APEX CONDUIT

The Guild Exam

The Guild Assessment Center was a monument to everything I'd never had.

It stood in the Commerce District, a towering structure of glass and polished steel that caught the morning light and threw it back in the faces of everyone below. The Spire District gleamed in the distance, but this building was closer—a reminder that success was just within reach, if you were worthy.

I wasn't supposed to be here.

The application f*e alone had cost me two weeks of Pit earnings. The written exam required knowledge I'd never been taught in the slums. The practical exam demanded power I wasn't supposed to have.

But I was here anyway.

I pulled up my hood and adjusted my mask. "The Beast Tamer" walked through the front doors of the Assessment Center like he belonged there.

The lobby was chaos.

Hundreds of candidates milled about, all of them young, all of them nervous, all of them clutching their application forms like lifelines. Holographic displays flickered overhead, showing rankings and statistics. Recruiters from various guilds prowled the edges, their eyes sharp, their smiles predatory.

I felt their gazes slide over me and dismiss me instantly. Just another F-rank. Just another nobody.

Good.

Let them underestimate me.

The written exam was brutal.

Questions about Aetheric theory. Monster classification. Rift dynamics. Guild protocols. Things I'd learned from stolen textbooks and Dr. Thorne's patient explanations. Things I'd pieced together from hours of hunting in the Rifts.

I struggled. There was no other word for it. My education had been the school of hard knocks, not the academy of theoretical knowledge. I guessed on half the questions. Reasoned through a quarter. Only knew the answer to the rest.

When I finished, I was sure I'd failed.

But the examiner—a stern woman with graying hair—gave me a long look as she collected my paper.

"Interesting answers," she said. "Unconventional. But interesting."

I didn't know if that was good or bad.

The practical exam was where I'd either prove myself or die trying.

We were led into a massive chamber—a controlled, artificial Rift environment designed to simulate real combat conditions. Rocky terrain. Dark caves. Dense foliage. The air hummed with artificial Aether.

"The rules are simple," the head examiner announced. "Clear all monsters within the time limit. You may use any abilities at your disposal. Lethal force is permitted. Teams will be assigned randomly."

Teams.

My heart sank.

I'd trained with my beasts. I knew how to coordinate with them. But working with strangers? Strangers who would undoubtedly mock me, dismiss me, refuse to follow my lead?

This was going to be a disaster.

---

My team consisted of three other candidates.

A tall, arrogant guy with an A-rank Talent called [Flame Burst]. A nervous girl with a C-rank [Enhanced Speed]. A quiet boy with a B-rank [Shield Projection].

They took one look at me and laughed.

"What's your Talent?" Flame Burst asked, smirking.

"Beast Conduit."

"Beast... what?" He burst out laughing. "What, you're gonna send a pigeon to fight?"

The others joined in. Even the nervous girl cracked a smile.

I didn't respond. I just waited.

The exam began.

The first wave was a pack of [Fang Wolves]. E-rank. Fast. Aggressive. Coordinated.

Flame Burst charged in, fire blazing from his hands. He killed two wolves before the pack adapted, circling around him, cutting off his escape.

The girl with Enhanced Speed ran circles around the wolves, but she couldn't do any real damage. She was a distraction, not a threat.

The boy with Shield Projection raised a barrier, but it was static. Defensive. He couldn't attack.

And then there was me.

Zephyr. Scout.

The Storm Falcon launched into the air, its eyes piercing the darkness. Through our bond, I saw the battlefield from above—every wolf, every rock, every shadow.

Bruiser. Alpha. Now.

The Stone-Hide Mastiff charged. He didn't try to dodge the wolves' attacks—he absorbed them. [Iron Hide] turned their fangs aside. His massive paws slammed into the alpha, sending it flying.

Scritch. Flank. Eliminate.

The Shade Stalker vanished into the shadows. He reappeared behind the remaining wolves, one by one, his fangs finding throats and spines with surgical precision.

Within seconds, the pack was dead.

My teammates stared at me.

"What the hell was that?" Flame Burst demanded.

"That," I said, "is what a Beast Conduit can do."

The exam continued.

Wave after wave of monsters. Each one more dangerous than the last. My teammates fought alongside me now—not because they respected me, but because they had no choice. I was the only one who could coordinate our attacks. The only one who could see the battlefield clearly.

Zephyr scouted. Bruiser tanked. Scritch eliminated. I commanded.

By the time the final wave fell—a [Cave Troll] that nearly crushed us all—my team was exhausted, battered, and alive.

We'd cleared the exam with minutes to spare.

The examiners were stunned.

I could see them whispering among themselves, pointing at me, at my beasts. The head examiner—the same stern woman from the written test—was staring at me with an expression I couldn't read.

Captain Elara.

I'd learn her name later. For now, I just knew she was important.

She approached me as I was leaving the chamber.

"Beast Conduit," she said. "Unprecedented."

I nodded.

"Your written exam was mediocre. Your practical exam was exceptional. You have a talent for tactics that I've rarely seen."

"Thank you."

She studied me for a long moment. "You've made enemies, haven't you?"

I didn't answer.

"I can see it in the way you move. The way you watch everyone around you. You're used to being hunted."

She wasn't wrong.

"I don't know what you're running from," she said. "But whatever it is—it's going to find you eventually. Guild membership will give you resources. Protection. But it won't make you safe."

"I know."

She nodded slowly. "Good. Then you're smarter than you look."

She turned to leave, then paused.

"One more thing. That mask you're wearing? It's not as good a disguise as you think."

My blood ran cold.

"Powerful people are watching you, Beast Tamer. Be careful."

She walked away.

I left the Assessment Center with a guild license in my pocket and a target on my back.

I was legitimate now. A licensed guild member. I had access to official Rifts, resources, and missions. I had a future.

But as I walked through the Commerce District, I felt eyes on me.

I looked up.

On a balcony overlooking the plaza, a figure stood watching. Tall. Athletic. Perfectly dressed.

Marcus.

Our eyes met.

He didn't smile. He didn't wave. He just stared.

Then he turned and disappeared into the building.

I clenched my fists.

He knows.

He doesn't know it's me. Not yet. But he suspects.

I pulled my hood lower and quickened my pace.

I needed to get stronger. Faster. Before Marcus figured out the truth.

Before the Apex Guild came for me.

Before the war I'd been warned about finally began.

That night, I returned to the Undercity.

Dr. Thorne was waiting for me in her laboratory, her expression grim.

"You passed the exam," she said.

"How did you—"

"I have my sources." She gestured to a chair. "Sit. We need to talk."

I sat.

"The Apex Guild knows about you. They've known since the Awakening Ceremony. They've been watching you, testing you, waiting for you to reveal your full potential."

"I know."

"What you don't know is why."

She pulled up a holographic display. A file. Classified. Stolen.

"Project Chimera," she said. "The Apex Guild's attempt to create artificial Conduit Beasts. They've been trying for years. They've failed every time."

I stared at the file. At the images of twisted, malformed creatures. At the notes about failed experiments and dead test subjects.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're the key, Leo. The missing piece. You're a natural Conduit—the first in decades. If they capture you, they can study you. Replicate you. Create an army of Conduit Beasts."

She looked at me with something like pity.

"You're not just a threat to them. You're a resource. And they will do anything—anything—to possess you."