As Silver entered the coliseum-like building with his friend, he instantly thought of a stable. He recognized many different types of domesticated magic creatures housed there, each with their own enclosure.

The larger enclosures contained beasts such as Kyder's, while the smaller ones housed baby versions of more unique magic creatures. Kyder's were big cats, 2 meters tall, that were black in color and had purple stripes. They were commonly used as land mounts due to their high maneuverability but could also be used in battle due to their brutal nature.

"Why are we here exactly?" Silver couldn't contain his curiosity as they seemed to be passing a seemingly never-ending number of enclosures.

"I have a gift for you," Zac wouldn't reveal any more and hummed excitedly as they walked even further inside the stable.

"Master Zac, it's you! Oh, thank God. Please, you must help us. We can't deal with him anymore," An old-looking stable hand shouted as he addressed Zac.

"Oh, Sebas, you're exaggerating. It's only a baby. How bad could it be?"

"No, master. We can't deal with his temperament. It's simply impossible. All the other helpers have already quit, and I fear I can longer take much more of this" the stable hand dropped what seemed to be a bucket filled with food for whatever animal resided in the enclosure behind him.

Luckily the contents of the bucket did not spill, but Silver witnessed a disappointed look on Zac's face as he glared at the old butler.

"Well, your gift is in there. Are you not going to take a look?" Zac chose not to address the disrespect momentarily and instead looked at Silver as if asking, 'what are you waiting for.'

Suspicion rose in Silver's heart as he realized the one inviting him to look didn't seem to be moving anywhere near the enclosure himself. 

However, seeing as this beast was to be his gift, he may as well go check it out. With these thoughts in mind, he fearlessly opened the gate to the enclosure and walked in.

"Master, is this really okay? What if your friend gets hurt?" asked Sebas

"No need to worry about him. I'm sure they'll get along just fine?"

"But master, even you couldn't tame that little devil."

"I said it's fine, Sebas. Now is there something to eat around here? I'm famished" Zac began walking off as though the matter no longer interested him.

He paused slightly, though, and looked back to add.

"By the way, Sebas, you just embarrassed me in front of my new friend, so from now on, expect your salary pouch to be a little lighter." He then continued on his way without looking back at the Butler.

Inside the enclosure, silver couldn't believe his eyes. [ Is that a frost dragon? ]

What greeted him when he walked into the enclosure was a small baby dragon, white in color, tied to the wall with a metal chain. It hadn't developed any wings yet, so small scales were protruding out in their place as though they were bone.

Overall, the creature looked like a cute house dog, but by the pressure emanating from it, which threatened to suffocate him, Silver knew it wasn't to be taken lightly. Despite this, he went over to one of the meat buckets and walked toward the dragon.

"ROOOOAAAAARRRR" the baby dragon made a deafening sound its small lungs shouldn't have been capable of and started running at Silver until it was no longer able to due to the chain.

Silver continued walking towards the dragon and offered it a piece of meat from the bucket, which it hungrily devoured. Each time he provided some meat, the dragon would gulp it down in a matter of seconds until he no longer had any more to offer.

At first, Silver was surprised at the eating capabilities of such a small animal and wondered where all the food was going. But when he thought about the stable hand's difficulties and how afraid he looked, he wondered how hungry the poor dragon must have been. It was clear the dragon hadn't been fed any time recently.

"Don't worry, little guy. I will get you some more food," Silver said even though he knew the dragon could not understand him at this young age.

He quickly went outside and got the other bucket full of meat that Sebas had carried out earlier. It was only when the dragon had finished eating all the meat in the second bucket that it finally lay down on the floor and began sleeping, seemingly content.

Silver was secretly glad as he realized that if the dragon was willing to let its guard down around him, then that meant that it trusted him. He went out of the enclosure happy with his progress. Sebas was waiting for him outside, ready to lead him to the dining area where Zac awaited.

"A frost dragon? I can't accept that," said Silver as he sat down at the table

"Oh c'mon, how could you refuse your sworn brother?" Zac didn't even look up from his meal as he retorted

"It's a frost dragon and a baby one at that. You can't even buy something like that even if you have all the money in the world" Silver was adamant about rejecting this gift that was simply too shocking. Dragons were already rare creatures. But a frost dragon? How many could say they had seen one in their lives?

"And how much do lives go for?" Zac looked at Silver determinedly as he put down what he was eating.

"You saved my life, and for that, I can never repay you. This is the least I can do, and I'm not taking no for an answer. The dragon was originally a gift from my father as I would need a mount for the Academy, but how was he to know the seemingly ordinary baby dragon his men had found was actually a frost dragon.

With my element being fire, how could I even get close to such a beast? Whereas the two of you are basically made for each other". Zac began eating his food again as though indicating he would no longer argue with Silver.

"But..." Began Silver but seeing the uninterested look Zac was displaying, he Sighed and changed his words

"I guess I have no choice then." he was secretly glad he had accepted Zac as his brother earlier. For him to be gifted with a magical beast that would eventually become an A-class mount and companion alone was proof of how highly Zac must regard him and of his generous nature.

As they continued eating their breakfast, Zac told him how this stable belonged to his family and that they had many similar buildings in other cities. Silver was secretly impressed as he did not know much about house Reid and their influence in the Blue-sky continent.

"So, it's settled then. From now on, you'll be taking care of your companion. I'll have Sebas hand you the keys to the enclosure immediately," said Zac

"Haha, one thing after the other keeps coming up. I wonder if I'll ever start learning magic. Before you called me here, I had just bought a spell book and wanted to begin learning it" Silver took the book out from under his cloak and put it on the table.

"Oh, Ice Blast. The most basic spell for your element. But why do you only have one book? It took me five books before I could finally comprehend fire blast, which is the same difficulty" Zac couldn't help but let a bit of cockiness show as he took pride in his comprehension levels. Most people would need at least 10 to 15 books before using the spell, some even needing up to 25.

HUH, five books? How could it be? Silver began to feel slightly depressed when he heard Zac's words. Buying the one book had already cost him 30 gold coins which were more than half of his entire capital. How would he be able to buy four more now that he was left with a little over 12 gold coins?

Magic really is for the rich after all, he thought to himself, recalling what his master had once said.

"Haha, don't be discouraged. Maybe one will be enough. In some rare cases, people are able to get enough insight to instantly learn the ability" Zac tried to encourage Silver, seeing how depressed he seemed to look after his revelation.

"There is a room in the west of the stables, which I occasionally use to train in. It's completely shut off from the rest of the world, and no one will disturb you there. If you want, you can use it, seeing as I hardly use it anyway," Zac suggested

"Thanks, I just might" Silver was anxious to see if he could learn the spell in one go, so after taking the keys from Sebas and bidding the two of them farewell, he went straight to the room.