Chapter 115: First Apprentice

Jonah’s new life came with a surprising amount of paperwork.

As the Senior Research Fellow of a brand-new department, he now had an office. A desk and a window that overlooked the training grounds. He also had a stack of datapads detailing budget proposals, equipment requisitions, and, to his surprise, student oversight requests.

He picked up the top file, a feeling of responsibility settling over him.

The file was for a first-year student. Name: Leo. Class: Tamer. The notes were short and to the point.

“Subject is unable to form a stable bond with his contracted beast. Beast is unresponsive and has demonstrated increasing aggression. Standard disciplinary methods have failed. Reassigned to the Department of Sacred Beast Studies for alternative analysis.”

Jonah sighed. His first official duty as a department head wasn’t to heal a forest or design a new Progeny, but to help a struggling kid.

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The Academy’s beast pens were a mix of strange and powerful sounds. Young Manticores roared, mixing with the chittering of newly born Basilisks. Jonah located Leo in a large, private enclosure at the far side.

Leo was a small, nervous boy with scared eyes. He stood far away from his beast.

And what a beast it was.

It was a young Griffon, with an eagle’s chest and beak, and a lion’s strong back legs and tail. Its golden eyes, however, were filled with a cold rage. It was pacing back and forth, its sharp claws scraping loudly against the stone floor.

Screee!

It let out an angry cry, fluffing up its neck feathers and glaring at Leo. Leo flinched and took a half-step back.

Jonah didn’t even need to use his special senses to see the problem. He could feel it in the air. There was a lot of fear and frustration between the boy and his beast.

“Leo?” Jonah asked, his voice calm.

The boy jumped, startled. He turned, his eyes widening when he saw Jonah’s Badge. “S-Senior Fellow Jonah! I’m sorry! I was just… we’re having a difficult day.”

“I can see that,” Jonah said with a gentle smile. He looked at the Griffon. “He’s beautiful.”

“He’s angry,” Leo mumbled, staring at the ground. “He won’t listen to me. The other instructors told me I have to be dominant, to show him who’s master, but every time I try, he just gets angrier.”

Jonah walked slowly to the edge of the pen. He could feel the Griffon’s emotions clearly now. It wasn’t just anger. Beneath the aggression was a deep frustration, insecurity, and loneliness. It wasn’t a disobedient monster. It was a proud creature trapped with a partner it couldn’t respect.

“The bond between a Tamer and their beast is a two-way street, Leo,” Jonah said softly. “It’s a partnership. He feels what you feel.”

“I know,” Leo said, his voice barely a whisper. “He feels that I’m… afraid of him.”

“Exactly,” Jonah said. “And he thinks your fear is a sign of weakness. He’s a Griffon. He craves a strong leader, an equal partner. He’s not rejecting you because he’s mean. He’s lashing out because he’s lonely and doesn’t feel safe with you as his leader.”

Leo looked up, his eyes full of confusion. “So what do I do? How can I stop being afraid?”

Jonah smiled. “You don’t stop being afraid. You start understanding.” He took a step back. “I’m going to try something a little different. Don’t be alarmed.”

He summoned Sylva.

The Verdant Guardian appeared in a pulse of golden light. The tense atmosphere in the pen vanished instantly, replaced by a deep sense of peace.

The Griffon, which was about to let out another angry screech, froze. Its feathers settled. Its furious golden eyes blinked. It tilted its head, staring at the creature that radiated pure serenity.

Leo stared, his jaw hanging open.

“Sylva has a special ability, Leo,” Jonah explained, closing his eyes and letting the Empathic Link wash over him. He could now feel the emotions of both the boy and the beast with perfect clarity, like two distinct streams of music. “It can act as… a translator.”

He focused on the Griffon’s feelings and spoke them aloud for Leo. “He says… he feels your racing heart. He smells your fear. He wants to trust you, but he can’t. He wants to fly into the mountains with a partner, not drag a scared child behind him.”

Leo’s face fell. He looked like he was about to cry.

“But that’s not all,” Jonah continued, shifting his focus. “Beneath that, he’s scared, too. He’s young. He’s in a strange place, away from his parents. He wants a bond, a family. He’s lashing out because it’s the only way he knows how to say, ’Be stronger for me!’”

Leo was listening, but he still couldn’t bridge the gap. Words weren’t enough.

Jonah decided to take it a step further. He took a deep breath and focused Sylva’s power, not as a translator, but as a bridge. “Leo,” he said softly. “I’m going to show you. Just for a moment. Feel what he feels.”

He projected the Griffon’s raw emotions directly into Leo’s mind.

Leo gasped, his eyes flying wide.

For a second, he felt all its feelings. The loneliness of being the only one like it here. The huge need for a leader, a partner, a friend he could trust. The anger that his chosen human was scared. He felt the Griffon’s fear, the fear of being alone forever.

The shared understanding was a lightning strike.

Leo’s heart no longer held fear. It was suddenly filled with strong, deep empathy. He no longer saw a monster, but a lonely, scared child, just like himself.

He took a slow step forward. Then another. His movements were no longer timid but filled with a new sense of confidence.

The Griffon watched him approach, sensing the fundamental shift. Its tense posture relaxed. Its golden eyes, once full of anger, were now just full of hope.

Leo stopped right in front of the powerful beast, completely unafraid. He slowly raised a trembling hand.

“I’m not scared anymore,” he whispered. “I understand.”

The Griffon lowered its magnificent head. With a gentleness that seemed impossible for such a powerful creature, it leaned forward and nudged Leo’s hand with its sharp beak.

The bond was forged.

Jonah watched from the side, a smile on his face as Leo finally began to pet his companion.

He was a teacher. And he had just passed his first test.

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