Marcus was waiting at the north gate when Jak arrived.
Two hours after dawn. Exactly as specified.
"You're on time again," Marcus said. "Good habits."
They walked north together. Shade and Marcus's bonded hawk traveling alongside. The hawk was large. Scarred. Battle-worn.
"How long have you been B-rank?" Jak asked.
"Three years. Probably stay here until I retire." Marcus didn't sound bothered by that. "Most warriors plateau at B. A-rank requires either exceptional talent or decades of work. I'm good but not exceptional."
"What about S-rank?"
"There are maybe fifty S-rank adventurers in the entire continent. Most are over forty. Some are over sixty. It takes a lifetime to reach that level." Marcus glanced at Jak. "Why ask?"
"Curious about progression. How ranks work."
"For warriors, it's accumulation. Experience. Training. Technique refinement. Slow and steady." Marcus pointed ahead. "Rock trolls are just past that ridge. Standard C-rank threat. Two of them blocking the road. Merchants can't pass."
They crested the ridge.
The rock trolls were exactly where Marcus said. Eight feet tall. Stone-like skin. Massive arms. Not intelligent but territorial and aggressive.
"Watch how I work," Marcus said. "Learn positioning."
He drew his sword. Approached the trolls directly. No stealth. Just walked straight at them.
The trolls noticed. Roared. Charged.
Marcus didn't run. Didn't dodge. Just stood his ground.
His hawk dove from above. Talons raking across one troll's eyes. Blinding it. The troll swatted at the hawk. Missed.
Marcus moved in during the distraction. Sword finding the gap behind the troll's knee. The blade bit deep. The troll's leg gave out.
The second troll attacked. Massive fist aimed at Marcus's head.
Marcus blocked with his sword. The impact should have killed him. Should have broken bones.
Instead, Marcus's body glowed faintly. Blue light. Mana reinforcement. Warrior technique.
The troll's fist bounced off. Marcus countered. Sword driving into the troll's throat.
The first troll was still down. Blinded. Crippled. Marcus finished it with a single strike to the head.
Both trolls dead. Fight lasted maybe three minutes.
Marcus wasn't even breathing hard.
"That's B-rank," Marcus said. "Power. Technique. Efficiency. No wasted movement."
Jak had watched carefully. Saw how Marcus used his hawk. How he positioned. How he tanked damage through mana reinforcement.
Different from Jak's fighting style. But effective.
"Your turn," Marcus said.
"What?"
Marcus pointed down the road. "There's a wyvern nest half a mile south. Three juveniles. C-rank equivalent. Go clear it. I'll watch. Intervene if you're about to die."
"You want me to fight alone?"
"How else will you learn?" Marcus settled against a rock. "Go. Your beast knows what to do. Trust the bond."
Jak walked south. Shade beside him.
Through the bond, he felt the fox's readiness. No fear. Just certainty.
They found the wyvern nest exactly where Marcus said. Three juveniles. Smaller than the one Jak had fought during testing. But three of them meant coordinated threat.
Jak didn't charge in like yesterday. Didn't react.
He thought about Marcus's lesson. About positioning.
The wyverns were in a clearing. Open space. No advantage.
Jak circled. Found higher ground. Rocky outcrop overlooking the nest.
Better position. Height advantage. Restricted approach.
He signaled Shade. Through the bond, communication. The fox understood.
Shade moved first. Drew attention. All three wyverns noticed. Focused on the fox.
Jak came from above. Dropped from the outcrop. Blade finding the spine of the nearest wyvern.
Critical hit. The wyvern collapsed. Paralyzed.
Two remaining.
Shade engaged one directly. Fast. The wyvern couldn't track the fox's movements. Couldn't land hits.
The second wyvern turned on Jak. Lunged.
Jak didn't try to block. Just sidestepped. Let momentum carry the wyvern past him. Blade raking across its wing.
The wyvern couldn't fly now. Grounded.
Shade finished the first wyvern. Appeared behind the second. Jaws on its throat.
The paralyzed wyvern was still alive. Jak finished it.
Three wyverns dead. Fight lasted five minutes.
Jak was breathing hard but uninjured.
Better than yesterday. Much better.
Marcus appeared from the trees. "That was adequate."
"Just adequate?"
"You're using your beast correctly now. Positioning is better. But your technique is still sloppy. Wasted movements. Telegraphed attacks." Marcus pulled out a waterskin. Offered it to Jak. "But you're learning. That's what matters."
Jak drank. The water was cold. Helped.
"I feel different than yesterday," Jak said. Carefully. Testing how much he could reveal. "Faster. Stronger."
"Normal for new tamers. The bond takes time to stabilize. Your body adapts to your beast's nature for the first few weeks." Marcus didn't seem suspicious. "After that, you plateau. Same as everyone."
But Jak didn't think he would plateau.
He could feel the difference. Not just adaptation. Growth.
Real, measurable growth.
His reflexes were sharper than yesterday. His strikes were faster. His blade found vital points more easily.
And through the bond, he felt Shade changing too. The fox was more solid. More present. Like the bond was deepening.
Mirrored growth.
That's what the ancient text had called it. Beast and tamer growing together. Synchronized.
The guild thought bonds were static. That tamers got their power boost and then stopped.
They were wrong.
At least for Jak they were wrong.
He just needed to make sure they didn't realize that too quickly.
"Let's head back," Marcus said. "Contract's fulfilled. You learned something. Good day's work."
They walked back to the city together.
Jak thinking about growth. About patterns. About what would happen when the guild realized he wasn't plateauing.
He had time. Weeks. Maybe months before it became obvious.
He'd use that time to get stronger.
Strong enough that when they noticed, it wouldn't matter.
Through the bond, Shade's certainty.
They were on the right path.
Whatever came next, they'd face it together.