The teleport back was just as jarring as the one that had flung them out.
Jonah braced himself better this time, but it still felt like being yanked through a spinning tube full of noise and light. The moment his boots hit solid ground again, the earthy, damp scent of the forest was gone, replaced by the clean air of the Academy's teleportation hall.
They'd landed in the debriefing chamber. Everything was plain and still. White walls, grey floors, a single table at the far end.
And no one else in sight.
They were the first team back. Way ahead of schedule.
The instructor at the debriefing table looked up, blinked, and then checked his chronometer. "You're early," he said, almost accusingly.
"Very early."
Jonah stepped forward and dropped the mission bag onto the table with a satisfying thud.
"Objectives complete," he said, trying not to sound as proud as he felt.
The instructor opened the bag, pulling out each item: the glowing moss sample, the feathers from the woodpecker and most impressively, the preserved heart of the Raging Boar.
With each item revealed, his eyebrows climbed higher. "All three objectives… retrieved… in record time."
He looked back at them, eyes widening in disbelief.
"That is… astonishing," he said, tapping on his datapad quickly.
"Well, well. You've earned a significant bonus of Academy Credits. Congratulations, Cadets."
Jonah heard the words, but they didn't quite feel real.
Academy Credits.
Academy Credits were the internal currency, used for everything from better food to access to premium training facilities and rare materials. For Jonah, who had spent his entire life barely counting any coins, it was like winning the lottery.
Over the next hour, other teams began to trickle in, most looking exhausted and beat up.
Draven and Kaelen were among the last. Draven's arm was in a magical sling, and the anger on his face was impossible to miss.
They had managed to retrieve the feathers and moss, but they presented no boar heart. They were commended for their efforts, but the praise was lukewarm, and the credit bonus was a fraction of what Jonah and Vanessa had received.
The difference in their performance was stark and public.
Draven's humiliation was now complete.
The story of their success spread like wildfire. Jonah, the "Undercroft Scrapper," had not only kept up with the top-ranked mage but had been the key to their record-breaking run.
Whispers followed him down the hallways. He was no longer just the weird kid with the unreadable mark; he was the weird kid who got results.
That evening, there was a knock on his door. It was Vanessa.
She slipped inside, looking more serious than he'd ever seen her. "We have a problem," she said, her voice low.
"We just broke the school record and got rich," Jonah countered, gesturing to his datapad, which proudly displayed his new credit balance.
"What problem?"
"The attention," she said, pacing his small room. "Draven was a nuisance, but this is bigger. Everyone is talking about you. About us. They're asking questions.
How did a Tamer, which is what they think you are, command his beasts with such precision? How did we find the objectives so fast? The more questions they ask, the closer they get to the truth."
Jonah's good mood vanished. She was right. In the Undercroft, being different meant being a target. It seemed the same rules applied here, just with less rust and more gossip.
"Your 'Beast Weaver' ability is a strategic asset," Vanessa continued, her mind working with its usual sharp clarity. "Seraph knows it, the Headmaster knows it, and we know it. We can't risk exposing it over schoolyard rumors."
"So what do we do?" Jonah asked. "Hide? Stop working together?"
"No," she said firmly. "We do the opposite. We hide in plain sight." She stopped pacing and looked at him. "We need a cover story. A plausible, academic reason for us to be spending so much time together. Something that explains our synergy."
Jonah waited. He knew she already had one.
"We are officially beginning a joint research project," she announced, as if declaring it made it true. "We're investigating the 'Synergistic Applications of Elemental Magic in the Stabilization of Bio-Magical Constructs.' It's a legitimate field of study."
Jonah blinked. "You want our cover story to be… doing homework?"
"It's the perfect cover!" she insisted. "It explains why I, a mage, would be working with you, a 'construct-maker.' It gives us a reason to be in the library together, to use training halls, to request materials. It turns our secret collaboration into a sanctioned, academic pursuit. No one will question it."
He had to admit, it was brilliant. It was so boringly academic that no one would ever suspect the truth.
"Okay," he said. "So we're… study buddies?"
"We're co-conspirators," she corrected him with a serious look that was immediately ruined by a small, mischievous smile.
"Now, about our first 'joint project'…"
She gestured toward the desk where the contained essence of the Raging Boar was pulsing with angry, red light. The air around it felt heavy, vibrating with a rage so potent it was almost a physical force.
"You got it," Jonah said, his own excitement returning. "It's… loud."
Vanessa approached it cautiously, her eyes wide with a mixture of academic fascination and fear.
"Its psychic residue is even stronger than I predicted. The raw, chaotic energy… it's magnificent. And terrifying." She looked at him, her expression shifting from scholar to partner. "So, this is the final piece for your hammer?"
Jonah nodded, his eyes fixed on the swirling essence. The confrontation with Draven, the challenge of the exam, it had all led to this moment.
All the planning and theory were done.
He now had everything he needed to create his first true weapon.
"This is the first piece of our research," he said, trying out their new cover story. He looked at Vanessa and grinned.
"It's time to build a brute."
Vanessa's smile matched his. The temporary alliance forged for the exam had just solidified into something more. They were no longer just partners of circumstance.
They had a shared secret, a shared purpose, and a shared enemy in the shadows of gossip and suspicion.
Their new reality had begun.