Chapter 4: Trial of Fangs

The Next Day – Dawn Arena...The arena was roaring. Metal gates trembled. Students crowded into the viewing stands. Today wasn’t a lesson. Today was The Fang Trial. A brutal rite of passage to determine who could stay in Beast Combat Class Zero—and who would be expelled. Instructor Saya stood on a hovering stone platform above the arena floor.

“Only beasts worthy of combat remain,” she said, voice amplified and sharp as a blade. “This is no team exercise. You will fight one-on-one. Losers are out. Permanently.”

The platform lowered slightly, and she added coldly:

“Ren of the Chimera. You’re first.”

Why am i always first he mumbles to himself.

The crowd murmured. Some laughed. Others looked nervous. Ren stood frozen for a moment… until Haru nudged him.

“You’ll be fine,” Haru said. “Unless you die. Then you won’t.”

"very funny, real motivational" Ren said.

"You'll be fine! He laughs pushing Ren in the ring.

Ren stepped into the cracked stone ring. Across from him waited a girl with red tribal marks across her face, and massive hyena-like fangs jutting from her mouth. Her beast aura radiated chaos—laughing, snarling, unpredictable.

Aru of the Fangborn Clan.

She grinned wide. “I hope your Chimera doesn’t cry when I take a bite.”

Ren’s hands trembled. The Chimera was still hard to control. It stirred when he was hurt, afraid, desperate—not when he called it.

Saya raised her hand.“Begin.”

The Fight Begins. Aru dashed forward with beastlike speed. Her fingers became claws. Her body stretched unnaturally, bones popping as she took on her Feral Form—a hyena humanoid with dagger-length teeth and crimson eyes. Ren blocked the first strike with his arm, then rolled away. Focus. Think. Don’t rely on the Chimera.

Aru came again, leaping into the air, laughing maniacally. She slammed down with a spinning kick—Ren narrowly avoided it, but she caught his shoulder and ripped through his uniform, drawing blood. Ren cried out in pain. That was enough. With a snarl from the soul, the Chimera awakened.

A rush of black fog. His right arm became scaled and clawed—lion strength. His left shimmered and burned—serpentine reflexes. But this time… something new appeared. Behind him, a spectral goat head snarled to life—its horns glowing, eyes flashing symbols.

Aru stumbled.“What… what the hell is that?”

Ren stepped forward, calmer than ever before. The Chimera wasn’t lashing out. It was waiting for his command.

Ren pointed at the girl. “You want a bite? Try surviving this.”

He charged—faster than she expected—slammed into her with bone-crunching force, then swept her legs with his tail. Aru tried to counter with a shriek—her sonic fang pulse—but the goat head absorbed it. Adaptation, Ren realized.The Chimera learns, evolves. With one final roar, he knocked her out cold.The crowd was silent.Then a few students stood. Applauding. Others stared in stunned silence.

Instructor Saya only nodded.“Pass. Next.”

Ren limped out of the ring. Haru offered a thumbs-up with his drink straw still in his mouth.

“You looked cool,” he said. “Until you started limping like a baby deer.”

Ren rolled his eyes, but inside… he felt good. For the first time since bonding with the Chimera… he wasn’t just surviving. He was winning.

Elsewhere… Beneath the School. Deep underground, behind locked iron doors and beast-sealed wards, two figures watched Ren’s match on a flickering crystal screen. One was tall, in priest-like garb. The other—cloaked entirely in black—had a chained beast spirit writhing at his side.

“He’s awakening too quickly,” the priest muttered. “The Chimera wasn’t supposed to adapt that fast.”

The other figure simply turned to him. “Should we intervene?”

“No,” said the priest. “Not yet. Let him be for now.” He smiled. “The higher he climbs, the more powerful he'll get which means more power for us to control and with power like that we can rule the world.”

To be continued…

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