Karl considered the direction that would be best for Hawk. The bird was happy simply soaring around and scouting, and that was what Karl needed him for, but there really wasn’t anything that he needed to continue that role.
“Well, Hawk is our scout for now, and he’s got incredible senses, plus long ranged attack power. I’m not really sure what sort of direction he would even be able to grow in that wouldn’t be contrary to his nature.” Karl replied, stumped as to the answer.
“Well, there is more to being the team’s scout than the actual scouting, I am certain that we can find something that will suit his talents.
So, until then, we can start with the obvious ones. There are Rogue Class Elites in training here with various stealth skills. Why don’t we take Rae there to observe them and try to learn their skills, while we wait for the potion to be made of the scales you provided?
She should have a natural affinity for those sorts of skills, and if your new ability is as impressive as it sounds, she might even be able to pick up the basics in a few days instead of months. Stealth skills are normally some of the hardest to master, so most of the Rogues who don’t start with them only learn the basics and prefer to hide in plain sight instead.” Sergeant Rita suggested.
Karl felt Rae’s amusement in his mind. She was good at hiding in plain sight as well, so visiting these Rogue people could be a very educational experience.
“Maybe she can learn invisibility. Just think of it, an invisible Bloodbath Spider.” Daniel suggested wistfully, while Alice and Rita looked horrified.
Karl had to admit, that would be a truly terrifying experience if Rae wasn’t your friend. Already she was becoming incredibly powerful, and if you couldn’t even see her when she got close, there would be very little chance of surviving an attack.
Rae’s thoughts said that she was a big fan of the invisible Bloodbath Spider idea, but there was just one problem.
“There isn’t anyone here who knows actual invisibility.” Alice reminded them.
“We have a few who can hide in shadows, which seems just about perfect for Rae’s style. It’s not perfect, but even a bit more of an advantage with her adaptive coloration, and she will be able to ambush nearly anyone.” Daniel suggested.
Rae eagerly agreed in Karl’s mind.
“She thinks so as well. Should we try that for today? I haven’t found a skill to try to teach my partners yet, so while Hawk thinks up the perfect skill for himself, and we work on the Drake Scales, Rae can learn to blend into the shadows even more effectively.” Karl agreed on her behalf.
Sergeant Rita nodded in satisfaction. “Then that is where we will go now. The cultivation of the three beasts will be ongoing at the same time once we get the resources in place, so your schedule will be a bit frantic, but I think that the advantages that your unique Class Marking provides are becoming very obvious to everyone.
The more that you can spread your skills around, the better, and after everyone is grown, we can focus on finding ways to help them break through their natural limits.”
That seemed like it was getting a bit ahead of the curve. Rae would probably be a Commander Rank beast when she was fully grown, and it would take a lot for Hawk and Thor to even catch up to that standard.
But perhaps that was the point. Hawk was already stronger than most members of his species, who hadn’t had a fortunate encounter with some special resource. So, they would have to arrange more such meetings for him, to allow him to leave the standard of a Windspeed Hawk behind completely.
And, when he thought about it that way, Karl realized that simply growing Hawk until he couldn’t advance anymore was likely not the most efficient method. If they could change his course early, he might have an easier time growing up to match his more naturally powerful partners.
Sergeant Rita led them into one of the buildings on the south side of the compound, and then down the stairs into an underground training area.
The moment that they stepped inside, the room was pitch black, and the others hesitated, to let their eyes adjust, not realizing that there was stealth training going on, and not a single light anywhere in the area.
Not that it was a problem for Karl, but everyone else seemed frozen in place for a moment, until one of the students seemed to sense them, and launched himself forward in an attack at the side of Alice’s head with his training blade.
Karl quickly shifted in between the two, and caught the student in a smooth hip toss, as he had been taught in the martial arts class.
The boy hit the ground with a harsh thud and a wheeze of escaping air, which triggered the teacher to turn the lights back on.
Not much, it was still very dim, but the practice must have been to see who could land the first strike.
“I think I’m going to die.” The boy moaned as he lay on the ground, gasping for breath.
There was no blood underneath him, and all his limbs were functioning, so Karl assumed that he would be alright soon. The ground was covered in a soft mat that allowed the students to move silently, or close to it, so he hadn’t expected to be intercepted, much less grabbed and thrown like that.
“Unfair advantage to the visiting team. Good morning Sergeant, Student Karl, and I’m afraid I don’t know either of you.” The teacher greeted them.
“Agents Daniel and Alice of the Bureau of Elite Development.” Alice explained.
“I see. Now, what brings you here today? I don’t recall our class prodigy having stealthy tendencies before today. That was a beautiful throw, by the way. I assume you have a way to see in darkness?” The teacher replied.
Karl smiled. “I do. It’s not perfect, but it works well enough.”
The only flaw to Rae’s combination of thermal vision and echolocation was the fact that it didn’t have the ability to see colour, but it was still true that it wasn’t perfect.
The stealth class students looked jealous of his ability to see in absolute darkness. If they could do that, this class would be so much easier, and they might even get to move up to the more advanced classes.
Sergeant Rita filled in the details for the confused professor. “We believe that one of his partners might have the ability to learn stealth related skills. She is already superb at moving silently, but moving unseen through shadows would improve her ambushing abilities by a large margin.”
“Partners?” One of the students blurted out.
“He raises pet monsters, remember? It must be that giant spider that they mean.” One of the other students whispered back, loud enough for Karl’s sensitive hearing to catch.
“Yes, it is Rae. Would it be too much trouble to have that sort of skill demonstrated for us? She will happily play along with stealth games in exchange.”
The teacher’s smile put all the students on edge. They weren’t sure that they wanted to play stealth games with a carnivorous spider the size of a small car. Because really, how tame could something like that be? Triggering her hunting instinct seemed like a terrible idea.
“Really? If she’s fine with helping us train the students in low light conditions, I would be grateful. There are only so many ways to set up the equipment that we have.” The teacher readily agreed.
[Afraid to tease students in the dark? Do they not know that I am the thing that stalks the night? The monster under the bed that parents use to scare their children into behaving?] Rae asked, thinking of all the fun ways she could taunt the students.
“You go a little vacant eyed when you’re talking to your team. Mind sharing?” Sergeant Rita asked.
“Rae says that she is the monster in the dark that parents warn their children about, and she would love to play with them.” Karl repeated.
The students cast furtive glances between themselves, and the teacher chuckled.
“I think that her and I will get along famously. Alright, if you can call her out, I will have the students try to move stealthily in the dark. Does she easily create webs? If she could create an obstacle course for them out of the strands, it would make this more interesting.” The teacher suggested.
Rae stepped out of the beast space and immediately faded from her natural shiny black and red to a dull soot black that perfectly matched the room.
“Alright, she will set the obstacle course up right away.”
