Chapter 2: Silver Sparrow

"Ashlyn, just sleep..." I said to the Silver Coloured Sparrow who is gazing outside the window while standing on the action figure of Elisabeth Collins. The action figure was of a girl with eagle wings on her back with a crown made out of white eagle feathers on her head, she looked valiant.

Tomorrow is an important day for me and Ashlyn, tomorrow is the day when we will perform the bonding ceremony.

Ashlyn is a Mutated Grey Spark Sparrow. This breed of sparrows usually is grey colored with light brown colored wings with fire sparks on them, that is how their breed got the name, Grey Spark Sparrow, they are also one of the most common Monster species in the world.

But Ashlyn is a mutated sparrow, her whole body is shiny silver and she also has a silver-colored fire which she can breathe from her mouth at will.

From the moment she was born, she was different from all her siblings. Her nature is completely different from common Grey Spark Sparrows, who are known for their mild temperament and friendliness.

She is aggressive and indifferent, all her sibling were completely scared to even play with her.

She has been with me from the day she was born, she is five months old now and looked like a palm-sized silver chubby sparrow. All the Grey Spark Sparrows are about palm size when they are at Private stage, only when they evolve to the Specialist stage the sparrow's size would increase.

Feeling bored or maybe sleepy, she flew away on my shoulder. Then she took tiny steps and walk into a blanket to sleep on my chest.

For some reason, she never sleeps on her own bed which is on the table.

I petted her shiny silver colored feathers as she slept contently on my chest. She is a cute chubby sparrow who acts arrogantly all day and never lets others pet her except for her family.

'Chew chew..' I was woken up by the sound of Ashlyn's chirp and with the sensation of her beak touching my face. I opened my eyes to see her tiny body standing in front of my face proudly with a haughty demeanor.

''Good Morning Ashlyn" I said as I woke up. I petted her lovingly as she rubbed her face against my hand gently.

Sometimes later as if knowing she had enough petting, she flew away from my hand and went back to being her arrogant self.

I freshen up, take bath and came back into my bedroom to see Ashlyn still in her usual place by the window watching the lake.

I removed Ashlyn's brush from a drawer and started brushing her silver feathers which she enjoyed very much.

This is one of her favorite activities and if I ever forget she will remind me about it on her own, with the brush I massaged and combed her feathers as she sighed in content in my lap.

After ten minutes, I kept the brush back in the drawer. Ashlyn did not linger in the room any longer as she flew away towards the kitchen as it is time for breakfast.

On the breakfast table, there were already two people and two big Grey Spark Sparrows were sitting, who were four times bigger than Ashlyn.

Ashlyn landed in front of my mother and chirped 'Chew chew!'

"You want your meal, Ashlyn?" Mother asked as Ashlyn nodded with her tiny head.

My mother patted her lovingly, "Today is a special day, so I bought a special treat for you." Hearing word special treat, Ashlyn's eyes sparkled.

Mom took out a small package from the kitchen counter and emptied its content to Ashlyn's bowl. Looking at small red meat pieces her eyes went round in surprise.

These meat pieces are the meat of Specialist stage monsters, even her parents who are at mid and peak level of Specialist stage could only get to eat it once a month. This one packet of meat costs 100 Credits.

Ashlyn starts to eat with relish, she beath her silver fire on meat pieces to cook it according to her tastes before eating.

In five minutes she finishes all her meat and lays on her stomach lazily. Her face shows that she ate more than she could digest.

She ate three-quarters of her size, that is sufficient for her parents, who are four times as large as her.

"Ha ha ha.." we all laugh seeing her like this, she didn't even spare a glance at us as we laughed at her. It is her habit whenever she finds something tasty, she will overeat her fill and will lay on her stomach lazily.

'This little glutton!' I whisper under my breath.

While doing so, I ate my honeyed pancakes, they are really tasty. Mother must have bought the honey of Specialist grade Monster, we rarely eat such delicacy as my parents are deep in debt.

This loan was taken five years ago when our old town was destroyed in a monster horde. All our properties got wrecked, our family barely avoided destruction.

By the time the horde was over, nothing was left of the town. We got out of safety bunkers to see there was nothing that could be salvaged.

We moved to our current town and had to take a loan for buying the necessities and a house as governments compensation was less than enough.

My parents work in the town hospital, as both of them are Lv. 1 Doctors. They earn enough to pay the monthly EMI of the loan and run the family as frugally as possible.

Everyone who is sixteen years has to bond with their monster, as one of the class toppers I got the offers from the Government and various Organisations, they offered me Class 7 strain Monster but I rejected them for Ashlyn.

It seemed completely like an idiotic choice to others and even to my parents. They also objected it as there is a vast difference between Class 2 strain and Class 7 strain but I still chose Ashlyn. I was determined and I knew from the bottom of the heart that Ashlyn is the best partner for me.

When I saw her come out of her egg with a sticky silver-colored feather. She was completely different from her siblings, her eyes were curious and inquisitive. On first sight, I fell in love with her.

She was quite slim when she was born but her special love for food made her little chubby. It was also due to her love for high-grade food that she broke through at lv.1 of Private stage in two and a half months after her birth.

We were quite shocked by her breakthrough, normally monsters who hadn't had a blood bond or had a high-grade strain, they didn't normally make a breakthrough so quick.

My parents were also ecstatic, they thought Ashlyn inherited some strain of a powerful Ancestor and paid a high price to check it.

But all their hopes were for naught. Ashlyn didn't have any special strain of some powerful monster, she was just a mutated Silver Spark Sparrow and her talent was just a little higher than normal grey spark sparrow's which is approaching medium level.

She could reach the Peak level of Specialist stage which is higher than common Grey Spark Sparrow's whose limits are Initial or mid-level of Specialist stage.

I wouldn't part with Ashlyn even if I could have a chance to get Monster with High-level strain.

I walk back to my room before leaving for the Ceremony. I wear my holographic watch which I forgot to wear earlier.

Standing in front of the mirror, I look at myself properly. I am wearing a white-colored shirt and trousers, for blood bond ceremony, most of the people wear white.

It is not a law to only wear white you can wear other colors but you will feel awkward as the only one wearing different colors in a sea of white.

I have average looks and average height, a face which is neither handsome nor ugly with black hair. People say that the only noticeable thing about my looks is my vibrant green eyes.

Flapping her tiny wings Ashlyn comes flying and lands on my shoulder, her favorite spot.

"Today is the big day for us Ashlyn," I spoke to her as I patted her silky smooth Silver colored feathers.

My parents were already waiting by the door. "Ready Michael?" asked my mother. I nodded as I watched their two Grey Spark Sparrow suddenly disappear inside my parents.

You can store your monster inside you, this is an ability you get after you have bonded with your monster partner. You will also get the abilities your monster partner has after bonding such as with the Ashlyn I might get her Silver fire ability.

That is called monster integration, you will integrate the abilities of your monster partner within yourself, your lifespan will also increase as you and your partner breakthrough different stages.

Your stage is directly dependent upon your monster's stage as your monster breaks through so does you.