The second team match began with Finn staring across the arena and immediately deciding he disliked the other side.
“They look organized.” Mira Fen glanced at him.
“That’s usually considered a good thing.” “Not when they’re against us.” Kael studied the opposing formation.
Finn wasn’t wrong.
A Stonehide Rhino stood at the center, broad and immovable.
A Windscale Hawk circled overhead.
A Frostvine Serpent rested near the rear line, while a Healing Hare remained close to its Beast Master.
Balanced.
Frontline.
Air control.
Restraint.
Support.
Nothing flashy.
Everything useful.
Finn sighed.
“Why do they look like they actually planned this?” “Because they did,” Mira said.
“Unfair.” Damian ignored him.
“What’s our plan?” Kael almost answered immediately.
Almost assigned positions.
Almost divided everyone into neat roles.
Then he stopped.
That was exactly what he had done before Lucian dismantled him.
Kael looked at the others.
“Damian?” “Aerial pressure.” “Mira?” “Control and support.” “Finn?” Finn straightened.
“Improvisation.” Everyone stared.
“…and lightning.” “Better,” Mira said.
Kael nodded.
“Then do what you’re best at.” Damian raised an eyebrow.
“That’s the whole plan?” “Broad objective only.” Kael looked toward Nyx.
Stay aware of pack.
Choose where needed.
Nyx’s tail moved once.
Rexia received the same thought.
She stared across the arena.
Excitement.
Good.
The bell rang.
The Stonehide Rhino charged.
The ground shook.
Kael moved forward.
Rexia moved too.
Fast.
Too fast.
Kael almost stopped her.
Then didn’t.
Your choice.
Rexia’s golden eyes narrowed.
Instead of slamming directly into the Rhino, she veered left.
The Rhino turned.
Rexia shifted right.
The massive beast corrected again.
Rexia snapped at one foreleg and retreated.
The Rhino followed.
Kael understood.
She wasn’t trying to overpower it.
She was making it turn.
Nyx understood too.
The Xenomorph vanished.
The Rhino rotated again.
Nyx struck the exposed side.
Tail against rear joint.
The Rhino stumbled.
Kael smiled.
No command.
No assigned sequence.
They had created it themselves.
Above them, the Windscale Hawk dived.
Damian’s Thunder Griffon intercepted.
Lightning split the air.
The Hawk pulled upward.
The Griffon followed.
Nyx moved beneath them.
Kael watched.
The Griffon’s shadow crossed the arena.
Nyx entered it.
Its black exoskeleton disappeared against the moving darkness.
Kael’s eyes sharpened.
Damian noticed too.
He adjusted his Griffon’s angle.
The shadow swept directly behind the Rhino.
Nyx emerged.
Strike.
Retreat.
Kael looked toward Damian.
Damian glanced down.
Neither spoke.
They didn’t need to.
Rivalry or not, the opportunity was obvious.
Then Kael remembered the healer.
The Healing Hare was already glowing.
Small wounds on the Rhino began closing.
The Frostvine Serpent controlled access to the rear line.
Kael looked toward Nyx.
Easy answer.
Send the assassin.
Instead, he turned.
“Finn.” Finn froze.
“What?” “You and Thunder.” Finn pointed at himself.
“Me?” “Remove the healer.” For once, Finn didn’t joke.
He looked toward the far side of the battlefield.
The distance.
The serpent.
The ruined stone structures between them.
Then Thunder.
Thunder looked back.
Finn nodded.
“Alright.” He disappeared into the ruins.
Or tried to.
Kael saw him immediately kick a loose stone.
CLACK.
Finn froze.
Thunder slowly looked up at him.
Finn whispered, “That didn’t happen.” Thunder’s expression suggested otherwise.
They continued.
Finn nearly knocked over a broken pillar.
Thunder stopped him by biting his sleeve.
Finn glared.
“Your moral support is terrible.” Then he noticed a metal support mechanism beside the ruins.
His expression changed.
Kael couldn’t see what he was planning.
Good.
That meant the other team probably couldn’t either.
A burst of electricity flashed.
Thunder struck the mechanism.
Sparks exploded.
One side of the training wall partially collapsed.
The opposing healer’s Beast Master turned instinctively.
Finn moved.
Not elegantly.
But quickly.
The main battle intensified.
The Rhino finally managed to clip Rexia.
She rolled across the ground.
Got up.
Furious.
Kael felt the old impulse from her.
Break.
“Use your head.” Rexia stared at the Rhino.
Then attacked the ground near its front foot.
Stone cracked.
The Rhino stepped awkwardly.
Nyx immediately exploited the stumble.
Kael drove his spear into the opposite side.
The Rhino roared.
The Frostvine Serpent sent vines across the field.
Mira’s Vinehorn Deer answered.
Green roots collided.
The two control beasts fought over the ground itself.
Damian’s Griffon forced the Hawk higher.
Everyone had a task.
Nobody waited for Kael to tell them what to do.
That felt strange.
Good strange.
Then Finn reached the rear line.
The Healing Hare’s Beast Master saw him.
“So much for stealth.” Finn raised his spear.
“I prefer dramatic entrances.” The Healing Hare created a pale barrier.
Thunder attacked.
Lightning spread across it.
The barrier held.
Finn frowned.
“Again.” Thunder struck.
Still held.
The enemy Beast Master smiled.
“You can’t overpower it.” Finn nodded.
“Probably.” Then he charged the Beast Master.
The smile vanished.
Their spears collided.
Finn’s technique was still ugly.
He stepped too wide.
Recovered too slowly.
But he kept pressure.
The Beast Master couldn’t focus on the Healing Hare.
Thunder changed targets.
He slammed into the hare.
The support beast rolled.
Finn’s spear struck the enemy weapon aside.
Then stopped against the Beast Master’s shoulder.
“Got you.” The opponent stared.
Finn grinned.
Thunder pinned the healer.
For several seconds…
Finn had won the entire rear-line exchange personally.
Then vines exploded around him.
The Frostvine Serpent had noticed.
A thick vine struck Finn’s arm.
He flew into the wall.
“FINN!” Thunder roared.
Electricity erupted across his fur.
He turned toward the serpent.
Finn pushed himself upright.
“Thunder.” The tiger didn’t stop.
“NO.” Thunder froze.
Finn’s face twisted with pain.
His arm already bruised.
But he pointed toward the Healing Hare.
“We’re not done.” Thunder looked at him.
Then back at the objective.
He obeyed.
Kael saw all of it.
Pride warmed his chest.
Finn wasn’t following him anymore.
He was becoming a Beast Master in his own right.
With the Healing Hare pinned, the other formation began collapsing.
The Rhino’s wounds stayed open.
Mira finally forced the Frostvine Serpent backward.
Damian’s Griffon drove the Hawk away from the central field.
Rexia attacked again.
Nyx moved with her.
This time, Rexia made noise deliberately.
The Rhino turned toward her.
Nyx attacked from the opposite side.
Kael came through the center.
Three angles.
The Rhino fell.
The remaining resistance lasted less than a minute.
The bell rang.
Victory.
Finn walked back holding his arm.
Then immediately dropped onto the bench.
“I carried all of you.” Mira sat nearby, breathing hard.
“You almost walked into a wall.” “Tactical wall inspection.” Damian looked toward Thunder.
“Your tiger did most of it.” Finn clutched his chest.
“Betrayal from every direction.” Kael handed him a wrapped piece of food.
Finn took it instantly.
“You understand me.” Thunder stole half.
Finn stared.
“No.” Thunder chewed happily.
“Not you too.” Kael laughed.
Several students approached.
Most wanted to talk about Nyx.
Or Rexia.
Their strange abilities.
Their coordination.
One student said, “Those two won the match.” Kael shook his head.
“No.” He pointed toward Finn.
“Finn won it.” Finn stopped chewing.
The student looked surprised.
Kael continued.
“He removed the healer and opened the formation.” Finn went quiet.
No joke.
No grin.
Just a brief look toward Kael.
Then he scratched the back of his neck.
“Well…” Thunder bumped his leg.
Finn smiled.
“Yeah.” From the stands, Lucian Veyr watched.
Again.
Kael had lost to him because he lacked control.
That should have taught him to tighten his command.
Instead, Kael was doing the opposite.
Giving freedom.
Allowing independent decisions.
Trusting others.
And it worked.
Lucian’s jaw tightened slightly.
The Bloodsteel Mantis beside him remained perfectly still.
Waiting.
Lucian looked at it.
For the first time…
A question appeared.
Small.
Unwelcome.
But there.
Was perfect obedience truly the same as perfect teamwork?
He dismissed the thought.
For now.
Farther away, the man with the black eclipse ring wrote another line.
Subject’s anomalous beasts display independent tactical reasoning and unusually high voluntary loyalty.
Stable support network includes Finn Arlow and Damian Cross.
His communicator vibrated once.
A response.
Do not approach.
Observe only.
The man closed the device.
No move.
No contact.
Not yet.
After the team event ended, Instructor Hale gathered the highest-performing first-years.
Kael stood beside Finn, Damian, Mira, Ronan, Lucian and several others.
Hale held up a small metal token.
“Good performance earns opportunity.” Finn leaned toward Kael.
“Treasure.” Mira heard him.
“Danger.” Finn nodded.
“Treasure with danger.” Hale continued.
“Greenriver Academy has received access to a supervised F-Rank Secret Realm.” The group became silent.
That mattered.
Secret Realms were where normal Beast Masters found things the world couldn’t easily provide.
Rare eggs.
Evolution materials.
Resources.
Ancient structures.
Sometimes knowledge.
“Not all of you will enter.” Hale’s gaze moved across them.
“You’re candidates.” Kael felt something stir inside him.
For once, the excitement wasn’t connected to the Infinite World Tree.
This belonged to his world.
Something unknown waiting outside his cheat.
He liked that.
Rexia felt the excitement.
New territory?
“Probably.” Hunt?
Kael smiled.
“Almost certainly.” Immediate approval.
Nyx’s interest was quieter.
But just as strong.
Exploration.
Prey.
Unknown threats.
Of course they were interested.
That evening, Kael returned to the Infinite World Tree.
The third leaf had opened further.
The jungle appeared.
The young hunter again.
This time…
Alone.
No elder walking behind it.
The young Yautja followed a trail.
Stopped.
Listened.
Moved.
Then made a mistake.
The prey bolted.
The hunter chased.
Failed.
Kael waited.
The elder appeared only after the hunt ended.
The young hunter lowered its head.
Kael expected punishment.
Instead, the elder removed a primitive weapon from its belt.
The young hunter looked up.
The elder didn’t hand it over.
It placed raw material on the ground.
Metal.
Bone.
Cord.
Tools.
Then stepped away.
Kael watched the young hunter begin working.
Slowly.
Incorrectly at first.
Then again.
And again.
He understood.
Earn it.
The weapon wouldn’t simply be given.
Knowledge mattered.
Skill mattered.
Understanding mattered.
Nyx appeared beside Kael.
Rexia followed.
The young hunter finally produced a crude weapon.
Not elegant.
Not advanced.
Its own.
Kael smiled faintly.
“So that’s how you work.” Click-click.
The third leaf pulsed.
The world wasn’t asking if Kael could command a hunter.
It was asking whether he understood what made one.
Patience.
Discipline.
Challenge.
Failure.
Learning.
Weapons didn’t create the hunter.
The hunter earned the weapon.
Then something began forming beneath the leaf.
Kael stopped.
Not solid.
Barely visible.
An oval silhouette.
Inside…
A small humanoid shape curled tightly.
No armor.
No mask.
No shoulder cannon.
Nothing.
Just life.
Future potential.
Nyx became alert.
Rexia stepped closer.
The impression from the leaf came clearly.
Not ready.
Kael looked at the shape.
Then at his two beasts.
He smiled.
“Neither am I.” The silhouette faded slightly.
Still there.
Waiting.
When Kael returned to his bedroom, someone knocked.
Rowan entered.
He held a small metal object.
Kael sat up.
“What is it?” Rowan tossed it.
Kael caught it.
Greenriver Academy insignia on one side.
On the other: F-RANK SECRET REALM — CANDIDATE Kael turned it over slowly.
Rowan leaned against the door.
“This is where academy training starts becoming real.” Kael closed his hand around the token.
Nyx raised its head from the shadowed corner.
Rexia woke near the bed.
Both felt his anticipation through the contracts.
Kael smiled.
“Good.” Because for the first time since Awakening Day, the next great unknown waiting for Kael Ashborne did not belong to some impossible world hidden inside his Beast Space.
It belonged to his own.