The shining morning sun matched the smiling kid getting off the bus at the Capital. Even with the small but heavy as a mountain backpack -thanks, mom- Samuel went hopping and dancing the whole way from the bus station to the Human-Animal Connection Academy (HACA) while drinking his bubble tea -tapioca pearls are the best- and feeling good as hell.

It's finally the registration day!

The luxurious academy entrance was a bit intimidating, with plenty of new students and amazing animals forming a line. Sam could see so many different types waiting for the same opportunity as him: A goth skinny kid with a raven, a tall guy with a black cat on his shoulder, a classy girl with a majestic tiger, that was just awesome for a guy...without an animal.

His mom always said: "Fate will find you a beautiful soul to link. You need to be patient, kiddo". Her woodpecker always pecked Sam's head after a couple of wise words. She used to joke about how the pecking would help to firm her words in Sam’s mind. He was patient, 15 springs went by, and still, no beautiful soul was found. But the lack of connection wasn't his problem, after all. He just didn't find the right animal to form a link with. The thing is that Samuel was a bit...picky.

Sam always dreamt of bonding with a large, powerful animal like a rhino, a wolf, or a tiger, a lion, maybe even a liger, what about komodo dragons? But the truth is that he never even saw any of those animals in front of him. This kind of link is only seen on tv, with the most powerful anilink users (some of them are even teachers at the HACA), or on those bizarre and cruel aristocratic families that raise exotic species to form bonds. Sam never lost hope and always carried the anilink device bracelet in his necklace, always looking for a strong candidate to link.

He was always waiting for fate.

Sam didn't have a companion, but that wasn't a problem to pass the first exams. He knew all about how anilinks are formed, how the weapons and skills matched the human and animal personas and so much more, thanks to his dad, a great anilink researcher. He missed his old man like hell. In his final days, he sent a letter to the Capital's dean, an old friend, asking for a full scholarship, since the academy's prices are way too expensive for a regular family like Sam's. Samuel was very thankful for that opportunity and wished his dad was by his side after crossing those gates.

The nostalgic thoughts were interrupted when the academy hostess, a smiling green-haired girl asked him about his documents. She was shocked by Sam's amazing grades, saying "that's super promising, kid", and asked him about his animal. "You're probably one of those with shy spiders or some small animal like a ferret, did I get it right?"

Sam was a bit bashful, scratching his cheek, while answered "I'm the boy with no connection. The dean allowed me to attend the academy, even with this...particularity."

The girl was embarrassed and replied "Oh, sure, no problem, everyone at some point didn't have an animal, that's fine, there is plenty of fish in the sea, right? I guess this wasn't the right analogy -WELL HERE'S THE REGISTRATION SHEET, can you please fill this for me?"

Sam was about to laugh but saw her linked crab looking at the funny moment while nodding its head in disapproval, and decided to just fill the document. After some time, and a small pain in his wrist, he completed the registration. The green-hair girl (on a badge, her name: K. Rabbit) gave him the keys to his small lodge house, checked his info on the papers, and said "That's all, mister Samuel, your physical test will be on Monday, exactly a week from now".

He was pretty confident about his skills. Mother was training him in combat and sports since always (he still had some bruises from the goodbye training), and the lack of an animal shouldn't be that much of a concern. He was about to leave when heard an arrogant voice coming from behind "So you're the loser without an animal? Dude, you're totally not going to last a day in this." The guy was big, blonde, and stupid, followed by a gorilla with an ironic expression. "A classic bully", Sam thought. He was waiting for those to show up but hoped to see them a bit later.

Before Sam started to reply, a shadow fell from the sky right in front of him. "That's not a fair fight, mate, you should pick at least somebody with a nice weapon like mine" when finishing the sentence, the person -it was a blonde girl with a ponytail and a blue macaw on her shoulder- opened the left hand and summoned a cutlass on her hand. The stupid guy replied aggressively with a "You wanna fight, girl? Let's do it!" and summoned a Warhammer with both hands. They were definitely the brawler types. K. Rabbit interrupted, saying that fights at the academy are only allowed in form of formal challenges, and since the classes didn't start yet, they weren't accepting challenges for now.

Both contenders dismissed the weapons and went back in line, waiting for their time. Sam thanked the blonde girl "Thanks for that, it was pretty cool of you both" the girl turned in Sam's direction with a smile. He noticed her eye patch and the macaw's absence of a left eye. "We're always happy to help and to fight, right, Maddie?" the animal was really happy receiving some affection. "I'm Eleanor Williams, you can call me Elle". Sam introduced himself and was pretty happy about that first friend, especially because she was such a badass. Then, the receptionist called Elle to fill the forms, they said goodbye and good luck with this first week. "See you on the physical exams, Samuel!"

Samuel went to his lodge, a small and simple house, that would definitely serve as a home for the time he was into the academy. The place didn't have any modifications, since he didn't have any animal that required special accommodations. He needed to start training for the upcoming tests. He was excited and happy, but a bit worried. A cutlass versus a Warhammer, a macaw against a gorilla, that was so crazy to see in person. And what he had? Willpower? Some martial art knowledge? How that was supposed to work against those guys?

After finishing to organize his things, making a workout area with his gym stuff, and putting all the packed lunch that mom sent in the fridge, he finally decided to rest a bit. After sending a picture of the bedroom to his mom, saying that everything was alright, Sam managed to work out for some time until the sun was set. The night came with a thin rain, a sound that helped Sam to sleep.

It was a great and crazy first day.