Ren berjalan pergi dengan senyum tipis, jamur di rambutnya masih berdenyut geli menanggapi reaksi Luna, ketika raungan pelan membuatnya berhenti.
Singa emas milik Klein memancarkan aura yang kuat sementara penjinaknya menghalangi lorong.
"Hei, si jamur," Klein melangkah maju, suaranya berusaha terdengar mengancam meski efeknya agak berkurang karena nada bicaranya yang masih kekanak-kanakan. "Apa yang kau pikirkan sampai berani mendekati Luna?"
Para siswa di sekitar mulai memperhatikan, beberapa secara diam-diam, yang lain terang-terangan. Suasana menjadi tegang penuh antisipasi.
Klein maju dengan kepercayaan diri yang hanya dimiliki oleh pewaris keluarga Goldcrest, setiap langkahnya terukur dan disengaja.
Jamur di rambut Ren berdenyut saat menganalisis pola mana. Singa emas itu adalah makhluk yang mengesankan, meskipun manifestasinya saat ini menunjukkan beberapa ketidakefisienan dalam kultivasinya... Jika terus seperti itu, garis keturunan utamanya akan hilang di tingkat silver...
"Kami hanya mengobrol," Ren mempertahankan nada santainya, meski ia menyadari beberapa siswa mulai membentuk lingkaran di sekitar mereka, mengantisipasi masalah.
"Luna tidak perlu 'mengobrol' dengan rakyat jelata sepertimu," Klein melangkah maju lagi, singanya menggeram pelan.
Ren mundur selangkah kecil. Bukan karena takut, tapi karena kebiasaan setelah sekian banyak latihan dengan Lin.
"Dia milikku."
Ren berkedip, benar-benar bingung. "Milikmu? Bisakah orang menjadi milik orang lain?"
"Jangan pura-pura bodoh!" Klein mengepalkan tinjunya. "Ayahku yang bilang. Luna akan menjadi tunanganku saat kami dewasa nanti, jadi dia milikku. Itu adalah tatanan alami, keluarga bangsawan seperti Goldcrest dan Starweaver ditakdirkan untuk bersatu."
"Oh," Ren memiringkan kepalanya, berpikir. "Tapi ibuku bilang orang tidak bisa menjadi milik siapa pun. Dia bilang setiap orang memiliki dirinya sendiri dan jika berpikir sebaliknya itu adalah... apa kata itu?" jamur-jamur itu berdenyut seolah membantunya mengingat. "Ah ya! Tolol."
Senyum Klein membeku. "Apa katamu?"
Singa emas itu meraung lebih keras, surainya bersinar dengan intensitas yang mengancam. Para siswa mundur selangkah, tetapi Ren tetap berdiri teguh.
"Apa yang ibumu tahu?" Klein meludahkannya.
"Ibuku tahu banyak hal," Ren mengerutkan kening, jamur di rambutnya berdenyut lebih intens. "Dia tahu cara memasak untuk banyak orang, dia tahu cara bercerita, dia tahu cara membuat orang tersenyum... Dan dia jelas tampak tahu lebih banyak daripada ayahmu tentang manusia."
Wajah Klein memerah karena marah. "Jangan berani-berani menghina ayahku, rakyat jelata kotor! Jadi dia hanya rakyat jelata yang memasak di restoran menyedihkan. Ayahku adalah pemimpin keluarga Goldcrest. Dia mengerti bagaimana dunia ini sebenarnya bekerja!"
Jamur di rambut Ren berdenyut dengan intensitas yang lebih besar. "Ibuku tahu bahwa senyum orang tidak bisa dipaksakan. Dan Luna jelas tidak terlihat bahagia atau tersenyum saat kau ada di dekatnya!"
Klein menjadi semakin merah. Singanya mengeluarkan cakar. "Jangan berani bicara seolah kau mengenalnya! Luna ditakdirkan untuk bersamaku! Itu adalah keinginan keluarga kami!"
"Bagaimana dengan keinginannya sendiri?" Ren memiringkan kepalanya. "Pernahkah kau bertanya padanya apa yang dia inginkan?"
"Aku tidak perlu bertanya padanya!" Klein mengambil langkah mengancam lainnya. "Itu tugasnya sebagai bangsawan! Sesuatu yang tidak akan pernah dipahami oleh rakyat jelata menyedihkan dengan makhluk yang menyedihkan!"
"Kurasa justru kau yang tidak mengerti," Ren tersenyum. "Orang bukanlah objek yang bisa kau klaim hanya karena ayahmu mengatakannya. Bahkan 'rakyat jelata' sepertiku bisa melihat itu... Atau apakah kau juga milik ayahmu?"
"Itu berbeda!" Klein maju selangkah lagi. "Kau tidak mengerti apa-apa! Kau...!"
Singa emas itu meraung sekuat tenaga, membuat beberapa siswa menutup telinga.
"Kau...!"
"Aku apa?" Ren mempertahankan senyumnya, meski otot-ototnya menegang bersiap untuk menghindar jika perlu. Latihan dengan Lin telah mengajarinya untuk selalu siap.
Klein mengangkat tinju, wajahnya berkerut dalam kemarahan kekanak-kanakan. "Aku akan mengajarimu tempatmu, si jamur..."
Tanah berguncang hebat, memotong ancamannya. Para siswa terhuyung, terkejut oleh getaran mendadak itu.
Jamur di rambut Ren berdenyut waspada. Ini bukan gempa bumi biasa...
Satu guncangan lagi, lebih kuat dari yang sebelumnya, membuat lampu tempat perlindungan itu berkedip.
Ren dan Klein saling menatap untuk terakhir kalinya. Perselisihan pribadi mereka tiba-tiba tampak jauh kurang penting.
"Ini belum berakhir," Klein mundur, meski suaranya telah kehilangan sebagian keyakinannya. "Jangan berpikir..."
Guncangan ketiga memotongnya. Kali ini, bahkan penghalang pelindung tempat perlindungan itu berkedip.
Para siswa mulai bergumam dengan gugup.
Ren was walking away with a small smile, the mushrooms in his hair still pulsing with amusement at Luna’s reaction, when a soft roar made him stop.
Klein’s golden lion shone with an intense aura while its tamer blocked the hallway.
"Hey, fungus," Klein stepped forward, his voice trying to sound threatening though the effect was somewhat lost due to his still childish tone. "What do you think you’re doing getting so close to Luna?"
The nearby students began paying attention, some discreetly, others not so much. The air grew thick with anticipation.
Klein advanced with the confidence that only the heir of the Goldcrest family could possess, each step measured and deliberate.
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed while analyzing the mana patterns. The golden lion was an impressive beast, though its current manifestation revealed some inefficiencies in its cultivation... If it continued like that the main line would be lost at silver rank...
"We were just talking," Ren maintained his casual tone, though he noticed several students beginning to form a circle around them, anticipating trouble.
"Luna doesn’t need to ’talk’ with plebeians like you," Klein took another step forward, his lion rumbling softly.
Ren took a small step back. Not from fear, but from habit after so much training with Lin.
"She belongs to me."
Ren blinked, genuinely confused. "Belongs to you? Can people belong to other people?"
"Don’t play dumb!" Klein clenched his fists. "My father told me. Luna will be my fiancée when we’re older, so she’s mine. It’s the natural order of things, noble families like the Goldcrests and Starweavers are destined to unite."
"Oh," Ren tilted his head, thoughtful. "But my mother says people can’t belong to anyone. She says everyone owns themselves and thinking differently is... what was the word?" the mushrooms pulsed as if helping him remember. "Ah yes! Halfwitted."
Klein’s smile froze. "What did you say?"
The golden lion roared more forcefully, its mane glowing with threatening intensity. The students took a step back, but Ren stood firm.
"What could your mother know?" Klein spat the words.
"My mother knows many things," Ren frowned, the mushrooms in his hair pulsing more intensely. "She knows how to cook for many people, she knows how to tell stories, she knows how to make people smile... And she definitely seems to know more than your father about people."
Klein turned red with fury. "Don’t you dare insult my father, filthy plebeian! So she’s just a plebeian cooking in some miserable restaurant. My father is the leader of the Goldcrest family. He understands how the world really works!"
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed with even more intensity. "My mother knows that people’s smiles can’t be forced. And Luna definitely doesn’t seem very happy or smiley when you’re around!"
Klein turned even redder. His lion extended its claws. "Don’t you dare talk as if you knew her! Luna is destined to be with me! It’s the wish of our families!"
"What about her wish?" Ren tilted his head. "Have you ever asked her what she wants?"
"I don’t need to ask her!" Klein took another threatening step. "It’s her duty as a noble! Something a miserable plebeian with a pathetic beast would never understand!"
"I think you’re the one who doesn’t understand," Ren smiled. "People aren’t objects you can claim just because your father says so. Even a ’plebeian’ like me can see that... Or do you belong to your father?"
"It’s different!" Klein advanced another step. "You don’t understand anything! You...!"
The golden lion roared with all its might, making several students cover their ears.
"You...!"
"I what?" Ren maintained his smile, though his muscles tensed preparing to dodge if necessary. Training with Lin had taught him to always be ready.
Klein raised a fist, his face contorted in a childish fury. "I’m going to teach you your place, fungus..."
The ground shook violently, interrupting his threat. Students stumbled, surprised by the sudden tremor.
The mushrooms in Ren’s hair pulsed with alarm. This wasn’t an ordinary earthquake...
Another shake, stronger than the previous one, made the shelter’s lights flicker.
Ren and Klein exchanged one last look. Their personal dispute suddenly seemed much less important.
"This isn’t over," Klein backed away, though his voice had lost some of its previous conviction. "Don’t think..."
A third shake interrupted him. This time, even the shelter’s protective barriers flickered.
The students began to murmur nervously.
♢♢♢♢
Moments before...
"Your hippogriff fights pathetically without its tamer’s guidance," Ignatius observed while his phoenix’s golden flames forced the beast to retreat.
"Is that why you resort to those abyssal aberrations? Because you don’t know how to properly use pure beasts?"
The mercenary smiled. "You’re right," he admitted while watching his hippogriff. "I made the mistake of leaving the worst to my griffon while trying to quickly eliminate the weakling with the penguin..."
His eyes narrowed, the scorpion mutations glowing with a threatening tone. "I shouldn’t have underestimated the difference between a beast guided by its master and one acting alone."
The supervisor, still maintaining his ice barrier, noticed something strange in the mercenary’s tone. "Director, careful!"
But Ignatius had already perceived it. The mana around the mercenary began flowing differently, as if it were...
"Come," the mercenary extended his arms. The golden hippogriff instantly stopped fighting, transforming into pure light that flowed toward its tamer.
The scorpion’s features were violently expelled from the mercenary’s body. The abyssal beast fully materialized, its monstrous form immediately launching against the supervisor.
The mercenary’s body transformed again, but this time it was different. Where there had been grotesque plates before, now golden feathers sprouted following natural lines. His arms were covered in brilliant plumage while noble claws replaced the crystalline pincers.
"This..." Ignatius observed the transformation with genuine interest, "looks more like a true tamer’s fusion."
The mercenary extended his newly formed wings on his arms, each feather glowing with contained power. The transformation was elegant, almost beautiful in its symmetry. "Isn’t it?" he smiled, his features now more avian like the director’s but maintaining a harmonic balance with his human form.
"Although..." his smile widened, "one of the things my body learned after so many abyssal ’experiments’ is how to extract... more."
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