Page 18 of A Mastery of Monsters

Sweat pours down my forehead into my eyes as I pump my legs harder and faster to the sound of the whistle blows.

I sprint across the field, the sun punishing on my back, and as the whistle sounds twice, I spin on my heel and run in the other direction.

It blows again, and I run, again and again, until I trip over my feet and land flat on the grass.

We’ve been going like this for half an hour already. And I only got nominated yesterday.

I’m wheezing. Actually wheezing.

My knife holsters, which Margot insisted that I wear every time we train, are digging into my thighs even set on the largest notch.

Before we moved, I threw away all the clothes I had that didn’t fit.

I was never going to be the old August again, and that extended to my body.

This is me now, in every way. But I hadn’t thought about my holsters. I need a new set.

Corey squats in front of me and holds out a water bottle, which I take from her. “Thanks,” I gasp.

Margot spits the whistle out of her mouth. “Did I say it was time for a water break?”

“But she fell down,” Corey says. “And she seems thirsty.”

My trainer rolls her eyes.

“Let’s just take the break.” Virgil sticks his hands into the pockets of tweed shorts that expose the massive muscles of his calves. Shorts that he’s tucked his maroon polo shirt into without an ounce of shame.

I shake my head. “Where are you buying your clothes?”

“At stores? Like everyone else?” He gestures to his body. “The quality that I assume you’re noticing actually comes from the tailoring. Good tail—”

“No, stop, I don’t really care.” I push myself up, gulping down more water.

When the three of them showed up, I thought they’d decided to train on Wolfe Island for my convenience, only to have Margot clarify that she wanted to train here so no one in the society could see how shitty I am.

“Is this preliminary test just running drills?” I ask.

“No,” Margot sneers. “That was your warm-up.”

I close my eyes and try to take a deep breath. My usual form of physical activity is drunken dancing. It’s fun. Throwing knives is fun too. Running is something I did because I hated myself.

“Get up,” Margot says.

I open my eyes and glare at her.

“Maybe a longer break than that,” Virgil says, stepping between us. “We can use the time to explain the process more.”

I refuse to be grateful to him, because his deal is why I’m suffering like this in the first place, but at least I feel like Virgil is on my side. Corey, too. Margot low-key seems like she wishes she could train anyone but me.

“Whatever. Call me when you’re ready.” Margot stalks away from us, disappearing into the trees that surround the massive flat field we’ve been training in.

I unstrap the holsters, freeing my squished thighs, and toss them to the side.

“Prelims do actually involve a beep test, though,” Corey says with a grimace. “And rope climbing.”

I flop back on the grass. “Great. It’s gym class.”

“Just that one part,” Virgil says, sitting next to me.

“Everything will be split into three sections. Physical endurance, societal knowledge, and monster affinity. You need to get through prelims first, then there will be three training sessions you need to do well in so you can be nominated by the professors to go into the finals, which is three tests with eliminations. The top five scorers will be allowed to participate in the initiation for the possibility to become Bachelors.”

The information is dizzying and confirms that everyone was right—Virgil hadn’t explained very much. Though knowing the details wouldn’t have made a difference. I was all in for Jules’s sake. “I thought I was becoming a Master.”

“Not quite.” Corey settles on the grass between us, so the three of us are in a circle.

“Once you’ve gone through the initiation, which is the bonding process, you’ll have made the connection to allow Virgil to maintain control.

At the ceremony after initiation, you’re officially given the title of Bachelor.

You don’t get a Master title until you’ve competed in the Monster’s Ball.

Then you’re a Master-in-training like Margot, and once you’ve defended your title in a second round of the Monster’s Ball, that’s when you become a full-fledged Master.

And after five years, you’re considered senior. ”

“Is this Monster’s Ball another competition where I could die?”

“Yes,” Corey and Virgil say at the same time.

I groan. “Why do you have so many of them?”

Virgil says, “Monsters have to be pushed in order to evolve and become stronger. That requires life-threatening circumstances. The entire point is to train so we’re powerful enough to help in the apocalypse.

For that, we have to be better than just any wild monster. And we have to be better as a pair.”

“And what are all these Masters doing while we wait for the end of the world?”

“Some teach like Henry. They usually have a day job, but they’re also expected to do missions,” Corey says.

“Masters who are done with the competitions are dispatched to help deal with bitten monsters who have to be corralled after transformation, or born monsters who turn before they’re bonded, or monsters whose partner dies abruptly and need to be controlled, Wilds who act out, and—”

I lift my hands up to stop her. “So, out-of-control monsters?”

“Yes…” Corey bites her lip. “Though some also take on private security contracts, which is technically allowed.”

I snort. Wow, so people are making money off this. I can’t fault the opportunists. It’s not that different from what I’m doing.

Corey says, “Either way, even Bachelor rank is a status boost, so you’ll have the clout to find information about your brother.”

“It’s just easier to say Master than to explain the full thing,” Virgil adds.

“Okay, and once I’m a Bachelor or whatever, I control you and stop you from killing people and stuff? That’s what the bonding does?”

He winces. “That’s… simplified. It’s passive. The bonding itself will allow me to maintain control. You don’t actually need to do anything.”

“What does the bonding entail, then, if initiation is just the bonding? You guys are talking about it like it’s another trial or something.”

He hesitates, and I look at Corey. She looks at Virgil, who stares back, more of that silent communication passing between them. She says to him, “Probably best to share the details now rather than later.”

Because that’s not ominous at all.

Virgil swallows. “The initiation is the final stage of the candidacy. We’ll each be given the serum. It was developed by Dr. Weiss three years after forming the society. It forces monsters to transform, and it’s also what allows us to bond through flesh exchange.”

I remember Corey discussing the serum as one of the methods that activates the monster mutation, but she failed to mention that last bit. “Flesh exchange,” I repeat.

“Yes… Usually, chunks of skin or toes or fingers. You’ll probably notice that most Bachelors and Masters have scars. That’s often why.”

I force myself not to look at Corey’s hands. Fingers … She said she participated in the candidacy once. “I thought Weiss was trying to make a cure, not force monsters to transform.”

“ Dr. Weiss,” Virgil corrects once again.

For fuck’s sake. “And he was. The serum was supposed to be a cure. Instead, it transformed the Patient Zero victims into the sort of monsters we know today. But it also allowed for the bonding and became more of a temporary solution. It changed the monster mutation, and in ordinary humans, it created a new mutation that’s similar to the Doctorate ability.

The serum formula is kept secret, but we do know that something of the Doctorate’s body goes into it.

That’s why Masters are able to develop some of a Doctorate’s power, at least enough to control one monster.

A lot of this stuff doesn’t follow the known rules of science, which is exactly why finding a cure has been so hard.

But basically, something about the complementary mutations allows for the bond. ”

“Humans gain some monster abilities, and monsters gain human control,” Corey says.

“Monster abilities? Like what?” At no point before had they mentioned that I might change too. “Like, horns or something?”

Virgil scrubs at his face. “No, like, increased speed, endurance, and other abilities unique to that monster. And even those require additional training to master. For now, you only need to focus on getting to the initiation and successfully bonding.”

“But when you take the serum, you’ll turn into monster form right away, won’t you? How are we supposed to do the flesh exchange and this bonding while you’re like that?”

“That’s the challenge of initiation.”

“Amazing,” I say with a laugh. “I guess that’s the deadly part of this whole thing?” He nods, and the water I chugged swirls in my stomach. If I get to the end of this competition, I have to lose a part of my body and avoid being murdered by a monster.

This is why I need to find Jules before it gets that far.

Sure, fancy monster superpowers sound cool, but at what cost?

With any luck, I won’t have to do any of that shit.

I avoid looking at Virgil as if he can read my thoughts from my expression.

It sucks for him, but I don’t owe him anything.

When the time comes, I’ll act like I failed to perform at a task.

It’s me. He’s already primed for disappointment.

I’ll just be fulfilling his expectations.

I ask, “If the bond is passive, does that mean our deranged rabbit friend is acting on its own? Meaning that even if a Master is connected to the monster, they might not know it came after me?”

Virgil shakes his head. “It’s unlikely. This is a partnership. The Master would be aware of what the monster was doing. Letting the monster act like that would mean cosigning it.”