Kain also called in Malzahir to the room to undergo the ‘ritual’ with the 4 unawakened members of Darius’ team.

After all, he might as well have them undergo the procedure together—and let them meet one another in the process.

Kain stood in the center of the ritual room, arms behind his back as Darius and the others followed him in. The familiar scent of incense clung to the air—he’d had Malzahir light it earlier upon notifying him to meet in this room. It wasn’t necessary, but it certainly felt more ceremonial.

Kain had decided, that if he was going to create a true secret organization loyal to himself, then it needed to have some sense of ceremony during the Awakening process, to give the new members a sense of awe.

If the joining process feels as mundane for new members as earning a smiley-face sticker for finishing their vegetables when they were a kid, then it’s not conducive to the cohesion and loyalty of the group.

‘Speaking of…maybe I should remodel this ‘ceremonial room’…’ He thought while glancing around the mostly empty bare white room that only possessed some chairs and a low obsidian table—on it rested five unmarked needles, a stone bowl filled with dark ink that shimmered faintly with energy, and a scroll of worn parchment that had nothing actually written on it, but no one else needed to know that. It was just for show—Kain had long since memorized the array that would connect his new task force to Pangea.

Darius stood off to the side, arms crossed, already marked from his own ceremony, while the others either looked curiously around the room they knew held the key to changing their destiny, or looked puzzledly at the exotic looking Malzahir.

Kain stepped forward and spoke with slow, deliberate weight, voice just loud enough to carry across the room.

“There’s one more test you’ll all have to go through.”

The mood visibly dipped. Hopeful faces dimmed with confusion and growing dread that there would be further delays in them becoming official beast-tamers. Jax made a small sound like a dying animal.

Kain pretended not to notice.

“I will now begin the ritual to connect you with another world,” he continued, eyes half-lidded, tone grave. “This is not a simple process. What you are about to receive is not a tattoo. It is not decoration. It is not art.”

He paused dramatically.

“…It is a ceremonial imprinting—no, wait—” Kain’s brow twitched. A better word came to mind. “Soul-carving.”

He nodded to himself, satisfied. ‘That sounds much more impactful’

There was a long silence. Somewhere near the back, Lira blinked. Garret tilted his head. Jax leaned toward Miya and whispered, “Did he just make that name up?”

Kain, of course, heard him. He continued talking.

“The pain you are about to experience will not be physical alone. You will feel it in the core of your being. As your soul constructs a bridge to the edge of a higher realm—the place where beasts of legend rest, waiting to be called upon—you will know what it means to suffer.”

Miya blinked slowly. “…That sounds ominous.”

“Shhh,” Kain hissed softly, then immediately resumed his dark, reverent tone. “This soul-carving—this… divine incision—is what marks you as a beast-tamer. As one chosen.”

It was getting hard not to laugh at his own narration, but Kain resisted. For the sake of morale and creating a powerful and mysterious image. This was necessary.

After all, in the future there may be hundreds of members. Kain would likely never get the chance to meet all of them, but if his image in the members’ minds was enigmatic and powerful enough, they would still retain loyalty to him.

He gestured to the needles resting in a fan-like display on the stone table. “These have been specially prepared. Each one will draw not just blood—but will act as a channel for your will, for your intent, your resonance with the beast realm.” Another solemn beat. “If your will falters, the carving fails.”

There was a heavy pause.

Then Kain added, almost too casually, “So, you have to stay awake during the entire thing. That’s your final test.”

Miya frowned. “Wait, that’s it? Just stay awake?”

Kain raised a brow. “You think it’s easy. But it’s much harder than it sounds.”

Their eyes all shifted at once to Darius, the only one to undergo the procedure previously.

He didn’t speak immediately.

He just exhaled. Slowly. “It’s… not a physical pain on you skin like you would think,” he said, voice low.

Lira squinted. “What do you mean?”

Darius’s gaze darkened slightly, like he was remembering a war. “It doesn’t hurt like cutting skin. It’s deeper than that. Like someone took a burning brand and shoved it into your mind and visceral organs and twisted it around until you barely had control of your senses. And then kept twisting.”

There was a beat of dead silence.

“…that sounds fun…” Jax murmured, shifting backwards slightly, but the draw of becoming a beast-tamer was too great to just give up here.

Another moment passed. Seeing that nobody had backed out, Kain turned toward the group again, face regaining its solemn mask.

“If you cannot endure the pain, you don’t qualify to be one of the chosen ones. The soul must be strong enough to withstand the strain. Otherwise…” He let the silence finish the sentence for him.

Gulp.

No one asked what ‘otherwise’ meant.

Kain inwardly noted that they probably thought it meant death. He let them think that. It added gravitas. Although damage to the soul is a very likely consequence…

“Sit. Breathe. Steel yourselves.” Kain said, gesturing toward the padded reclining chairs that looked more like something out of a dentist’s office than a sacred rite of passage. ‘Yup definitely need to remodel…’.

They moved as one, nervous, uncertain, but committed.

The baby goat, Gogo, gave a tiny excited bleat from behind them. Jax flinched and looked back. “Look at you just sitting back and watching the excitement.” He mumbled disgruntledly. He thought the goat’s expression seemed to almost suspiciously be relishing the pain he’d soon be going through…

“Now…” Kain said, lifting up a needle-tipped instrument resembling a buzzing pen that had glowing sigils along its sides, “Who’s up first?”

There were no volunteers.