Chapter 5: First Skill
By the time Athar arrived at his building, he had considerably calmed down. He knew that although he was extremely angry, he could not act out of rage. He needed to think calmly and clearly before taking any decision.
He had more than a week before Dervin would expect him to show up and pay his thirty percent of his resources. His main priority should be to focus on the academy for now.
Putting aside all these thoughts, Athar sat down, and with a will, his companion, the little snake, was summoned outside.
Athar had initially been very happy when he had learned about the fruit and had thought that he would be able to raise the grade of the little snake. But things were not so simple.
Firstly, the snake was not ready to go for an upgrade. It would need to have sufficient strength to rise to the gold grade. And though Athar was not sure, he believed that snake would need to reach at least C Rank before he could rise to the gold grade.
Secondly, one fruit was definitely not going to be sufficient for the snake. It needed two of these fruits.
Athar felt that after seeing him, the snake let out a 'smile' as it hissed and slithered towards Athar. The connection between them told Athar that his partner was quite happy and pleased.
With time, the bond between them would only grow stronger, and he would be able to understand his beast better.
Athar crouched on the ground as he slid his index fingers on the scales of the snake.
"Your scales are really shiny," he mumbled. "And it looks durable too, even when you are so small."
The snake hissed as if agreeing with Athar's words.