SSS Rank: Strongest Beast Master

Seraph didn't waste a single second. The moment the Headmaster's orders came through, she was in motion, full of direct and quick energy. "My workshop," she said to Jonah and Vanessa, her voice sharp and final, leaving no room for questions. "Now. We're building a team."

Her personal workshop wasn't like Jonah's or Vanessa's library of runes. It was a military briefing room, pure and simple. A large, holographic map table, currently dark, stood in the center of the room. The walls were lined not with shelves of components or books, but with weapons racks holding a variety of deadly-looking firearms and tactical gear. The space was bare and useful. It smelled faintly of gun oil. This room had one purpose only: getting ready for war.

The original members of the Anomaly Species Task Force were already there, waiting for them. It was clear Seraph had summoned them the moment she received the mission.

Jax, the tough Hunter with a face showing many old battle scars, leaned against a wall. He was sharpening a saw-edged combat knife with a small stone. The rhythmic shing, shing, shing of steel on stone was the only sound in the room. He looked up as they entered, his skeptical eyes stayed on Jonah for a long moment before giving a rough, barely noticeable nod.

Benita, the quiet Combat Medic, sat calmly on a metal crate, her large medical kit open at her feet as she carefully restocked it with battle dressings and stimulant injectors. She smiled shyly at them.

Titus, the calm, shield-bearing Warrior from the Aegis faction, stood at attention near the map table, his huge arms were crossed over his even bigger chest. He looked like a stone statue, a perfect example of military control.

"Alright, listen up," Seraph said, her voice commanding the room. They all immediately gave her their full attention. Jax stopped sharpening his knife. Benita paused her restocking. Titus uncrossed his arms. "Our next mission is not what it seems. We are walking into a trap, set by the Bureau of Elite Development. Our primary objective is not just to hunt monsters. It is to survive the political machinations of Colonel Boris."

Jax's eyebrows shot up. "The Bureau? Thought they were on our side."

"They are on their own side," Seraph corrected coldly, her words sharp. "And right now, their side is pointed directly at us. At Jonah."

She took a deep breath, letting the weight of that statement settle in the room. "This mission requires a different kind of team. Our standard unit is good, but we need more than just tactical skill this time. We need absolute loyalty to the Academy, not to the chain of command. Which is why I'm making some additions."

She gestured to Vanessa, who flinched slightly at being the center of attention. " First, I am officially assigning Vanessa to the task force, effective immediately. Her designation will be 'Runic Support Specialist.' The Dragon's Tooth mountains are full of magical interference, and I suspect the Bureau will have more than just soldiers waiting for us. Vanessa's job will be to detect and counter any unexpected magical traps or surveillance they've inevitably set up for us."

Vanessa, who had been trying to hide behind Jonah, gave a nervous little wave to the veterans. "I'll... I'll do my best not to get us all vaporized," she squeaked, her voice barely a whisper.

Jax grunted, not bothering to hide his skepticism. "A lab coat in the field. Wonderful."

"She's the best Runic Engineer at the Academy, bar none," Seraph snapped, her voice leaving no room for argument. "Her brain is more valuable than your rifle on this mission. She stays."

"And one more thing," Seraph said, her eyes glinting with a dangerous light. "We need frontline muscle. Overwhelming force. Someone who can counter the Bureau's own elite agents. Someone whose loyalty is unquestionable."

She raised her voice slightly, directing it toward the sealed door. "You can come in now."

The door to the workshop slid open with a heavy ssshhhh-KCHUNK!

A figure walked in, and Jonah's jaw nearly hit the floor. Vanessa gasped beside him.

It was Draven.

But it wasn't the same arrogant, sneering Draven who had tried to humiliate him in the training hall all those months ago.

This Draven was different. He was bigger, for one thing, his shoulders broader, his presence more grounded and solid. He had traded his flashy noble's training gear for a reinforced combat armor, scuffed and worn from heavy use. The arrogant sneer was gone, replaced by a focused intensity. His eyes, once full of mockery and pride, now held an unshakable calm. And pinned to his chest, gleaming under the workshop lights, was a polished Rank Three Badge.

He had been training. Hard.

He walked into the room and came to a stop, his eyes meeting Jonah's across the map table. There was no animosity in it. No lingering rivalry. Only a professional respect. He gave a short, sharp nod of acknowledgment.

Titus, his fellow warrior, looked completely shocked. "Draven? What in the blazes are you doing here?"

"Captain Seraph recruited me," Draven said, his voice a low rumble, deeper and more mature than Jonah remembered. "She said the team needed a powerhouse who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. And someone who owes Saint Jonah his life."

The last part was said without a trace of sarcasm or irony. It was a simple, factual statement. His public failure at Station Chimera, and Jonah's subsequent, incredible success, had clearly been a turning point for him. He was no longer a rival. He was a soldier.

"Draven is our new frontline assault," Seraph announced, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "He will be the tip of our spear. While the Bureau is focused on watching Jonah, they won't be expecting a full-blown warrior to come crashing through their front door."

Jonah looked at the new team assembled before him. It was a strange mix of personalities and skills. The old ASTF veterans, pragmatic and experienced. His own personal support team in Vanessa, the brilliant but nervous scholar. And now, a reformed powerhouse in Draven, his former rival, now a loyal and incredibly powerful ally.

This wasn't a team built just for hunting monsters anymore. This was a team built for political survival. A team built to fight a war on two fronts.

Seraph looked at each of them in turn, her eyes hard as steel. "The Bureau thinks we're walking into their trap. They think we're predictable. They're wrong."

She slapped a hand down on the holographic map table. WHUMP!

A picture of the storm-covered Dragon's Tooth mountains appeared in the room's center. It cast a blue light on their firm faces.

"They've set the board," she said, a dangerous, wolfish smile playing on her lips. "Let's go show them how we play the game."