Kael woke annoyed.
Not devastated.
Not depressed.
Annoyed.
There was a difference.
He sat on the edge of his bed while dawn slowly brightened the room and replayed the final exchange against Lucian for what had to be the fiftieth time.
Lucian’s sword.
The Gravecoil Serpent.
The angle of the Mantis.
His own footing.
Nyx’s position.
Rexia’s timing.
Half a second.
That was what bothered him most.
Half a second faster and his spear might have reached Lucian first.
If Rexia had held the Serpent a little longer— Kael stopped.
No.
Wrong.
He looked toward the ceiling.
Nyx clung there in absolute silence.
Then toward the floor.
Rexia was curled beside the bed, tail wrapped around herself.
Neither had failed him.
That was the easy excuse.
His formation had failed.
His decisions had failed.
Kael rubbed his face.
“I was the problem.” Nyx immediately hissed.
Disagreement flowed through the Soul Pact.
Rexia’s golden eyes opened.
She lifted her head.
Lucian problem.
A pause.
Bite later.
Kael stared.
Then laughed.
“Definitely not.” Rexia looked disappointed.
“Especially not in the academy.” Even more disappointment.
Nyx dropped silently from the ceiling.
Kael rested a hand against its armored head.
“You both did what I asked.” Nyx leaned closer.
Rexia stood.
“The problem is…” Kael looked between them.
“…I keep treating the three of us like three parts of one plan.” That wasn’t completely wrong.
But Lucian had exposed the weakness.
Kael and Nyx understood each other.
Kael and Rexia were learning to.
Nyx and Rexia?
They tolerated each other.
Competed.
Sometimes cooperated.
But mostly because Kael stood between them.
A knock came from downstairs.
Then Rowan’s voice.
“Training yard.” Kael sighed.
“Of course.” Ten minutes later, Kael stood outside with his spear.
Rowan took it away.
Kael frowned.
“What?” “You aren’t training.” Kael looked toward Nyx and Rexia.
Rowan pointed.
“They are.” That was worse.
The training field had been altered.
Several academy-style mechanical prey constructs stood throughout a winding course of wooden barriers, rocks, hanging ropes and narrow passages.
Kael immediately understood.
“No commands?” “Correct.” “At all?” “Unless one of them is genuinely in danger.” Kael looked toward Rowan.
“They’re going to destroy everything.” “Probably.” Finn arrived carrying breakfast.
Thunder trotted behind him.
He stopped when he saw the field.
“What’s this?” “Kael is learning to stop interfering.” Finn nodded.
“An important life skill.” Kael stared at him.
“You climbed through our kitchen window yesterday.” “Unrelated.” Rowan activated the first construct.
It moved.
Nyx disappeared.
Rexia charged.
Kael immediately knew what was about to happen.
“Wait—” Rowan raised one finger.
Kael closed his mouth.
Nyx had positioned itself behind a barrier.
Perfect ambush angle.
Rexia blasted directly through the same barrier.
Wood exploded.
Nyx leaped aside.
Rexia chased the mechanical prey.
Nyx hissed.
Rexia growled.
The construct escaped through the marked gate.
Failure.
Finn chewed thoughtfully.
“This is surprisingly comforting.” Kael looked at him.
“Why?” Finn gestured toward Nyx and Rexia.
“Your terrifying monsters are just as bad at teamwork as we are.” Thunder growled.
Finn looked down.
“As Kael is.” Thunder seemed satisfied.
Second attempt.
Rexia moved first.
This time she didn’t charge straight in.
She circled.
Kael leaned forward.
Good.
She drove the target toward the left.
Nyx watched from the shadows.
Then moved away.
Kael frowned.
Why?
The target escaped again.
Rexia turned toward Nyx.
Fury.
Nyx hissed.
Kael felt both bonds lighting up.
Rexia believed she’d offered prey.
Nyx believed Rexia had already claimed it.
“Can I explain?” “No,” Rowan said.
“They’re misunderstanding each other.” “I know.” “Then let them fix it.” Kael’s jaw tightened.
That was harder than fighting Lucian.
The third target activated.
Neither moved.
Nyx looked toward Kael.
Rexia did too.
Kael folded his arms.
“No.” Both seemed offended.
Good.
They needed to stop using him as a translation device.
The target moved.
Rexia finally charged.
Nyx followed.
Badly.
Rexia cut right.
Nyx expected left.
They collided.
Finn nearly dropped his food laughing.
Kael’s eye twitched.
“Enjoying yourself?” “Immensely.” The target escaped.
Again.
Fourth attempt.
Rexia stood still.
Nyx moved first.
It disappeared.
Rexia waited.
Kael became interested.
The target entered the center lane.
Nyx remained hidden.
Rexia suddenly roared.
The construct turned toward her.
She didn’t attack.
Instead, she advanced just enough to pressure it backward.
One step.
Two.
Three.
The target moved toward the shadowed side of the field.
Nyx struck.
One tail sweep.
The construct crashed.
Silence.
Nyx and Rexia froze.
They looked at the fallen target.
Then at each other.
Kael felt two impressions.
From Nyx: Useful.
From Rexia: Acceptable.
Kael laughed.
“That’s practically friendship.” Rexia looked offended.
Nyx ignored him.
Rowan smiled.
“Again.” This time it worked faster.
Nyx learned Rexia’s rhythm.
Rexia learned Nyx preferred prey with limited escape paths.
By the sixth attempt, Rexia was deliberately creating noise to cover Nyx’s movement.
By the eighth, Nyx was leaving visible openings that tempted prey toward Rexia.
Their competition didn’t disappear.
It changed.
Nyx took one target.
Rexia took another.
Then instead of trying to outdo each other separately, both began setting up increasingly faster takedowns.
Kael stopped smiling.
He watched more seriously.
This mattered.
More than another technique.
More than a new ability.
Someday, if the Infinite World Tree truly gave him dozens of companions, he couldn’t personally design every interaction.
They needed their own relationships.
Their own habits.
Their own understanding.
Otherwise unlimited contracts would become unlimited chaos.
Finn interrupted his thoughts.
“Can Thunder try?” Rowan pointed toward Nyx.
Finn’s face changed.
“No.” Thunder immediately stepped forward.
“No.” Nyx turned.
Interested.
“Absolutely not.” Kael smiled.
“Afraid?” “I’m cautious.” “You call me cautious all the time.” “Yes, and now I understand your wisdom.” Thunder growled at Finn.
Finn sighed.
“Fine.” The exercise went better than expected.
Thunder already trusted Nyx enough not to panic when it vanished.
Nyx understood Thunder’s lightning created excellent distractions.
The first combination nearly shocked Nyx.
The second worked.
By the third, Thunder deliberately forced a target beneath a wooden platform.
Nyx dropped from above.
Finn stared.
“They didn’t need me.” Kael looked at him.
“That’s the point.” Finn looked genuinely troubled.
“I don’t like the point.” Damian arrived shortly afterward with his Thunder Griffon.
He stopped when he saw Nyx, Rexia and Thunder working through the course without their Beast Masters.
“Interesting.” Finn pointed.
“Don’t encourage them.” Damian ignored him.
His Griffon spread its wings.
“Add another?” Kael looked at Rowan.
Rowan shrugged.
“Your lesson.” Kael nodded.
The Griffon joined.
At first, confusion returned.
Too many bodies.
Too many instincts.
But then something fascinating happened.
Nyx moved ahead naturally.
Scout.
The Griffon rose above the field.
Aerial sight.
Thunder became mobile pressure.
Rexia smashed through the hardest obstacles.
Nobody had assigned those roles.
They simply formed.
Primitive.
Messy.
But real.
Finn stood beside Kael.
“That looks…” “Good?” “I was going to say dangerous.” “Also true.” Damian watched his Griffon adjust around Rexia.
“They’re learning faster without us.” Kael nodded.
“That’s uncomfortable.” “Very.” Finn raised a hand.
“Finally, something we agree on.” The academy team event began that afternoon.
The individual tournament continued in parallel, but Kael’s attention shifted the moment the team assignments appeared.
Kael.
Finn.
Damian.
Mira Fen.
Again.
Finn looked at the board.
“They really want us together.” Mira arrived with her Vinehorn Deer.
“Or they’re punishing me.” Finn looked wounded.
“I bring morale.” “You bring noise.” “Same thing.” The team arena was much larger than the duel grounds.
Artificial trees.
Stone ruins.
Streams.
Raised platforms.
Two crystal beacons stood at opposite ends.
Instructor Hale explained the objective.
Destroy the enemy beacon.
Protect your own.
Any Beast Master knocked out or forced to surrender was removed along with their beasts.
Kael studied the terrain.
Then stopped himself.
Normally, he would immediately begin assigning roles.
Instead he turned.
“What does everyone do best?” Damian answered first.
“Aerial pressure and interception.” Mira said, “Control.
Support.
Healing if needed.” Finn folded his arms.
“Improvisation.” Silence.
“And lightning,” he added.
“Better,” Mira said.
Kael smiled.
Damian looked at him.
“You coordinate.” Kael blinked.
“You’re ranked first.” “Those aren’t the same thing.” Kael held his gaze.
Then nodded.
“Alright.” Not leader.
Coordinator.
That felt better.
Their opponents were competent.
Not top-ranked.
Two heavy melee beasts.
One ranged bird.
One control-type serpent.
The bell rang.
Kael gave almost no commands.
That confused the opposing team.
Nyx vanished into the ruins.
The Griffon took the sky.
Thunder pressured center.
Mira’s Vinehorn Deer quietly spread roots beneath the field.
Rexia made herself extremely visible.
And extremely loud.
The enemy focused on her.
Exactly as planned.
Kael moved personally toward the left ruin.
An opposing Beast Master intercepted.
Weapons clashed.
Kael blocked.
Turned.
Retreated.
Behind him, roots shifted.
The battlefield was slowly closing.
Finn shouted from somewhere.
“Totally intentional!” Kael had no idea what he was referring to.
Then Rexia saw the beacon.
An opening.
She charged.
Too early.
“Rexia—” An enemy hound changed direction.
Finn was exposed.
Nyx had been positioned for the beacon attack.
It abandoned the plan immediately.
A black blur crossed the field.
Nyx intercepted the hound before it reached Finn.
The opening disappeared.
Kael felt Rexia stop.
Confusion.
Then realization.
Kael didn’t yell.
He sent one thought.
Pack consequence.
Rexia looked toward Finn.
Then Nyx.
Then the enemy beacon.
The mistake registered.
The battle continued.
Several minutes later, almost the same opening appeared.
Rexia could charge.
She started.
Then stopped.
Kael felt her checking.
Finn.
Safe.
Mira.
Covered.
Damian.
Airborne.
Kael.
Ready.
Nyx.
Positioned.
Only then did Rexia move.
Kael smiled.
“Now.” Rexia smashed through the enemy frontline.
Thunder followed.
Nyx appeared behind the defender.
Mira’s vines trapped the control beast.
The Griffon drove the ranged attacker away.
Kael engaged the final Beast Master personally.
Finn reached the beacon.
He raised his spear.
“FOR TACTICAL CROUCHING!” Thunder discharged lightning.
The crystal shattered.
The bell rang.
Victory.
Finn raised both arms.
“Exactly as intended!” Mira stared.
“You screamed for most of the match.” “Battle communication.” Damian actually laughed.
Kael crouched beside Rexia.
She looked at him.
Waiting.
He touched her head.
“Good correction.” Pride.
Nyx approached too.
Rexia looked toward it.
No growl.
No challenge.
Just a brief bump of shoulders.
Small.
Easy to miss.
Kael didn’t.
From the spectator stands, Lucian Veyr watched.
His expression had changed.
Kael had lost to him because his formation was too rigid.
And instead of responding by increasing control…
Kael was giving his beasts more freedom.
It made no sense.
Lucian didn’t like things that made no sense.
Farther away, another man watched too.
Ordinary coat.
Ordinary face.
A notebook rested on his knee.
He wrote: Subject’s anomalous beasts demonstrate independent tactical reasoning and unusually high voluntary loyalty.
He closed the notebook.
The black eclipse symbol inside his ring vanished beneath his sleeve.
That night, Kael entered the Infinite World Tree.
The third leaf had opened slightly farther.
He approached.
The metallic mask was gone.
Instead, jungle appeared.
Dense.
Dark.
Something moved between the trees.
A tall cloaked figure.
Then another shape appeared.
Smaller.
Young.
Humanoid.
The older hunter stood behind it.
Teaching.
The younger one carried no advanced weapon.
No shoulder cannon.
No complex armor.
Only a primitive training spear.
Kael watched.
The older hunter pointed toward tracks in the mud.
The younger crouched.
Observed.
Followed.
Failed.
Started again.
Kael slowly understood.
The third world wasn’t asking whether he could command a hunter.
It was asking whether he could raise one.
The same lesson he had spent the entire day learning.
Nyx appeared beside him.
Rexia followed.
The younger hunter stumbled during a pursuit.
The older one didn’t help.
It waited.
Let the lesson happen.
Kael smiled faintly.
“You’re difficult.” Click-click.
The sound echoed through the leaf.
Then something flashed along the older hunter’s wrist.
Metal.
A blade.
Gone again.
Kael remembered the floating mask.
Whatever equipment this species possessed…
It wasn’t arriving for free.
It was growing with them.
Inherited.
Earned.
Bloodline made tangible.
Kael’s attention shifted.
Farther along the Infinite World Tree…
Something moved.
Barely.
Not a bud.
Not an opening.
Just sensation.
Water.
Deep.
Cold.
For one heartbeat, Kael saw an ocean beneath another distant leaf.
Dark blue fading into black.
Then an enormous shadow moved below the surface.
Far too large.
Kael stopped.
The image vanished.
Nothing opened.
No egg appeared.
Good.
Two companions were already enough to occupy nearly every waking hour of his life.
Kael looked toward Nyx.
Then Rexia.
Both were watching the Predator leaf.
He smiled.
“One problem at a time.” Behind the third leaf, the young hunter raised its primitive weapon again.
Missed.
Reset.
Tried once more.
And beneath the Infinite World Tree…
the lesson continued.