Robert popped out of the liminal void in front of the campus security headquarters. He strode in, locking eyes with the receptionist.

"Good afternoon, how may we help?"

He put his student ID on the counter. "I would like to report a passage outbreak. It's twenty miles from here, on the road from Pittersville. The outbreak is ongoing and my classmate is holding the monsters back."

The receptionist saw his ID, still at one star. He snickered. "Is this some sort of prank?"

Robert inhaled and placed his updated Samson ID on top of his student one. He used his loudest military voice. "I'm with Samson Security. I'll say it again, there's an ongoing passage outbreak on a ridge twenty miles from here, on the road to Pittersville. Hundreds of monsters have already spilled out from the passage. This is a code-red emergency. I repeat, THIS IS A CODE RED EMERGENCY."

He swiped his ID cards back and glared at the receptionist. "IGNORE IT AT YOUR OWN PERIL," He yelled at the guy.

He sensed people coming to the front lobby. The doors opened. He saluted the security officers. "I hope you got the message. I'm going back to support my classmate. Toodles!"

He engaged his talent and vanished into the liminal void.

*

*

One quick dive into the true void and he emerged right next to Amanda. He surveyed the area, noticing that Amanda's plants were holding the line. Some plants were damaged but considering the amount of monsters killed, she was close to the break-even spot in essence expenditure or even at a surplus. He walked to a spot thirty feet away from her and waited the few minutes it took for him to return. Robert noticed that now that he had the Space affinity, pinpointing the spot where he would emerge was a possibility, while before he only got the general area right.

His time ended and he returned. Freddy let out a happy bark while Cotton and Coal squealed in delight.

"Welcome back," Amanda said without taking her eyes off the battlefield. She had raised stone walls to cover the spots where the crowns of thorn bushes were damaged. Some of her carnivorous vines were cut off but each biter pod had at least one monster trapped within its jaws. "How did it go with the Academy security?"

"They didn't believe me at first. I had to push rank and yell at the top of my lungs. They should be here anytime soon. In fact... Cotton, please create the strongest ball of light up in the air, as far up as you can."

The puffbloom couldn't understand language but it could understand Robert's intent through their mental link. One advantage of his brand of beast bond was that. Other tamers needed to train the tricks, spending dozens of hours with their tame monsters. Robert's beast bond was based on mental contact, communication, and domination. It circumvented all that.

Cotton gathered its essence and sent it upward. A small sun appeared in the sky, a bright beacon that could be seen for dozens of miles in each direction.

"I'll try to take over one of these monsters. I want to see how intelligent they are. Hold your fire."

Robert waited until one of the big ones came out of the passage. He immediately cast Mind Blackout on it. Empowered by his mental palace and his bastions, the barriers protecting the monster's mind eroded, making the monster's psyche an open book for him. Robert used his talent again. He reappeared in front of the monster, grabbed its shoulder, and walked over the liminal void with it, returning to the spot he left.

This fish-man had iridescent blue scales with streaks of green and red on them. He had a crest over his spine that reached a foot above his back, bony protrusions ending in flat membranes, connected by leathery skin. His hands and feet had three webbed fingers each and ended in sharp claws two inches in length. Using diagnosis, he noticed the creature had both gills and nostrils, able to breathe in both air and water with ease. Its bone structure was mostly humanoid but with a hunch as its arm and shoulder muscles were voluminous. But it had kneecaps and was capable of running. Its eyes were opaque and it was very nearsighted. To balance that, its sense of smell was even better than Freddy's and it could hear quite well.

The specimen he captured was a two-star creature, recently-ascended. A scan of its mental processes showed only rudimentary intelligence and awareness of self. Not enough to count as sapient. Barely sentient. The strongest emotions it could feel were anger and bloodlust. It had the water affinity only and its talent was the same as the others of its species, tough skin.

Robert thought about keeping this guy around. It was a strong frontline fighter that could take either the tank or the DPS roles.

*

*

It took a response team from the Academy twenty minutes to arrive. A heinously slow response time. They came flying on a golden Roman war carriage, probably an Ether construct summoned by someone among them.

"Goodness, the carnage!" A woman among them said as they surveyed the region. Hundreds of bodies littered the road on both sides.

"There, I see the students!"

"Hold your fire! These monsters here are tamed!' Robert shouted at them. In case the fact they were idling right next to a human wasn't enough to hint about their disposition. Truly, only a malicious Arch would attack a passive monster right next to another Arch.

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"An excellent application of Nature, Earth, and Illusion abilities," another member of the expedition said, an older and wiser voice than his peers. Probably a professor.

The latter remark would be troublesome. They weren't ready to disclose that Freddy was an Arch-Taulusian. The implications would be severe. Or not. Amanda could always use her influence. And Robert could use the excuse that he was good at spotting deviant monsters and taming them. It all depended if the person whose eyes they were trying to pull the wool over knew the Taulusian were sentient or not.

The carriage landed next to them. An older man in professor robes disembarked first.

"A marvelous job, the two of you. Students Blaze and Samson, I believe."

"Welcome to hell, professor," Amanda said. "Things are under control, we are basically farming kills at this point."

To punctuate what she was talking about, a bunch of monsters came out of the passage. Amanda fired five prickly pear bombs, making them explode above the creatures and send the spines in a shower over them. This was an improved version of the plants she used at the monkey jungle because the spine burst was no longer omnidirectional. Now, the pears adjusted their trajectory and fired straight at the enemy. The back of the cacti pears was bare of spines but had pores to eject the volatile matter and correct course mid-flight.

"Awesome. Are these plants your creations?" The professor clapped.

"Yes," Amanda said with a grin.

"Are you interested in contributing their seeds for research?"

"No," Amanda said with an even wider grin. "And these are hybrid plants. They are not fertile."

Even though a Life or Nature Arch could probably make the seeds germinate, it would scramble their pattern. This might be a security feature Amanda implemented to keep her plants a trade secret. Otherwise, anyone with access to the seeds could use the plants and benefit from Amanda's evolved spell.

"We can negotiate it later, yes?"

"Perhaps."

The other first responders approached. Two men and three women, all of them at least three stars. Robert had Cotton dispel its light sphere. The poor Puffbloom was exhausted. It only remained in the air because floating was its innate power. It required no conscious effort on their part.

"Miss Samson, please take down your barriers. We wish to examine the passage."

"As you wish." With a small expenditure of Nature essence, all of her plants wilted and shriveled, mold growing on all of them, including any scattered seeds.

The strike team rushed to the passage, cutting down the weak monsters that managed to escape since the last volley of cactus spines with ease. Only the professor remained next to the students.

"A marvelous specimen you captured," the old guy said as he examined the monster Robert had dominated and bonded with. "I see you are a monster tamer. A rare occupation in these times. What affinity did you use to bond with them?"

"Mental," Robert said, earning a flinch from the professor.

"I see. I see. It's a first if I've ever seen one. Such discipline from your tame monsters is derived from your affinity, right?"

"Yes. Not only does it give me a telepathic bond with the monsters, but it also allows me to plant instructions and directives directly into their minds. But only because they offer little to no resistance. As you can see, all of these monsters are rather dumb."

The professor looked at Freddy. Freddy looked at the professor and tilted his head.

"Not all of them. The Taulusians are very smart."

Robert gave the professor a challenging stare. "As smart as people, I'm afraid."

The old academic was surprised for a moment, and then he grinned. "I see you know the Taulusian's least-kept secret."

"That they are sapient beings, refugees from another world? Indeed, I am. I can even speak Taulusian."

"You can?"

"I have a spell that allows me to absorb new languages faster. Freddy here helped me learn his language and now we are family."

Robert took a step forward and to the side, showing his disposition to defend Freddy.

"Yes, how sweet of you. The Taulusians are all pacifists. I believe your first-star friend over there hadn't harmed a single creature after his ascension, or did he?"

"No. He went with the two of us and Professor Actus into the interspace, and not a single time he used any offensive abilities, though his help was invaluable. Freddy has no offensive spells."

"You two are full of surprises. You have my thanks for being forthcoming with all this information, student Blaze. I assure you on my honor as a professor of our esteemed institution, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact, if you ever find yourselves in trouble, seek me out."

"I fear we are at a disadvantage, professor. May I have your name?" Amanda asked politely.

"I'm tenured senior professor Andronicus. I teach fourth-year Noetic sciences and advanced Mental affinity theory. We share one affinity in common, student Blaze."

Robert grinned. "I see."

Andronicus chuckled. "You managed to teach an old horse a new trick today. It was a feat more impressive than holding back a passage break with only two two-star Archs and a small menagerie of one-star creatures. I will talk to Actus and negotiate with him. Would you be willing to share your innovative beast bond spell?"

"Sure. Just be mindful that the spell only forges the bond. Subduing the creatures requires other abilities."

The professor raised a silver eyebrow. "I see. There are many ways to subdue a smaller mind, don't worry," Andronicus winked at the end. "Just as every teacher in our august institution, I'm duty-bound to keep our students' secrets secret, regardless if they are enrolled in my classes or not. And I believe you will, Mr. Blaze."

Robert felt no attempts to probe his mental palace. Andronicus seemed to be a trustworthy professor.

*

*

The strike team went through the passage and unleashed hell on the other side. Without concern for the environment and a safe path of retreat, they spared no effort in putting the fear of humanity into the hearts of the monsters.

They returned in good spirits.

"Students, we will need to debrief you on what happened here," the leader, a blonde woman who looked like a Nordic Goddess of war, said. "Everything you say in your statements will be kept a secret by the Academy."

"Not here, I assume."

"It would be for the best since your experiences would be the freshest. We can set some deployable habitats with privacy wards if you want."

Andronicus stepped forward. "Commander Mei-Li, would it be okay if I took the students' statements? I believe they would be more comfortable with me than more... impressive people such as you."

"Yes, professor. That would be acceptable," Mei-Li replied.

"To make things even easier on you, would you two accept to enroll in a short seminar by yours truly?" Andronicus asked them.

Robert immediately understood what the professor meant. If they were considered his students, the geas all teachers were subjected to would kick in, forcing Andronicus to keep their secrets. That would give him an out to keep sensitive information out of his report, like their affinities and spells. He cast telepathy and waited for Andronicus to accept the link, which took only one second. He conveyed the idea, to which the professor replied with only a wide grin.

"Of course we accept. We'd be honored, tenured senior professor," Robert said with a bow. Amanda quickly did the same.

Andronicus felt elated. Now he could learn this most peculiar student's secrets with impunity.