slumped in their chairs, each one with a fresh tattoo etched into their arm, back, chest—wherever they had chosen. The ink still faintly glowed, alive with power, casting pale light across their weary faces.
He drew in a heavy breath, the sound muffled by the mask covering his nose and mouth, a precaution to shield others from the corrosive properties of his body. Layered coverings sealed every inch of his skin, trapping heat, making him feel suffocated and confined. Yet he forced himself to continue, this was a moment to repay and prove to Kain that he was right in his decision to take him in. That he had an invaluable way to help Kain that Darius and the others could not.
Tattooing sigils wasn’t simply marking flesh—it was a delicate art that demanded precise spiritual control. To engrave fifteen in succession was something even most seasoned sigil masters would balk at. Yet, with his old cultivation foundation, his years of training in the tribe, and sheer grit, Malzahir had finished without faltering.
Kain’s eyes flicked toward him, a hint of approval passing beneath the violet-and-gold mask. He hadn’t needed to intervene once. He was confident Malzahir could take over overseeing these ceremonies in the future alone.
Malzahir stepped back, shoulders straight despite his exhaustion, and rejoined Kain at the head of the chamber. Together they looked at the recruits.
Fifteen masked faces stared back. The air was thick with tension, anticipation, fear. None of them knew what the tattoos were for, only that they had endured agony and still sat alive in their seats. They had been promised a prize—strength, salvation. Now they waited for the answer.
Some carried visible burdens. Ronan’s weak frame, his past muscular arms now withered to sticks. The wheezing woman whose collapsed lung rasped with every breath. An older man, his eyes solid white, staring straight ahead though sightless.
Others were healthy in body but had come seeking power they had never been able to touch. Most of the mercenaries recruited by Darius, who vouched for the character and skills.
All of them had pushed themselves past their limits, forcing their way through missions and trials with grit and desperation. And against all odds, they had reached this moment.
Kain let the silence hold for a beat, then spoke.
“You endured the trials because of one thing: the promise of strength. Some of you wish to heal your broken bodies. Others wish achieve more strength than they could normally hope for. All of you desire change. Now, that promise will be fulfilled.”
Murmurs broke out, muffled beneath the masks, before falling silent again.
“You will be given the chance,” Kain said solemnly, “to awaken as beast tamers.”
The air froze.
Even through the masks, Kain could feel the ripple of shock. For ordinary people, awakening was a miracle—an impossible dream denied to those who’d already used up all 3 of their awakening attempts. Now, in this cold chamber, he was offering it to all of them.
“These tattoos are not merely decoration,” he continued. “They are the bridges that connect your souls to another world—one under my control. There, your soul fragments will seek out their destined partners. The bond you form will not be the same as a standard beast tamer’s, but it will be no less real. You will have only one contract, and only one chance.”
The weight of his words pressed into them. Some trembled, others straightened, all staring at him as if he had become something more than mortal.
“Your path will differ,” Kain went on. “You will not suffer the cultivation bottlenecks that plague ordinary tamers, not until you reach the blue grade, when your contracts must form domains. And rather than an affinity, the creature you contract will be the one most suited to you—your combat style, latent gifts, personality. More incredible, each of these creatures bears a trait unlike any other—they can recover from Abyssal corruption. That alone makes you more vital than you realize.”
Even Darius and the others, standing silently at the back, turned at that. For them too, this was news.
“And you must know this truth.” Kain’s tone hardened. “The Abyss is coming. Not in outbreaks, not in scattered attacks, but a full scale invasion. In ten months, it will sweep across this continent. That is why you are here. That is why you were chosen. With great power comes responsibility, and yours will be to stand against what is coming.”
The room’s energy shifted. Where moments before there had been excitement, even joy, now there was gravity. Fear, yes, but also a spark of resolve. Kain’s words crushed illusions of living a lush life off of becoming a beast tamer, forcing sobriety on them all. Even Darius and the others looked more sombre, they had always believed this opportunity to be a gift from god to get revenge on the beast tamers that wronged them, but now they realized their true purpose and why Kain was trying to expand their ranks.
“Channel your spiritual power into your tattoos,” Kain commanded. “The ceremony begins now.”
One by one, the tattoos along their bodies flared with light. Some glowed instantly, bright and strong. Others flickered weakly, taking time to respond, as if the recruits struggled to direct their power. But slowly, inevitably, every mark began to shine.
The recruits’ eyes went blank. Their bodies sagged, suspended between breaths. The chamber seemed to brighten, the hum of the sigils on the walls increasing in vibrancy a new measure Kain was trying out to see if it could slightly increase the time souls could spend in Pangea.
Kain exhaled slowly and closed his own eyes, surrendering to the pull coming from Pangea. Darius and the others moved to stand guard around him. They had seen this before. Kain’s mind had left the room.
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In Pangea, Kain appeared beneath a sky painted with drifting lights.
Fifteen streaks shot outward in every direction, arcing like meteors across the boundless expanse. Each was a soul fragment, fragile yet burning with potential. He tilted his head, then shifted—vanishing, reappearing in the wake of one of the streaks.
The first to find its mark.
A green spark dove into a dense forest, light spiraling downward until it met a waiting creature crouched among the shadows. Kain approached, his perception sharpening to reveal the recruit’s truest form—a man in his forties, face stern, eyes clouded white with blindness. His soul fragment reached forward, trembling, until it touched the beast.
It was sleek and angular, shaped like a hawk but with colourless feathers of resembling glass. Where its sharp eyes had been, only blank white orbs glowed faintly now, eerily similar to the man’s eyes. Kain’s lips curved faintly. Shared vision.The man’s blindness would be no limitation now. Instead, he would be able to see through the sharp eyes of his contract. Moreover, with enough feedback from this specific type of contract, his regular eyesight should eventually return in no time..
Kain turned, teleporting to another streak.
This one was harder, more forceful. It smashed into the ground before a towering beast of molten stone and steel. The fragment flickered, and the soul’s true form became visible: a stern-faced woman, one of the mercenaries Darius had recruited into the fold. Her eyes glowed with discipline, and the beast before her mirrored it—a hulking warhound, its body plated in jagged metal, breath steaming with embers. Pure combat strength. Exactly what she craved.
The next streak carried him to the ocean.
It plunged into rolling waves, scattering foam. Beneath the surface, a woman’s soul floated, her chest heaving as if still starved of air. Her collapsed lung had weighed on her for years. Her fragment reached instinctively for the shape before her. A seal-like creature with sleek silver fur and luminous blue eyes drifted toward her.
Kain looked at this creature at the bottom of the sea curiously. Since he rarely ventured through the waters of Pangea, there were many aquatic creatures he wasn’t familiar with. He scanned it and used the System to get information on it too. The information revealed: two sets of lungs within, and that it was a selkie-like spirit, once it reaches indigo-grade, it will be able to transform into human form.
Kain lingered only a moment, watching her embrace the beast, before vanishing again.
One by one, he traced the fragments, seeing the bonds form. Each unique. Some took to flight, binding to winged creatures. Others rooted deep, finding beasts buried in the earth. One even managed to contract one of the few intelligent plants on Pangea. Fire, water, shadow, light—all affinities played out before his eyes.
Until there was only one. Ronan—the one who’d stood out the most during the recruitment process.
Kain appeared high above the expanse, gaze following the last fragment. It sputtered as it flew, fading in and out, weaker than the others. Time was running out. If it failed to bond, the recruit’s soul would be kicked out of Pangea, and they would remain ordinary.
The fragment wavered, flickering like a candle in the wind.
Kain’s brow furrowed. Would he need to step in? To force a bond, like he did with Airalai, even if it meant an imperfect match?
Then, suddenly, the fragment stilled.
It hovered before a shadow at the edge of the world—a shape half-hidden in darkness, waiting. Slowly, the light pressed forward, trembling, until it touched.
Kain’s eyes narrowed as the darkness stirred.
The soul fragment had found its partner.