Liam was running through the forest at his maximum possible speed. He was late for an important task assigned to him. Although the task itself was easy for someone of his calibre, he didn't want to mess up in any way.
"Lia, did you know after completing this task, I would have collected enough money to pay the entrance fee for the academy? Just thinking about it is making me excited," said Liam to his pet snake Lia.
Lia was a beautiful white snake coiled around Liam's neck. Liam had spent almost all his life in the forest.
Liam had been abandoned by his birth parents in a nearby town, where he was raised by an old, kindhearted fisherman. The fisherman raised him with love and taught him well.
They would frequently visit many islands far from the coastline, which became secret spots for the son and father to camp in the forest for days, enjoying each other's company.
Liam developed his love for nature at a very young age. The old fisherman didn't have much to give Liam, so he taught him that nature was all they would need, and those who took care of nature would in turn be kept safe by it.
On a fine evening like any other, while the fisherman was returning from trading his catch (mostly fish), some small kids about twelve years old were following him. Seeing the kids, the fisherman didn't react at all, as Liam, waiting for him at home, was about the same age.
But this cost the fisherman dearly. Liam and his father lived in an impoverished area, and the past year had been cruel to them. Owing to the harsh conditions, many had picked up arms and resorted to looting and killing.
The kids following him were among the same bunch. When the fisherman reached his home, they attacked him in a group and stabbed him with sharp knives all over his body.
Liam was scared and helpless, watching the tragic scene unfold before him. The thieves killed his father in front of him and then started looting his home while he cowered in a corner.
They didn't treat him as a threat, but that didn't mean they would let him leave. They planned to first search the house, and then torture Liam to reveal any hidden treasures.
Liam gathered all his courage and made a run for it, leaping out of the small window on the side of their hut. One of the nearby kids noticed him early and gave chase. In his hurry, Liam took his father's boat out into the ocean, ready to escape.
The kid following him caught up and also climbed into the boat. In the ensuing struggle, the knife carried by the kid punctured his throat - making him the first and only human Liam had killed to date.
Adrift in the ruthless ocean, Liam ventured far. He was terrified at how his life had completely changed in minutes, now having no one and nothing to live for. He lay in the boat, staring at the sky, wondering why things had happened this way.
Days passed this way, but on a sunny day, something within him changed. He clung to life with all his might. He began hunting fish to survive, with frequent rains providing enough water to sustain him.
After months of wandering the ocean, he came across a huge mainland devoid of human interference. He survived using his skills, mostly hiding and still focusing on fishing for survival.
His dependence on fish stemmed from the island's mutated animals. Yes, even animals could wield and mutate using elemental energy, and sometimes their mutations were too terrifying for humans to face, owing to their closer connection to nature and the elements.
Liam spent all his teen years on the island. On the eve of his twentieth birthday, something stirred within him, leaving him in a trance as all the blood in his body seemed to rush toward his head.
Excruciating pain wracked his body, his head ready to explode from the pressure. His eyes started bleeding, and the cave where he hid echoed with his blood-curdling screams.
Amid this chaos, a majestic small snake made its way to his cave and lay at its entrance. The mere presence of the white snake frightened the other creatures, who dared not approach.
Slowly, Liam's eye sclera turned black, and his corneas turned white. He woke the next day feeling surprisingly refreshed. He didn't understand yesterday's suffering, but he sensed something had changed.
It felt like he'd grown a new limb overnight. He didn't know how to use it, but its presence was undeniable.
When he tried to leave his cave to hunt, he found a small white snake coiled at the entrance. Due to his friendly disposition toward animals, he reached to pick it up.
But the majestic creature bit his hand. Liam was dumbfounded by the sudden attack and wanted to flee in panic when he heard a calming voice in his head - the white snake's voice.
The snake told him things about fate and legacy so grand he struggled to believe them. The snake, whom he named Lia, explained she was now his contracted beast.
Their lives were now linked, their growth and fate connected. Within weeks, a wooden elemental core formed inside Liam, and within a month, he became a Level 1 Elementalist - all thanks to the mysterious snake.
Liam spent his days with Lia exploring the forest. Sometimes they hunted mutant beasts for Lia to absorb their monster cores and grow stronger. However, the process of slowly devouring another beast's core was inefficient - only about 30% of the elemental energy could be absorbed, and only from beasts with similar elemental affinity (Lia had a poison core).
This core-devouring process was only possible for beasts, not humans. So even if inefficient, it remained lucrative for humans who otherwise needed years of effort to accumulate elemental energy.
Thus, Liam somehow bypassed the arduous levelling process by relying on Lia through this mysterious bond.