Silver Sparrow

Edited on 24th January 2025

"Ashlyn, just sleep…" I said to the little silver sparrow, who was gazing outside the window while standing on the action figure of Elisabeth Collins.

The action figure was of a girl with eagle wings on her back with a crown made out of white eagle feathers on her head; she looked valiant.

Tomorrow is an important day for Ashlyn and me; tomorrow is the day when we will perform the bonding ceremony.

Ashlyn is a Mutated Grey Spark Sparrow.

Her breed of sparrows usually is grey colored with light brown colored wings with fire sparks running over them; that is how their breed got its name, Grey Spark Sparrow. They are also one of the most common Monster species in the world.

But Ashlyn is a mutated sparrow; her whole body is shiny silver in color, and unlike grey sparks sparrows which can release sparks, she breathes fire, a silver fire. 

From the moment she was born, she was different from all her siblings. She is not different in color and abilities but also in nature.

The grey spark sparrows are gentle and friendly, but she is aggressive and indifferent; even her siblings do not play with her.

She has been with me from the day she was born; she is now five months old and nearly the same size as my palm, similar to most grey spark sparrows, but unlike them, who are slim and graceful, this small bird is little chubby.

Feeling bored or maybe sleepy, she flew down my shoulder before walking on tiny steps and burrowing in the blanket over my chest.

For some reason, she never sleeps on her own bed, which is on the table.

I petted her shiny silver-colored feathers as she slept contently on my chest. She is a cute chubby sparrow who acts all day arrogantly and never lets others pet her except for her family.

I petted her for a while before shutting off the lamp and closing my eyes to sleep. Usually, I fall asleep very quickly, but today, it alluded to me.

'Chew chew..'

I was woken up by the sound of Ashlyn's chirp and the sensation of her beak pecking my face. When I opened my eyes, I saw a tiny little bird standing in front of my face proudly with a haughty demeanor.

''Good Morning, Ashlyn," I said as I woke up. I petted her lovingly as she rubbed her face against my hand gently.

Sometimes later, as if knowing she had enough petting, she flew away from my hand and went back to being her arrogant self. I sometimes wonder whether she is cat; only cats behave in such a way.

After she flew away, I freshened up, took a bath and came back into my bedroom to see Ashlyn still in her usual place by the window watching the lake.

I removed Ashlyn's brush from a drawer and started brushing her silver feathers, which she enjoyed very much.

This is one of her favorite activities, and if I ever forget, she will remind me, and her reminders are quite painful.

With the brush, I massaged and combed her feathers as she sighed in contentment in my lap.

After ten minutes, I put the brush back in the drawer. Ashlyn did not linger in the room any longer as she flew away towards the kitchen as it was time for breakfast.

When I reached the kitchen; on the breakfast table, there were already two people and two big Grey Spark Sparrows sitting, who were four times bigger than Ashlyn.

Chew Chew

Ashlyn landed in front of my mother and chirped in greeting. 

"You want your food, Ashlyn?" asked Mom and bobbed her little head in nod.

Mom patted her lovingly, "Today is a special day, so I bought a special treat for you." Hearing the word special treat, Ashlyn's eyes sparkled.

Mom took out a small package from the kitchen counter and emptied its contents into Ashlyn's bowl. Looking at small red meat pieces, her eyes went round in surprise and lit up like the bulbs.

These meat pieces are the meat of Specialist stage monsters; even her parents, who are at the mid and peak level of the Specialist stage, could only get to eat it once a month. This one packet of meat costs us 100 Credits.

Ashlyn breathed her fire into the bowl to heat them before started gobbling them up. While most monsters would eat them directly, not Ashlyn.

She liked her food a little cooked and hot.

In less than five minutes, she finished cleaning the bowl and lay on her stomach contently.

She ate three-quarters of her size, which is sufficient for her parents, who are four times as large as her.

"Hahaha.." we all laugh, seeing her like this.

Ashlyn always had an appetite; she could eat her wait and even barf. My parents have tested her, but did not find anything special other than her mutation.

"This little glutton!" I whisper with a shake of my head and turn to my honeyed pancakes.

They are really tasty. Mother must have bought the honey of Specialist grade Monster; we rarely eat such delicacy, with all the loans and all.

The loans were taken five years ago when our old town was destroyed by a monster horde. It had destroyed everything, it was our great luck that we were able to survive our life, without any harm. 

We moved to our current town and had to take a loan to buy the necessities and a house as government compensation was less than enough.

My parents work in the town hospital, as both of them are Lv. 1 Doctors. They earn enough to pay the mortgage and cover our expenses.

Currently, I could not help them, but soon I will be.

Everyone who is sixteen years old has to bond with their monster; as one of the class toppers, I got offers from the Government and various organisations.

They offered me a Class 7 strain Monster, but I rejected them for Ashlyn.

It seemed a completely idiotic choice to others. There is a vast difference between the Class 2 strain to which Ashlyn belongs and the Class 7 strain, but I still chose Ashlyn. I was determined, and I knew from the bottom of my heart that Ashlyn was the best partner for me.

I knew it the moment, the moment I saw her come out of her egg with sticky silver-colored feathers.

She was completely different from her siblings; her eyes were inquisitive.

I fell in love with her at the first site.

She was quite slim when she was born, but her special love for food made her chubby in no time. It was also due to her love for high-grade food that she broke through at lv.1 of the Private stage two and a half months after she was born.

We were quite shocked by her breakthrough; normally, monsters who hadn't formed a bond or had a high-grade strain didn't make a breakthrough so quickly, but she did.

My parents were also ecstatic; they thought Ashlyn inherited some strain of a powerful Ancestor and paid a high price to check it.

But all their hopes were for naught. Ashlyn didn't have any special strain of some powerful monster, she was just a mutated Silver Spark Sparrow, and her talent was just a little higher than normal grey spark sparrow's, which is approaching medium level.

She could reach the Peak level of the Specialist stage, which is higher than the common Grey Spark Sparrow whose limits are Initial or mid-level of the Specialist stage.

Which isn't much, but I don't care.

I finished the breakfast and walked back to my room to pick up my stuff.

Holo-watch, to be exact. We didn't have to bring anything else.

Standing in front of the mirror, I look at myself properly. I am wearing a white shirt and black trousers, with a yellow blazer on top.

It is the school uniform and today will be the last day, I will wear it.

I looked at myself in a mirror and saw everything looked fine, though I once again couldn't help but be a little more handsome.

I am neither handsome nor ugly, just average. The only defining feature I have in my eyes, they are dark as night.

Flapping her tiny wings, Ashlyn comes flying and lands on my shoulder, her favorite spot.

"Today is the big day for us, Ashlyn," I spoke to her as I patted her silky smooth silvery feathers, before walking out of my room.

My parents were already waiting by the door.

"Ready, Michael?" asked Mom. I nodded as I watched their two Grey Spark Sparrows suddenly disappear inside them.

One can store your monster inside you; this is an ability one gets after one bonded with the monster. One will also gain the abilities of their monster.

That is called monster integration.

Once the bond is formed. It will put one through the path of power, where one could practice and reach the higher stages.

The higher one advances, the stronger one will get. From breaking the boulder to crushing the mountain, all depend on one's stage of power.

Which directly depends on the stage of one's monster.