Crack.
Kael didn’t move.
The hardened black resin surrounding Nyx trembled.
Another fracture spread across its surface.
Through the Soul Pact, the presence inside was strong.
Stronger than before.
Kael felt no fear.
No pain.
Instead— Hungry.
A pause.
Strong.
Then something sharper.
Hunt.
Kael exhaled.
“Definitely you.” CRACK.
A black claw punched through the shell.
Resin fragments scattered across the chamber floor.
Another claw appeared beside it.
The opening widened.
Kael stepped back.
Nyx pulled itself free.
For several seconds, Kael simply stared.
“You got bigger.” Nyx unfolded.
Much bigger.
Its body was now roughly one and a half meters long before the tail.
The proportions had changed too.
Its limbs were longer and more powerful, its posture higher, almost disturbingly humanoid when it straightened.
The elongated dome of its head had developed considerably.
Its tail was thicker.
Sharper.
The gray-black Stoneback ridges were no longer separate patches of armor.
They flowed naturally from Nyx’s skull, down the shoulders and across its spine.
The creature that had entered the chamber had looked juvenile.
The one standing before Kael looked like a hunter.
Nyx approached.
Kael remained still.
Its head stopped beside his face.
Teeth appeared.
Kael narrowed his eyes.
“No inner jaw.” Nyx closed its mouth.
“Good.” Then a crushing wave crossed their bond.
Hungry.
Kael stared.
“Of course.” The dramatic transformation lasted approximately five seconds.
Then Nyx ate.
And ate.
And continued eating.
Kael eventually sat on a rock while watching the pile of monster meat disappear.
“You know that’s supposed to last several days.” Nyx swallowed another piece.
No remorse.
“Finn was right.” Nyx looked at him.
“You are broken.” A hiss.
Kael laughed.
While Nyx ate, he noticed movement near the edge of the cavern.
Something small darted between rocks.
Kael stood.
“What was that?” He followed.
A pale six-legged creature, no larger than a rat, disappeared into a crack.
Kael frowned.
He hadn’t placed it there.
Farther away, tiny insects moved along the organic wall.
The Pocket World was changing.
Not creating more Xenomorphs.
Not creating contracted beasts.
An ecosystem.
Simple life capable of sustaining larger organisms.
Kael looked toward Nyx.
“So eventually this place can feed you?” Nyx was far more interested in its current meal.
“Useful conversation.” When Kael turned back, Nyx was gone.
He stopped.
The bond remained close.
Very close.
“Nyx?” Nothing.
Kael scanned the cavern.
Then part of the wall moved.
He froze.
The black surface separated.
Nyx stepped forward.
Its exoskeleton slowly returned to normal.
Kael approached.
“Do that again.” Nyx tilted its head.
Hide.
Its body changed.
Not invisibility.
The black exoskeleton subtly shifted coloration and texture until its outline blended with the cavern wall.
Kael could still find it when he knew exactly where to look.
Barely.
“You weren’t able to do that before.” Nyx sent satisfaction.
Kael smiled.
“Adaptive camouflage.” Nyx didn’t understand the words.
It understood his approval.
Then something else crossed the bond.
An image.
Not clear.
Jungle.
Rain.
White scales.
Large.
Dangerous.
Kael’s smile disappeared.
“You remember it?” Nyx looked upward.
The creature inside the second leaf.
The enormous prehistoric predator.
Another impression came.
Large predator.
Dangerous.
Then— Hunt later.
Kael stared.
“You’re half its leg.” Nyx became still.
Then sent something surprisingly complex.
Temporary problem.
Kael laughed so suddenly he had to sit down.
“You’re developing an ego.” Nyx hissed proudly.
The following morning, Rowan stared at Nyx for almost a minute.
Then he looked at Kael.
“Again?” “Apparently.” “How many forms does it have?” “I don’t know.” Rowan sighed.
“Wonderful.” They moved to the training yard.
Nyx was faster.
Significantly.
Not in sustained running.
Thunder could still compete there.
But Nyx’s short bursts were frightening.
One moment it crouched beside Kael.
The next it was several meters away.
Its tail had improved even more.
Kael hung three small targets from different ropes.
“Left.” Strike.
“Right.” Strike.
“Center.” The tail stopped less than a finger’s width from the target.
“Control improved.” Rowan nodded.
“Strength?” They tested that next.
Nyx could overpower ordinary Awakened beasts of similar size.
But when Rowan brought out one of the academy-style weighted training constructs meant to imitate a Graniteback Gorilla’s resistance, Nyx couldn’t move it directly.
Good.
Kael didn’t want strength to become Nyx’s answer to everything.
Its armor had improved too.
The Stoneback ridges absorbed strikes that previously would have injured it.
Regeneration remained impressive.
But Rowan emphasized something Kael had already noticed.
“Healing costs energy.” Kael nodded.
After regenerating from several small training injuries, Nyx became noticeably hungry.
“Major wounds won’t disappear for free.” “Exactly.” Then they tested the blood.
One tiny sample.
Clara insisted on handling it.
The reinforced metal plate lasted less than before.
Finn, who had arrived halfway through testing, stared at the smoking hole.
“That’s worse.” “More corrosive,” Clara corrected.
“That’s what worse means.” Kael looked toward Nyx.
The acid was useful.
But dangerous.
Especially around allies.
He crouched.
“We need another command.” Nyx looked at him.
Kael created the image carefully.
Nyx injured.
Blood exposed.
Thunder nearby.
Finn nearby.
Other allies nearby.
Then— Withdraw.
Nyx reacted instantly.
Offense.
Kael almost felt insulted himself through the strength of it.
“Not surrender.” Nyx hissed.
“Listen.” He tried again.
Injury.
Acid.
Pack danger.
Withdraw.
Protect pack.
Nyx became still.
The idea processed.
Then came reluctant acceptance.
Kael nodded.
“Good.” Finn crossed his arms.
“You just convinced the terrifying alien monster that running away can be heroic.” “Basically.” Finn wiped an imaginary tear.
“They grow up so fast.” Nyx hissed at him.
“Still hates me.” “It doesn’t hate you.” Nyx sent amusement.
Kael paused.
Finn noticed.
“What?” “Nothing.” “Kael.” “Nothing.” At the academy, reactions were immediate.
Students stopped walking.
Several stared.
One actually moved behind his beast.
Finn spread his arms dramatically.
“Behold!
Nyx version three!” Kael looked at him.
“Please never say that again.” Thunder approached Nyx.
The tiger circled it.
Nyx remained still.
Thunder sniffed one armored leg.
Nyx lowered its head and sniffed him back.
Then Thunder lightly bumped its shoulder.
Nyx responded with a gentle tap of its tail.
Finn gasped.
“Best friends.” Kael pulled him away.
“Leave them alone.” Damian arrived shortly afterward.
His Thunder Griffon immediately noticed Nyx.
Electricity moved across its feathers.
Not aggression.
Excitement.
Damian studied Nyx.
“Another metamorphosis?” “Maturation.” “Difference?” “Apparently this form was already part of its biology.” Damian looked impressed.
“Good.” Kael raised an eyebrow.
“Why good?” Damian placed one hand against his Griffon’s neck.
“Because ours isn’t finished growing either.” Kael smiled.
“Still confident?” “Always.” Across the training grounds, Lucian watched.
Later that morning, one of his family’s attendants met him beside an empty corridor.
“We found nothing.” Lucian’s expression didn’t change.
“No breeder?” “No.” “Merchant?” “No.” “Wild population?” “None.” “Historical record?” The attendant shook his head.
“As far as official records are concerned, Kael Ashborne’s beast does not exist.” Lucian looked through the nearby window.
Nyx moved beside Kael.
“Everything comes from somewhere.” “Should we question the Ashborne family?” “No.” Lucian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“If Kael found it somewhere, eventually he’ll return to the source.” He smiled.
“We wait.” Instructor Mira Vale saw Nyx during afternoon class.
She stopped speaking.
Finn whispered, “Here we go.” Mira approached.
Nyx watched her.
No hostility.
Kael had spent the last week teaching it that academy instructors belonged to the broad category of safe unless proven otherwise.
Mira examined Nyx without touching.
“This wasn’t evolution.” Kael blinked.
“How can you tell?” “Spiritual signature.” She circled Nyx.
“Different body.
Same fundamental biological identity.” “Maturation?” “Almost certainly.” Kael nodded slowly.
Mira looked genuinely fascinated.
“Which means we have a problem.” “What problem?” “We have no idea what its actual evolution would look like.” Kael looked toward Nyx.
Nyx looked back.
That thought was equally exciting and terrifying.
Instructor Hale arrived before Mira could continue.
“The Freshman Combat Exhibition begins in twelve days.” The class erupted.
Hale waited.
“The top-ranked students will receive automatic placement consideration.” Kael’s attention sharpened.
Individual matches.
Team matches.
Public spectators.
Guild representatives.
Possibly scouts from larger academies.
Finn leaned closer.
“We’re going to be famous.” “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.” Kael looked toward Nyx.
Too much attention could become dangerous.
Especially when nobody could identify its species.
Kael would need to win carefully.
That evening, he entered the Infinite World Tree.
Immediately…
He stopped.
The second leaf was open.
Completely.
No flickering.
No unstable edges.
A living green leaf hung from the enormous branch.
Kael approached.
Nyx followed.
He placed his palm against it.
The world changed.
Rain struck his face.
Kael inhaled sharply.
Heat.
Humidity.
The smell of wet soil and vegetation.
He stood beneath enormous prehistoric trees.
Insects buzzed around giant ferns.
Something roared far away.
Another creature answered.
Kael slowly turned.
“This is…” Real.
Not an image.
Not a vision.
A world.
Small compared with reality, perhaps.
But complete.
And separate.
The Alien Pocket World still existed within Nyx’s leaf.
This world belonged to something else.
Nyx appeared beside him.
Kael blinked.
“You can come here?” Nyx sniffed the air.
Its posture immediately changed.
Predator.
Don’t hunt.
Disappointment struck so strongly that Kael almost laughed.
“We’re visiting.” More disappointment.
They moved through the jungle.
Kael remained alert.
Eventually the trees opened.
A clearing.
And there…
The egg.
White-gray.
Large.
Solid.
Real.
Kael stopped.
Nyx approached first.
It circled the egg.
Sniffed.
Then looked toward Kael.
Young.
Kael’s heartbeat quickened.
He approached.
Placed one hand against the shell.
THUMP.
Kael froze.
A heartbeat.
Alive.
Something brushed against his awareness.
Not language.
Not a system.
A simple understanding from the Tree.
A beast may be claimed.
Kael looked toward Nyx.
His first companion.
Then toward the egg.
His second.
He placed both hands against the shell.
“Alright.” His Beast Space reacted.
The second leaf burned brightly somewhere beyond the world.
Something reached toward him.
Small.
Unborn.
Warm.
Curious.
Kael opened himself to it.
The Soul Pact formed.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then— THUMP.
The connection locked.
Kael stumbled.
Nyx immediately moved beside him.
“I’m fine.” He could feel it.
Another presence.
Faint.
Sleeping.
Different from Nyx.
Kael touched Nyx’s head.
Pack.
Then the egg.
Pack.
Nyx stared.
Silence.
Kael waited.
Finally: Small pack.
Kael laughed.
“For now.” He sat beside the egg.
Two contracts.
For any normal Beast Master, that meant eight remaining.
Kael looked inward.
Countless leaves stretched above him.
The thought was overwhelming.
But something else became obvious.
The contract didn’t make him understand the creature inside.
It didn’t make the unborn beast trust him completely.
It certainly didn’t give them combat coordination.
Nyx had required time.
Fear.
Training.
Mistakes.
Trust.
This one would too.
Unlimited contracts didn’t mean unlimited mastery.
If Kael wanted a thousand beasts someday…
He would have to know a thousand companions.
Raise them.
Understand them.
Fight beside them.
The idea no longer sounded easy.
Strangely…
That made him happier.
He stood.
“Come on, Nyx.” The egg moved.
Kael froze.
Nyx lowered itself.
The egg moved again.
CRACK.
A tiny fracture appeared.
Kael stared.
“No way.” Scratch.
Something moved inside.
Another crack.
Through the new Soul Pact, Kael suddenly received his first clear emotion.
Not fear.
Not hunger.
Not confusion.
Annoyed.
Kael’s mouth opened.
Scratch.
CRACK.
Nyx tilted its head.
Kael slowly smiled.
“I think we’re going to have another personality problem.” A tiny growl came from inside the egg.
Nyx hissed back.
The egg shook violently.
Kael crouched beside it.
Another piece of shell cracked loose.
Something inside pushed against the opening.
And beneath the endless branches of the Infinite World Tree, Kael waited to meet his second monster.