Chapter Three: Contents of the Letter

In the Temple, now dressed and having cleaned up the mess of my bloody transformation, I sit down on the stone dais and open the letter Morena gave to me, it reads;

"Hello Hunter, if you are reading this, it means that you have turned sixteen years old and have undergone fusion with your Spirit Beast and Know that you are a member of the dragon clan a group who have kept sacred the bonds that humans and monsters share, to defeat the eternal enemy of mankind. However the information is only partially correct, you are the sole survivor of the dragon clan, but you must keep that a secret, until you are strong enough to protect yourself. I am very sorry that your mother and I could not raise you ourselves before we perished from our wounds, I hope that you can someday forgive us even though we don't deserve it. Your mother is going to take over the letter from here."

I paused before reading the next part, I am the sole survivor of the dragon clan, the most powerful Mon-Fu practitioners in our world, then I put my head down and begin to read the next part in a more flowing type of script: "Hello honey, Happy birthday, I hope you like Rexis, He is the pride of our clan born from abyssal fire, and draconic lightning dragon heritages, you will have the strongest and most handsome dragon as your bonded partner. I only have a little time so I'll keep it short and sweet, hmm where to begin... clean socks! yes! always be sure to pack clean, dry socks, at least until you get a storage ring. Don't Forget to eat plenty of vegetables and brush your teeth err fangs now that you are fused, avoid getting too drunk as dragon fire is almost impossible to put out and your lightning attacks will arc all wrong, I mean they'll be right to nature but not controllable to you. Most importantly follow your heart, but be careful of how you love dragons can mate for life, or for just an hour, but you will be the most intensely passionate lover for miles, and almost no woman truly recovers from a dragon leaving them. if all else means nothing know that I love you with all my heart my son." and I'm surprised to see the tear roll down onto the paper, I take the part from my father and hold it in front of my face, then focus and exhale a small jet of flame burning the secret part of the letter, and keep mother's half.

noticing the time, I collect my sword and head back to town, there is a monster blocking my path though, it is a wind panther. I look at it and it pounces at me, I have almost no real sword training so I just block its attack with my arm, and reach for its chest with my clawed hand, and after a few tries I manage to defeat it, though I'm not unscathed, my scales protected me from serious injury, but I still received a few bruises. I field dress the the beast, and remove its core which I then consume a we are both still in the page realm, The raw energy of the wind panther's beast core is intense, but not so much that it, is dangerous, and I can feel it healing my wounds, before beginning to strengthen my body, I then trudge home with the meat wrapped in the hide. When I arrive, Morena is waiting by the front door; " take that to the back, and I'll show you how to cook it so the benefits are the greatest."

I follow her directions and meet he by the back door, "it was a wind panther does that change the way I am supposed to cook it?" I pause then start again "My monster is a secret that I want to tell you and Aura, also is it normal for those who have undergone the fusion to be able to eat and absorb Spirit beast cores directly?"

"A wind panther, you say? that's good for a first hunt, most don't like to eat the meat of predators, because there is less fat, but it still goes good as a stew, generally with lighter more aromatic herbs and spices or so I've heard, I never was a gourmand, they didn't call me 'The Battle Queen of Ravenhall' for nothing." she says laughing coldly, "And for the part about your monster being a secret, it's not uncommon as once you begin fighting in tournaments, that is valuable information, but to with hold from your year mates, why? and to eat beast cores directly, well that usually not possible until the grandmaster realm, but I have a guess that your monster is capable of great things so monster cores this young shouldn't be a problem and its probably a requirement for stable growth."

I help Morena with the cooking, and then setting the tables for when the kids come for dinner, my roommates get to eat my first kill with me, because they can now absorb the nutrients in monster meat safely. After dinner we clean up and I help get the kids to bed before returning to Aura and asking her to come to the kitchen, where Morena is waiting. "So why did you call me here with just Grandma? Is there something wrong? is it your monster?" she asks in a worried tone

"Will you just be quiet little girl, Hunter is getting to the point!" Morena says releasing a small amount of the power she can still muster.

"I called you here alone to tell you my monster with just Morena, because what I am going to tell officially is a lie, because my monster is not strong enough for me to go public with it yet. My Spirit Beast is an Abyssal Lightning Dragon, I am the sole survivor of the dragon clan, which was destroyed shortly after I was born, my parents left me in the temple and threw their pursuers off my trail, dying in the process. until I am powerful enough my monster is a winged drake, still in the salamander state with a black fire mutation." I say clearly and without emotion

"Why do you have to lie about that? a dragon out in the open, you would be first in line for the best resources, because dragons have unparalleled potential." Aura asks looking clearly troubled by my decision to lie about my monster for the sake of keeping it hidden from official organizations.

"My parents wrote it in their letter to me, apparently there is some enemy that managed to kill them, probably having spies among the humans." I reply simply and Morena flinches a little. "Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it."

"Well now that that's settled, you guys should get to bed, I won't kick you out, but if you are going to be staying here you will have to pay your way from now on." Morena say shooing us off to bed we go upstairs and tell the others my monster, and of course Hektor complains about my monsters potential. In the morning we are going to discuss our plans for the future as Morena officially announced that we were adults and our chores were passed to the next year.