“So, in the current Games, there are countless Factions that exist. Some work well with others, but some may limit your options. Your Faction is always shown by others unless you find some way to hide it. This is usually only done by spies or traitors, but that’s not super important right now,” Xexel elaborated for John.

John tilted his head the other way, “Examples?”

“An example, huh? Let’s use the Necron and Demon Empire. They essentially have the same goal, but the way they wish to implement things means that they will never ally with one another. They’re both invasive species that prey on other Races. You’ll be hated by all if you choose either of these Factions, however there are a lot of resources to be gained from joining them. Not only that, they’re very powerful,” Xexel said, though he felt hesitant to offer either as examples.

“Yes, they have resources and power, but you’re not likely to survive long. Your appearance alone would make them seed you and then harvest you for whatever powers your strange appearance. They’d treat you like some strange specimen to dissect and use to empower their own people. They’d make you wish for death a million times over before giving it to you in a horrible fashion,” Bellathorne quickly chimed in, obviously wary of both Races.

“That is concerning. Better stay away from them. What Faction should I choose if I wanted to Contract a partner?” John asked curiously, hoping that he could get free resources from an ally. Not only that, having someone else to fight with would make the journey far less lonely.

“There’s the Coalition. They’re primarily humanoid and fight for freedom and equality. They’re an enormous group, but they’re spread very thin. They would be your best bet at finding a partner to Contract with, though the capability of that partner may be lacking,” Xexel answered, losing his haughty arrogance.

Despite both of their initial hostilities, John found them both to be quite helpful. They had information, and he needed as much as he could get if he were to survive the turbulent world he’d be entering.

“I’ll go with the Coalition,” he decided. He was anxious, yet excited, to get started. “Also, why am I so small?”

They both chuckled at his question and Bellathorne quickly responded. “You’re currently a Rank-Zero monster. Your initial growth will be accelerated until Rank-Two, but everything after that will require time and extensive Essence consumption.”

“Do monsters naturally grow over time?”

“To an extent. A lot of monsters have a soft cap for their natural progression through the Ranks, but with enough luck, all monsters can eventually make it to Rank-Ten. Having said that, the likelihood of making it to Rank-Ten within a century is nearly impossible. Hell, the last time I saw a Rank-Ten monster, it Ascended to godhood and joined us in the Upper Realm.” Bellathorne explained things in a way that made sense to John, plus he found Xexel’s voice to be far less pleasing.

“Okay,” John took a deep breath, “if that’s all, then I’m ready.”

Both Bellathorne and Xexel looked at him with stern gazes. Xexel sighed, taking a couple of moments to collect his thoughts, then said, “Listen, I’m gonna be honest with you John. We’re hoping for you to succeed. We really are. We get rewarded for it, in fact. We gain power when you do, though the amount is negligible until you hit Rank-Eight. If you ever need anything from us, you can pray to us and we’ll do our best to answer. We hope you can find your way out there and make it back home.”

“Okay, I’m gonna start the timer now,” Bellathorne snapped her fingers and a timer started counting down from ten. It reminded him of the letter that had brought him here, but this time he anticipated the countdown reaching zero. The shackles slowly fell away from his body and he felt strong. H realized that the shackles probably contained some sort of restraining effect, though it meant little in the presence of two literal gods.

John blocked out everything besides the timer, closing his eyes as it got to three.

And within just a few seconds, he felt himself shift through space.

The feeling left him dizzy and the sun’s rays shining down through the thatch roof above blinded him momentarily. He tried to step forward and ended up toppling over onto a warm body. He blinked rapidly until his vision was clear of the debilitating effect.

He looked around and realized that the body he felt was a smaller gryphon that he stopped from moving. It struggled beneath his frame and squawked in protest. It took a moment, but John righted himself and began walking around on his four legs.

‘This is so strange,’ he thought to himself. ‘I wonder how long it’ll take to get used to this. Hopefully not too long, otherwise, it could be a little awkward.’

He started walking in a circle, catching sight of his two-pointed tails. ‘I’m definitely not like the others.’

He looked back and saw an enormous gryphon staring down at him, realizing that this must be his “mother”. He didn’t know what else he should do inside these shoddy stables and decided that he’d just rest against her warm frame. He leaned against her and quickly fell asleep, reveling in the darkness.

He dreamt of home. He dreamt of the last few weeks, reliving those moments in his mind. He had to keep his goals in focus, otherwise, he might just lose himself to this world.

Despite what Bellathorne and Xexel said, the world so far seemed quiet. Maybe a little too quiet.

“It’s in there sleeping. It looks like a strange variant, though I’m not sure how that happened. I promise I haven’t broken any of the United Breeder’s Association’s codes. I’m just trying to make a living here, sir.” A young man came stumbling in looked ragged and worn, dirt and filth mucking up his leather boots, patchwork pants, and bare chest.

‘Looks poor. I wonder how he managed to afford to breed gryphons, unless it’s some kind of job and he doesn’t actually own us.’

“You’ll be fined more malpractice and scrutinous eyes will be investigating your career. This isn’t the first report we’ve gotten about you,” a stern, armored man said as he came into John’s view.

‘Oh boy, he does not look friendly.’ He wasn’t sure how to take in the situation. The man sounded very aggressive, though he looked as though he had resources aplenty.

‘What to do? Oh, what to do?’ John started considering the actions he could take and realized that he would be at the complete mercy of the man before him. The man looked at him like he was a beast to slay, so John decided that he would make himself seem as friendly as possible.

He walked closer to the man and lay on his belly before struggling to roll over. The world looked strange upside down, but he stuck his tongue out of his beak and mewled at the man in armor.

It didn’t look like it meant much.

“Strange creature, sir. What will you do with it?” the youth asked.

“I’m gonna take it to the Tribunal and see what they have to say about it. It seems a little too friendly, though I’m sure they’ll find a way to break it into the warbeast that it’ll become.”

“Warbeast, sir? I thought that the variants were slain though?”

“That’s not for us to decide, now is it? Keep your questions to yourself, otherwise, I’ll be sure to find your tongue removed from your mouth.” The armored man turned to the younger man and stared at him for a good second. “If you know what’s good for you, this never happened. Understood?”

“Y-yes sir.” He seemed as though he wanted to say more, but instead turned away and walked back to wherever he came from.

John righted himself and approached the armored man, sniffing at his steel boots. ‘Looks medieval. I hope the Coalition has something better than this to fight in a war that spans galaxies.’

“You’re a strange one, indeed.” The armored man picked John up with ease. John decided that making the trip to wherever they were going as easy for the man as possible would be in his best interest. “Doesn’t struggle when picked up? Not only that, you’re already nearly three times the size of the other newborns. What are you?”

John couldn’t understand the man muttering to himself. He really hoped it wasn’t about the ways that he could make gryphon stew.

They exited the small stable and John saw that they were on the outskirts of a large city on some farmland. He could see several other stables full of working beasts, several were already working the fields with harnesses, and they all seemed normal enough. What surprised him the most was a couple of baby dragons running about pouncing on one another.

‘Are you serious?! I could’ve just been a dragon!’ John screamed inside his head. The armored man saw him glare at the dragons and chuckled.

“Don’t like dragons, huh? I’m not a big fan of them either. All it takes is for someone to put up a strong enough magic dampening field. Then they can’t cast their magic and can’t stay in the sky. Overrated creatures, in my opinion.” He progressively became less hostile as they continued walking. “Not to mention their awful personalities.”

They eventually left the large farmland and made it to a large road. Three semis could drive down the road with little issue, though it quickly made sense to John as he saw several merchant caravans pass by much faster than they walked. The wagons were absolutely monstrous, pulled by some kind of horned, scaled bull bigger than an elephant.

“You know, with how quiet you’re being, I would doubt that you’re a newborn at all.” The armored man stared down at John. “My name’s Enric, young one. I hope that the Tribunal doesn’t have you killed. I’ve been looking to find myself a Contracted beast for some time.”

‘No-no, Mr. Enric. I don’t know about you, but I’m just a fragile pup. I think wherever you’re going is far too scary for someone like me, you know? It’s not you, it’s me. Pinkie promise,’ John thought to himself, sweating a bit at the thought of serving Enric

The armor did a good job of obscuring Enric’s features, though if John had to guess, the age gap between him and the farmhand wasn’t large. It just seemed they had far different experiences in life.

‘Enric, you must be a Player and that farm boy had to have been a non-Player, right?’ John mused to himself, knowing that no answer would come.

Hours passed as they traveled down the large road, slowly approaching the massive city that loomed in the distance. The walls were easily a hundred meters high and there was a massive dome that covered the whole city.

‘Gotta keep the angry dragons out somehow, I suppose.’

“We’re almost there, bud. You’ve done well the entire trip. Would you like a snack?” Enric pulled out a fish and dangled it in front of John. John quickly realized that he was starving and mewled quietly. “Food is the way to any beast's heart, right? Keep ‘em fed and they’ll never turn on you.”

John started to struggle as his hunger grew to a painful level, his beak snapping for the fish. “You must be really hungry to be acting like this now.”

‘No kidding! Give it here and stop teasing me, jerk.’

Enric dropped the fish and John dexterously caught it. He grabbed it with his two taloned feet and pecked at it feverishly. After eating the whole fish, John decided it was time for a nap and curled into Enric’s arms.

“Sorry I had to do that to you, but It’ll be easier this way.”