Rare

It has been a few days since the bonding ritual, and training was like hell. Zeta Triton has been training us like there is no tomorrow. I do not know how Father had managed to control Velladon and Ikaru. I was having the most challenging time of my entire life, just maintaining Aibek outside. Having our lupus out uses most of our energy. Just them walking with us on a short distance felt like days of exhaustion.

"piiiittt!" the sound of a whistle coming from the field. It is time for another training. I wonder what kind of activity we will be doing Today. As we all arrived, I looked around. I saw almost everyone except for that scrawny little girl with her lupus Talia.

"Alright, everyone is here," Zeta Triton spoke with an authoritative voice. "Today, we will determine which rank you are most suited to. Will you be under the command of Eta, or will you be one of the Delta?"

Everyone started to talk. Being a Lambda means they will be on the front lines most of the time, while being a Delta, they will be tasked to deliver the messages between tribes. No matter what, it will be dangerous, but we are never alone. Our lupus is with us.

"Everyone! Call out your lupus!" all of the Eta commanded. I wanted to call both Phobos and Aibek, but Zeta Triton looked at me. He was instructed by my father to keep an eye on me. They told me not to summon Phobos no matter what happens until they are confident that I can control him.

"Young prince..." I looked up and saw Hilal. "You can just summon Lord Aibek." He said with a soft and calm voice. His lupus Fao is a bit small compared to others with an all-white fur. He looks so gentle, but not to be fooled as Fao is known to be agile and fierce in battle, even matching with Vigor.

When I summoned her, everyone around looked at me with shock in their eyes. Aibek is enormous. Standing on four, she is all the way to my ears, while most of the average lupus is only to our shoulders.

"Prince Aerglo... It is nice to train with you..." One of the new Paragon said, bowing down on me. He was the one before me on the summoning ritual. I never get to know his name and his lupus from what I remember; he named him Bolvek. I tapped his shoulder, an indication for him to stand up. I am not comfortable with this situation right now. Everyone is looking at me, and I don't know what to say. "My name is Arche, and this is Bolvek, your highness."

As much as possible for now, I want everyone to treat me the way they treat everyone else. I may have this powerful lupus with me, but I am still far from being an ALPHA.

"Ok, everyone... Today we will start with combat abilities! I want you all to pair up and chose your opponent." Triton spoke. Everyone rushed to their desired partners. I wanted to pair up with Arche, but he already has one. Everyone else is murmuring and intimidated by Aibek. At the last minute, I am looking around, a girl who is almost the same age or maybe older than me is approaching. "Good morning Prince Aerglo... My name is Io, and this is Bellenus. Would you like to pair up?" She has a slick build, and her lupus is almost the same as Fao. Only her's has a fur with a shade of gray.

"It is settled then!" One of the Eta announced. I was never able to respond to her question when Erik started to speak. "Now that everyone has their chosen opponent, I want you all to be prepared as this will be a match to the death!" Everyone's eyes widened in shock because of the announcement. I looked at Io, and she has a big grin on her face.

"Now that everyone is ready, we shall start!" Elder Oberon said. "HOWL!!" Enshir's howl is deafening, then suddenly each and everyone else vanished one pair at a time. A light shone from the ground where we are standing, and then I was teleported to a different area.

I looked around, trying to figure out where am I. All I can see is a location covered with snow. The topographical area I can say is that I am somewhere in the mountains. Aibek seems to be just as comfortable as I am in the cold mountains. I can feel a presence near, but I cannot pinpoint where it is precisely.

"HOWWWWLLL!!!" Aibek began to cast recovery to make us feel more comfortable and at ease in the freezing terrain.

We assumed a defensive stance preparing for what to come, then something landed just half a meter away from me. 'BOOM!' Io came out of nowhere with her face and smile when she missed us.

"What is the matter Prince Aerglo? Too afraid to hit a girl?" She mocked us. If what I remember is right, based on what I saw on the rituals, Bellenus can move at lightning speed and can camouflage on any given terrain.

"Be on high alert, Aerglo," Aibeks voice spoke into my head. "I will take care of Io," I answered her, but she refused, "No, that is what she wants. We need to take them down together. Remember how you were able to find Phobos in his illusions? Do that again. We need to find her lupus, or else she will just keep on healing." She instructed me. "But I can't do that with you outside!" I answered, but Aibek just grinned her fangs. "No problem... HOWL!!!" I can feel a surge of energy running through my body. I know this is just a quick fix, and it is a long shot. This is a battle to the death, so every move has its own risk. I concentrated and scattered my aura to find Bellenus while Aibek is guarding me against the attacks.

Io can fight hand in hand and also hide her presence. I observed her movements, every time she attacks, she runs away to hide. It is a good tactic. I followed her every move and figured out a pattern. One two three... move five steps back... then one two three... shift to three o'clock, then one two three... shift again to six o'clock and then rinse and repeat... She is making use of the entire terrain to her advantage. Moving way too fast so that I won't pinpoint their location. I can feel something is different here, as if they are both moving as one. It is impossible to detect a lupus when it is hiding inside the Paragon. Still, every time Io makes an attack, I can feel both of their presence. I looked at Aibek and asked her about our mind link. "Do you sense it too?"

"Yes!" Her short reply

"How is this possible?" She howled, and a giant tornado around us began to appear. "This wind barrier won't last long!" She said, looked at her nine o'clock, and shot multiple air blasts from her mouth, followed by a rain of needle-like fur. I cannot see anything from the cloud of dust and snow. I looked in the direction and felt that both Io and Bellenus's aura stopped moving.

"Wow, that was lucky!" I said, and we walked towards the direction and found Io unconscious. Her body has some fur just like Bellenus, and her hands have claws. After a few seconds, something unexplainable happened. Io and Bellenus's body separated; they are both unconscious but alive.

"Just as I suspected!" Aibek said. I still looked confused, so I looked at her again. "Some paragon has the rare ability to merge with the lupus, giving them the exact same power and more robust physical attributes. This skill is so rare that even in the past, it is considered a prized gift. Not everyone can do this. Even a pure-blooded one like you are not guaranteed to have this." Her long explanation. I looked at her with disdain and thought to myself, 'why would they want us to kill each other.' I looked at them again and sighed. "It is a shame, but this is a fight to the death; I am so sorry..." I said with a heavy heart. I was about to stab her in the chest when the same light glowed and teleported us back to the plains of Il.

"Congratulations, everyone!" Elder Oberon announced. "You have all completed the combat skill training. To the victors, congratulations, you will all be trained under Eta's supervision. While those who lost will be directed to train as Iota while one or two will be trained as Delta. One more thing... Paragon Io!" He called. Io and Bellenus have just started to regain their consciousness.

"I will personally train you along with Prince Aerglo," Elder Oberon commanded. Everyone looked at us and started to murmur again.

"This concludes Today's activity! Everyone head back to your chambers! Rest, and the next time you will all be trained under your designations!" Zeta Triton gave the command.

My body feels so heavy. Every step is like walking barefoot on a field of sharp stones. It will be a long downhill walk until we reach Ilmor. I really wanted to take a rest now.

"Is that all you can do?" Phobos' voice inside my head. "You cannot handle a single fight without Aibek sharing her lifeline... you are such a weakling I regret bonding with the likes of you!"

I have no energy to argue with him, yes, I am still weak, and I cannot handle both of them. That is why I need to train harder, but now all I want is to sleep.