Transcendent Dawn

Grammar University.

As the winter of the 279th year in the Federated calendar approaches, the temperature continues to drop.

Su Lu, wearing a white shirt and black jacket, waits near the school gate.

Looking at the broad plaza within the campus and the brightly lit classrooms, he cannot help but sigh.

‘After university… my life path suddenly veers into an unkown maze…’

His good looks attract the attention of many female students, some of whom boldly approach him to ask for his name and contact information.

Su Lu declined each one, quietly waiting.

“Sean!”

About twenty minutes later, four people walked towards him.

They were James, John, Elizabeth and Diana.

“Hello, thank you again for your help… Ah? Where is Isaac?”

Su Lu came this time to express his gratitude and repay the money, truth be told, Isaac had the best living conditions among the group of five and often took the initiative to cover the costs.

“Isaac… He’s not doing well recently, if you hadn’t come today, we were planning on visiting him!”

Elizabeth and Diana exchanged glances, answering with forced smiles.

“What happened to him?” Su Lu asked with concern.

“It’s all because of that dog… Hallock!”

Upon hearing this, James and John’s faces wore tortured and awkward expressions.

…

Isaac did not live on campus but rented an apartment near Grammar University instead.

Ding dong ding dong!

Elizabeth took the initiative to ring the doorbell.

After a few minutes, the wooden door slowly opened, revealing Isaac’s haggard face: “You’re here?”

“Not just us, Sean is here too, he came to visit you.” Diana and James moved aside to reveal Su Lu standing behind them.

“Oh! Sean, you’re finally here, come in quickly!”

For the first time, excitement surfaced on Isaac’s face and he opened the door wide.

“This place… it’s…”

Within the apartment, which Isaac lived alone, the floor was strewn with dirty clothes and bedsheets, littered with bones, and mixed with a disturbing smell of a canine.

“What happened here?”

The two ladies frowned: “I remember that you are usually quite clean, Isaac?”

“Sigh…”

Isaac ran a hand through his hair, which was as messy as a chicken coop, his eyes red: “I’m sorry… I didn’t tell you the entire truth last time… Actually… I’m about to be driven mad by Hallock!”

He sat down on his own, poured himself a glass of strong liquor, and drank it gulp by gulp as if it could give him courage: “Hallock… oh… it’s simply a nightmare!”

“Don’t rush, take your time…”

From Isaac’s sob-story, Su Lu could sense that if a normal Erha (a breed of dog) had the destructive power of a terrifying beast, then an Erha possessing Transcendent power would be a disaster!

Earlier, he had thought that Hallock was not inherently evil and got along well with Isaac, so it should be controllable.

However, it appeared things were a bit enforced now.

“As you know… Hallock is very naughty and mischievous, ever since it became not so ordinary, it has become increasingly unbearable…”

Isaac held his head in his hands: “Can you imagine being hypnotised by it every day, cleaning up its excrement, dealing with bones, and even doing other things?”

His eyes were somewhat lost and fearful.

“But… Isn’t it normal to do these things when keeping a pet dog? We don’t think there’s any problem?” Elizabeth and Diana exchanged glances and replied.

“But… Ahh, Hallock is a dog, it doesn’t act in a human way, it only commands me to behave in a dog’s way…”

Isaac looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

James and John froze, while Elizabeth and Diana lowered their heads, faces reddening.

“Can you even imagine it? It’s as if I’ve become a servant to a dog, it’s the master, and I can’t refuse any of its orders…”

Isaac suddenly began to weep bitterly, as if he had experienced something extremely painful.

Su Lu seemed to have thought of something, quickly massaging his face, trying hard to keep it expressionless.

“My God… That’s simply a nightmare!”

Isaac covered his face: “I once thought that having a Transcendent creature was something to be proud of… But now, I just want to sell it or dump it… But, I can’t! Because it can always find its way back, and when I want to sell it, it turns around and controls me…”

“Uh…we understand, we get your pain!”

James and John looked at each other, and swallowed, no longer mentioning buying Hallock.

Meanwhile, they felt inexplicably fortunate.

“Sean… do you have a solution?”

Suddenly, Elizabeth looked at Su Lu, asking in a questioning tone.

Isaac eagerly looked at Su Lu too.

After all, he is the one who has mastered mysterious spells.

“Well…”

Su Lu was a bit troubled: “You must understand… even in the Transcendent world, once the servant’s power surpasses that of the master by too much, problems tend to arise.”

Yes, just like his Corpse Maiden.

“So… there’s no solution after all?”

Isaac’s eyes turned dull, he was almost becoming a walking corpse.

“There’s not necessarily no solution…”

Su Lu coughed: “The key now is that you have no way to suppress Hallock’s power… So, if you can become a Transcendent, the situation might improve a bit.”

Of course, just a bit.

Because even when the master-servant pact was established, it was always better for the master to be on a higher level in order to fully suppress the servant.

However, for ordinary humans to promote themselves to the first level of being Transcendent, and further to the second level of Elites, is not something that can be achieved overnight. It requires a large amount of time and study for training and it’s uncertain whether it would be successful!

“So… are you willing to guide me? I can’t learn that language…”

Isaac looked at Su Lu.

“In order to become a Transcendent, it is not necessary to learn that spell, you can find other paths… if you are willing, I know some secret circles that I can introduce you to.”

Su Lu was not prepared to teach his own Transcendent profession, and the others were not very useful, either being [Pact Demonist] or the likes of [Necromancer] which had great hidden dangers.

He decided that once he got into the circle of the city’s Transcendent individuals, he would introduce Isaac.

“But… this will take time.”

“That’s alright, I can wait!” Under the envious gazes of his fellow students, Isaac immediately assured him.

“Very good.”

Su Lu nodded: “I’ll inform you when the time is right.”

“But… before that.” Isaac said somewhat awkwardly: “Would you, err… do me a favour, I would like to send Hallock to stay with you for a while or you can even have him!”

Before gaining enough self-protection, he was really reluctant to face that Erha alone.

“Alright… Let it stay with me then.”

Su Lu stroked his chin, and agreed.