SSS Rank: Strongest Beast Master

Seraph's footsteps faded down the hall, leaving Jonah in a silence that was louder than any noise he had ever heard.

A state secret.

The words echoed in his skull. Yesterday, he was a nobody from Cinderfall, terrified of being found out as a failure. Today, he was a strategic asset with homework assigned by a Black Badge Elite. The whiplash was enough to make him dizzy.

The pressure was immense, a physical weight on his shoulders. But beneath the fear, a spark of something else ignited: determination. Seraph hadn't dismissed him. She had challenged him. This was his real test, his first mission. He couldn't fail.

He focused on the task at hand. Combine the bird with the moth essence.

How? He couldn't just shove the Glimmerwing essence into Rook. That felt wrong, like trying to hammer a nail into a rock. He needed a foundation, a Genesis Core. But Seraph hadn't told him to go find another egg. She had been specific. Combine your bird with the moth.

A thought, so obvious it was brilliant, struck him. If a raw, unformed egg was a Genesis Core, then what was Rook? Rook was a living, breathing Genesis Core that he had already shaped. He wasn't just creating. He was evolving.

This was how it worked. This was how his power grew.

"Okay, Rook," he whispered to the empty air. "Time for an upgrade."

He sat on the floor, sinking into the familiar meditative state. He called Rook into his mental workshop. The little stone-feathered creature appeared, looking around the dark void with its usual curiosity. But this time, Jonah didn't just observe it. He focused on it as his new foundation.

Next, he drew forth the Glimmerwing Moth essence. It was a single mote of silvery, shimmering light, a stark contrast to the earthy brown of the Ant soldier essences he'd used before. It pulsed with a feeling of airiness and illusion.

He began the synthesis.

If his first creation was like molding clay, this was like performing surgery with tweezers in the dark. It wasn't about simply combining two things. It was about carefully, delicately weaving the airy, illusory power of the moth into the solid, fortified form of the hatchling. He had to graft the new essence onto the old one without destroying what was already there.

The dull headache from the first synthesis was a fond memory compared to this. A sharp, splitting pain lanced through his temples, as if tiny needles were being hammered into his skull with every mental adjustment. He felt his concentration fraying. This was infinitely more complex.

He pushed the glowing moth essence toward Rook's form. He guided it, not to cover his creation, but to merge with it, feather by feather, bone by bone.

A new, more urgent message blazed in his mind.

[Begin Grade-2 Synthesis?]

[Genesis Core: Stone-Feather Hatchling]

[Essence: Glimmermoths]

[WARNING: High mental fatigue projected. Risk of psychic backlash. Proceed?]

Psychic backlash. The words sent a chill down his spine. This wasn't just about getting tired anymore. This could actually break him. But Seraph's orders, and the burning need to prove himself, left him no choice. He had to see this through.

Proceed, he commanded, pushing the thought forward with the last bit of his mental strength.

The moment he gave the command, the world behind his eyes exploded. The pain was blinding. He felt a violent tearing sensation in his mind as the two disparate essences fought for a brief, agonizing moment before finally merging.

Rook's form was instantly swallowed by a new cocoon, larger than the last. It didn't just glow; it swirled with an elegant, chaotic dance of earthy brown and ethereal silver light.

[Incubation Time: 4 Hours]

The message was the last thing he noticed before everything became too much. His mind gave out like a snapped rope, and he collapsed onto the soft moss, falling into deep, dreamless sleep.

Jonah awoke with a gasp. His head felt thick and fuzzy, and a dull, throbbing ache echoed behind his eyes. He had no idea how long he'd been out. He pushed himself up, his muscles groaning in protest.

He instantly retreated into his Beast Space. The cocoon was still there, but the swirling lights were fading. The four-hour incubation was nearly complete. He had woken up just in time.

As he watched, tiny cracks lit up across the cocoon, glowing like lines of light. Then, without a sound, it broke apart – falling into little sparks of brown and silver that faded into nothing.

Floating in its place was his new creation.

It was breathtaking.

The creature was at least a third larger than Rook had been, its body sleeker and more predatory. The stone-gray feathers were still there, but now they were laced with glowing, iridescent patterns that shifted and swirled like oil on water. Its wings were broader, and as they gave a test beat, they released a fine, sparkling dust that hung in the void, hypnotically beautiful.

It was no longer just a hatchling. It was a striker. A hunter.

The final confirmation appeared, a seal of approval on his agonizing work.

[Progeny Evolved: Glimmer-Wing Striker (Grade 2)]

[Skills: Rending Peck, Fortified Plumage (Passive), Disorienting Dust]

[SYNERGY SKILL UNLOCKED: Shadow Strike]

Jonah stared at the new skill. Synergy. It wasn't just a list of the old skills plus the new one. His power had taken the two essences and created something entirely new from their combination.

An instinctive understanding of the skill flowed into his mind. Shadow Strike: Uses Disorienting Dust to create a momentary illusion, allowing the user to teleport a short distance and deliver a surprise attack with Rending Peck.

A wild, happy laugh bubbled out of him before he could stop it. It was a combination of the moth's illusion and the bird's attack. It wasn't just an addition; it was a multiplication of power. This was the true potential of his ability. He could create creatures with skills that had never existed before.

He was exhausted, his mind felt bruised, and he had a report to write for the scariest woman he'd ever met. But as he looked at the Glimmer-Wing Striker, his first Grade-2 Progeny, he felt a surge of power and purpose that washed all the pain away.