Precedence System: I Take My Rewards In Advance

The servants noticed him first, and their laughter faded almost at once. Ollie followed their attention and saw a young man approaching with two household guards trailing several paces behind him.

”Young Master Ethan,” the servants greeted him as they bowed.

Ethan Holmes barely acknowledged them. His attention had already settled on Silvy, who raised her head from the cloth ball the moment she noticed him staring.

”What is that?”

Nobody answered right away until one of the butlers stepped forward. ”She arrived with Lady Elinox, Young Master.”

”Elinox brought that?”

”Yes.”

Ethan’s interest deepened as he moved closer, while Silvy remained where she was with one small claw resting over the cloth ball. He eventually crouched several feet away and studied her more carefully, taking in the pitch-black scales, small wings, horns, and the overall structure of her body.

Something about her looked draconic, though even with everything he knew about magic beasts, he could not confidently determine what species she belonged to.

That only made her more interesting.

Ethan possessed a Beast Tamer Magic Profession, and creatures he could not immediately recognize were rare enough to earn his full attention.

He had spent years around magic beasts, encountered rare bloodlines, watched hatchlings develop, and dealt with creatures brought from regions most ordinary Beast Tamers would never reach.

But he had never seen something quite like this little creature. ”What Level is it?”

The butler hesitated, but eventually said, ”We weren’t told.”

Ethan extended his senses toward Silvy, and his expression changed quickly. The amount of power concealed inside such a tiny creature did not match her size at all.

Silvy seemed to notice what he was doing. Her silver-gray eyes remained fixed on him, and the dislike in them only became more obvious.

”Interesting,” Ethan murmured.

Ollie stood from where he had been sitting. ”She’s Silvy.”

Ethan glanced at him. ”Who are you?”

”Ollie.”

”That wasn’t what I asked.”

Ollie frowned, though Ethan had already returned his attention to Silvy. ”Did my sister tame you?”

Silvy’s small wings shifted against her back. ”Mama.”

Several servants exchanged nervous looks while Ethan raised a brow. ”Mama?”

Silvy turned her head away from him, making a faint laugh escape Ethan as though he had finally understood some of the gossip spreading through the estate. ”So this is what they’re talking about.”

He stepped closer.

Silvy’s head snapped back toward him, and a low growl began rumbling from her throat.

Ollie moved between them before Ethan could approach any farther. ”She doesn’t like you.”

Ethan looked down at him. ”Move.”

Ollie shook his head stubbornly. ”No.”

The atmosphere in the courtyard changed all of a sudden. One of the maids looked toward Ollie with concern and quietly called his name, though the boy refused to move.

”Silvy belongs with Zishan and Big Sister Elinox.”

Ethan stared at him for several seconds before reaching past him toward the dragon.

Ollie slapped his hand away.

Several servants froze.

Even Ollie seemed to realize what he had done a moment too late, but Ethan had already lost the faint amusement on his face. His arm moved before anyone could interfere, striking Ollie hard enough to send the boy flying across the courtyard.

Ollie hit the ground several meters away and rolled before coming to a stop near the fountain.

Several maids cried out his name, and one of them tried to rush toward him before the older butler beside her caught her arm. ℯ𝔴ℯ

Ethan did not spare the boy another glance.

Silvy did.

Her silver-gray eyes narrowed as she turned toward him. The scales along her back shifted, her lips pulled away from her tiny fangs, and the growl in her throat deepened until it no longer sounded like something that should have been coming from such a small creature.

Ethan smiled.

”There it is.” He extended one hand toward her. ”Come, come now... little one—”

Silvy roared.

The sound exploded across the courtyard, shaking the nearby windows as pressure burst from the newborn dragon’s body. Several servants staggered backward, while one maid dropped to her knees under the sudden weight pressing against the air.

Ethan’s eyes widened as his body shifted back a step before he could stop himself.

Silvy spread her small wings and faced him fully. Mana surged around her tiny body as the space immediately surrounding her began to distort, while faint ripples passed through the air as though the courtyard itself had momentarily fallen out of rhythm. Her silver-gray eyes remained fixed on Ethan with the same hostility as before.

The difference between their Levels should have been enough to make Ethan reconsider approaching her.

Silvy had already reached Level 400, while he was only Level 300. Yet Silvy had barely been alive long enough to understand her own body, much less the power contained inside it. She could threaten him with Mana and instinct, though using that strength in actual combat was an entirely different matter.

Ethan’s surprise faded almost as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a deeper interest that showed in his eyes.

”Oh?”

His Beast Tamer instincts were practically screaming at him. A newborn capable of producing pressure like this was beyond rare, and instead of making him cautious, that only made him want Silvy more.

Silvy growled again when he stepped forward.

”Oh, you like it rough, huh?” Ethan’s mouth curved upward as he continued approaching her. ”Let me beat you up until you submit to me!”

The servants remained where they were, none of them daring to interfere as fear rooted them in place.

Ethan was a son of House Holmes. His standing inside the family placed him far above everyone gathered in the courtyard, and at Level 300, none of the household servants present wanted to discover what happened to someone who physically interfered with him.

Then, there was Elinox.

Every person in the courtyard knew Silvy had arrived with her, which made the situation far worse. Stopping Ethan could bring his anger down upon them, while allowing him to continue meant facing Elinox when she returned.

Nobody wanted either outcome.

Silvy lunged first.

The power inside her was immense, but her newborn body had no idea how to use it properly. Her wings opened too late, throwing off her balance, and Ethan slipped aside before striking her across the body.

Silvy flew several meters and hit the grass, rolling twice before forcing herself back onto her feet. Her small legs trembled beneath her, while the cloth ball she had been guarding rolled helplessly across the courtyard.

One of the maids covered her mouth. ”Young Master...”

Ethan glanced toward her.

The maid lowered her head without saying anything else.

Silvy bared her teeth again and tried to stand straighter as Ethan approached.

”You’re stubborn.”

She snapped toward his hand the moment he reached for her, but Ethan caught her beneath the jaw and slammed her against the ground.

A cry escaped her.

Near the fountain, Ollie’s eyes opened.

His vision swam, and blood had gathered at the corner of his mouth as he struggled to lift himself from the ground. ”Sil...vy...”

Ethan struck her again, sending the little dragon rolling across the stone path. Silvy tried to spread her wings, but one folded awkwardly beneath her, and she collapsed again.

Ollie began crawling toward her.

His arms shook beneath his weight, and every movement seemed to hurt, yet he kept dragging himself across the courtyard.

One of the servants finally took a step forward, only for the older butler beside him to catch his sleeve. ”Don’t.”

”But he’ll—”

”We can’t.” The butler’s face had gone pale.

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