SSS Rank: Strongest Beast Master

The first light of morning slipped through the glass roof of the Vivarium, turning the room in soft shades of gold and green. Jonah sat on the floor, watching as Rook pecked a few stray seeds he'd scattered. The little stone-feathered creature was a comforting, solid presence in his strange new life.

A soft tone echoed through the dorm, followed by a calm voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Good morning, new students. Your personal guidance professors will be arriving shortly to begin your preliminary assessments. Please be present in your rooms to welcome them."

Jonah suddenly felt a twist in is stomach. A teacher?!, A real Elite professor was coming here, to his room, to assess him. The guy with the made-up power and the weird, unlisted God Mark. Jonah quickly dismissed Rook back into the silent workshop of his mind. It was better if the room looked as normal as possible. Which, considering it was a private zoo, wasn't very normal at all.

He barely had time to stand up and brush the dirt from his pants when a sharp, authoritative knock echoed from his door.

He took a deep breath and opened it.

Standing in the hallway was a woman who looked like she had been carved from granite and fury. She was lean and tall, with sharp features and hair pulled back into a severe, military-style bun. Her eyes, a piercing shade of gray, scanned him from head to toe in a single, dismissive glance. Her uniform was the crisp, practical green of the Academy's combat staff, and pinned to her collar was a badge of polished black metal. A Black Badge. An Awakened-rank Elite.

"Jonah?" she asked. Her voice was as sharp as her features, with no room for pleasantries.

"Yes, ma'am," he squeaked.

"Sergeant Seraph," she said, stepping past him into the room as if she owned it. Her eyes moved across the Vivarium, pausing on the Glimmermoths for a second before she looked away, unimpressed. "I'm your assigned guidance and combat professor."

She turned to face him, her arms crossed. "Let's get this over with. Your file is flagged. 'Class: Unidentified. Mark: Unregistered.' That makes you a special case."

Jonah swallowed hard. "A special case?"

"It means the administration doesn't know what the hell to do with you," Seraph said bluntly. "So they've assigned you to me. My job is to figure out if you're a hidden prodigy, a statistical error, or a complete waste of the Academy's resources. I'll plan your training schedule based on that assessment Or I will sign your transfer papers to the custodial staff. Understood?"

"Understood," Jonah mumbled. He felt about two inches tall.

"Good." She tapped a finger against her arm. "I don't believe in mystery boxes or chosen ones. I believe in results. The reports from Cinderfall mentioned an 'anomalous reaction' to the serum. The medics called you a potential dud. So, prove them wrong. Explain your power."

The moment of truth. He couldn't tell her everything – the Beast Space, the Essences, the Synthesis. That was too much, too fast. It would sound like he was crazy. He had to give her something simple, something she could understand.

He took a shaky breath. "I can… create a familiar."

Seraph let out a short, sharp sound that was almost a laugh, but contained zero humor. "A familiar. You mean you're a Tamer?"

"Not exactly," Jonah said, his hands fidgeting. "I don't bond with existing beasts. I… bring one forth."

She stared at him, her expression unimpressed. "So, you're a Tamer who summons his own pet instead of finding one in the wild. A Tamer-lite. Kid, those are a dime a dozen. They're useful for scouting and not much else. Is that the great mystery of your power?"

The way she said it stung. Jonah felt his guard go up. "It's different," he snapped.

"Different how?" she challenged. "Words are cheap. Show me."

This was it. No more hiding. With a deep breath to steady his nerves, Jonah closed his eyes and focused. He reached into his mental workshop and called to his creation.

Rook. Come.

A faint glow of light appeared on the floor next to him. It solidified in less than a second, and suddenly, Rook was there, standing on the mossy ground of the Vivarium. It blinked its intelligent black eyes and tilted its head, looking from Jonah to the stern woman who was staring at it with narrowed eyes.

Seraph's dismissive smirk vanished. It was replaced by a look of intense, analytical focus. She crouched down, not getting too close, and studied Rook from every angle. The other students had stared in shock. Seraph was studying it like a puzzle.

"Feathers with the texture and color of stone," she murmured, her voice losing some of its hard edge. "Avian body structure, but its leg and bone density seem… Earthen. Terrestrial."

She cautiously reached out a single, gloved finger and poked one of Rook's wing feathers. Rook stood its ground, unmoving.

"Tch." Seraph pulled her finger back. "Hard as boiled leather. A normal bird's feathers would have bent." She looked up at Jonah, and for once, she wasn't just skeptical. She looked... interested.

"This isn't a known species," she stated, rising to her full height. "I've cross-referenced the registry of every known tamable beast from Grade-1 to Grade-5. Nothing matches this genetic profile. It's a hybrid of opposing elemental traits. Those don't occur in nature."

Her sharp eyes locked onto his. The question was a loaded weapon, aimed right at the heart of his secret.

"So, tell me, Jonah. Where, exactly, did you 'tame' it?"

The air grew thick and heavy. Jonah knew he was standing on a knife's edge. Lying to this woman was impossible; she would see right through it. Hiding was no longer an option. The path forward was through the truth, no matter how insane it sounded.

He met her gaze, his heart pounding a steady rhythm against his ribs.

"I didn't tame it," he said, his voice quiet but clear. "I made it."