Kale only snorted in disdain at the hostile look given by Felix. If the punk comes looking for trouble, he would oblige in kind. But his head was filled with another thought, unlike the rest. With his keen hearing, Kale heard the priest's whispered words. And thought that the power mechanism of this world seemed unique.
The mages or Elementals with fewer affinities were actually deemed to be more talented; in contrast, possessing too many affinities was seen as a downside. And there were not only tamers in this world, despite it being ruled by beasts, but also various other paths to power. Creating a fundamentally rich foundation for the Human Empire.
The only haven in this world, safe from the rampaging calamity-like beasts that govern this world.
The horned priests' gaze then turned to the two identical twins. The priest also noticed that the mark on their foreheads seemed quite similar, just like their appearance, though some subtle differences remained, and he announced,
"Josh, Martial, Middle Dantian."
"Jared, Martial, Middle Dantian."
Kale was surprised that these two actually awakened on the same path with the same potential. If the words "Middle Dantian" or "Lower Dantians" could be factored in as indicators of potential. While the words Elemental, Martial, and Tamer were obvious about what those awakened paths were about. But what of 'Psion' and 'Artificer'?
He really needed lots and lots of knowledge about everything in general; he felt like a country bumpkin, technically, he was, in fact, just that.
Kale could not help but sigh, 'How the mighty have fallen.'
He who once stood at the forefront of Earth's most advanced genetic research project, now turned into an ignorant village boy in a beast-infested magical world.'
His train of thought stopped immediately, as the priest's cold eyes finally turned to him. Why did it feel like this guy didn't like him from the first? It was weird.
Kale frowned. When his senses were stretched to the extreme at the moment of awakening, could it be that the priest had noticed it? It was possible because Kale wasn't able to pay any attention to the horned man at that moment.
Just as the priest was about to touch his soul sigil mark with his hands, the world itself slowed to a crawl, as if time itself was stopped by something unfathomable. Kale's heartbeat quickened to the extreme, and a primal chill crawled up to his spine.
A fear unlike anything he ever felt in his two lives, as if he was an ant being stared at by a titan the size of a mountain, that's how small he felt, an ancient beastly voice filled with infinite arrogance and contempt resounded through the world, the words and voice of it was so foreign that his insignificant mind could barely comprehend it.
The creature declared, "Worthless insect, you dare harbor the desire to control my supreme race. Soul of the other world, it was already my greatest benevolence that I have allowed you to exist in my world. But you do not know your place. For that, you shall suffer eternal damnation. I curse you….and all of your kin, to forever pay the price for your insolence."
The moment the ancient entity finished his words, a nigh-invincible power forced itself inside of his body, tearing through his insides, and reaching up to his forehead, the bright green mark that signified his purest connection with Mother Nature and the beasts that reside in the world, started to turn putrid black, as if it was rotting.
Kale felt it, the connection breaking away almost forcefully as if someone was snapping a rope in two, with bare hands, in the most crude manner. His very soul felt the pain of being torn from its natural state.
Not only that, the very world seemed to turn on him instantly; every particle of air turned hostile, prickling his skin; everything in the natural world now bore a trace of hatred towards Kale, rather than grace and favor.
The time that had been paused started to move again, and the supreme voice of the mighty beast resounded in his ears one last time, "Live, little insect and suffer, feel the weight of your insolence till the moment you die or even after you die."
When the still time resumed completely, Kale instantly dropped to his knees, vomiting an unhealthy amount of blood. Bleeding from all of his orifices as he was injured. The old priest stood there, stunned; he did not realize what had just happened, but when his eyes landed on the boy's blackened soul sigil.
And the undeniable mark of curse on it, a curse from the dragons, little did he know that it was a curse from the Guardian deity himself.
The horned priest's eyes fumed with rage as he clenched his fists. With no warning whatsoever, he kicked Kale right in the face, and Kale's body shot out from the Altar.
Thud!!!
Everyone else was shocked when they saw this scene and Kale's severely injured state. The twins hurriedly came to his rescue. Josh stood in front, almost in a protective gesture against the priest, and Jared tried to make sure that he was okay, almost in panic, "Hey? Kale? KALE?? KALE? Are you ok? What happened? What the fuck happened to you?"
Kale could barely keep his consciousness or understand what had just happened, but he held on to his sanity through sheer will. He glared at the old priest with visible hatred.
The priest roared, "Blasphemy!!!! You wretched heretic!!!"
"How dare you think ill of the dragon lords, to the point that they have personally cursed you. You do not deserve to live. The priest took a step forward, about to swat away the twins, but his hands froze, his eyes flashed, as if he had received a divine revelation."
His rage became much calmer as he declared, addressing all the awakened equally, "Listen to me, all of you. This brat here was blessed with the greatest talent for taming. The boy was likely blessed from birth with the purest connection to beasts and nature.
"He could have become one of the strongest tamers in due time. But due to his blasphemy against the mighty race that protects humanity and this world. He has now been cursed. To never be able to tame a single beast in his entire life."
"From this day forth, the very nature that loved him unconditionally will now hold nothing but pure hatred towards him. By the will of the Dragons, I will not kill him, no one will, because he will suffer. And this curse will also fall on his descendants."
"Heed my words, awakened ones. This is the brutal price one must pay if they dare to blaspheme against the dragons. A price even worse than death."