Chapter 305: One That Is Not Afraid

Kai smiled behind his dragon mask and strode toward the rightmost cage, toward the raven—the sound of his boots with every step was drowned out by the chaos unfolding on the other Star Beasts.

But to the raven, his footsteps were the only thing it could hear.

He halted before the cage and squatted down, and tilted his head.

For a suspended moment, he stared into the raven’s eyes, and the raven stared back.

Its feathers were black as pitch, and its eyes were not the hollow, animal gaze of a lesser beast. They were sharp. Intelligence. The sclera was black, similar to Kai’s—and the iris was a deep, burning crimson.

Not too long ago, Kai realized that the Pegasi and Griffins were scared of him.

Every time he passed them during nighttime, they would recoil and stare at him with fear.

Like something inside Kai stirred the primordial instinct of fear in them.

Across the last few months, he hadn’t met a single Pegasus or Griffin that wasn’t afraid of him.

Since he was not going to have a mount of his own and would use it to travel instead of the assigned mounts in the Aerial Stable, it would be a problem if the mount was afraid of him. It would make him feel uneasy.

One day, that kind of mount would leave him without a doubt.

No proper bond could be made with such a beast.

So, he needed a mount that wasn’t afraid of him.

Initially, he thought there wouldn’t be one like that among these five options, but he guessed that if there was one among them, it would be the raven, and he was right. Unlike the other Star Beasts, the raven wasn’t disturbed.

It didn’t react much to being exposed to Kai’s dark mana.

And that’s a good sign.

"You are not afraid of me, are you...?" Kai asked as if the raven could speak human tongue.

No answer.

But that was answer enough for Kai.

Across the last few months he had been living in the First Sky, this was his first time meeting a mount that didn’t flinch at the raw exposure of his mana. One that contained the power of the Goddess of the Primordial Night.

Naturally, his decision became clear.

"I’ll take the raven." Kai rose to his feet and brushed the dust from his knees—as he turned to Henry, showing his calm and certain normal eyes behind the mask. "I think I would go along very well with it."

Henry blinked at what Kai said.

And then, he frowned.

"Are you sure?" he gestured toward the cage with an open palm. "The raven has been nothing but trouble. Anti-social. A picky eater and thus rarely eats, making it weak most of the time. And also seemed to be sick. In my years of working as a keeper, this one is the hardest to deal with simply because it wouldn’t respond.

"Refuses to bond. Refuses to train. Honestly, I would be glad that you get it off my hands, but I still need you to be really sure. This is a very special occasion, and you won’t be able to change your decision later."

Kai listened without interrupting.

And when Henry finished, he simply shrugged.

"In my eyes, those things are easier to deal with than making a friend of a beast that’s naturally afraid of me. Fear is a hard wall to overcome. A bad attitude simply depends. Perhaps it didn’t like you."

"If you say so. Don’t come complaining to me later."

Just as he was about to open the cage, a frown formed on his forehead.

Something had caught his eye.

Kai followed his gaze and realized that the raven had moved.

It was no longer hunched in the corner of its cage like it was keeping the world away, entirely detached and listless. Now, it had leaned forward—its head tilted at an angle that was almost curious about something.

Its dark eyes were fixed on Kai—or more precisely, on Kai’s pocket.

Even though the leather pinions and iron bars were barring it from getting closer—it kept on reaching still. Kai frowned and reached into his pocket. His fingers brushed a stalk, and then he realized what it was.

The Dark-eyed Grapes.

Kai had forgotten that he pocketed them in a rush earlier to follow Henry.

Wait... Is that why it wanted the grapes?

From what Kai remembered, the Dark-eyed Grapes contained two affinities, and one of them was the dark affinity. Henry mentioned that the raven also has dark affinity—so it must have smelled the grapes’ dark affinity and wanted to eat them.

Kai pulled one out and held it a few inches away from the raven’s reach.

Seeing the seething grape, its feathers fluffed, its eyes widened, and it pressed harder against the iron bars. A slow smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He stepped closer and held the grape out toward the raven.

"You want this?" He asked.

Instead of answering, the raven tried to lunge forward.

Its beak snapped shut around the Dark-eyed Grape with a speed that would’ve taken a finger had Kai been a heartbeat slower. But he was ready. He chuckled, then tossed the grape to the raven. "Fine. Take it. Consider it a gift for our new relationship."

As soon as it caught the grape, it retreated to the back of the cage, clutching its prize.

It began to devour the grape without any shame, bordering on desperate.

Henry watched the raven eat the grape eagerly, at a loss for words.

"What the heck was that?"

"Just something I found from a Sky Gate."

"A Sky Gate? You’re still a new student."

"Volunteered to help seniors recently, and got to enter the Sky Gate thanks to it. I believe the system said that it has dark affinity. Perhaps that’s why the raven liked it so much. You haven’t tried to feed it with these kinds of things?"

"A fruit containing dark affinity? Of course, not. That’d be really wasteful to give away. You’re going to be really broke if you feed it that fruit all the time. How many do yo—"

Before Henry could finish his question, something happened.

Swish—!

A surge of energy rippled through the raven’s body. It was visible—a faint, dark shimmer that spread across its feathers, making them gleam like polished obsidian. Its body shuddered, and its eyes flared with a light that had not been there before.

The sickly, weak creature that Henry had described was gone.

In its place was something more alert.

Swoosh—!

Like announcing its presence, the raven flared its wings with a powerful movement, sending gushes of wind across the entire building. Even the iron bars that were keeping it caged groaned and bent outward, almost breaking from the pushing wings.

’What...?’ Henry stared at the robust raven in utter surprise. His eyes traced its feathers that were now fuller, and also its posture that was devoid of any weakness. ’Did it grow stronger? From eating one fruit, it grew stronger? And for it to bend the enchanted iron bars like that... Its strength should at least be around the upper echelon of a Scourge-class Beast. Shit! I made a mistake!’

As he stated earlier, Eventide Academy should only be given the White Selection.

And that meant the Scourge-class Star Beasts that could be gifted should only be those at the lower echelon of the Scourge-class. Now—Henry had mistaken the raven for a Star Beast with meager power.

It turns out it was simply hungry.

Just feeding it once allowed it to recover the lost strength that amounted it to the upper echelon.

"Erm... Red Prince Kai," He scratched the back of his head. "Actually—"

"You’re not going to go back on your word now, right? You said I could pick one of these five Scourge-class Star beasts." Kai glanced at Henry with a raised brow. "I did not break any rule for choosing this raven."

"I’ve made a mistake. This raven shouldn’t be among this batch for you."

"Hm? I failed to understand how that was my problem."

"Eugh..."

Henry sighed; he couldn’t argue since this was an error on his part.

Entirely his oversight.

Since it had gotten to this, all he could do now was let Kai proceed. He would get an earful—or perhaps a punishment—but that’s simply the consequence of his decision. He opened the cage, waited for Kai to step inside, and then locked it behind him, sealing him in with the big raven.

Despite being a few steps away from Kai, the bird didn’t flinch.

It also didn’t move either.

It simply watched Kai with those black-sclera eyes with a tilted head, while its crimson irises tracked his every movement. It was larger up close than it had seemed from outside. Kai was well above seven feet, and yet the raven still towered over him.

About three to four inches taller.

And then its wingspan, even though held back by the iron bars, was far wider than Kai’s arms could reach. Its feathers gleamed like oil on water—and there was a stillness to it that felt less like calm now that it regained its strength.

Henry’s voice came through.

He explained the process of establishing a bond with a domesticated Star Beast.

Since the raven had its original link to the Blue Void completely severed, a Supernal could use that existing link as a foundation to build their own connection. Once the bond was forged—the man and beast would feel one another’s emotions as clearly as their own.

If the connection deepened, they could sense each other’s location across vast distances—even communicate through thought alone, and even draw on shared power in times of need. All of this was new information.

Kai listened, genuinely surprised at what he was hearing.

None of this had been taught in class—the academy had covered Star Beast anatomy, normal behaviour, weaknesses, and combat applications. This must be knowledge reserved for those with access to a special mount.

He filed it away, grateful for the unexpected education.

And then, he followed Henry’s instructions.

First, Kai channelled his mana, letting the darkness pool in his Primordial Lock before pushing it outward. Slowly, he used it to probe the raven’s physicality, searching through feathers and flesh for the Null Gem—the remnant of the bird’s severed connection to the Blue Void.

Surprisingly, the raven didn’t retaliate.

It let Kai do what he needed to do.

An accepting behaviour that Kai welcomed with open arms.

It took a moment, but he found it on the raven’s forehead, buried shallowly beneath the skin.

Despite being a Scourge-class Star Beast, it was pale, translucent, devoid of any green tinge.

Kai focused his mana into it.

He pushed gently, watching the strands of his darkness infiltrate the Null Gem.

For him to forge the connection with the raven, he first had to imprint his presence within the Null Gem, then bind it to his Primordial Lock. Establishing that presence took only a minute—a dark sphere, pulsing faintly in the Null Gem.

But when he reached for the Lock to complete the binding, a frown creased his forehead.