The examination hall was vast, lined with rows upon rows of desks — five hundred twenty-three in total, each paired with its chair. At the very back, a desk of unusual size had been placed, its proportions dwarfing the rest. It was Eryndor’s.

  He sat with his usual composure, quill set aside, his paper pristine. Across the aisle, Mercy beamed, her smile soft but sure.

  “You are smiling,” he observed, voice calm and unshaken. “That, at least, is an auspicious sign.”

  “I’m certain I’ll pass with flying colors,” she replied.

  Eryndor’s lips curved faintly. “And you are not, perchance, intrigued as to how I fared in that arduous ordeal?”

  She laughed lightly. “What purpose would that serve? I already know you achieved a perfect score.”

  He said nothing, but the faint smile remained as he rose from his seat. “Then I shall take my leave—for now. We shall reconvene later.”

  The hall had all but emptied by then. Eryndor levitated, his long frame rising slowly into the air. Then, with a sudden surge, he accelerated forward at twenty meters per second. He stopped midair, at the entrance, and launched skyward. The force cracked the air, leaving behind the sharp echo of a sonic boom.

  High above the city, he tore through the sky.

  Another streak of light caught up alongside him — Ziraiah, her hair trailing in the wind, her expression lit by the sun. She grinned at him as they flew side by side.

  ---

  At Pungence Estate, Valerius stood in the yard, a glass trembling between his hands. He forced himself to still it, veins tight along his arms. But before he could test further, he looked up.

  Two streaks cut across the heavens. His eyes narrowed.

  “…About time,” he muttered.

  He set the glass carefully on the table. Then, with a deep breath, he bent his knees and leapt. The ground cratered beneath his feet, thunder roaring as the shockwave tore outward. He shot upward, a sonic boom chasing in his wake.

  Midair, he twisted, kicked off the air itself, and redirected. The force shook the clouds as he barreled straight toward the twin streaks.

  He caught them in moments. “What took you so long?”

  Ziraiah smirked. “Eryndor had an exam.”

  Valerius grunted, then tilted his head. “Alright. Pungence said he was waiting… uhh, what was the name again?”

  “The Ascended Plateaus,” Ziraiah answered crisply. “In No Man’s Land.”

  “Got it.” Valerius shot forward, legs pumping as he blasted ahead. The air shattered in thunderclaps with every stride.

  Ziraiah’s eyes widened. “You stupid idiot! You don’t even know where it is!”

  Valerius slammed his palms forward, air cracking as he slowed himself with brute force. Eryndor and Ziraiah closed the gap, their auras cutting through the sky like streaks of light.

  “Just follow us,” Ziraiah called, shaking her head.

  The three of them rose higher, passing through the white sea of clouds. The sun crowned them above, its brilliance catching in their hair.

  “So this is your sort of flying, huh, Val?” Ziraiah called, her voice half amused, half exasperated.

  “Yep,” Valerius said with a grin.

  “So you just… keep kicking off nothing?”

  “Yep.”

  “…That shouldn’t even be possible. Air can’t produce enough force to launch you like that.”

  “You’re right,” Valerius admitted, smirking. “That’s why I use a technique called Thunder Stride. I harden the air beneath my feet — just enough to leap off it. I can use it on my hands too.”

  Eryndor’s eyes flickered with quiet intrigue. “Quite an intriguing ability.”

  Ziraiah tilted her head. “So, what else can you do?”

  Valerius cracked his neck, voice casual but edged. “Well, I can harden my body. I can sense things around me. And of course… my Kingdom Seed.”

  Her brow furrowed. “Then why didn’t you use it against that man?”

  Valerius scowled faintly. “…I forgot.”

  Ziraiah stared at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I was angry,” he said flatly. “It happens. He tried to kill me before, back in the ruin. I wasn’t thinking.”

  He glanced toward the endless sky ahead. “But knowing those guys… I wonder if they would have come.”

  The wind roared past them as the three siblings soared high above the clouds, sunlight blazing across their faces.

  “Don’t they listen to you?” Ziraiah asked suddenly, eyes sharp on her brother.

  Valerius exhaled, gaze narrowing. “Not really. They have… issues. That’s why I hope I can unlock ones who don't.”

  Her brows furrowed. “Unlock? What do you mean?”

  Valerius looked down at his hands, then back up at the horizon. “I can enter this… dimension. A realm. Inside it, I see endless cards. And each card is a Spirit. If I unlock one, I’ll be able to call on that spirit to fight by my side.”

  Ziraiah tilted her head. “So how do you unlock them?”

  Valerius gave a crooked smile. “Well… they kind of have to want me to, before I can.”

  Ziraiah frowned. “That kind of—”

  “—sucks. Yeah, I know.” He smirked. “At least I can summon spirit beasts. Like this one.”

  The world blurred.

  In an instant, Valerius stood within the Temporal Plane. A void of nothing — vast and infinite. Yet within it floated countless gigantic cards, suspended in silence. Their backs shimmered with cosmic patterns, hiding mysteries untold.

  Before him loomed the Cosmic Kingdom Book. Its cover split open with a thunderous creak, pages fluttering until it halted on the second.

  Across its surface, words blazed like fire:

  “TO CALL UPON A SPIRIT BEAST…

  BEHOLD THEM — WITH EYES UNSHAKEN.

  NAME THEM — WITH UNWAVERING TONGUE.

  INVOKE THEIR NAME — WITH INTENT THAT PIERCES THE HEAVENS.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The voice of the plane followed, resonant and infinite, echoing like a storm across eternity:

  “For sight alone does not bind them.

  For naming alone does not summon them.

  Only when intent is carved into the marrow of your will…

  Shall the beast answer, and stride forth from its domain.”

  The void rippled.

  The cards dissolved, and the darkness broke apart. Valerius now floated in a radiant world — golden grasses swaying like oceans, rivers sparkling as if carved from crystal. All around him, spirit beasts of every shape and size roamed freely: lions with manes of flame, wolves woven from shadow, stags crowned with stars.

  Then he saw it.

  A phoenix, white and gold, wings blazing like a sunrise. Its cry split the air, proud and eternal. Valerius’s lips curved into a smile.

  Back in the real world, his voice rang out:

  “Velkir.”

  The sky itself answered.

  A portal ripped open with a violent bang. From its heart, the massive phoenix burst forth, its wings unfurling like banners of fire and light. The sheer force of its presence warped the air. Valerius leapt onto its back, settling between its wings as the beast screeched triumphantly.

  “Cool, right?” he called down, grinning.

  Ziraiah’s lips softened into a smile.

  Together, they soared until the land below shifted — hundreds of colossal mountains, their peaks all flattened as though cut by divine hands. The Ascended Plateaus stretched endlessly, each summit identical in height, a formation carved for titans.

  On one of them, Pungence stood waiting.

  The siblings descended. The phoenix dissolved in a flare of gold as Valerius touched the plateau’s stone.

  Eryndor narrowed his eyes. “How, pray tell, do you propose to instruct us in the cultivation of mana when you yourself are devoid of its use?”

  Pungence’s expression did not waver. His deep voice carried across the mountain air.

  “You will see.”

  He spread his arms.“You’ve never trained your mana properly, because there was no place strong enough to contain you. But here, on these plateaus, you are free. Let loose. No restraint.”

  His gaze fell on Eryndor, then Ziraiah, stern but steady.

  “Cast your mightiest spell. Don't hold back. Because today… you will fight me at your best.”

  He strode across the stone, placing distance between them. When he turned, his presence hit like a wall of force. His smile was gone.

  “You had better not hold back. This will not be like your previous training. Because today—” he rolled his massive shoulders, fists curling, “—I am fighting back.”

  Ziraiah’s eyes widened. “What? You can’t be serious. We can’t even touch you!”

  “You will try,” Pungence said firmly. “I want to feel the full extent of your abilities. And to ensure you take me seriously—”

  “I’ve got all your stuff with me,” he said. “Every book you like to read, Eryndor. All those clothes you love showing off, Ziraiah. Every Seer, every Strek. All of it.”

  He reached into his bag and pulled out a Vitalis Suppression Collar, the metal glinting under the sun.

  “And if you let me down today…” He dangled it in front of them, his tone flat but sharp. “…you won’t be using magic for a whole month.”

  The collar snapped once in his hand, the sound cutting through the air.

  “I’m not joking. I’m not here to pat you on the back — I’m here to make sure you grow. So show me what you’ve got.”

  He lifted a hand. A leather strap bag hung across his shoulder, bulging with bottles.

  “—I have every one of your elixirs, Eryndor. And they will all finish today.”

  He spread his stance, one arm raised, beckoning them forward with a single gesture. His eyes gleamed with fire.

  “Now… come.”

  Ziraiah’s voice cut through the storm.

  “Muscle augmentation. Accelerated perception. Indomitable defense.”

  Eryndor echoed the words, his own aura flaring to life.

  Valerius clenched his fists. His arms rang with a metallic clang, skin hardening, turning a deep, unnatural green as his power surged.

  Across from them, Pungence lifted his right hand. A boom like iron striking iron resounded as it, too, transformed — skin and sinew shifting to living steel, glowing faintly red.

  The three siblings stood ready… facing the man the world called the Unstoppable Weapon.

  Then the storm broke loose.

  Eryndor’s aura erupted violently, winds whipping around him in cutting spirals. Ziraiah’s golden might flared alongside, flames of power licking the air. Valerius’s presence was different — raw, primal — the mountain itself quaked beneath his feet, fissures cracking through the stone as his aura roared like a beast unchained.

  They moved as one, step for step, their formation deliberate: Valerius on the right, Ziraiah on the left, Eryndor at the center. Rain lashed down, plastering hair to skin, but none of them faltered.

  Across the plateau, Pungence stood alone, arms folded, calm as a mountain.

  The clouds above twisted violently, drawn together as if even the heavens wished to witness the clash. A face began to form — vast, jagged, divine. Its mouth opened, and bolts of lightning the size of towers came screaming down.

  The strikes slammed into Pungence with a deafening roar. The world lit white. Smoke and steam swallowed him whole.

  When the haze cleared, he still stood in the same spot. Arms folded. Unmoved. Not even the ground beneath his feet bore a scorch mark.

  Ziraiah narrowed her eyes, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips.

  “I didn’t expect anything less… from the Unstoppable Weapon.”

  Pungence smirked. “Good. Then stop holding back.”

  ---

  To Be Continued...