Where to?

Trying to be sneaky, Amanda opened the door with a soft click, peeking her head inside.

However, she found Kair and his bird both staring at her.

Slightly embarrassed by her failed attempt to spy on them, she opened the door fully and walked into the room, a light smile on her face. She immediately neared Kair's bed, taking the bird from his hands. It chirped loudly at being separated from its parent, but quickly found comfort in Amanda's warm embrace and her... sizeable assets, to say the least. 

"You opted for a... huh? A familial contract?" She asked, confusion leaking into her voice as she cradled the adorable creature. 

Momentarily shocked by how she knew this, Kair didn't know how to respond. However, remembering Amanda's specialty, his confusion cleared instantly. 

"Y-yes, I did. How did you know?" 

Amanda smiled, standing up straight before putting a finger to her lips.

"I just know." 

Really, she looked more like a matured teenager rather than a 42 year old woman. Her attractiveness and charm far surpassed that of any middle-aged ladies he had ever known in his old life. Not that he had known many, really. His professors, neighbors and...? 

Kair inwardly shook his head. 

'Having mana is just unfair.'

"I went for a familial bond because I don't think its old enough to make... proper choices yet. I'll terminate this one and offer an equality contract once it had matured a bit."

Amanda kept her smile, nodding her head. 

"Good choice. So, Kair. Did you name your beast yet?" She asked, still petting the eagle softly. Its breathing was labored as it continued digging its head into Amanda's cushions, making itself comfortable. 

Kair shook his head, still smiling. 

"No, not yet. After all, we just exchanged dark matter." 

At the mention of dark matter, Amanda's brows wrinkled.

"Dark matter? What's that?" 

Kair's expression momentarily froze.

'Ah, right. I completely forgot.' 

Kair shook his head, correcting himself quickly.

"I mean, we just exchanged our mana, haha. Sorry, I mixed up the words."

Inwardly, Kair was cringing. 

No one in this time and age knew, nor would know, that their miraculous powers were built upon a foundation of horrific torture, abuse, and then some more torture. Only those in the highest positions of power were aware about the history of mana. Due to this, Amanda naturally had no idea about the fact that mana was dark matter. 

"Are you sure your head is fine? You weren't in the best condition when we found you passed out in that alley." Amanda asked, slight concern in her voice. 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Oh, on that note. How did I get here?" Kair asked. He didn't remember giving a call to the emergency services.

Well, not that he had had the means to do so, anyway. 

"Oh, my sweet little niece reported you to the medical team, and they picked you up." Amanda said, turning around as she walked back towards the monitors displaying Kair's vitals. 

Too surprised to speak, Kair couldn't respond to her, for a moment. 

He had met Kiara? Already? He had met the main character of the story, just like that? 

Though Kair was shocked, he quickly recovered himself... somewhat. 

Kiara, as the main character of the story, was absurdly powerful.

So powerful in fact, that she would easily triumph in a fight with Miles and Nick, the two guards that had been stationed at the gates despite the fact that both half-brothers were nearly twice her age, Kiara being only 17. 

Due to her power, she was granted a weapon by the defense department of Cilica City and was hired as an intern guard who was tasked with patrolling the city at night to keep order.

Obviously though, she wasn't the only one, which did make the fact that she herself had found and reported him still a huge coincidence.

"Oh, okay." Kair said, still stumped.

"Um, so do you think I could be discharged someti-" before he could finish, he saw a holographic display pop up in front of him. 

Surprised, he looked at Amanda. She puffed out her chest proudly. The bird chirped, annoyed that its resting spot had been disturbed. 

"That's right! Feast your eyes! We came up with a method to make the entire bonding process with a beast easier! That right there is one of the devices." 

She leaned over Kair's side of the bed, pointing at the display.

"Place your hand on it." She commanded.

"Uhm, okay." Kair complied. 

The display lit up even brighter for a moment, before fading into a new format. Then, it split into two screens, information starting to appear on it. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Party A (familial bond (parent) -> [more details])

Designated name: Kair Rivia 

Age: 17 years, 0 months, 5 days.

Race: Human

Gender: Male

[Expand]

------------------------------------------------------------

Party B (familial bond (child) -> [more details])

Designated name: ---

Age: 0 years, 0 months, 5 days. 

Race: Starry Eagle

Gender: Female

[Expand]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She looked at Kair, expectantly.

"So, what do you think?".

Kair meanwhile, was trying to feign his surprise. 

"Oh, wow! That's so cool!" 

"Right? Anyway, focus on the 'Designated name' area and think of a name. It'll imprint instantly." She said whilst holding the bird up in the air, swinging it around and gently causing it to squeal in happiness. 

Kair thought for a moment.

"Hmm.. what do you think about... Starlie?" he said, enthusiastically. 

Amanda on the other hand turned and looked at him, deadpan. 

"Starlie? Because she's a Starry Eagle?" 

"Uhm... yeah?" 

"...." A sigh escaped Amanda.

"No creativity whatsoever." She muttered under her breath. 

Shrugging, Kair sent his mana into the device, transmitting his intent with the name 'Starlie' onto it. The display whirred for a bit, then the name appeared on it. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Party A (familial bond (parent)-> [more details])

Designated name: Kair Rivia

Age: 17 years, 0 months, 5 days.

Race: Human

Gender: Male

[Expand]

------------------------------------------------------------

Party B (familial bond (child) -> [more details])

Designated name: Starlie Rivia

Age: 0 years, 0 months, 5 days. 

Race: Starry Eagle

Gender: Female

[Expand]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sighing again in disappointment, Amanda softly handed Starlie back to Kair. 

Starlie on the other hand started flapping her wings, showcasing her happiness with the name. After the change, the display disappeared with a soft whir.

Starlie didn't know how much she'd regret celebrating her name in the future. 

Shaking her head, Amanda turned to leave the room. 

"You should change her name after she becomes an adult. Just some friendly advice" 

Before she headed out the door, she waved at Kair and Starlie.

"If you need anything, please inject mana into the panel on the side of your bed. Otherwise, I suggest you rest as it's already about midnight. I'll see if you can be discharged tomorrow, so fingers crossed." 

Kair waved back and she smiled, leaving the room. 

Making himself and Starlie comfortable, he fell into deep sleep, finally getting a good night's rest without the haunting memories of his death and reincarnation invading his dreams. 

---

The next day, Kair was standing outside the hospital doors, finally getting a good look at his surroundings. Again, unsurprisingly, it was exactly the 'Cilica City' he had been imagining when writing this place.

He was wearing standard clothing that had been issued by the hospital, a comfortable black hoodie and grey joggers, and was deciding where to go next.

Starlie was perched on his right shoulder, comfortably sitting on it as she observed the strange surroundings she was in. Her feathers were glistening with a grey sheen, her black eyes curiously darting back and forth. 

'Right, I should probably go to the information centers... or?' 

Currently, it was the 6th of December, 6584. 

If his memory was accurate, Kiara would be turning 18 on the 15th of January, which would prompt her to make the journey to Drakon University. 

Even in this world, Kair had included things such as universities which would train the youth in order for them to later on be capable of fighting the Nox. 

Knowing that growing stronger was the only way to uncover the secrets behind her parent's disappearance, Kiara had decided to make the journey to Drakon University and enroll in it. 

Following this storyline, Kair decided that it would be best if he himself also applied to Drakon University. Since it was the focus of pretty much the whole first volume of the novel, Kair knew of many 'secret' and 'hidden' items which could boost his power drastically without affecting Kiara's progression all too much. 

As well as that, Kaira was the main character! 

Kair had finally made up his mind on what exactly he would do. He would just... live. 

That's right. He decided that whether this was reality or a dream didn't really matter! He would treat this as if it were reality, though. Dying prematurely, even if it was a dream, wouldn't be e good experience... he thought. As well as that, if by some miracle this wasn't a dream, the thought of dying seemed particularly harrowing.

There were, as a matter of fact, a few hypothetical ways for him to come to a sound conclusion on what was going on. However, for that, he'd have to get a lot more powerful. He had to become important enough to be able to get his hands on the facilities and information he was seeking. For that, the only way forward was to get stronger. 

'So, the next step would be to get to Drakon University.' 

Cringing, Kair sourly looked at the ground.

'Drakon.. what the hell is that name, even?' 

How embarrassing was that?! 

'Kill me now.' 

His suicidal tendencies aside, he was actually quite happy. This was like playing a role playing game, like the ones back on earth. 

'An omniscient player... that sounds cool.'

When he was about to leave the hospital, he heard his name being called out from behind him. 

"Kair, wait!" 

He turned around and saw Amanda's alluring figure which was covered up by her doctor's gown standing behind the opening doors. They magically disappeared into thin air, allowing Amanda to approach Kair. 

Amanda was surprisingly tall, almost as tall as him. That certainly wasn't how he'd imagined her when writing his novel. However, then again, he hadn't exactly specified her height.

Smiling at him, she stretched out her hand and offered him a closed fist. Frowning, Kair was momentarily confused; did fist-bumps even exist in this day and age? Hesitantly stretching out his own hand, Amanda suddenly took it and pressed a black-shaped ring into his hand. 

"Here. Consider this a gift." 

Taking the ring and looking at it closely, Kair couldn't help but be stunned.

"Uh... what's this?" he asked, trying to hide his surprise under confusion. 

Amanda's smile deepened. 

"It's a prototype, a storage device. Unlike with a regular card-like storage device, which has a smaller limited storage space, the ring as a far larger one. As a matter of fact, it grows along with you. The more mana you can inject into it, the larger the space becomes." She gestured with her hands. 

Bewildered, Kair didn't really know what to say for a second. 

"Th-That sounds amazing, but why give this to me...? This seems really, really valuable."

Chuckling, Amanda waved it off.

"Oh, it's just a prototype. I also don't just do this for anyone. Not even for you, really. It's rather for your bond." She pointed at Starlie, stretching out her hand and ruffling the bird's feathers.

"I could immediately sense that your bond was above average in talent and potential, but it's actually quite shocking how powerful Starlie could become. To wholly nurture its growth, you'd need some special resources. Obviously, they aren't expensive, but indeed hard to find. I stowed some in the ring for the time being, but you'll have to find your own after a while." Amanda looked at Kair, expectantly. 

He shook his head, still at a loss for words.

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Won't you get in trouble for this, though?"

Amanda smiled, shaking her head. 

"No, not really. This ring's pretty much dysfunctional, so the amount of mana you'd need to sustain, let's say, 10 cubic meters of space would be exponentially higher than how much you'd need with a proper ring. This one's kind of like scrap." 

Already putting up a hand to stop the questions she was sensing coming from Kair, she continued. 

"Again, I wouldn't do this for just anyone. These times have been cruel, with humans usually enslaving beasts or other animals without regard for their freedom. So much so, that it's now considered the norm. Seeing you actually caring about a beast, made me somewhat hopeful that not all was doomed in the world. The resources I put in there were from my personal savings, but don't worry about paying me back. Just promise me, you won't-"

Before she or he could say anything else however, the doors of the hospital opened once more and another nurse stepped out, calling Amanda's name.

"Excuse me, Ms. Lavira! A patient needs your attendance, it's an emergency!"

Sighing, Amanda turned to the nurse. 

"Hold on a second, Maia. I'll be right there"

Turning to Kair, she apologetically offered her farewells. 

"Well, I've got to go. Hopefully we'll see each other again, so I can track Starlie's growth. Don't neglect your bond!" With a more pleading tone, she added: 

"Please, treat her nicely. I... hope you won't make the same mistake that humanity's been making for so long." 

Without even giving Kair a chance to respond, she hurried back inside the hospital. The nurse gave Kair a glance and followed behind Amanda. They were both suddenly obscured by thick, metallic white walls which seemed to have manifested from nowhere.