Chapter 4: The Whisper in the Stacks
The knowledge was a live wire in Leo's brain, crackling with both danger and possibility. Whisperer. The word explained the system's corrupted data, the intuitive leaps he'd made with the gryphlet, and the deep, unsettling sense that his way of taming was fundamentally different. It also painted a target on his back.
He had to know more. But how does a dreg, constantly watched and perpetually busy, access forbidden knowledge?
The answer, he realized, wasn't in grand heists or midnight break-ins. It was in the gaps. The spaces everyone else overlooked.
His duties included cleaning the main complex after the evening meal. This meant sweeping the halls around the library and records room—the very place he'd sent Whiskers to eavesdrop. It was a task the other apprentices loathed, which meant he was often left alone to do it.
The next evening, as the sun dipped below the mountain peaks, casting long shadows through the Aviary's stone corridors, Leo pushed his broom with a rhythmic, monotonous cadence. He made a show of being slow, methodical, and utterly absorbed in his work. He was a piece of the scenery, a moving part of the Aviary's machinery. Unremarkable. Unassuming.
He swept his way past the heavy oak door of the library. It was locked, of course. Master Fenrik was notoriously protective of his domain. But Leo's target wasn't the library itself. It was the adjacent records room—a smaller, less prestigious chamber where older scrolls and damaged texts were stored before being copied or discarded. According to Elian's memories, the lock on that door had been broken for months, deemed a low priority.
He waited until the corridor was empty, the only sound the distant clatter from the kitchens. He tested the iron ring on the records room door. It lifted with a rusty, protesting squeal, but it lifted. He slipped inside, pulling the door shut behind him.
The air was thick with the smell of dust, aging parchment, and mildew. Moonlight streamed through a single, grimy window, illuminating motes of dust dancing in the still air. The room was a chaos of stacked scrolls, leaning towers of books, and haphazard piles of loose-leaf vellum.
It was perfect.
[Quest Updated: The Forbidden Path.]
Objective: Search the records room for information on 'Beast Whisperers'. Progress: 0%.
"Okay, system," he whispered. "Any help here? Can you scan for relevant texts?"
The system interface remained passive. It seemed it wouldn't do the work for him; it only enhanced his own abilities. He was on his own.
He started with the most disorganized piles, reasoning that anything deemed heretical or unimportant would be buried here, not neatly cataloged. He worked quickly but carefully, his [Beast Insight] skill, while not designed for this, giving him a slight edge in perception, allowing him to scan text and symbols with heightened focus.
An hour passed. He found ledgers detailing fodder costs from a decade ago, breeding records for common messenger birds, and tedious treaties on avian molting cycles. Nothing. Despair began to creep in. What if Fenrik had already purged all such records?
Then, tucked behind a unstable stack of tax assessments, he found a small, leather-bound journal. The cover was unmarked, the leather cracked and brittle. It looked personal. He opened it. The script was a tight, frantic cursive, unlike the formal script of the Aviary's official documents.
...the Council's Enforcers came again today. They call our gift a corruption. They say our bond, forged without the brute-force imprinting of an affinity, is unnatural. But what is more unnatural? Listening to a beast's heart, or breaking its spirit until it submits?...
Leo's breath caught. He flipped forward, his heart pounding.
...they have taken Lyra. My sweet Lyra, whose song could calm the raging Manticore. They said she was "consorting with chaotic entities." I know what they did to her. I can feel the emptiness where her presence used to be...
The entries were harrowing. The author, a man named Corvin, described a secret network of Whisperers, their methods of forming deep, empathetic bonds, and the systematic hunt that wiped them out. The established Tamers' Guild, backed by the ruling Council, had declared their methods a threat to the stability of the beast-taming world. Affinities—Fire, Earth, Water, Air—were predictable, quantifiable. Whisperers were not.
He found a passage that made his blood run cold.
The core of the Whisperer's gift lies not in dominating the beast's spirit, but in harmonizing with it. We do not awaken a power within ourselves to impose upon them. We awaken a bridge between our souls. This is why their Awakening Stones fail us. The Stone seeks a monolithic power source to ignite. We are but a conduit, a nexus of potential connections. To their machines, we are... nothing. An error.
An error. [ERROR - DATA CORRUPTED].
It all fit.
He frantically flipped to the last few pages.
They are at the door. I can hear them. I have hidden my research, my life's work. Perhaps one day, when the world is not so afraid, another will find it. The key is not to force an affinity, but to listen. To truly listen. The beasts have not forgotten the old ways. It is only men who have gone deaf.
The journal ended there.
Leo clutched the book to his chest. This was it. The proof, the theory, the history. But it was only the beginning. Corvin mentioned hidden research.
He spent the next twenty minutes in a feverish search, using the journal's clues , mentions of "the foundation stone," "beneath the watchful eye of the silver moon" to guide him. In the end, it was a loose flagstone near the window, exactly where a sliver of moonlight fell, that gave way to his probing fingers.
Beneath it was a small, oilcloth-wrapped bundle. He unwrapped it. Inside was a single, thick vellum page, covered in intricate diagrams of energy flow that looked nothing like the standard affinity charts he'd seen in the Aviary. And beside it, a small, rough-hewn crystal. It was murky, almost opaque, but when he held it, he felt a strange, resonant hum in his mind, a sensation of static and whispers.
[New Item Acquired: Memory Crystal (Whisperer's Legacy)]
A stored repository of foundational knowledge. Use to unlock the [Beast Whisperer] core class?
Warning: This action is irreversible and will define your path. It may trigger detectable energy signatures.
He didn't hesitate. This was the path the system had chosen for him. He focused on the crystal and gave a mental command. Use.
The crystal grew warm in his hand, then dissolved into a shower of sparkling, silvery light that flowed into his palm and up his arm. A torrent of information flooded his mind—not words, but sensations, understandings, techniques.
[Soul-Link Establishment]. [Emotional Resonance Transfer]. [Passive Beast Empathy].
A searing pain lanced through his skull, centered on his temple. He gritted his teeth, stifling a cry. It felt like a circuit that had been left open for a lifetime was suddenly, violently connected.
When the pain receded, his system interface was ablaze with notifications.
[Congratulations! Core Class Unlocked: Beast Whisperer (Primordial)]
[The ERROR has been resolved.]
[User: Leo/Elian]
Rank: Novice Whisperer (Awakened)
Core Affinity: Nexus (Primordial)
Tamed Beasts: 2
System Points: 300
[Beast Whisperer Abilities Unlocked:]
- [Soul-Link (Lv. 1)]: Forge a deeper, empathic bond with a tamed beast, granting a minor stat boost and shared sensory input.
- [Calming Aura (Lv. 1)]: Project an aura of peace that reduces hostility in non-tamed beasts. Radius: 5 feet.
[Quest Complete: The Forbidden Path.]
Reward: 300 System Points, [Whisperer's Cloak] (Item).
Total System Points: 600.
A cloak of simple, grey, non-descript material shimmered into existence in his hands. It felt... muted. When he put it on, he instinctively knew its property: it would make him less memorable, easier to overlook. A perfect tool for the Unassuming.
But the greatest change was inside. He could feel the Aviary around him now. Not just see it or hear it, but sense it. A low thrum of anxiety from the messenger birds, the solid, sleeping presence of the Rocs, the sharp, pained flicker that was the gryphlet. It was a symphony of life, and he was now a part of the orchestra.
He had just taken the most important step of his new life. He had Awakened.
And as if on cue, he heard the distinct, heavy tread of boots approaching the records room door. Borin.
Leo's mind went cold and clear. He shoved the journal and the vellum page into his tunic, wrapped the Whisperer's Cloak around his shoulders, and dropped to the floor, grabbing his broom just as the door creaked open.
The Head Keeper stood in the doorway, his bulk blocking the light from the corridor. His eyes swept the room, lingering on Leo, who was diligently sweeping a pile of dust into a pan.
"What are you doing in here, boy?" Borin's voice was a low growl.
"Sweeping, Head Keeper," Leo said without looking up, his voice infused with just the right amount of weariness. "The dust from the old scrolls was spilling into the hall. Master Fenrik complained yesterday."
It was a lie, but a plausible one. Fenrik was a notorious complainer.
Borin stared at him for a long, tense moment. Leo could feel the man's suspicion, a hot, prickling sensation against his new empathic senses. But he could also feel the cloak doing its work, blurring the edges of Borin's focus.
"Finish up and get out," Borin grunted finally. "And stay out of rooms you don't belong in."
"Yes, Head Keeper."
As Borin turned and left, Leo let out a shaky breath. He had gotten away with it. He had the knowledge, the class, and the points.
But the look in Borin's eyes had been a clear warning. The noose was tightening. His time playing the harmless dreg was running out.
He needed to get stronger, fast. And he knew exactly where to start. It was time to visit the gryphlet again, not as a feeder, but as a fellow wounded soul. It was time to use his new gift.
[New Quest Available: Mend the Broken Wing.]
Objective: Use your [Soul-Link] ability to diagnose and begin healing the Storm-Wing Gryphlet's injured wing.
Warning: Deep empathic connection may cause feedback of the target's pain and trauma.
Reward: 500 System Points, [Gryphon's Trust] (Major Bond Increase).
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