The Beastbound Frontier

Ten years after Aetherfall, humanity survives behind walls while the world outside belongs to Beasts. Every settlement depends on government protection, rationed Aether, and tamers strong enough to keep the wild at bay. Arin Rao is not one of them. His Aether Channels leak power, his combat potential is considered worthless, and his talent lets him glimpse possible evolutions hidden inside a Beast. It is a gift that offers no answers, only dangerous questions. When a dying fawn forms an unstable bond with him, Arin discovers that ordinary Beasts may possess evolution paths no researcher has ever recorded. If he can uncover those paths through careful experiments, fieldwork, and more failures than successes, he might create a future where humans do not need to fear every creature beyond the walls. But every discovery attracts attention. The governing body wants control of his research. Rival scholars want his methods. Rampant Beasts want him dead. And beneath his settlement, something ancient is breaking through a sealed tunnel. Arin will build five bonds, one breakthrough at a time. To survive, he must research like a scientist, fight like a soldier, and learn whether the cage protecting humanity is also keeping it weak.