Grandfort is a minor city belonging to the Kingdom of Eagles. The Kingdom of Eagles is ruled by a feudal society so naturally Grandfort has a noble who rules the city.

That noble is Count Fraser of the Lawrence family.

Count Lawrence is known to be a good leader, he isn’t unfair, he keeps the taxes at a reasonable level and is overall a respectable man. It just so happens that his character wasn’t passed on to his son Haris.

Aegon looked to his right and there stood a youth with expensive clothes, a handsome face and a smile that would leave most young ladies lost in their daydreams.

“I'm sorry my friend, I saw this Green-scout Eagle from a distance and my interest was piqued, surely little brother wouldn’t mind giving this young master some face.” said Haris with a beaming smile.

[It’s pretty obvious that you’re a young master just by looking at your clothes, no need to shove it down my throat. But I might as well leave it to him, he looks all kind but with his status he can probably make my life a lot harder on a whim and I don’t want to take risks]

“No problem, I see that big brother desires it more than I do”. Aegon then said his goodbyes and left to look at other stalls.

Now back to square one, Aegon roamed the market in search of a new magical beast but found no adult one that suited his taste.

[*sigh*, I can't seem to find a decent magical beast after the incident with that Lawrence jerk. I guess I'll have to make do with a pup. This is going to be harder than I thought.]

Most people bought or captured their magical beasts as pups so that they could create a stronger bond and get a bigger return of their investment, after all a magical beast costed at least one silver coin which was equivalent to half a year's salary in the countryside. In fact, the only reason Aegon had 2 silvers coins with him was because his older brother successfully graduated from the Sacred Bond Martial House, however since the entrance exam was near and Aegon didn’t have time to nurture a pup, he wanted an adult partner or else his chances of entering the Sacred Bond Martial House would decrease significantly.

[Since I'm going to pick a pup its better if it is on the nimbler side or it won't stand a chance.]

Whit that in mind, Aegon once again roamed the market until he stopped in front of an inconspicuous stall with only a few cages, in one of those cages a little beast that looked like a slightly smaller wolf quietly slept.

Seeing Aegon’s interest the shopkeeper gave a light kick on the cage. Two yellow eyes with wavy black stripes that resembled the margins of a river stared in undisguised rage at the person who interrupted its rest.

Aegon stared back at the pup.

[Those eyes...they look like the... hmm fascinating.]

“Mister, this little wolf, I can't seem to recognise his race.”

The middle-aged shopkeeper licked his lips and spoke with a know-it-all smile. “It’s only natural that a kid like you wouldn’t know.”, he eyed Aegon once more and continued to speak. “He is a Direwolf.”

[Direwolf huh? Never heard of it.]

“Can you please enlighten me about the specifics of this species, Mister?”

An even bigger smile appeared on the shopkeeper’s face “It’s a species known for its brute force having a size at least 3 times a normal wolf while still being agile but it's most unique aspect is in the groups they form, most wolf packs have an alpha male and alpha female who are the only ones allowed to procreate but in a Direwolf pack every member has that right, however half of the pups who are born in a year are expelled 3 months after they are born, the bottom half to be precise. This buddy here is one such example.”

[So, you're an outcast... I normally wouldn’t pick a charity case but I’m kind of in a hurry and your eyes are cool, they might even scare that entitled bastard.]

Aegon gave the shopkeeper 2 silver coins. After that he took out an old parchment from his pocket, closed his eyes and started to mutter the incantation.

Mysterious runes danced around both of them, when the incantation was nearing its end, they moved towards the parchment lighting it in a beautiful black flame that split in two, each creating a black flame tattoo in both the kid and the wolf.

A name suddenly appeared in Aegon´s mind...”Kuro”.

Aegon once again looked at the wolf and the wolf looked back at him... after the contract they knew each other’s full history, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Aegon released Kuro from his cage and walked back home with a small black wolf in tow