D-Animal
Chapter 1 — The Day Blood Chose
The stadium of the Exalia-Elite Institute seemed far too large for students so young.
The curved stands rose like a metallic shell, packed with students from various affiliated schools, all wearing different uniforms, distinct colors, varied crests — yet united by the same silent expectation vibrating in the air. Above them, broadcast drones floated slowly, projecting institutional holograms and ancient slogans that tried to look modern for a system that, until recently, had stubbornly refused to change.
Exalia-Elite had always been known as outdated.
While other institutes had been performing the D-Armilla Ritual for years — with refined protocols, simplified ceremonies, and dedicated structures — Exalia had clung to classical methods, wary of the symbiosis between blood and code. Only recently, pressured by national rankings and threats of funding cuts, had it officially agreed to take part in the ritual.
And now, there they were.
Hundreds of fifteen-year-olds, seated side by side, wrists clean, hearts racing, futures undefined.
Elara Pack was among them.
Seated in the middle rows, posture straight, hands resting calmly on her thighs, she observed the stadium with an attentive yet distant gaze. Her curly blonde hair was tied into a low ponytail, a few rebellious strands escaping to frame a face too young to carry so much quiet. Her heterochromatic eyes — the left gray, the right blue — reflected the cold lights of the environment like two distinct surfaces of the same mirror.
She didn't look nervous.
Nor excited.
Just… present.
At the center of the stadium, the metallic stage had been assembled with surgical precision. Upon it stood a row of D-Armilla activation machines. Each one had an articulated mechanical arm, pulsing sensors, and an empty capsule ready to receive a Digital Seed. Thick cables ran into the ground, powering the system that read, deciphered, and judged human affinities.
Professor Evans, responsible for Elara's class, stood beside the machines. A tall man with graying hair and a stern expression, he wore the institute's official uniform with near-military rigidity. Holding a translucent tablet, he called names one by one, his amplified voice echoing throughout the stadium.
"Liora Henwick."
The student stood up hesitantly, walked to the stage amid low murmurs and attentive stares. When she placed her wrist into the machine, the metallic arm snapped shut with a dry clack. A second later, the most dreaded sound echoed.
A metallic whirr followed by a wet snap.
The needle pierced her skin.
Liora let out a small cry, an involuntary whimper, as her blood was drawn into the newly formed D-Armilla. A few seconds passed, and a single Digital Seed appeared in the capsule, pulsing with a soft blue light.
Polite applause.
Nothing extraordinary.
Student after student repeated the same ritual. Contained pain. Expectation. One seed. Sometimes none — which drew heavy sighs and embarrassed looks. The system never made mistakes, they said. If there was not enough affinity, there was no D-Animal.
Elara watched everything in silence.
She had felt something strange ever since she sat down.
Not fear. Not anxiety.
It was as if something inside her was… awake.
"Elara Pack."
Her name echoed through the stadium.
For a brief instant, everything seemed to slow down.
Elara blinked once, rose calmly, and began walking toward the stage. Her steps were steady, controlled. She felt dozens — perhaps hundreds — of eyes settle on her, evaluating her, judging her, trying to decide whether that ordinary-looking girl might be something special.
She didn't care.
When she reached the machine, Elara extended her left wrist without hesitation. The metallic arm closed around her skin with cold precision.
The sound came immediately after.
Louder. Deeper.
The needle pierced.
Elara grunted, her teeth clenching automatically. The pain was sharp, direct, unlike anything she had ever felt. Not merely physical — there was something more, as if her very blood was being read, dissected, summoned by the system.
She felt it.
Something answered.
Inside the capsule, not one… but three pulses appeared almost simultaneously.
Three luminous cores began to form, slowly rotating, emitting distinct frequencies. One soft white. One deep black. One opaque gray, almost ethereal.
The system hesitated.
Silent alerts flickered across the machine's internal interface.
Elara saw it.
She felt the weight of that moment before anyone else could even notice. Her heart raced for a second — not from fear, but from instinct. Something inside her understood, with terrifying clarity, that this was not normal.
Three seeds.
She withdrew her wrist with controlled speed as soon as the machine released its metallic grip. Before any teacher could approach, before a technician could announce an error or a miracle, Elara subtly tilted her wrist and pressed the side button of the D-Armilla.
A simple gesture.
The interface closed.
Two of the seeds were concealed, masked by the bracelet's own protection system. Only one remained visible, pulsing discreetly, as if it had always been that way.
Professor Evans frowned for a moment, studying the data displayed on his tablet. His eyes narrowed, as though something didn't quite add up… but then he cleared his throat.
"One seed. Confirmed."
A few applause followed — lukewarm, procedural.
Elara didn't react.
She simply turned and returned to her seat, sitting with the same calm as before, as if nothing had happened. Her heart, however, still beat differently.
She knew.
And in that instant, she decided she would keep it to herself.
No explanations. No questions.
The next name echoed almost immediately.
"Kael Voss."
The atmosphere shifted.
Whispers rippled through the stands like an electric wave. Kael was known. Tall, athletic, far too confident for a fifteen-year-old, he stood up with a satisfied smile, broad shoulders puffed out as if he already knew the outcome.
As he passed, he cast a brief glance toward Elara — a look loaded with one-sided rivalry. In his mind, she had always been a silent obstacle: good at everything, without ever seeming to try.
Kael placed his wrist into the machine with theatrical flair.
The needle pierced.
He didn't even flinch.
Inside the capsule, two Digital Seeds appeared, glowing intensely, intertwined like twins.
The stadium erupted.
Applause, whistles, excited shouts. Some students stood up, others clapped above their heads. Teachers exchanged surprised looks. Professor Evans' eyes widened slightly.
"Two seeds," he announced firmly. "Dual affinity confirmed."
Kael's smile widened.
He raised his wrist for all to see, turning it beneath the artificial lights, drinking in the attention as if it were oxygen. Then he leaned slightly toward the professor.
"Professor, does this mean I can become a dual D-Master?"
Evans nodded, still impressed.
"It means high potential, Voss. Proper training will be essential."
Kael turned to the audience, accepting the applause like a king crowned too early. Before stepping off the stage, his eyes met Elara's.
His smile was provocative.
She held his gaze for a second.
Then looked away.
Not in submission.
In indifference.
As the ritual continued, no one noticed what had truly happened that day. No drone captured it. No teacher announced it. No screen displayed alerts.
But inside Elara Pack's D-Armilla, three seeds pulsed in silence, feeding slowly on her blood, waiting for the right moment to sprout.
And in that stadium full of voices, applause, and shallow promises, something ancient and new at the same time had been sealed.
The world did not know yet.
But the system, at some deep level of code and instinct, had already recorded it:
An exception had been born.