Two days after nearly being trampled by half of Greenmist Hollow, Kael found himself sitting in a classroom.
Finn considered this a personal insult.
“I don’t understand.” Mira didn’t look away from her notes.
“That’s not unusual.” Finn ignored her.
“We survived a Secret Realm.
We redirected a stampede.
We fought an upper F-Rank Ravager.
There is currently an unknown E-Rank predator growing inside Greenmist Hollow.” He pointed toward the board.
“And they gave us homework.” “Two days ago,” Mira corrected.
“Trauma doesn’t follow calendars.” Kael smiled and continued reading.
Unlike Finn, he was actually glad normal classes had resumed.
One sentence from Professor Elara remained stuck in his mind.
A Beast Master’s senses don’t end with their own body.
Until Greenmist Hollow, Kael had mostly thought about Nyx and Rexia in terms of abilities.
Strength.
Speed.
Camouflage.
Intelligence.
Hunting.
Combat.
But Rexia had smelled something no human could detect.
Nyx perceived movement in ways Kael barely understood.
Those weren’t simply combat advantages.
They were entirely different ways of experiencing the world.
Apparently, the academy had decided to make today’s lesson suspiciously relevant.
The instructor wrote across the board.
CONTRACT SENSORY SYNCHRONIZATION Finn leaned toward Kael.
“That sounds uncomfortable.” He was correct.
Basic emotional communication through a contract was simple enough.
More advanced Beast Masters, however, could deliberately synchronize with individual senses from their contracted beasts.
Aerial Beast Masters could borrow their companion’s vision.
Tracking specialists could interpret scent.
Burrowing beasts could share vibrations from underground.
The instructor made one thing extremely clear.
“Do not attempt full synchronization.” Kael looked at Nyx.
Nyx looked back.
Five minutes later, Kael understood why.
He closed his eyes.
Reached through the contract.
And touched Nyx’s perception.
The world exploded.
Air moved.
Something vibrated beneath his feet.
A student breathed twelve steps away.
Heat shifted.
Clothing rubbed against skin.
A chair scraped.
Scents overlapped.
Sound reflected from walls.
Someone moved behind him.
Something flew outside the window.
The floor carried vibrations from another classroom.
Kael opened his eyes.
The room tilted.
“Whoa—” Finn caught him.
“Did your monster break your brain?” “Possibly.” Nyx tilted its elongated head.
Confusion flowed through the bond.
To Nyx, apparently, all of that chaos made perfect sense.
Kael stared.
“How do you live like that?” Nyx had no answer because it didn’t understand the problem.
Rexia was easier.
Initially.
Kael borrowed her sight.
Colors changed slightly.
Movement became much easier to notice.
Distance felt different.
Predatory.
Focused.
Then he tried scent.
Immediate mistake.
Kael smelled wood.
Ink.
Leather.
Dust.
Cleaning chemicals.
Beast fur.
Sweat.
Someone’s breakfast.
Three different perfumes.
Metal.
Grass from outside.
And— Meat.
Kael disconnected.
He slowly turned.
Finn froze.
“You have food.” “No.” “Left side of your bag.” Finn’s face changed.
“No.” “Meat sandwich.” “This power is evil.” Mira laughed.
Professor Elara entered halfway through the practical session and took over from the regular instructor.
“More information isn’t automatically useful.” She tapped the board.
“Your beast already filters most sensory input.” Elara’s Silvernose Direhound rested beside her.
“If I experienced everything she smells simultaneously, I would accomplish nothing except develop a headache.” The Direhound opened one eye.
“The skill is learning what your beast considers important.” Kael looked toward Rexia.
That mattered.
Especially regarding Greenmist Hollow.
After class, he found a quiet training area.
Rexia sat in front of him.
“Remember the scent?” Immediate recognition.
Big predator.
“Yes.” Kael rested a hand against her neck.
“Show me.” He synchronized carefully.
Not everything.
Just the memory.
Greenmist Hollow returned through scent.
Wet bark.
Water.
Blood.
Plants.
Reptilian musk.
Something metallic or mineral-like.
Then something else.
Hot.
Not temperature exactly.
Activity.
Growth.
Constant biological change.
Kael frowned.
Rexia supplied the concept.
Growing.
He disconnected.
“You noticed that before?” Rexia looked at him as though the answer were obvious.
Kael sighed.
“We really need better communication.” Later that afternoon, Elara called him into one of the ecology laboratories.
The eggshell fragment rested inside a sealed container.
Beside it sat the dark scale recovered from Greenmist Hollow.
“GH-01’s newest footprint measurements are eight percent larger than our earliest confirmed prints.” Kael stared.
“In two days?” “Approximately.” “That’s ridiculous.” “Correct.” Elara placed several measurements beside one another.
“Energy readings are also increasing.” “So it’s evolving?” “Maybe.
Probably not.” Kael looked up.
Elara leaned against the table.
“You’re confusing growth, advancement and evolution.” That began another lesson.
Growth was natural maturation.
A juvenile becoming an adult.
Muscle development.
Denser bones.
Larger energy reserves.
Rank advancement was classification.
A beast’s overall combat and energy level increasing enough to enter another recognized category.
Evolution was different.
Qualitative change.
A beast could develop into another species entirely.
New affinity.
New biological structure.
New abilities.
Different future potential.
“Some species never evolve,” Elara explained.
“Others possess one stable path.
Some have several.” Kael’s thoughts immediately went toward Nyx.
Then Rexia.
They were already abnormal by this world’s standards.
Could this world’s evolution system affect them?
Could Nyx become something that had never existed in the world it came from?
Could Rexia?
The thought was dangerously exciting.
Elara noticed his expression.
“Don’t start experimenting.” Kael blinked.
“I didn’t say anything.” “Your face did.” Kael stared.
“Hale says the same thing.” “Then improve your face.” She led him toward another room.
A transparent crystal stood on a metal pedestal.
Light moved slowly inside.
“Evolution Resonance Prism.” Kael’s interest immediately returned.
“It predicts evolution?” “Poorly.” “That’s reassuring.” “It detects dormant evolutionary potential and broad affinities.
Anyone claiming it can reliably tell you an exact future form is probably trying to sell you something.” Rexia went first.
She approached the prism.
Light spread across its surface.
Words appeared.
EVOLUTIONARY POTENTIAL DETECTED Then: Predation Adaptation Ambush Physical Enhancement Kael smiled.
“Sounds like her.” Rexia looked proud despite having no idea what the machine said.
Then another line appeared.
BLOODLINE INSTABILITY DETECTED Elara’s expression changed.
“Interesting.” “Bad?” “Not necessarily.” She examined the reading.
“It suggests unusually high branching potential.” That made sense.
Rexia’s biology was hybrid by nature.
Multiple genetic templates combined into one engineered predator.
Elara didn’t know that.
And Kael wasn’t explaining.
“Meaning?” “She may have more evolutionary directions available than a normal species.” Rexia nudged the prism.
“Don’t eat it.” Rexia looked offended.
Nyx went next.
The prism flickered.
Stopped.
Started again.
The internal light became chaotic.
Finn, who had somehow discovered where they were, leaned through the doorway.
“You broke it.” Kael sighed.
The reading appeared.
EVOLUTION PATHWAY: UNRESOLVED Then: ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTATION: EXTREMELY HIGH Another pause.
HOST-DERIVED TRAITS DETECTED Kael became still.
Of course.
Nyx had developed through a Facehugger implanting another monster.
Its biology carried characteristics from the host.
Elara looked fascinated.
“Your beast gets stranger every time I examine it.” “I’ve noticed.” “Do you know why it has host-derived traits?” Kael kept his answer careful.
“I think the species adapts heavily during reproduction and development.” Technically true.
Elara nodded slowly.
“Possible.” She didn’t press.
Then she gave Kael the warning he needed.
Evolution could be forced early.
Rare materials.
Energy cores.
Bloodline catalysts.
Rich families sometimes spent fortunes accelerating a promising beast’s first evolution.
“But evolution isn’t automatically improvement,” Elara said.
Kael frowned.
“You can choose wrong?” “Absolutely.” A poor branch could limit future potential permanently.
Kael looked at Nyx.
Then Rexia.
“Then we’re waiting.” Elara raised an eyebrow.
“No temptation?” “I’m not gambling their future because I want to win a school tournament.” Rexia sent approval despite probably only understanding the emotional meaning.
Nyx moved closer.
Finn stepped forward.
“Thunder.” The tiger entered.
“Show them greatness.” Thunder’s test was considerably more cooperative.
The prism stabilized almost immediately.
STABLE EVOLUTIONARY ROUTE Storm Affinity Predatory Enhancement Then: Potential Evolution: Stormfang Tiger Finn’s mouth opened.
Thunder roared.
“STORMFANG TIGER!” Thunder became even more excited because Finn was excited.
Elara calmly listed several common materials associated with the evolutionary route.
Finn’s excitement gradually disappeared.
“How much?” Elara gave an approximate cost.
Finn slowly looked at Thunder.
Thunder looked back.
“We are poor.” Thunder’s ears lowered.
Kael laughed.
“We’ll find the materials.” Finn turned.
“Where?” “Future expeditions.” Finn’s spirit instantly returned.
“Treasure.” Mira, standing in the doorway, sighed.
Damian tested his Thunder Griffon afterward.
The prism displayed a strong route.
Sky-Thunder War Griffon Finn stared.
Then looked at Damian.
“Rich people even get better evolution names.” “I didn’t name the species.” “Exactly what a rich person would say.” Damian almost smiled.
Lucian didn’t test either beast.
Kael later learned why.
The Veyr family had already mapped both evolutionary routes years ago.
Materials selected.
Future forms planned.
Probably training methods too.
Lucian’s path had been designed before he ever entered Greenriver Academy.
Kael’s couldn’t be more different.
Unknown species.
Unknown routes.
Unknown limits.
He preferred his.
Later that afternoon, Elara received another report.
Her expression hardened.
“What?” Kael asked.
“Feeding site.” GH-01 had killed an upper F-Rank predator.
Not for sport.
It had eaten a significant portion.
“That explains some growth,” Kael said.
“Some.” “Not all?” “No.” Updated estimates placed GH-01 approaching mid E-Rank.
Greenmist Hollow restrictions increased again.
No students were permitted anywhere near the gate without authorization.
Kael wasn’t surprised.
By the end of the day, rumors had spread across campus.
Unknown beast.
Unknown egg.
Unstable spatial pocket.
Undocumented species.
Kael overheard two students nearby.
“Maybe Ashborne’s beasts came from something similar.” “Probably.
Some unmapped pocket realm.” Kael kept walking.
He said absolutely nothing.
That explanation was wonderful.
If the world wanted to create a reasonable origin for Nyx and Rexia on its own, Kael wasn’t going to interrupt.
Unknown Secret Realms existed.
Unknown species existed.
GH-01 had just proven it publicly.
Perfect.
At home, Kael discovered Lily had placed her Greenmist stone beside her bed.
A tiny cloth rested beneath it.
“What is this?” “Emerald Dragon Stone.” “It’s not emerald.” Lily crossed her arms.
“And it has nothing to do with dragons.” “You don’t know that.” Kael opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Rexia stood beside Lily.
Approval flowed through the contract.
“You stay out of this.” Rexia did not.
That evening, Kael practiced sensory synchronization again.
Rexia first.
Small pieces.
Movement.
Direction.
Selected scents.
Then Nyx.
He nearly overwhelmed himself again.
So he changed approach.
Instead of trying to perceive everything Nyx perceived, Kael sent one concept.
Threat.
The chaos changed.
Most sensations disappeared.
Four remained.
Rowan downstairs.
Lily moving in her bedroom.
Rexia sitting beside him.
And someone approaching outside.
Kael opened his eyes.
Three seconds later— Knock knock.
Finn entered.
He was carrying food.
Kael smiled.
Finn frowned.
“What?” “Nothing.” “That’s suspicious.” Progress.
That night, Kael entered the Infinite World Tree.
The young Yautja stood inside the third leaf.
Blindfolded.
The elder moved around it.
Silent.
The young hunter turned the wrong direction.
Failed.
Again.
Failed.
Again.
Then stopped.
Listened.
Felt.
Turned.
Its primitive weapon stopped exactly where the elder stood.
Kael stared.
Then laughed.
“Seriously?” Click-click.
“Yes, I understand.” One sense wasn’t enough.
A hunter learned to use whatever the world offered.
Back inside Greenmist Hollow, Professor Elara stood beneath an enormous tree.
Something hung from its branches.
Pale.
Dry.
Nearly complete.
Shed skin.
Her Silvernose Direhound refused to approach.
Elara measured it.
Then checked the newest footprints.
The difference was impossible to ignore.
“Growth bursts.” Feed.
Rest.
Shed.
Grow.
Repeat.
The Direhound suddenly growled.
Fresh tracks crossed the mud.
Larger again.
Elara followed them with her eyes.
They headed toward an old section of Greenmist Hollow.
Her expression changed.
“No.” An investigator looked at her.
“What?” “Those tracks.” She pointed.
“They’re heading toward the sealed ruins.” Nobody spoke.
“That’s inconvenient.” They followed from a safe distance.
The mist thickened.
Something moved ahead.
Trees shook.
Elara raised one hand.
Everyone stopped.
For several seconds, nothing appeared.
Then a tail passed between two enormous trunks.
Long.
Muscular.
Dark-scaled.
Far larger than the juvenile measurements from only days earlier.
It disappeared into the green mist.
Elara’s Direhound lowered itself.
Nobody followed.
And somewhere beyond the trees, GH-01 continued toward the forgotten ruins.
Still feeding.
Still shedding.
Still growing.
the link is in the synonyms.